Spotted Flycatchers in North Herts

23rd May 2025

Back in the 1970s Spotted Flycatchers used to be quite common, often found nesting in churchyards. In or around the year 2000 there were no lesss than seven pairs in the Benington Lordship Gardens. Numbers have continued to fall, but I still knew of three pairs in North Herts just three years ago. Now I only know of one pair. This pair is notoriously elusive and can cover a large area but today I thought I would have a look.

I knew roughly where to look from other people's sightings and it wasn't too long before I found one and then the other. They would only have arrived a week or so ago so are not nesting yet, which gives some more opportunities for shots. Here are the results.

While it is easier to find and photograph the flycatchers when they are sitting at the top of their favourite bare tree, it is also nice to get a couple of shots against a Yew background.

Well that was a good couple of hours and my special thanks to Sh4rpy and Stuart Fox for the information.