May 2025

Tice's Meadow MAY 2025

Rushmoor Lottery

We have launched our page on the Rushmoor Community Lottery.  Tickets cost £1 per week - we will receive 50p per ticket (and other local good causes 10p). You could win up to £25,000! Scan the QR code below, or click this link to go to our page. Thank you for your support.

https://www.rushmoorlottery.co.uk/support/tices-meadow-bird-group

 

 

Volunteer Work Parties

Surrey County Council are now running all volunteer work parties at Tice's Meadow with the help of the TMBG - see below for details.

 

Webcam Update

This year, for a change, the Kestrels have nested in the Jackdaw box, and there are Jackdaws in the Kestrel box. Two Kestrel eggs have been seen, probably laid on the 28^th and 29^th April, and there is an unknown amount of hatched Jackdaws.

The male and female Barn Owls were together for the beginning of May, and then it was just the female. However, for the end part of May, the Barn Owl box has remained empty.

Kestrel and two eggs

Barn Owls

The bird year list now stands at 114 species (excluding 2 escape species)

83 bird species were reported during May.

Thank you to everyone who reports their sightings.

For the most up to date info, click on the link below and Follow

TMBG

Thursday 1^st May

8 Common Sandpiper, 3 Common Tern, Garden Warbler, Green Woodpecker, 2 Shelduck, Whimbrel, Whitethroat

Friday 2^nd May

17 Gadwall, 2 Little Egret, 2 Water Rail, 2 Common Tern, Whimbrel

Roger Dickey, ably assisted by Anya, Aspen and Len, conducted a bird ringing session near to the Twin Oaks on the east side of the meadow. Some particular birds of note were a number of Cetti's Warbler, a female Blackbird - just starting to show signs of breeding, and a newly arrived Reed Warbler.

Female Blackbird - © Roger Dickey	Reed Warbler - © Roger Dickey
	Ringing crew - © Roger Dickey

Myung-hye Chun photographed the first Azure damselfly of the year.

Azure damsfly (Coenagrion puella) - © Myung-hye Chun

Sunday 4^th May

2 Common Sandpiper, Hobby (111^th bird species for 2025 – last recorded 02/10/2024, 6 Mute Swan, Pochard, 6 Swift, Whimbrel (present for the eighth day, the longest stay since 2/3 were present from 19^th April 2016 to 25^th April 2016)

Monday 5^th May

6 Blackcap, 3 Common Sandpiper, 3 Greenfinch, Sparrowhawk, Stonechat, 10 Swift

Tuesday 6^th May

Reed Warbler, Whitethroat, 2 Common Sandpiper

Wednesday 7^th May

4 Common Sandpiper, 3 Common Tern

Thursday 8^th May

Black-headed Gull (first chicks have started to hatch), Canada Goose (pair with a single gosling), 6 Common Sandpiper, 5 Gadwall, Greenshank (112^th bird species for 2025 – last recorded 08/09/2024

Friday 9^th May

2 Common Sandpiper, 24 Moorhen

17 people joined in the volunteer work party, including the Surrey Choices team. The logs that were obstructing the flow of the river were removed and the encroaching vegetation on the main track was cut back.

Volunteer work party

Saturday 10^th May

Chiffchaff, 3 Common Sandpiper, Reed Bunting, 7 Mute Swan, Stock Dove, Wood Sandpiper (113^th bird species for 2025 – 38^th site record – last recorded on 21/08/2023

NEW SPECIES for site, a Caddisfly – Grammotaulius nigropunctatus

Caddisfly - © Kevin Duncan

Sunday 11^th May

Canada Goose (second pair with seven goslings), 3 Common Tern, 5 Gadwall, 6 Grey Heron, Little Egret, 2 Lapwing, Common Sandpiper, 7 Egyptian Goose, 2 Jay (collecting material for a nest)

Monday 12^th May

Canada Goose (second pair with seven goslings), Cattle Egret (10^th site record – last recorded 24/04/2025), Great White Egret (114^th species for 2025 – 31^st site record – last recorded 29/01/2025

Great White Egret - © Kevin Duncan

Tuesday 13^th May

Cattle Egret, Common Sandpiper, 4 Common Tern, 4 Egyptian Goose, Ringed Plover

Cattle Egret - © Kevin Duncan

Roger, with the help of Len, checked all 40 of the nest boxes located in the woods within Tice's Meadow Nature Reserve. The Blue Tits and Great Tits are still in mid 'brooding', although nest building seems to be all but over. The current spell of warm dry weather has brought out insects and much needed food supplies, and both species are making the most of it. Predation is also down so far and only two nests have failed completely, possibly due to the absence of food providing adults. Several Great Tit broods have already flown and the Blue Tits don't look far behind.

Great Tit and Blue Tit pulli - © Roger Dickey

Cattle Egret, Common Sandpiper, Pied Wagtail, Ringed Plover

Thursday 15^th May

Common Sandpiper, 14 Egyptian Goose, c100 Swift, c50 Swallow, c100 House Martin, 6 Common Tern

Friday 16^th May

Common Sandpiper, 7 Common Tern, Hobby

Creeping Buttercup flowering in the meadow.

Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens)

Saturday 17^th May

Oystercatcher, Hobby, Green Woodpecker

Sunday 18^th May

Chaffinch, 2 Little Grebe, Sedge Warbler, Green Woodpecker

Monday 19^th May

Chaffinch, Greenfinch, 6 Lapwing, 6 Little Egret, Grey Plover (10^th site record)

Photograph of Grey Plover taken through a scope.

Grey Plover - © Pete Brown

In the meadow: Common Bird's-foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), Common Blue butterfly (Polyommatus icarus) and Mother Shipton moth (Callistege mi) on a Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale).

Tuesday 20^th May

Common Sandpiper, 2 Greylag Goose, 15 Moorhen, 6 Tufted Duck

Wednesday 21^st May

117 Coot, 9 Lapwing, 16 Little Egrets, 16 Magpie, 37 Mallard, 2 Teal

Thursday 22^nd May

6 Mute Swan, 2 Ringed Plover, 13 Little Egret, 26 Swift

Pete Brown's video of a Great Spotted Woodpecker feeding its young.

A prestigious day for the Tice's Meadow Bird Group and all the volunteers. As part of the TMBG being awarded the King's Award for Voluntary Service, Katie and John had the honour of attending the King's Garden Party at Buckingham Palace. Being dedicated volunteers themselves, they made excellent representatives for all of  the Tice's Meadow volunteers. Katie has organised many very popular kids' events and John has been a part of the TMBG from the very start.

Katie & John

Friday 23^rd May

12 Great Crested Grebe, 2 Jay, 11 Little Egret, 23 Magpie, Pochard

23 Volunteers attended the regular Friday work party including the team from Surrey Choices. The vegetation along the paths to Low Lane was cut back to make them safe and easily accessible for the users of Tice's Meadow Nature Reserve. The saplings growing next to the meadow were given space to thrive by removing the smothering growth of surrounding plants.

Common Tubic moth at the nature reserve.

Common Tubic moth (Alabonia geoffrella) - © Kevin Duncan

Saturday 24^th May

6 Common Tern, 14 Little Egret, 19 Swift

Sunday 25^th May

Chiffchaff, 2 Garden Warbler, 20 Little Egret (new site record count), 6 Long-tailed Tit, Peregrine

Monday 26^th May

Buzzard, Common Sandpiper, 119 Coot, 4 Cormorant, 11 Gadwall, Kestrel, 44 Mallard, 42 Swift

Tuesday 27^th May

35 Canada Goose, 4 Collared Dove, 4 Cormorant, 16 Gadwall, 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 3 Grey Heron, 4 Lapwing, 5 Tufted Duck

Wednesday 28^th May

3 Buzzard, 14 Greylag Goose, 6 Lapwing, 4 Little Egret, Ringed Plover

Thursday 29^th May

No reported sightings

Friday 30^th May

55 Canada Goose, 137 Coot, Goldcrest, Grey Wagtail, 11 Little Egret, 2 Ringed Plover

Great short video from Pete Brown showing that the Swifts have taken up residence in the Swift Tower for another year. This is the fifth year the swifts have kept the colony going.

Swift in Tower - © Peter Brown

Saturday 31^st May

14 Great Crested Grebe, 9 Lapwing, 13 Little Egrets

April

Tice’s Meadow APRIL 2025

 Rushmoor Lottery

We've launched our page on the Rushmoor Community Lottery.  Tickets cost £1 per week - we will receive 50p per ticket (and other local good causes 10p). You could win up to £25,000! Scan the QR code below, or click this link to go to our page. Thank you for your support.

https://www.rushmoorlottery.co.uk/support/tices-meadow-bird-group

Volunteer Work Parties

Surrey County Council are now running all volunteer work parties at Tice's Meadow with the help of the TMBG - see below for details.

The previous Chairman/Secretary of the TMBG is no longer a part of the group.

The bird year list stands at 107 species (excluding 2 escape species).

85 bird species were reported during April.

For the most up to date info, click on link and Follow

TMBG

Tuesday 1st April

Blackcap, Chiffchaff and 2 Egyptian Geese 

Thursday 3rd April

3 Cetti’s Warbler, 2 Chaffinch, 10 Chiffchaff, 112 Coot, 8 Cormorant, Firecrest (17th record for site -last recorded on 06/02/2024 – 92nd bird species for 2025), 20 Gadwall, Goldcrest, 8 Great Crested Grebe, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, 4 Greenfinch, 2 Lapwing, Little Egret, 3 Little Grebe, 3 Reed Bunting, 32 Shoveler, Snipe, Stonechat, 8 Teal, 44 Tufted Duck and 5 Wigeon.

Friday 4th April

2 Blackcap, Bullfinch, 3 Cetti’s Warbler, 2 Chaffinch, 9 Chiffchaff, 18 Gadwall, Green Woodpecker, 6 Greenfinch, 3 Lapwing, Little Egret, 4 Little Grebe and 4 Wigeon.

Sunday 6th April

3 Blackcap, 4 Chaffinch, 4 Chiffchaff, 3 Coal Tit, 2 Greenfinch, Lapwing, 4 Shoveler, Snipe, Sparrowhawk, 2 Teal, 2 Wigeon and Yellow Wagtail (93rd bird species for 2025).

Monday 7th April

3 Cetti’s Warbler, 10 Chiffchaff, 8 Gadwall, Great Spotted Warbler, Lapwing, 2 Shoveler, Snipe and 4 Wigeon.

Tuesday 8th April

6 Blackcap, 2 Cetti’s Warbler, 7 Chiffchaff, Firecrest (18th record for site - last recorded on 03/04/2024), 7 Gadwall, Green Woodpecker, Lapwing, Little Grebe, 7 Teal and two Wigeon.

Wednesday 9th April

2 Cetti’s Warbler, 2 Fieldfare, 4 Gadwall, 8 Great Crested Grebe, 2 Little Grebe, Mistle Thrush, Ring Ouzel (10th record for site, 94th bird species for 2025), Sand Martin, 4 Shoveler, 4 Snipe, 2 Swallow, 2 Teal and 25 Tufted Duck.

Thursday 10th April

6 Blackcap, 5 Cetti’s Warbler, 2 Chaffinch, 8 Chiffchaff, 6 Teal and 5 Wigeon.

Two Barn Owls have been roosting in the Barn Owl box for a few days now. Is this a late start for their breeding? Keep a watch at https://tices-meadow-barn-owls.click2stream.com/

Barn Owls

Friday 11th April

4 Blackcap, 4 Cetti’s Warbler, 1 Chaffinch, 8 Chiffchaff, 3 Cormorant, 10 Gadwall, Green Woodpecker, 3 Greenfinch, 2 Lapwing, 2 Little Grebe, 2 Reed Bunting, 4 Teal and 3 Wigeon.

Today we held a volunteer work party. The task was to build a new hibernacula and add more brash to the dead hedge. It was nice to be joined by the Surrey Choices Growth Team.

Saturday 12th April

3 Blackcap, 2 Cetti’s Warbler, Chaffinch, 8 Gadwall, Green Sandpiper, 2 Greenfinch, 2 Little Egret, 2 Shoveler, Snipe, 2 Stonechat and 2 Teal.

Tuesday 15th April

3 Cetti’s Warbler, 2 Common Tern (arrived 9 days later than in 2024, 95th bird species for 2025), Greenfinch, Lapwing, 10 Sand Martin, 5 Swallow and Willow Warbler (arrived 7 days later than in 2024, 96th bird species for 2025).

Wednesday 16th April

4 Blackcap, 2 Cetti’s Warbler, Green Sandpiper, House Martin (arrived 10 days later than 2024, 97th bird species for 2025), Kestrel, Lapwing, Little Egret, Redwing, and Whimbrel (28th record for site, last recorded 29/04/2024).

Thursday 17th April

In anticipation of the return from their winter home, the playing of recorded calls of Sand Martins has started at the artificial Sand Martin bank. These small hirundines spend the winter months south of the Sahara Desert and then migrate north to breed.

Sand Martin Bank and Caller

Friday 18th April

4 Blackcap, Bullfinch, 4 Cetti’s Warbler, Chaffinch, 2 Common Tern, Goldcrest, Greenfinch, 2 Reed Bunting, 4 Reed Warbler, 8 Sand Martin.

Saturday 19th April

10 Blackcap, 5 Cetti’s Warbler, 2 Chaffinch, Goldcrest, Green Woodpecker, 5 Greenfinch, Little Egret, Little Grebe, 2 Reed Bunting, 3 Reed Warbler (arrived 11 days later than in 2024, 99th bird species for 2025 and Whitethroat (arrived 5 days later than in 2024, 98th bird species for 2025).

Sunday 20th April

2 Blackcap, 2 Cetti’s Warbler, Garden Warbler (arrived 3 days later than in 2025, 100th bird species for 2025), Linnet (first for year, 101st bird species for 2025), Little Egret, Reed Bunting, Whitethroat and Willow Warbler.

Monday 21st April

Common Sandpiper (first of the year, recorded 23 days earlier than in 2024, 102nd bird species for 2025), 2 Common Tern, 3 House Martin and 2 Swift (first for year, arrived on the same day as in 2024, 103rd bird species for 2025).

Swifts start to arrive in the UK towards the end of April. Therefore, today the caller on the swift tower was switched on and its solar panels were cleaned. There is now an established swift colony in the nest box, so this will probably be the last year it needs to be playing.

Swift Tower

Tuesday 22nd April

Cetti’s Warbler, Common Sandpiper, Garden Warbler, Greenfinch, House Martin, Little Egret, Peregrine, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler, 3 Sand Martin, 2 Swallow, Swift, Whitethroat and Wigeon.

Wednesday 23rd April

3 Common Tern, 8 Gadwall, 3 House Martin, 4 Mute Swan, Snipe, 42 Swallow and 2 Swift.

Thursday 24th April

Cattle Egret (9th record for site, last recorded on 25/09/2024, 104th bird species for 2025), 2 Cetti’s Warbler, Common Tern, 85 Coot, 4 Gadwall, Green Woodpecker, Lapwing, 14 House Martin, 21 Moorhen, Reed Warbler, Sand Martin, c100 Swallow, 2 Snipe and Whitethroat.

Cattle Egret - © Kevin Duncan

Friday 25th April

2 Common Tern and 6 Gadwall.

Saturday 26th April

Cetti’s Warbler, 4 Gadwall, Lapwing, Little Ringed Plover (first of the year, 105th species for the year), 2 Reed Warbler, 6 Shelduck (106th bird species for 2025, last recorded 02/02/2024, equals the site record count set on 21/09/2013), 3 Swift and Whitethroat.

Fantastic team work by 19 volunteers including Surrey Choices today clearing willow and bramble along path by the bridge under power lines and adding to existing dead hedge.

   

Volunteers - © Don Lemmon	Volunteers - © Don Lemmon
Volunteers - © Don Lemmon	Volunteers - © Don Lemmon

Sunday 27th April 

Bullfinch, Cetti’s Warbler, 3 Common Tern, 2 Greenfinch, 15 House Sparrow, Lapwing, Female Mallard with three small ducklings (first brood of the year), 3 Sparrowhawk, 12 Swift, Wheatear, Whimbrel (29th record for site, last recorded 16/04/2025) and 2 Whitethroat.

Monday 28th April

Whimbrel, 2 Garden Warbler, Nuthatch, Water Rail.

First sighting of Kestrel egg.

Kestrel and Egg

Tuesday 29th April

Bullfinch, 5 Common Sandpiper, 3 Common Tern, 2 Lapwing, Little Egret, Female Mallard brood down to two ducklings from three, Whimbrel (present for fourth day).

A good number of clumps of Cuckoo Flower (Cardamine Pratensis) are flowering in the meadow. The Cuckoo flower is a primary host plant for the Orange-tip butterfly's caterpillars.

Cuckoo Flower

         

Community Update: McDonald's 24-Hour Drive-Through Proposal

Efforts to Maintain Pressure on Guildford Borough Council

 

The TMBG would like to inform everyone that we are diligently working to maintain pressure on Guildford Borough Council’s planning department regarding the review of the proposed McDonald's 24-hour drive-through restaurant adjacent to Tice’s Meadow.

 

Health and Wellbeing Concerns

From a health and wellbeing perspective, we have significant concerns about the potential impact of this development. A 24-hour drive-through facility is likely to lead to increased traffic, noise and light pollution, and litter, all of which potentially could adversely affect the quality of life for local residents.

 

Environmental Impact

Additionally, there are serious environmental and habitat impacts to consider. The development is likely to have detrimental effects on local nature both during construction and in the aftermath of the proposed changes to the landscape. The construction process will lead to habitat destruction and degradation, and water pollution, threatening local wildlife and plant species. Post-construction, the increased vehicular activity will contribute to air pollution and the operation will increase litter, further harming the environment.

McDonald's Proposed Site (blue line)

Tuesday 29th April

Our licensed bird ringer carried out bird nest box inspections with the following results. 12 birds were retraped (already had rings sometime in the past on site). One new adult ringed. Also 16 pulli (chicks) ringed from 16 boxes, plus many more boxes with eggs. The oldest Blue Tit on a nest was a nine year old.

Roger ringing - © Aspen Salisbury

Great Tit eggs - © Roger Dickey

Great Tit pulli © Roger Dickey

Wednesday 30th April

5 Common Sandpiper, 3 Common Tern, 11 Gadwall, Lapwing, Little Egret, Reed Bunting, Whimbrel (present for fourth day), Whinchat (first of year, arrived 11 days later than in 2024, 107th bird species for 2025).

Whinchat - © Kevin Duncan