Chris Farthing’s Woodberry bird highlights: March 2022

March followed the trend of most Marches here, with a disappointing lack of migrant birds. Whilst most London birding sites start to get long-distance migrants arriving from early March, due to the particular habitat we have here we often have to wait until April. Even without migrants though, the month did have some decent highlights.

Egyptian geese are usually the first birds of the year to breed in London, sometimes even in January. Last year saw them breed here for the first time, and possibly the same pair bred again this year, with seven goslings (below) being first seen on the 3^rd.

Two adult Egyptian geese with seven goslings

The rarest sight of the month was a male Goosander (below) seen on the 4^th and 5^th. This large sawbilled diving duck usually favours much deeper bodies of water, and they have only been seen here once every few years or so. Red-crested pochards were seen several times through the month, most often two drakes.

A goosander on the water at Woodberry Wetlands

After we had just one great crested grebe here for most of the winter, a second bird arrived in early March and they soon paired up. The elaborate courtship displays (below) which this species are known for became a daily occurrence.

A part of great crested grebe's courtship display on the water

We had one unusual gull in march, a yellow-legged gull seen on the 2^nd. A few sightings of flyover jackdaws around mid-month were the first of the year for this species.

A warm afternoon in March is the best time of the year to see one of the larger raptors here. A red kite (below) was seen on the 22^nd and a common buzzard on the 26^th.

A red kite in flight. It has red wings that are tipped with black and have white patches underneath in the 'hand'. Its face is white and its beak yellow.

A pair of linnets were first seen on the 23^rd and seen again most days after that, raising hopes that they may stay to breed. This species has only been recorded breeding here once before, in 2018.

A male reed bunting perched on the side of a cage bird feeder

Reed buntings have been very active in March, with a pair often being seen around the bird feeder in front of the café. The male (above) tends to sit on the feeder whilst the female (below) mostly scavenges on the ground underneath.