We didn’t have to wait long from the start of March before getting the bird highlight of the year here so far: A great white egret (above) arrived early in the morning on the 4^th and spent at least half-an-hour here fishing near the water outlet and amongst the lagoons. This species had ‘rare vagrant’ status in London ten years ago with only one or two records each year, but has recently become much less scarce. They have been seen at Woodberry around once a year for the last five years or so.

The other big highlight of the month was on the 10^th when a small flock of two male and two female stonechats (female above, male below) were found in and around the northern reed-bed where they remained for the day. This is another species which occurs here around once a year, but previous records have always been single birds.

On the water, we finally had the first shelduck of the year on the 18^th. Red-crested pochard tend to wander in the run-up to the breeding season, particularly as males vastly outnumber females in the London area. We had a few visits, usually brief, from one or two birds through March, with four males being seen flying over together on the 18^th.

An adult yellow-legged gull (front left below in mixed gull flock) was seen on the 13^th, this species has been reasonably common here over the last few years, probably mostly due to a single regularly-returning bird.

March usually sees the departure of most of our winter-only birds. A flock of around ten redwing spent most of the winter here but left soon after mid-month. Water rail and snipe were seen regularly at the start of the month, with four of the latter seen on the 11^th, but both species had probably left by the end of the month.

One species which has now become very easy to see on site is reed bunting (female above, male below). Four were seen on the 18^th, including two singing males, and a pair can be very showy in the reed-bed in front of the café, sometimes eating sunflower hearts from one of the bird feeders.

The first long-distance migrant of the year was a sand martin seen on March 21^st, slightly later than expected. There were a few more sightings of up to three birds later in the month. The next to arrive was willow warbler on the 29^th, which is a day or two earlier than the typical arrival date.

The total number of bird species seen here in March 2023 was 64, exactly in line with the historical average for the month.