Tice's Meadow March 2026
Rushmoor Community Lottery
The TMBG have a page
on the Rushmoor Community Lottery website to help us raise money for the nature
reserve. Tickets cost £1 per
week, of which, we will receive 50p per ticket and other local good causes
receive 10p. There is a top prize of £25,000 for matching all 6 numbers and a
range of other prizes. Click the link below to go to our page, or scan
the QR code on the poster. Thank
you for your support.
Volunteer Work Parties
Surrey County Council are now running all
volunteer work parties at Tice's Meadow in partnership with the TMBG - see
below for details.
Tice’s
Meadow March 2026 Overall Bird Count
The bird
year list now stands at 96 species (excluding 2 escape species). It was 91
(plus 2 escapes) in 2025.
79 bird
species were reported in the recording area during March.
Thank you to
everyone who reports their sightings.
For the most up to date
information, click on the link below and Follow.
We have launched our
new Facebook Group page where everyone can post their Tice’s Meadow related
pictures, sightings, etc.
Friends of Tice’s
Meadow | Facebook
A selection of
sightings follows.
Sunday 1st
March
2 Chaffinch, Red Kite
 |
| Black-headed Gull © Richard Wright |
 |
| Red Kite © Steve Sparks |
Monday 2nd
March
2 Chaffinch, 6
Cormorant, Nuthatch, Reed Bunting, 2 Stonechat
 |
| Stock photo of a Dunlin |
Tuesday 3rd
March
3 Bullfinch, 2
Dunlin, Green Woodpecker, Red-crested Pochard (6th record for site - last
recorded on 05/01/2019 – 85th bird species for 2026)
At Tice's Meadow we
have long needed a boat to be able to reach the islands and rafts on the large
expanse of water known as the Workings. We are now delighted to announce that,
thanks to our friends at the Brickfields Country Park, the Tice's Meadow Bird
Group is now the proud owner of a fibreglass dinghy.
Brickfields nature
reserve have taken ownership of a new plastic boat leaving their old one
available to be passed on to us. With the kind assistance of Paul and Rich from
Surrey County Council, we were able to help Trevor from Brickfields to pick-up
their new boat and to also collect the one for Tice's.
Once again, a big
thank you to everyone at Brickfields and Surrey County Council for making this
possible.
 |
|
 |
| Grey Squirrel © Jack Spencer |
Banstead Swifts
wrote:
Tonight, we went to a very special meeting organised by Christa and Dan at Surrey Wildlife Trust. Thank you so much to them for bringing us all together and being such great hosts. We are a Surrey Swift Collective!
It was an absolute
pleasure to meet all those there including:
Guildford Swift Project, Tice's Meadow Bird Group, Haslemere Biodiversity Group, Pete from Farnham, Hampshire Swifts, Richard from Unstead, Worcester Gardens Residents Group (and Swift Project), Alex and Lauren, online.
And us, Barry and
Annie of Banstead Swifts.
 |
| The Surrey Swift Collective |
Wednesday 4th
March
2 Green Sandpiper, 2
Little Egret, Oystercatcher (86th bird species for 2026)
Thursday 5th
March
2 Blackcap, 2
Buzzard, 4 Great Crested Grebe, 2 Green Sandpiper, Grey Wagtail, 1 Little
Egret, Oystercatcher
 |
| Oystercatcher © John Hunt |
 |
| Peacock Butterfly © Jack Spencer |
Friday 6th
March
Oystercatcher
Final bonfire of the
winter season in reedbeds. 7 volunteers plus the Surrey CC ranger cleared the
remaining willow and dogwood cuttings from previous work parties. The reedbed
will remain closed for the breeding season with only our licensed ringing team
accessing to monitor birds.
 |
| Working in the reedbed |
A little earlier than
normal, TMBG switched on the Sand Martin caller today. The Sand Martins also
now have a clear path from the water to the Sand Martin box thanks to the great
work carried out by Surrey County Council Countryside team. Let’s hope we are
successful this year in attracting the Sand Martins into the nest boxes.
|
|
 |
Saturday 7th
March
Black-tailed Godwit
(87th bird species for 2026), Oystercatcher
Sunday 8th
March
2 Black-tailed
Godwit, 2 Green Sandpiper, Oystercatcher
 |
| Long-tailed Tit © Steve Sparkes |
Monday 9th
March
Green Sandpiper, Little Egret, Oystercatcher
Tuesday 10th
March
Oystercatcher
Wednesday 11th
March
Oystercatcher
Thursday 12th
March
Oystercatcher
Friday 13th
March
Curlew (88th bird
species for 2026), 2 Green Sandpiper, Greylag Goose (colour ringed – A male
ringed on 2nd July 2025 during its annual moult on the
Serpentine in Hyde Park, London. It remained at the Serpentine during July and
has not been reported from anywhere since.), Oystercatcher
 |
| Curlew |
Busy morning widening
the meadow path and clearing bramble, hopefully to help dry the muddy
ground. Led by our Surrey CC ranger, Surrey
Choices growth team and members of the TMBG.
|
 |
||
 |
Today we completed
the first Riverfly survey in the Tice's section of the Blackwater River as part
of the Blackwater Valley Action for our Rivers (BVAR) initiative. We recorded
the following:
Caddisfly 13, Caddisfly caseless 1, Mayfly 5, Olive 9, Freshwater shrimp 4, Damselfly nymph 2 (shown in image), Alderfly 2, Water scorpion 1
|
|
Saturday 14th
March
2 Green Sandpiper
We are delighted to
announce that Beverley will be joining our team. Beverley has written a brief piece
to introduce herself.
Hi all! I just wanted
to introduce myself as I'll be the volunteer organising and running the kids
activities at Tice’s this spring / summer whilst your usual children's leader
is on maternity leave. My family live in Royale Close so the meadow is a
regular spot for us, along with Manor Park, Aldershot Park, Brickfields and
lots of National Trust sites! We love walking, nature and especially fungi!
I'm currently working
as an educational consultant 1 day pw ( I'm an ex headteacher and English /
SEND specialist), as a health and safety consultant 3 days per month, and have
also just opened an arts business in Makers' Yard, Aldershot, where I'm promoting
Tice’s to people on the Aldershot /Surrey border via a different nature sketch
sold in aid of the Meadow each quarter (Currently a frog called 'Just Looking')
I'm often at Tice’s with Adam (the dog), husband James, or my two boys, Josh
and Joe. Please feel free to say hi! (-:
 |
| Beverley-Saah White. The TMBG's new Kids' Activities organiser |
Sunday 15th
March
Firecrest (19th record for site - last recorded in October 2025 – 89th bird species for 2026), Little Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher
The first Little
Ringed Plover arrived. The graph shows the first day of arrival for each year
going back to 2005. The photo is of a Little Ringed Plover taken at Tice's
Meadow in May 2025.
 |
| Little Ringed Plover |
 |
| Reed Bunting © Graham Sharples |
Monday 16th
March
Green Sandpiper,
Little Egret, Little Ringed Plover (90th bird species for 2026), 3
Oystercatcher
 |
| Oystercatcher © John Hunt |
Tues 17th
March
Green Sandpiper,
Little Egret, Oystercatcher
It was as a pleasure
to walk members Farnham U3A around Tice’s Meadow today. Over thirty bird
species seen or heard.
Wednesday 18th
March
2 Green Sandpiper, 3
Oystercatcher
There will be a monthly transect for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust as well as the weekly Butterfly Conservation transects this summer, so a test run was done today, taking advantage of the warm sunshine. Various other insects and spring flowers were out, and dunnocks sang behind the mound.
 |
| Lesser Celandine © Gillian Bamford |
Thursday 19th
March
2 Green Sandpiper,
Oystercatcher, Sparrowhawk
Friday 20th
March
2 Green Sandpiper,
Little Egret
Saturday 21st
March
2 Green Sandpiper
Today's task was to
build a dead hedge along the eastern border of the reserve to help deter access
to the 'Bat Lake' area, which has no public access due to safety risks and to
minimize human disturbance. The Surrey CC ranger, assisted by five TMBG volunteers
and five representatives from Surrey Choices, chopped, dragged, and built the
hedge on a glorious spring morning, with everyone working hard and
demonstrating excellent teamwork. Dead hedges, made from natural materials
sourced from onsite habitat management activities, provide shelter and nesting
places for wildlife while forming a useful barrier to protect sensitive
habitats. Around the site, mining bees explored the bare ground ready to
excavate nest holes, Hairy-footed flower bees enjoyed the first Cowslips, and Black-headed
gulls snoozed in the sunshine. We were rewarded for our efforts with a glimpse
of a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly at the Mound as we made our way back to the
car, making it a very enjoyable and satisfying work party in just a few hours.
 |
 |
||
|
 |
Sunday 22nd
March
3 Green Sandpiper, 3
Little Egret
 |
| Black-headed Gull © Jon Hawkins |
Monday 23rd
March
2 Oystercatcher,
Wheatear (91st bird species for 2026)
We are now on
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ticesmeadow.bsky.social
as well as:
TMBG Facebook Page: https://facebook.com/TicesMeadowBirdGroup
Friends of Tice's
Meadow Facebook Group Page: https://facebook.com/groups/friendsofticesmeadow
Check out our
website: https://ticesmeadow.org
 |
| Tice's Meadow © Trever Saunders |
The first Wheatear
has arrived. The graph shows the first day of arrival for each year going back
to 2005 and the trend line indicates that overall, it is arriving earlier. The
photo is of a Wheatear taken at Tice's Meadow in April 2025 © Gav Thane.
 |
| Wheatear © Gav Thane |
Tues 24th
March
2 Green Sandpiper, 2
Nuthatch
Wednesday 25th
March
No reported sightings
Thursday 26th
March
3 Green Sandpiper,
Kingfisher, 4 Ringed Plover (92nd bird species for 2026), Snipe
The TMBG is dedicated
to celebrating, protecting, and promoting Tice’s Meadow as a haven for nature,
wildlife, peace, and quiet—a green space for the enjoyment and well-being of
our local community and surrounding areas. Tice's Meadow is officially
designated as a Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI).
We are a
volunteer-driven group, and everything we achieve is thanks to the passion,
support, and hard work of our amazing volunteers and partner organisations. We
are proud to work alongside social groups such as Surrey Choices, and many
individuals of all abilities who join us to contribute, socialise, learn new
skills, and enjoy time outdoors together. The Friends of Tice’s Meadow Facebook
group is the official group for Tice’s Meadow owned by SCC and five other local
authorities. Friends of Tice's Meadow collaborate in partnership with the SCC
countryside team that manage the site.
Our shared goal is to
nurture Tice’s Meadow as a thriving, welcoming place for wildlife and people
alike. Whether you’re here to stay informed, get involved, or simply enjoy the
beauty of the reserve, you are very welcome.
 |
| Blue Tit © Richard Wright |
Friday 27th
March
Blackcap. Cetti’s
Warbler, Chiffchaff, Nuthatch
Today’s work party
was focused on clearing old plastic tree guards and building a dead hedge
around the children's education area. Two large bags full of plastic were
removed from around the Lisa's bench area and many of the saplings planted a
year ago are looking very healthy now. Thanks to the Surrey CC ranger and 7
volunteers from TMBG.
 |
 |
 |
 |
Bit of spring
cleaning and rationalisation at the feeding station.
 |
 |
Roger Dickey: A quick
check of the Tice’s Meadow small nest boxes this morning discovered that of 40
boxes, 11 nests were fully ready but no sitting tenant, 10 were undergoing
renovation, 5 had left a deposit (of moss) and the rest currently empty. A mix
of Blue and Great Tits and one other. So, it looks promising although some
empty boxes will be removed shortly, in areas where there are considered to be
too many.
Green Sandpiper,
Little Egret, 3 Ringed Plover
Sunday 29th
March
Osprey (23rd site
record - last recorded on 01/08/2024 - 93rd bird species for 2026)
An Osprey was seen
flying over the Mound today. It is the 23rd site record, last
recorded on 1st August 2024.
Below is a stock
photo of an Osprey and a graph showing the accumulated number of sightings per
month at Tice's Meadow since 2012.
 |
| Osprey |
Monday 30th March
Green Sandpiper,
Little Egret, Ringed Plover, Ring Ouzel (10th record for site - last recorded
on 22/10/2023 – 94th bird species for 2026), Willow Warbler (95th bird species
for 2026)
Tuesday 31st
March
Common Sandpiper (96th
bird species for 2026)
Simon Carroll: A
brief walk around Tice's this morning, good to see the sunshine breaking
through, even encouraging a few butterflies out including 4x Brimstone, 2x
orange tip, 4x peacock and 1 Comma sunning itself on the bridge.
|
 |
