Species Account
Extract from Bird Report 2024
Local but regular summer visitor, but declining. Th e England long-term trend is decreasing -23%. (Red list).
Unsurprisingly, for such an unobtrusive species when not heard singing, there were no confirmed breeding records, although birds apparently holding territory were at 13 sites during the breeding season, compared with 16 in 2023.
The first for the year was one at Strawberry Hill Farm on 8th April, fi ve days before the ten year average arrival date. From the 10th of the month, a steady stream of records originated from a further 16 sites, culminating in counts of four at Broom East on the 29th and three at Strawberry Hill Farm on the 30th. The number of records declined during May as migrants passed through, with only three sites recording multiple individuals: three at Strawberry Hill Farm on the 1st, two at Broom East on the 4th and 12th and two at MCP Wetlands NR on the 19th. In June, records declined further as territorial males paired and singing activity decreased; there were three at Harrold-Odell CP on the 1st and two at Strawberry Hill Farm on the 2nd; singles were at a further three sites: Grange Farm Wrestlingworth, MCP Wetlands NR and Octagon Farm GP. During July, records were received from only three sites: Octagon Farm GP, Marston Thrift and Strawberry Hill Farm; one at the latter site on the 24th was the last record of the year, six days earlier than the ten-year average latest.
