London Wetland Centre (4 May 2023)

It was a fine spring morning with a 0% rain prediction (amazing!)

Whilst gathering on the entrance bridge we could hear the first of the many Cetti’s Warblers which sang loudly throughout the morning. Didn’t manage to see any of them though.
Once inside, having looked at the sightings board which unfortunately hadn’t been updated for a couple of days we went into the Observatory to check out the Main Lake.

A pair of Oystercatchers were quickly spotted, one of which was sharing a raft with a Greylag Goose – both these birds were sitting tight on nests on the raft. Some of the other birds spotted from the Observatory included Mallards, Tufted Ducks, Canada Geese, Mute Swans, Egyptian Geese, Coot, Moorhen and a pair of Gadwall. A Pied Wagtail was also seen on one of the islands.
En route to the Dulverton Hide I was informed that a Common Sandpiper was somewhere on the Main Lake so that gave us a challenge to find it. Frankie won that challenge spotting it soon after entering the hide despite it being a fair distance away. Several of us managed a quick view before it flew around the other side of the small island it was on.

A quick look at the feeding station was a little disappointing although we saw Greenfinch and a couple of Great Tits. The vegetation had grown so high under the feeders that we couldn’t see any of the usual ground feeding birds like Chaffinch and Dunnock.

From the WWF hide we could see a Great Crested Grebe, Pochard and a number of Gulls including Black Headed, Herring and Lesser Black Backs. Two Little Ringed Plovers were also spotted – are they hoping to breed there?

It was lovely to see plenty of Swift, Sand Martin and the occasional Swallow flying high above us as we walked between the hides.

Onto the Peacock Tower hide where beady eyed Eira spotted a wader standing on a very small island – a Whimbrel no less. Well done Eira for spotting the ‘bird of the day’. Malcolm, a regular birder at the Wetlands reckoned it was the sixth one to be seen there this Spring. These birds are on passage to their breeding grounds. Everyone got to see this special bird through the scopes and the photographers amongst us got good shots.

Another little bird which we had great views of was the Sedge Warbler. It perched on the top of a large hawthorn bush just below the hide and flew back and forth along the edge of the lake where it seemed to be nesting.

It was approaching lunchtime so we wandered back towards the centre via the Sheltered Lagoon. There were a few butterflies out today including Peacock, male and female Brimstones and a couple of Whites.

The weather remained pleasant so a number of us sat outside having lunch. A nice way to finish the morning’s walk. Jerry however continued his walk after lunch and was rewarded with two Hobbies.

Finally, just to mention there were 16 of us and 52 species of bird were seen.

by Sandra Hucks