Its a bit odd to write this looking out of the window at snow, but its been an unusually mild February, particularly during Half Term. Its been another bumper month for major sightings, with our highlights from January sticking around and being joined by some other firsts for 2023. Water levels at Draper stayed relatively high for the month but we did bring them down at Gadwall. Both are now reducing further ahead of Spring, so expect some changes to regular sightings at both.
Our 2023 bird species count in January was 71 - in February this is up to 78 with Oystercatcher, Meadow Pipit, Red Crested Pochard, Jack Snipe, Stonechat, Grey Wagtail and Pied Wagtail being seen for the first time this year. Specifically for February there are a total of 68 species in the monthly Visitor Sightings Log in reception
And a challenge for our photographers - we haven't got photographic evidence of 18 of those 78 sightings even though some have been on site every day this year... So, don't just ignore your Wood Pigeons, Starlings and Jackdaws!
It's also not just about birds here at Rye Meads. We've had a lot of entertainment from Muntjacs this month (see the photos later!) and some nice landscape photos of the changing weather, and of course the February snowdrops. We've also had our first reports of Water Voles of the year (confirmed Water Voles, not a rat!), and early Bumble Bees. Plus a Chinook helicopter...
One of few gloomy days at the Gadwall Hide - Mark O'Dell
A February staple: Snowdrops - Graham Charlton
Thank you also to the Charltons for our Rye Meads rock!
It wouldn't be Rye Meads themed without a Kingfisher
Worth mentioning here that now we're starting to reach the Kingfisher breeding season, it can get busy in our Kingfisher Hub. In case you hadn't seen already, as we did in 2022, we have some requirements in place from 1st March with restrictions on time and capacity in the Hub to ensure fair and equal access for everyone. You can read more about those here - thanks to all our visitors for their support.
In January our three highlights were Barn Owl, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Bearded Tits. Happily we have positive updates on all three, plus a couple more I'm going to throw in...
Barn Owls
Yes, there is an 's' on the end of Barn Owls. With the days getting longer, we had less sightings early in the month, but later when the weather was a bit duller we were back to daily sightings around 4-5pm. On Wednesday 22nd, we were completely spoiled with THREE flying around the meadow! Two have been seen regularly since, usually appearing from the nest boxes next to the Lapwing Hide, flying around the meadow, and perching on the fences and branches. We don't know at this point if we have males and females but all fingers are crossed for breeding...
Alan Reynolds
Andre Griggs (Do you think he and Alan were sat next to each other?)
Graham Charlton
Successful Hunt - Jan Martin
Kevin Blacke
Mark O'Dell
Paul Moore
Robert Kitchen
Mobbed - Steve Dimbleby
Stuart Fox
Yoko Chung
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
The one-legged Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is an elusive celebrity covering a very wide area - we haven't had a sighting since 12th February but it was seen on five separate occasions in completely different locations so it may still be around somewhere!
Steve Nelson
Bearded Tits
Similar story with the Bearded Tits - a fair few sightings early in February and then a period of silence, although they were briefly seen investigating a grit tray we had put out. All the sightings in February came in their 'regular' spot in the reedbed opposite Tern and Gadwall hides. Slipping into March slightly for news, they have also now been spotted in the reedbed at the back of the Draper Scrape
Carly Culmstock
Harry Rice
Reed Buntings
We've had quite a few Reed Bunting sightings in January and February, probably a knock-on effect of people looking out for Bearded Tits in the same place. Its a highlight for me this month though, after we picked up on a quite brilliant photo taken by Paul Wright below of a female that looked to be speeding towards him like a feathery bullet!
Paul Wright
Stonechat and Oystercatcher
Highlights because they appeared briefly at the end of the month - two of our firsts for the year! Oystercatchers were at the Gadwall Hide for less than an hour with the water level dropping, while Stonechats were seen on a couple of days with the best views from the Lapwing Hide.
Oystercatchers
Andre Griggs
Stonechat
John Lawrence
Elizabeth Pendleton
Steve Dimbleby
Ducks
No frozen lagoons this month! It was a bit of a slow start for large duck numbers but we've certainly seen an increase, as has Mel who returned with some mutterings in late Feb and reported noticeable increases in Gadwall, Tufted Duck and Pochard to go along with the Shoveler and Mallard who were already quite high in number, and a handful of Teal too. We also had our first reports of the year of Red Crested Pochard, which seem to be establishing themselves more every year. Some good photos to contrast with the Common Pochard, as one visitor put it: "their heads are much blobbier"... Thanks to our Half Term activity trail we also had a few photos of our resident 'white duck' who is quite likely an escaped domestic Mallard - its been called an Aylesbury and a Pekin at times but both are essentially Mallards anyway! What we do know is his curly tail feathers mark him out as a male, and he has been christened Harold after a brief poll of visitors.
Common Pochard (M) - Rose Newbold
Common Pochard (F) - Steve Gibbs
Red Crested Pochard (Male ahead of female) - Jan Martin
3 Male and 2 Female Red Crested Pochard - Rose Newbold
Male Mallard, check out the blue speculum on show! - Kevin Blake
Harold and a Friend - Steven Coppen
Gadwall pair, female in front of male - Chris Wright
Male Gadwall - Paul T Smith
Female Shoveler - Steve West
Male Shoveler - Carly Culmstock
Female Teal - Stuart Fox
Male Teal - Robert Kitchen
Female Tufted Duck - Steve West
Male Tufted Duck - Steven Coppen
Swans, Geese and Shelduck
As with last month, Mute Swans, Canada Geese and Shelduck were regulars, with Egyptian Geese also posing for some attention. The Canadian cousins are starting to claim their territory around the reserve though!
Egyptian Geese - John Dymott
Egyptian Goose - David Lee
Egyptian Geese - Robert Kitchen
Canada Geese causing aggro... - Sue Holte-Smith
Mute Swan landing - Steve Gibbs
Shelduck - Elizabeth Pendleton
Kingfisher
Plenty of signs at the Kingfisher Hub that last year's pair are ready to go. They were investigating the bank as early as 4th February (very early!), with our work party volunteers completing some final habitat management work there a few days later and actually being supervised by a Kingfisher sitting on top of the Hub! There were almost daily sightings from the middle of February onwards, with some regular investigation of the old bank nest holes and of course a lot of photos. For anyone looking to distinguish between male and female Kingfishers, look at the beak - the female has a bit of 'lipstick' on...
Female - Seb Birds
Male - Rose Newbold
Female - David Everett
Male - Ruth Watson
Female - Kevin Garrett
Male - Liz Knight
Cormorants and Herons
Little Egrets were seen in February but not frequently, and without being photographed! Cormorants and Grey Herons were of course fairly regular though.
Cormorant having a swim - Paul T Smith
Grey Heron having a fly - Steve West
Grebes and Rails
Again no Great Crested Grebe yet! Water Rails have been spotted occasionally but the main attraction has been Coots getting territorial on the water.
Little Grebe - David Bowron
Little Grebe - Phil Burt
Moorhen - Mark Vale
Immature Moorhen - Rose Newbold
Coot - Allan Burrows
Coot - Steve Gibbs
Pipits, Wagtails, and Gulls
Meadow Pipits are actually pretty regular in the HMWT meadow from the Lapwing Hide but rarely spotted by visitors! They've been mentioned in February though. We've also had out first Wagtails of the year, both Pied and Grey, but only the Grey has been photographed so far. Similar story with Gulls - we've had Common and Herring reported but in February it's just been the Black-Headed Gulls that have popped up in photos. There's usually some Common Gulls hidden among them so keep your eyes peeled as they are starting to come into summer plumage too.
Grey Wagtail - Steve Dimbleby
Black-Headed Gull - Chris Wright
Waders
Aside from the Oystercatchers, our other waders have been the usual suspects. Patient types have been rewarded with views of Common Snipe, and one lucky person (me...) saw both a Common and a Jack Snipe flushed from the meadow at the same time, making it nice and easy to distinguish that it really was a Jack Snipe! Green Sandpiper are around too, and with the water levels now dropping at Gadwall and Draper we will hopefully see more, and some variety! The star of the show though has been the Lapwing at the Gadwall Hide, numbering well over 400 at times and leading to some spectacular aerial displays.
Lapwing - Mark Vale
Lapwing - Kevin Garrett
Lapwing - Kevin Blake
Lapwing - Robert Kitchen
Common Snipe - Andre Griggs
Common Snipe - David Coote
Common Snipe - David Everett
Common Snipe - Melanie Partner
Green Sandpiper - David Bowron
Green Sandpiper - Steve Dimbleby
Birds of Prey
Yet to see a Sparrowhawk picture this year despite sightings in January and February. Over this month we've also had Buzzard, Red Kite and Kestrel but no Peregrine.
Red Kite - Seb Birds
Kestrel - Seb Birds
Buzzard - Steve Dimbleby
Buzzard - Kevin Blake
Finches, Buntings and Dunnocks
Dunnocks are a bird family of their own in the UK (they're not sparrows!) but I'm sticking them here as along with a couple of the finch family (Greenfinch & Siskin) I finally have a first photo of each to show. Reed Buntings I've put in the highlights, and we've also had sightings of Yellowhammer late in the day again with no photos yet. Chaffinch and Goldfinch have also been fairly frequent.
Siskin - Robert Kitchen
Goldfinch - Lauren Kaliff
Dunnock - Mark Jobling
Greenfinch - Rose Newbold
Dunnock - Sean Gillespie
Tits, Crests and Treecreepers
Small things have been fun, especially the Blue Tits swinging around on the reeds. Treecreepers and Goldcrests have been spotted again, and keep an eye out for Long-Tailed Tits starting their nests in the brambles.
Blue Tit - Harry Rice
Blue Tit - Paul T Smith
Blue Tit - Yoko Chung
Blue Tits - Ruth Watson
Treecreeper - Allan Burrows
Great Tit - Mark O'Dell
Goldcrest - Melanie Partner
Long-Tailed Tit - Steve Dimbleby
Thrushes, Chats and Wrens
Stonechats already in the spotlight complementing the much more common Robins. Song Thrush, Fieldfare, Redwing and Blackbird are also regulars still.
Song Thrush - Steven Coppen
Redwing - Carly Culmstock
Robin - Rose Newbold
Wren - David Lee
Warblers and Woodpeckers
Winter Warblers are often heard but not seen but we have picked up on Cetti's and Chiffchaff around. Along with the Lesser Spotted, weve also had Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers, the latter photographed for the first time this year.
Cetti's Warbler - Martin Abbess
Chiffchaff - Mark Jobling
Great Spotted Woodpecker - Steve Dimbleby
Green Woodpecker - Steve West
And Finally...
Plenty of entertainment on several occasions, with Magpies surfing on the back of Muntjac, while check out the determined Grey Squirrel! We've also noted our visitors insistence on photographing anything that flies, whether natural or man-made, and extra points for fungi too - I've tentatively identified this as Coriolus Versicolor... but will happily be corrected!
Grey Squirrel! - Jan Martin
Rose Newbold
Ruth Watson
Chinook (Winter Plumage) - Steven Coppen
Coriolus Versicolor (?) Fungus - Jan Martin
There you have it! Thank you for browsing the February sightings blog. Many thanks to all our visitors for reporting their sightings, and to the photographers in the 'Friends of RSPB Rye Meads (new)' community Facebook group who share all their photos. If you'd like to contribute to these blogs or have any feedback on what you'd like to see, feel free to comment below, or get in touch with us at rye.meads@rspb.org.uk
Matt Bartlett
Visitor Experience Manager - RSPB Rye Meads