Tice’s Meadow June 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.
Rushmoor Lottery (Link)
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 June 2026 Overall Bird Count
The bird year list now stands at 117 species (excluding 3 escape species). It was 116 (plus 2 escapes) in 2025.
76 bird species were reported in the recording area 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
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 follow.
Monday 1st June
Cuckoo, 2 Curlew, 2 Oystercatcher, Stonechat
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| Glanville Fritillary © Jack Spencer |
Tuesday 2nd June
No reported sightings.
During April a Red-legged Partridge was reported in the Meadow. This is the 13th record for the site and was last recorded on 5th May 2024.
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| Red-legged Partridge, stock photo |
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| Red-legged Partridge Sightings Per Year Since 2009 |
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| Accumulated Red-legged Partridge Sightings for Each Month of the Year Since 2009 |
Wednesday 3rd June
Oystercatcher
Thursday 4th June
2 Curlew, 2 Little Egret, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Stonechat
Friday 5th June
3 Little Egret, Oystercatcher, 3 Stonechat
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| Peacock Butterfly Caterpillars © Jack Spencer |
Saturday 6th June
Ringed Plover, Sparrowhawk
Sunday 7th June
25 Egyptian Goose, 3 Little Egret, Oystercatcher, 3 Stonechat
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| Marbled White © Gillian Bamford |
Monday 8th June
No reported sightings.
Tuesday 9th June
Cuckoo, 3 Little Egret, 2 Oystercatcher, Stonechat
Wednesday 10th June
2 Oystercatchers
Today four volunteers carried out our river fly monitoring and water quality testing for the month of June in the brief sunshine. Quite a challenge with the amount of Iris pseudacorus and Typha latifolia growing in abundance in the river channel. Today's count was 2 x cased caddis, 3 x olive, over 150 fresh water shrimp as well as 6 x alderfly nymph and 2 x damselfly nymph.
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| Bruce © Simon Monk |
Thursday 11th June
No reported sightings.
Friday 12th June
3 Oystercatcher, Stonechat
With all the rain we have had , the vegetation along the paths and bridges has shot up. Thanks to a good turn out of our happy volunteers, we made great strides in clearing the walkways and keeping them accessible for everyone. A huge thank you all who gave their time and energy.
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| Red Admiral © Simon Carroll |
Saturday 13th June
2 Cattle Egret (116th bird species for 2026), 20 Greylag Goose, Kingfisher, 5 Little Egret, Oystercatcher, 2 Ringed Plover, Sedge Warbler, Stonechat
Sunday 14th June
Cuckoo, 2 Little Egret, 2 Oystercatcher, 2 Ringed Plover, Stonechat
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| Black-headed Gull © Richard Wright |
Monday 15th June
No reported sightings.
Tuesday 16th June
3 Little Egret
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| Emperor Dragonfly © Simon Carroll |
Wednesday 17th June
No reported sightings.
Thursday 18th June
4 Little Egret
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| Small Skipper © Simon Carroll |
Friday 19th June
No reported sightings.
The Barn Owl owlets are now big enough to have rings put on their legs and have some measurements taken. Seven eggs were laid, six eggs hatched and the smallest owlet was consumed by one of its siblings. This left five owlets to be ringed and have data taken.
From their markings, it appears that there were three females and one male. The other owlet could not be sexed due to it being the youngest and still mainly a ball of fluff.
All owlets seem to be healthy and strong.
Saturday 20th June
Grey Plover (12th site record – last recorded 17/05/2026)
Sunday 21st June
Green Sandpiper, 5 Little Egret, Mistle Thrush (117th bird species for 2026), 3 Oystercatcher, Sparrowhawk
The five Barn Owl owlets are doing fine and are having prey items brought to them throughout the night by their parents.
In the first video, you can see a fox walking beneath the Barn Owl nest box just before the male Barn Owl arrives with a large rodent.
The second video shows the five owlets sitting quietly together, waiting for night to fall and more food to arrive. The smallest fluffy Barn Owlet seems to have had a sudden growth spurt and towers above its siblings! However, this is simply a quirk of the camera lens, as objects nearer the centre of the image appear larger than they really are.
The first Green Sandpiper on return migration was seen today in the Workings. The last one seen on Spring migration was on 30th April. They breed in the forests of Scandinavia, Finland, Russia and Siberia. Passage will peak during July until early August and will be present almost daily until Spring next year.
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| Green Sandpiper © Dan Powers |
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| Green Sandpipers © Jon Hawkins |
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Graph showing Green Sandpiper return Migration arrival dates |
Monday 22nd June
No reported sightings.
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| Pyramidal Orchard © Gillian Bamford |
Tuesday 23rd June
2 Green Sandpiper, 7 Little Egret, 3 Oystercatcher, Sparrowhawk
This year we've been unsure how many Kestrel chicks hatched in the Kestrel box, although we believe there were at least three.
While ringing the Barn Owl owlets, this young Kestrel appeared at the entrance of the nest box. As we already had the ladder in place, we decided to take the opportunity to check whether any other chicks remained and, if so, to ring them.
As it turned out, this youngster was the only one left. It is perfectly normal for the last chick to leave the nest box a few days after its siblings. Often the smallest of the brood, the final chick will stay behind a little longer to build up strength before taking its first flight. During this time, the parents continue to bring food directly to the nest.
The chick was ringed and safely returned to the box. It must have fledged a day or two later, as it can no longer be seen.
Wednesday 24th June
Green Sandpiper, Little Egret, Redshank
Thursday 25th June
Green Sandpiper, Redshank
Friday 26th June
2 Little Egret
Saturday 27th June
7 Little Egret, Oystercatcher
Sunday 28th June
Common Sandpiper, 5 Green Sandpiper
The first Common Sandpiper on return migration was seen on the 28th June in the Workings. The last one seen on Spring migration was on 14th May. They breed in the UK on the uplands of Scotland, Northern England and Wales. Migrants will also include some birds from Scandinavia on their way to spend the winter in Africa. Passage will peak during August.
The graph shows the date of the first return migration arrival at Tice's Meadow since 2007. The orange trend line indicates this date is getting earlier.
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| Common Sandpipers © David Gosnell |
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Common Sandpiper date of return migration arrival since 2007 |
Monday 29th June
5 Green Sandpiper, Kestrel, 2 Little Egret, Oystercatcher, Redshank
Lapwing were confirmed as successfully breeding on site today for only the third time since records began. The last time was in 2009! Lapwing are a red listed species. It is a declining breeder in Surrey with less than six sites reporting successful breeding each year. The work carried out last autumn by the SCC to clear vegetation along the workings edge has opened up the area.
Tuesday 30th June
Oystercatcher
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| Oyster Catcher © John Hunt |