Bird News: April 2025

The first Strawberry Line count took place on the 1st and was notable for 20 singing Chiffchaffs and half a dozen noisy Cetti’s Warblers. There were lots of Robins and Wrens plus a patrolling Sparrowhawk. At least 20 Linnets including a couple singing were at the end of Wemberham Lane along with three Skylarks. Forty plus Meadow Pipits were by the Little River. A Red Kite flew over Barn Owl Road on four dates early in the month.

Eight Swallows flew over the Little River on the 5th and there were five singing Song Thrushes on the Strawberry Line and Congresbury Moor the same day. There were several Kite sightings at Yatton and Congresbury over the weekend of the 5th/6th and on the 7th a male Redstart was by the river near the railway and the first Reed Warbler was singing near Congresbury ( Strawberry Line). Two Willow Warblers were singing on the Yatton stretch of the line on the 8th and the following day a Whitethroat was present there probably freshly arrived from sub Saharan Africa. A House Martin was over Chestnut Park, Yatton on the 10th and on the same day the Yatton section of the Strawberry Line had a singing Reed Warbler. By the 12th five warbler species were singing on the Yatton section of the Strawberry Line with Reed and Sedge Warbler also audible nearby, just Lesser Whitethroat of the regulars to arrive.

A Mallard had 14 ducklings in tow on Wemberham Rhyne on the 16th, a record brood? 

The 19th started with drizzle but this seemed to spur Song Thrushes into song. I heard at least six along the Strawberry Line and Wemberham Lane. A visit to Footmead the outlying field on our Congresbury Moor Reserve rewarded me with two Reed Warblers, a Sedge Warbler and most surprising a Snipe. (19 April is a pretty late date for a Snipe here). A Kestrel was perched on the electricity cables by Wemberham Lane, the cables haven’t been energised for some months. Nearby I counted five Swallows, they are gradually arriving.

A Grasshopper Warbler was singing in or near Footmead on the 21st and I heard it very briefly two days later. Whilst in Footmead I was very surprised to flush a Jack Snipe at close range. The Grasshopper Warbler was the eigth warbler species to arrive on the Congresbury Moor Reserve (Cetti’s are resident) so that’s probably a full house although we occasionally we get a passage Garden Warbler. Three Kestrels were on Congresbury Moor, probably the resident pair and one of last year’s young.

There was a remarkable record of a Cuckoo calling at Hangstones, Yatton on the 24th and then another by the old cemetery in Clevedon later the same day. A Swift was over Barn Owl Road on the 26th, an early date. A full suite of our seven regular migrant warblers* was audible from Wemberham Lane on the morning of the 27th and six migrant warblers* plus Cetti’s Warbler were singing on Kenn Moor the next day.

• Resident. Cetti’s Warbler.
• Migrants Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat.
• Occasional. Garden Warbler.

Finally, just off our patch a stunning picture of a Wheatear.

Your sightings and pictures are always very welcome at birds@yacwag.org.uk.

Trevor Riddle