April 2023 Summary
New “Year Ticks” in April 2023: 22
New “Life Ticks” in April 2023: 0
Total Species for 2023 so far: 114
We visited some friends in Bristol and Somerset at the start of the month and this gave us the opportunity to stop over at the Tudor Arms at Slimbridge, on our way down as we frequently do. We had planned on dropping in at WTT Slimbridge in the afternoon and then again the following morning. Our plan for the afternoon was spoiled almost immediately when we found ourselves stuck on the M6, stationary, for three hours; this meant that we did not get to Slimbridge until it was nearly closing time. We were limited to visiting WWT Slimbridge the following morning (the 2nd April) but we did get some good birds including American green-winged Teal, Snow Goose, Barnacle Goose, Russian White-fronted Goose and Barnacle Goose. We also got the first Swallows of the year.
We spent a little time in Bristol before heading off to Somerset where we spent a day at RSPB Ham Wall and Shapwick Heath NNR on the 6th April. At Ham Wall we got our first Garganey and Pochard of the year, our first Willow Warblers and also a couple of Redpoll. The star was a Glossy Ibis that we found eventually. Over at Shapwick Heath, there was less of interest but we did get more Garganey and we heard a Bittern boom a few times.
During our short trip we did a bit of driving and had short stops along the way and this garnered us some other year ticks, namely Jay, Green Woodpecker, Sparrowhawk and Red Kite. This gave us an additional fifteen new species of the year for the whole trip. We stopped counting the number of Buzzards that we saw over the week as they seemed to be everywhere.
The birding group re-assembled for the Spring term and our first visit was to Pennington Flashes on the 18th April where we had the chance to check out the new cafe and facilities. It was a fine day and we added Coal Tit, Willow Tit, Blackcap, Stock Dove, Little Ringed Plover and Treecreeper to the year list.
In the garden we were a bit surprised to see that after our pair of Grey Wagtails had disappeared for a short while, they started coming back to feed occasionally which was nice to see and adds a bit of colour to the garden. The Goldfinches continue in modest numbers, the House Sparrows bath and feed regularly, a pair of Dunnocks have appeared and there is evidence that both Blackbirds and Robins are feeding either a female on a nest or chicks – aleady ! There is no sign of anything in our nest box yet! A Ring-necked Parakeet visits the feeder occasionally and we often groups of half a dozen flying over.
New “Year Ticks in April 2023
| 1 | American Green-winged Teal | WWT Slimbridge 2nd april 2023 |
| 2 | Barnacle Goose | WWT Slimbridge 2nd april 2023 |
| 3 | Snow Goose | WWT Slimbridge 2nd april 2023 |
| 4 | Russian White-fronted Goose | WWT Slimbridge 2nd april 2023 |
| 5 | Swallow | WWT Slimbridge 2nd april 2023 |
| 6 | Garganey | RSPB Ham Wall 6th April 2023 |
| 7 | Redpoll | RSPB Ham Wall 6th April 2023 |
| 8 | Willow Warbler | RSPB Ham Wall 6th April 2023 |
| 9 | Glossy Ibis | RSPB Ham Wall 6th April 2023 |
| 10 | Pochard | RSPB Ham Wall 6th April 2023 |
| 11 | Bittern | RSPB Ham Wall 6th April 2023 |
| 12 | Green Woodpecker | Misc April 2023 |
| 13 | Sparrowhawk | Misc April 2023 |
| 14 | Red Kite | Misc April 2023 |
| 15 | Jay | Misc April 2023 |
| 16 | Coal Tit | Pennington Flash 18th April 2023 |
| 17 | Great Tit | Pennington Flash 18th April 2023 |
| 18 | Willow Tit | Pennington Flash 18th April 2023 |
| 19 | Blackcap | Pennington Flash 18th April 2023 |
| 20 | Stock Dove | Pennington Flash 18th April 2023 |
| 21 | Little Ringed Plover | Pennington Flash 18th April 2023 |
| 22 | Treecreeper | Pennington Flash 18th April 2023 |
| 22 | Ring-necked Parakeet | Our Garden, Chorlton 30 April 2023 |