Tice’s Meadow April 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 April 2026 Overall Bird Count
The bird
year list now stands at 113 species (excluding 3 escape species). It was 111
(plus 2 escapes) in 2025.
86 bird
species were reported in the recording area during April.
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.
Wednesday 1st
April
3 Green Sandpiper,
Little Egret, 3 Oystercatcher, Wigeon
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| Blackcap © Richard Wright |
Thursday 2nd
April
4 Green Sandpiper,
Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Wigeon
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| Bruce at the Workings © Simon Monk |
Friday 3rd
April
2 Egyptian Goose, 3
Buzzard
Busy day clearing the
children's area and finishing off the dead hedge in Lisa's wood. Thanks to
Surrey CC ranger and 6 volunteers for their hard work today.
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| Jay © Jack Spencer |
Saturday 4th
April
2 Green Sandpiper, Little Egret, 4 Oystercatcher, c30 Swallow (97th bird species for 2026 – arrived 5 days later than in 2025)
The Tice's Meadow
Bird Group/Friends of Tice's Meadow are pleased to announce that an egg has
been laid by the Kestrel at the Kiln. Note: it is in the Jackdaw box and not
the Kestrel box.
The Jackdaw cam and
all the webcams can be accessed via the links on our website.
https://www.ticesmeadow.org/p/blog-page_19.htm
The Kiln Barn Owls
are on their journey to raise owlets for this year. The video clip shows the
moment the first egg was laid. It takes about 31 to 32 days for the egg to
hatch. With all things going well, we should see the first egg hatch around the
30th April/1st May.
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| Roe Deer © Richard Wright |
Sunday 5th
April
Common Sandpiper,
Green Sandpiper, Oystercatcher
The male Barn Owl is
doing a good job bringing rodents for the female to eat.
4 Common Sandpiper, 3 Green Sandpiper, 2
Oystercatcher, Red-legged Partridge (98th bird species for 2026 - 13th
record for site – last recorded on 05/05/2024), Ringed Plover, Wheatear, 3
Wigeon
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| Three Common Sandpiper in the Workings © Kevin Duncan |
Tuesday 7th
April
Common Sandpiper,
Green Sandpiper, Little Egret, Oystercatcher
Today's butterfly transect results: 15 Brimstone, 2 Comma, 4 Holly Blue, 7 Orange Tip, 8 Peacock, 4 Small White and 2 Speckled Wood.
There were plenty
more Orange Tips, Holly Blues and Brimstones flying around the site, off the
transect route.
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Wednesday 8th
April
Coal Tit, 2 Curlew, 2
Green Sandpiper, 2 Little Egret, Oystercatcher, Reed Warbler (100th
bird species for 2026 - arrived 10 days earlier than in 2025), Sedge Warbler
(101st bird species for 2026 - arrived 22 days earlier than in 2025)
2 Whitethroat (99th bird species for 2026 - arrived 11 days earlier
than in 2025)
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| Whitethroat © John Hunt |
Thursday 9th
April
Garden Warbler (102nd
bird species for 2026 - arrived 11 days earlier than in 2025), Green Sandpiper
Friday 10th
April
2 Garden Warbler,
Green Sandpiper, House Martin (103rd bird species for 2026 - arrived
6 days earlier than in 2025), Oystercatcher, 2 Reed Warbler, Rook (104th
bird species for 2026)
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| Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly © Simon Carroll |
The RSPB has issued new
guidance on feeding birds in your garden with the objective of reducing the
spread of diseases such as trichomonosis.
https://www.rspb.org.uk/wha.../news/how-to-help-garden-birds
1. Feed seasonally
During summer and
autumn, there’s a higher risk of disease spreading. From 1 May to 31 October,
pause filling your bird feeders with seeds or peanuts.
2. Feed safely
- Clean your bird
feeders and water baths at least once a week. Good hygiene is essential.
- Place your bird
feeders in a different spot every week.
- Avoid putting
feeders under places where birds roost, such as under trees.
- Don’t use bird
feeders with flat surfaces, such as bird tables, window feeders etc
- Feed in moderation.
Make sure all the food you put out is eaten within one to two days.
- Keep food as dry as
possible.
- Change water in
bird baths daily.
We will be following these guidelines from now on.
Roger Dickey: 'Not many migrants
outside the reed beds on Friday morning but a controlled Chiffchaff (ringed by
someone else away from Tice’s), a new Robin (AV) and a retrapped Cetti's, were
among several regular species. For those showing concern, the ringers will not
be using the feeding station until November.'
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Saturday 11th
April
Green Sandpiper,
Little Egret, Oystercatcher, Yellow Wagtail (105th bird species for
2026 - arrived 5 days later than in 2025)
Sunday 12th
April
2 Green Sandpiper,
Oystercatcher, Swift (106th bird species for 2026 - arrived 9 days
earlier than in 2025)
The Barn Owls have
laid a sixth egg. This equals the highest amount the Kiln Barn Owls have
produced since the web streaming started in 2020. The first egg laid should
hatch on 30th April/1st May and the sixth on 13th/14th May.
Monday 13th
April
5 Swift, 2 Green
Sandpiper
Tuesday 14th
April
2 Bullfinch, Common
Tern (107th bird species for 2026 - arrived 1 day earlier than in
2025)
First Common Tern
arrived this morning.
Common Terns were
first recoded at Tice's Meadow on 25th July 2005. Seen again in 2006 but it
wasn't until 2007 when they bred for the first time with five pairs fledging
chicks. They have successfully bred every year since, mostly on the man-made
'Tern Rafts' or the artificial Sand Martin Bank. The graph shows the first day
of arrival over the years. You can see from the trend line that overall it is
getting earlier.
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| First Common Tern of the year © Kevin Duncan |
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| Common Terns July 2025 © John Hunt |
Myung-hye Chun: 'Today I participated
the Riverfly Test with 3 other volunteers. We recorded 42 Cased caddis
(Trichoptera) larvae, 2 Caseless caddis (Hydropsychidae), over 200 Freshwater
shrimps (Gammaridae) and 9 Olive nymphs (Baetidae). Also 10 damselfly larvae, a
water scorpion and 2 diving beetles were found. We were particularly pleased to
see lots of Caddisfly larvae which shows cleanliness of our water.'
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Riverfly Survey © Gillian Bamford |
Wednesday 15th
April
Common Tern, Little Egret, Oystercatcher
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| Whitethroat next to the Mound © Graham Sharples |
Thursday 16th
April
2 Little Egret, 2
Oystercatcher
Friday 17th
April
2 Oystercatcher,
Snipe
Thank you to the
volunteers who spent the morning removing tree guards from the Bat Lake area.
The plastic protectors will be recycled.
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Saturday 18th
April
5 Cormorant
Sunday 19th
April
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| Speckled Wood Butterfly © Jack Spencer |
Monday 20th
April
Common Sandpiper,
Hobby, 2 Oystercatcher, White Stork (of unknown origin but most likely from the
reintroduction project at the Knepp Estate in West Sussex.)
A rare sighting of a
White Stork this morning, circling low over the meadow—last seen here in August
2024. It was being harassed by a Red Kite, which seemed to deter it from
landing. Eventually, it caught a thermal, soared to a great height, and headed
southeast.
There’s a good chance
it was returning to the Knepp Estate in Sussex, part of the White Stork
Project—a scheme to reintroduce breeding White Storks to Britain after a
600-year absence.
A fantastic sight to
witness, and you can see on the photo the relative size to the Red Kite.
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Right, White Stork and Red Kite. |
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Tuesday 21st
April
2 Common Sandpiper,
Green Sandpiper, 2 Greenshank (109th bird species for 2026 - last
recorded on 17/10/2025), Little Egret
A video showing the
two Greenshank that arrived this morning at Tice's Meadow. Greenshank was first
recorded at Tice's Meadow on 23rd April 2005. The graph shows the Greenshank
yearly spring passage dates.
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| Bruce looking out onto the Meadow from the Mound |
Wednesday 22nd
April
Thursday 23rd
April
2 Common Sandpiper, 2
Green Sandpiper, Greenshank, Hobby, Little Egret, 2 Oystercatcher, White Stork,
Wood Sandpiper
Friday 24th
April
2 Common Sandpiper,
Green Sandpiper, Greenshank, Little Egret, Mediterranean Gull (112th
bird species for 2026), 2 Oystercatcher, Whimbrel, Wood Sandpiper
A video showing the
Barn Owls with 7 eggs. The live streams are set up and run by the Tice's Meadow
Bird Group and can be accessed by the links on our website: www.ticesmeadow.org/p/blog-page_19.html
The first Whimbrel of
the year reported today. The graph shows the yearly spring passage dates of
Whimbrel at Tice's Meadow.
Highest butterfly
transect count for April since records began 12 years ago: 15 Brimstone, 6 Green-veined
White, 21 Holly Blue, 3 Large White, 18 Orange Tip, 4 Peacock, 6 Small White, 2
Speckled Wood. A total of 75 butterflies.
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Orange Tip Butterfly © Gillian Bamford |
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| Green-veined White Butterfly © Simon Carroll |
Saturday 25th
April
7 Common Sandpiper, 12 Egyptian Goose, Garden Warbler, Greenshank, 3 Oystercatcher
A spot of maintenance
in the Meadow and the Swift caller switched on ready for the return of the
Swifts to the Swift Tower.
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The first Coot chicks
have hatched at Tice's Meadow.
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| Coot Chick © Kevin Duncan |
Sunday 26th
April
5 Common Sandpiper,
Garganey (18th record for site - last recorded on 09/09/2024 - 113th
bird species for 2026), 3 Green Sandpiper, Greenshank, Little Egret, 4
Oystercatcher
Drake Garganey in the
Meadow this morning.
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| Comma Butterfly © Jack Spencer |
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| Dunnock © Richard Wright |
Monday 27th
April
2 Common Sandpiper,
Green Sandpiper, Greenshank, Oystercatcher
Tuesday 28th April
3 Common Sandpiper,
Curlew, Greenshank, 3 Little Egret, 2 Oystercatcher, Wood Sandpiper
Wednesday 29th
April
3 Common Sandpiper,
Greenshank, Hobby, 2 Oystercatcher, Wood Sandpiper
Thursday 30th
April
5 Common Sandpiper, Curlew, Green Sandpiper, Greenshank, 3 Oystercatcher, 2 Stonechat, Wood Sandpiper