Week 14 - 29 March - 04 April 2026 (Lesser Black Backed Gull)

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Due to work early in the week, and then heading away on the Thursday evening for the Easter Weekend with the in-laws, this was my quietest week visiting the patch to date. With just one loop around the Rockbeare part on Tuesday 31 March, and then a short loop (post night shift pre school pickup) with the dog around the Cranbrook Ecology Park area on Thursday 02 April.

Not too much unusual to report this week, other than the weather being lovely on both days. Highlights on the 31 March walk were the best views of Stock Dove I've had this year with a pair feeding together in a weedy field (it has since been ploughed), and the best views / photos of Common Chiffchaff I've got so far.

Chiffchaff are mostly migrants, heading down to France and Iberia during UK winters, being an early returner in the spring, but many UK Chiffchaff no longer bother to migrate over the sea, with the milder winters in recent years allowing some to remain in the UK throughout winter, and we have a small number that remain around Cranbrook, especially around the ponds. On the Tuesday walk I counted 16 singing male Chiffchaff, which is suggestive that the migrants have returned in greater numbers, and are in the mood to breed.

Common Chiffchaff seen in the grounds of Rockbeare Manor

On the Thursday just 40 mins out with the dog in the Ecopark yielded the sighting a a Lesser Black Backed Gull flying overhead with a group of Herring Gulls. These gulls are similar in size to a Herring Gull (unlike the enormous Great Black Backed Gulls), but to my eye look a little more sleek and slightly longer winged. Identifying them is much easier in flight when they accompany Herring Gulls, as you can then quickly get a sense of scale, which rules out the Great Black Backed, and the Yellow Legged Gull (which is very unlikely in my vicinity too). 

This sighting takes my patch total up to 52 for 2026. 

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