Southern Britain enjoys bumper Garganey influx

Exceptional numbers of the everpopular summer migrant were recorded during the second half of March and beginning of April.

Aremarkable spring influx of Garganey occurred at the end of March, with a staggering 275 sites hosting the species in Britain and Ireland.

The arrival commenced with some impressively sized flocks, such as 32 east past Dungeness NNR, Kent, on 21st, and 26 offshore at Thurlestone, Devon, on 19th. Multiple groups of up to seven or eight birds have been widely noted across England and Wales, with inland sites also getting in on the act – no fewer than 23 were at Ouse Washes, Cambridgeshire, at least 14 were on the Nene Washes at Eldernell in the same county and up to 12 were logged at Leighton Moss, Lancashire.

It was mostly southern and eastern English counties that enjoyed the spate of appearances, though birds were generally widespread. Garganey is a migratory duck that winters widely across sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia, moving north in spring to breed across much of temperate Eurasia – including Britain and Ireland, where it is a rare nester.

The likely driver of March’s impressive influx is that peak migration coincided with an established south or southeasterly airflow, which dominated across Western Europe at the time, coupled with clear and at times very mild conditions, encouraging birds to move further north and west than is typical. As well as Britain, significant numbers were noted in the Low Countries.

Garganey influx: England and Wales, late March 2022