June 2025

 Tice's Meadow JUNE 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.

Coming up in July, do not miss the - 

Tice's Meadow Bird Group and Surrey County Council

Our big annual event, the Tice's Meadow Community Day (formerly the BioBlitz) is scheduled for Saturday the 19th July 2025. Fun for all with lots to see and do.

	Previous Community Days

June Overall Bird Count

The bird year list now stands at 114 species (excluding 2 escape species). It was 125 in 2024.

25 bird species were recorded during June.

Thank you to everyone who reports their sightings.

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

TMBG

 

Sunday 1^st June

4 Cormorant, 19 Gadwall, 16 Great Crested Grebe, 9 Lapwing, 14 Little Egret, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Shoveler

Part of a flock of eleven Little Egret - © Kevin Duncan

Monday 2^nd June

7 Mute Swan, 2 Shoveler, 25 Swift

Coloured ring Lapwing - © Kevin Duncan

New species found at Tice’s Meadow – Shining Fungus Beetle (Scaphidium quadrimaculatum) and Chequered Weevil (Liophloeus tessulatus)

Shining Fungus Beetle - © Kevin Duncan

Chequered Weevil - © Kevin Duncan

Tuesday 3^rd June

4 Common Tern, 24 Gadwall, 13 Lapwing, 9 Little Egret, 7 Mute Swan

Wednesday 4^th June

14 Greylag Goose, Hobby, 5 Little Egret, 12 Mute Swan

Thursday 5^th June

141 Coot, 18 Gadwall, 13 Great Crested Grebe, 18 Little Egret, 61 Mallard, 2 Shoveler, 53 Swift

Friday 6^th June

Buzzard, 31 Gadwall, 10 Mute Swan, Shoveler, 32 Swift

Saturday 7^th June

12 Crested Grebe, 68 Mallard, 5 Mute Swan, Shoveler

Sunday 8^th June

No reported sightings

A pair of Common Terns are nesting on the roof of the flooded hide with at least two eggs.

Common Tern with egg - © John Hunt

Common Tern with egg - © John Hunt

There were eighteen volunteers attending the work party, including the team from Surrey Choices. We were expecting inclement weather, therefore the scheduled task was changed to litter picking. As it turned out, the skies were clear and sunny. A new map of the reserve was put up in the shelter on the mound.

Monday 9^th June

Little Egret, Shoveler

Tuesday 10^th June

139 Canada Goose, 3 Cetti’s Warbler, 6 Common Tern, Green Woodpecker, 5 Little Egret

There is a good amount of Bee Orchids (Ophrys apifera) in the meadow at Tice’s. The flowers mimic the appearance of a particular species of female bee, fooling the male into trying to mate and thus pollinating the orchid instead. In the UK the particular bee the orchid is designed to attract is not present, therefore it relies on self pollination.

Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera)

Wednesday 11^th June

No reported sightings

Back in April 2021, seed of Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria) was scattered on the eastern side of the meadow in an attempt to try to introduce the plant into the reserve. Kidney Vetch is the sole foodplant for the caterpillar of the UK's smallest resident butterfly, the Small Blue (Cupido minimus), which is declining in most areas. The female Small Blue lays her eggs one at a time on the flower head and the developing larvae feed on the anthers and seed. The adults do take nectar from other plants such as Bird's-foot-trefoil, but it has to be in the vicinity of the Kidney Vetch. As you can see from the photograph below, the seed took hold and the vetch is thriving.

Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria)

Thursday 12^th June

127 Canada Goose, 8 Great Crested Grebe, 15 Little Egret

Friday 13^th June

2 Grey Heron, Little Egret

Saturday 14^th June

6 Cormorant, 12 Little Egret, Redshank, Shoveler, 2 Tufted Duck

Sunday 15^th June

Goldcrest, Green Sandpiper, 2 Greenshank (112^th bird species for 2025), 34 Little Egret (site record count), Mistle Thrush, 4 Shoveler

Greenshank - © Kevin Duncan

Monday 16^th June

Kingfisher, 2 little Grebe, Redshank (colour ringed), Shoveler, Teal

Tuesday 17^th June

7 Little Egret

Wednesday 18^th June

143 Canada Goose, 192 Coot, 5 Grey Heron, 58 Mallard, Teal

Marbled White butterfly (Melanargia galathea) - © Gillian Bamford

Thursday 19^th June

2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 14 Greylag Goose, 6 Little Egret, Whitethroat

Friday 20^th June

142 Black-headed Gull, 17 Little Egret, Teal

Saturday 21^st June

155 Canada Goose, 3 Great White Egret, 873 Jackdaw, Kingfisher, 22 Little Egret, c200 Starling

Sunday 22^nd June

2 Cetti’s Warbler, 4 Common Tern, Greenfinch, 14 Greylag Goose, Hobby, Kestrel, Redshank

Surrey Choices joined us for a volunteer work party (18 in total) in the scorching sun. We cut back the vegetation along the path to and through Tice’s Wood. Once that was done, we set back for lunch and on the way trimmed the path between the bridges.

Phew! What a scorcher.

Monday 23^rd June

4 Cormorant, 4 Common Tern, 8 Little Egret, Redshank

Tuesday 24^th June

208 Coot, 552 Jackdaw, 41 Mallard

Wednesday 25^th June

8 Great Crested Grebe, 4 Grey Heron, 29 Lapwing, 4 Little Egret, Little Grebe, Redshank

Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) - © Jack Spencer

Thursday 26^th June

3 Common Sandpiper, 29 Lapwing, 16 Little Egret, 3 Redshank

Friday 27^th June

14 Great Crested Grebe (includes pair with four chicks), 13 Little Egret, Little Grebe, 2 Teal

Saturday 28^th June

4 Egyptian Goose, 14 Great Crested Grebe, Green Sandpiper, 13 Greylag Goose, 32 Lapwing

Sunday 29^th June

161 Canada Goose, 202 Coot, 5 Grey Heron, 33 Lapwing, 6 Little Egret

Damselfly - © Jon Hawkins

Monday 30^th June

Green Sandpiper, 8 Little Egret, Redshank

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