The two major highlights of the month were unfortunately both very brief. Firstly on the 3^rd, a great white egret was seen flying north over the New River. This species would have been a London rarity only about ten years ago, and still remains scarce but we have a good record for getting them here, with roughly one a year over the last five years. Then on the 30^th, a cuckoo was heard calling a few times in the northeast corner of the site. This species is definitely not an urban bird, but our record of getting around one visit a year in recent years is probably due to the habitat here. Reed warblers are a common host species for cuckoos, so birds which fly over very high and see an area of open water surrounded by greenery might come down to investigate the habitat and check out the reed-bed.

Our winter birds usually depart during April. The last sighting of teal was on the 6^th, the last shoveler on the 22^nd, and the last snipe on the 20^th. Shelduck (above) are usually a bird of late winter here, but this year we had to wait until April 30^th for our first of the year.

Common sandpiper is probably our most common passage migrant, and the first sighting of the year was two birds on the 19^th. Swallows (above) also pass through in April, and the first of the year were two birds seen on the 20^th. Other notable birds passing through were a jackdaw on the 10^th, red kites on both the 11^th and 12^th, and a great black-backed gull on the 7^th. We had a few visits from little egrets, probably attracted by the low water levels. Peregrines were seen frequently through the month, especially on the cranes of the nearby building site in the early morning.

The first returning reed warbler was seen on the 7^th, with more birds arriving all the time and by the end of the month around twenty were present. Sedge warblers (above) usually arrive a day or two earlier than reed warblers but this year the first one appeared on the 11^th.

Two very welcome species of the summer here first arrived on the 20^th. Common terns (above) were first heard on that day and then seen the following day. By the end of the month they were already showing an interest in our tern rafts. The first swift (below) was also on the 20^th, although numbers were slow to build up and had only reached a handful by the end of the month.

The total number of bird species seen here in April 2024 was 65, a total roughly in line with the previous two years, although totals were over 70 for the five years from 2016-2020.