Local Sightings, December 2025

 After November, which was easily the wettest month of the year in Royston, December produced a mixed bag of weather, but with the wind direction mainly coming from the west the unsettled weather continued, with appreciable rain on five consecutive days from the 4th, but some pleasant, sunny days as well and temperatures generally above normal. I had a lot on in the first half of the month, including a hospital operation, so opportunities for bird watching were pretty limited. However, I did get out for a few local walks. A visit to the Church Hill area on the 3rd included a walk on the track that leads between Jubilee Wood and Thrift Farm. The head of a Barn Owl could be seen in the one remaining nest box there, whilst two Stonechats (possibly the same pair that had been previously seen near the Therfield Road) were feeding in the Thrift Farm Beet (?) field nearby.

The head of a Barn Owl in a nest box, Jubilee Wood, 3 December (it did move about in the box, honest!)

There has been a big influx of Crossbills from the Continent into the UK this autumn and winter, and I made another visit to Scales Park (Meesden) to see whether the Crossbills, first seen there on 16 October, were still present. They were, and after much effort and running around I managed to get a distant photo of a male, sitting on top of one of the many pine trees on which they were feeding. Will they stay to  nest in the early part of 2026? Also seen here were two Marsh Tits in different parts of the woodland, seven Redwings and a Raven (Ravens nest in these woods).

Male Crossbill, Scales Park, 5 December

A covey of six Grey Partridges was seen near Royston Hospital at dusk on the 11th and two more males were heard calling (singing?) nearby. A Tawny Owl was hooting, again from near the hospital, slightly later in the evening.

UK Wildlife Sightings, December 2025

 December is a quiet time for bird watching. The days are very short, the weather is frequently dull, cold, wet and windy and bird movement is very limited. Birds to add to my various lists are few and far between. To be fair, there were a few sunny and relatively mild days this December and I was able to take advantage of one of these (the 2nd) to visit Lackford Lakes in Suffolk, where a Green-winged Teal had been reported on most days in the previous week. Unfortunately, the bird had 'done a runner' (it wasn't reported from here thereafter), but I enjoyed a relaxing, sunny walk nonetheless and took a few images of the birds.

Lapwings at Lackford Lakes, 2 December

Some Birds of Western Australia, 1 - 16 November

 My partner and I visited Australia in November, to stay with her brother in Perth, Western Australia. It wasn't a wildlife holiday, although we did go on a whale watching trip to see Sperm Whales that pass the west coast of Australia between August and November, on migration. We also visited the Margaret River area, a wine growing region, for four nights. The woodland here contained many species of small birds. When in Perth I would visit Herdsman Lake, a 20 minute walk away from where we were staying, most mornings before breakfast. This is probably Perth's premier bird watching reserve. It contains a large array of water birds, although I came across very few small birds other than the ubiquitous 'Willie Wagtails', a couple of honeyeaters and a few Clamorous Reed Warblers, the only species that we would recognise as a true warbler in Western Australia. In all, I identified 82 bird species during our stay and probably missed a few in the dense woodland of Margaret River. Insect life in the Australian spring was a little disappointing: we did see some dragonflies and butterflies (including what looked remarkably like a Painted Lady), but it soon became clear that I should concentrate on the birds. Here is a selection of images of birds, photographed on the holiday.

Singing Honeyeater, a fairly common bird in Perth

Little Pied Cormorant, a cute little bird which was very common, both at Herdsman Lake and elsewhere

Darter, the 'Serpent Bird' with its long neck. I never saw it fishing or flying!

Clamorous Reed Warbler. I was pleased to get a photo of this bird which, like other members of its family, loves to skulk in the reeds. Very noisy!

Spotted Turtle-Dove, the larger of two turtle-doves that are commonly seen in Perth, alongside the Feral Pigeons!

Sacred Ibis, one of two very common Ibises in Perth (the other is Straw-necked). These birds are present in their hundreds at Herdsman Lake, where there is a breeding colony.

Crested Tern. The commonest breeding tern around Western Australia's coastline, this bird can be identified by its large size and yellow bill.

A female Red-winged Fairy Wren, photographed in the Margaret River area.

This Osprey was one of a pair that took quite an interest in us as we walked along a coastal path. They left the nest site together, perhaps indicating that they were not (yet) nesting. Quite a few Osprey pairs were seen along the coastline. There is debate about whether these Ospreys and 'our' Ospreys are separate species.

Port Lincoln Ringneck (or '28 bird', so named because of its call). These birds appear to have been pushed out of Perth by the noisy and invasive introduced Rainbow Lorikeet, which is the dominant parrot in the city. However, they are still common in the Margaret River area. This bird appears to be nesting in a tree hole.

Little Corella. This parrot is still seen in decent numbers in Perth, where it is a ground feeder.

Australasian Pelican. These birds were seen at Herdsman Lake. Their breeding colony is 20-25 miles away on Penguin Island, which we had hoped to visit whilst we were in Perth Unfortunately, the landing area on the island had become too sanded over for boats to visit, so we had to settle for a boat trip around this and other islands, with compensation in the form of a very active school of Dolphins.

Local Sightings, November 2025

 I was on holiday in Western Australia from 31 October to 16 November, returning to the UK to find my rain gauge overflowing - I had obviously missed some poor weather as I was sweltering in 30+C heat and more or less continuous sunshine! I'll put in a brief report about the trip in due course (500 images to edit). The weather in Royston continued unsettled until the 20th when, having had very little exercise, I decided to go on my 'round the villages' walk. A few hundred yards from my home I found a small flock of Goldcrests (5+) and shortly afterwards another three, but for the rest of the walk I didn't record any more. A Mute Swan was an unusual sighting at Hatchpen Farm pond, whilst a couple of Reed Buntings at Park Farm were, like the swan, 'year ticks' for my local patch. Small flocks of Yellowhammers, totalling 30-35 birds, were seen in various places along the route, four Corn Buntings were at Greys Farm and a flock of around 90 Linnets were seen nearby. Chiffchaffs appeared to have finally departed (but see below). Common and Black-headed Gulls were searching for food in the fields but, surprisingly, no Lesser Black-backed Gulls (the commonest local gull species for most of the year) were seen. A total of 43 species were recorded (39 seen).

Mute Swan (a local rarity) with Farmyard Geese at Hatchpen Farm Pond, 20 November

On the 26th I walked right across Therfield Heath to Fox Covert. Two Stonechats (reported the previous day on the Herts. Bird Club web site) were seen near the 'McDonalds' car park off the Therfield Road. The woodland of Fox Covert and Jubilee Wood can be very quiet in the winter, unless one coincides with a flock of tits and other small birds. Fortunately, on this occasion I was lucky to find a tit flock that also included a few Goldcrests, as well as Nuthatches and a Treecreeper (the last two heard but not seen). A single Chiffchaff was also present. A wintering bird was recorded nearby in 2024-25: will this bird attempt to over-winter too? No Redwings or Fieldfares were recorded: very few seem to be about locally at present.

Stonechat on Therfield Heath, 26 November

On the 28th I did a walk along the Icknield Way to the east of Royston. There were no surprises, but I did see a very loose flock of around 60 Fieldfares along the way. Towards Flint Cross a Common Buzzard with rather unusual markings was seen distantly (image below). It was very black and white, with a dark patch on the side of the head. I wonder whether it is wintering here, having come from a colder part of Europe. It appeared to have a pale rump, but I'm confident that it wasn't a wintering Rough-legged Buzzard, a bird that I have seen on three occasions in Hertfordshire in the last 20 years, but which is now an extreme rarity anywhere in the UK.

'Record Shot' of a Common Buzzard, seen between Royston and Flint Cross, 28 November

UK Wildlife Sightings, November 2025

 The first trip after my return from Australia was to visit RSPB Titchwell on the 21st. I wanted to see and photograph some waders (there was a dearth of them where I was in Australia), the weather was sunny and there had been reports of a Pallas's Warbler there. I didn't see the warbler, but I was lucky to get close up views of three (possibly four) lovely, little Firecrests. Photographing Firecrests is tricky, as they are (a) very small, (b) constantly on the move and (c) prefer the shelter of dense woodland. However, I did manage about a 10% success rate. Perhaps the 'best' image is shown below.

Firecrest, RSPB Titchwell Marsh, 21 November

Migrating waders had all passed through, so I concentrated on photographing wintering birds (including my favourite Sanderlings) on the beach. A Herring Gull had found a flatfish (Flounder??) on the tide line, but didn't quite know what to do with it.

Dunlin Feeding on Titchwell Beach, 21 November

Sanderling Feeding on Titchwell Beach, 21 November

Herring Gull with Flatfish 'Catch', Titchwell Beach, 21 November

On the 23rd I was part of an RSPB Local Group coach trip to RSPB Frampton Marsh. In recent months, the 'marsh' had become more like a desert as a combination of the extremely dry weather in spring and summer and (I believe) the failure of a pump had dried out all the scrapes and pools and the water birds and waders had gone elsewhere. Fortunately, the recent heavy rains and colder weather had resulted in the return of some of the pools, albeit that the landscape still looked pretty bleak. Plenty of ducks (particularly Teal and Wigeon) were seen, whilst vast flocks of Lapwings and (particularly) Golden Plovers regularly took to the air. A Whooper Swan with a damaged wing (present for two years) hadn't had the option to fly away. Returning waders included small numbers of Redshank, Dunlin, Ruff and Grey Plover. A Hen Harrier was seen by one person and a Peregrine was seen by many.

A few of the many hundreds of Golden Plover at RSPB Frampton Marsh, seen in flight on 23 November

Whooper Swan with Damaged Wing, RSPB Frampton Marsh, 23 November

On the 25th I made a return visit to Eyebrook Reservoir, where I saw the American Golden Plover last month. This time my target was a male American Wigeon, a vagrant species that I have only seen twice before in the UK (excluding in collections, where it is clearly one of the most attractive water birds in winter plumage: its name makes clear where it should be living). I have had real difficulty connecting with this species in the past, but the bird gave itself up relatively easily on this occasion, although it was always a long distance away.

Male American Wigeon (front bird, slightly right of centre) with other water birds, including a female Goldeneye, Eyebrook Reservoir, 25 November.

Several Goldeneye were also present, as was at least one juvenile male Scaup. A Great Egret, fishing much closer to the shore, made a nice photographic subject and four Whooper Swans flew in just before I left.

Great Egret, Eyebrook Reservoir, 25 November

Whooper Swans Landing, Eyebrook Reservoir, 25 November

Local Wildlife Sightings, October 2025

 Following the first 'named' storm of the autumn on the 3rd and 4th, high pressure dominated in the first half of October, with variable amounts of cloud, no appreciable rain and hardly any wind. Very few butterflies survived into the new month, with no 'blues' seen at all and hardly any 'whites'. Autumn bird passage had died down, although a few (presumably migrant) Meadow Pipits were seen and heard in the fields surrounding Royston. Several Chiffchaffs remained into October: I wonder whether any will over-winter locally. Smallish flocks of (mainly) Lesser Black-backed Gulls roamed the fields, although finding food must have been hard work except when following the plough. One or two 'Herring Type' gulls were also seen. I photographed one in flight (image below): is it a Herring Gull or a Yellow-legged Gull? Unfortunately, the legs were tucked in. After a quiet early autumn, Ravens were again seen and/or heard in various places.

'Herring-type' Gull in Flight, Therfield, 1 October

Whilst reports of swarms of Ladybirds may have been exaggerated, I certainly saw plenty - usually sitting on leaves. Ladybird 'instars' were also common. A few shield bugs put in belated appearances near the house. Here are a few early October insect images.

Ladybird emerging from a late 'Instar', Royston, 2 October

Red-legged Shield Bug, Royston, 2 October

Rhopalid Bug, Royston, 6 October

During the middle of the month, the weather became dry but cloudy, as a large area of high pressure established itself over the UK. Bird migration was obvious, with reports of flocks of up to several hundred Redwings, as well as a few Fieldfares, seen in Hertfordshire flying over from the east. I found a flock of 40-50 Redwings feeding on berries and on the ground in a field close to the house on the 13th. However, they were gone the next day and indeed there were very few reports of Redwings in Hertfordshire in the latter stages of the month. It seems that there has been a larger than usual influx of Crossbills from the continent in our area, with flocks of birds reported in flight. I made another visit to Scales Park on the 16th, again hoping to see a Marsh Tit, which had so far eluded me in Hertfordshire. My luck was in - not only did I see a Marsh Tit and hear at least one other, but I also saw and heard small parties of Crossbills feeding amongst the many pines in this 'mixed' woodland - the closest to my house that I have ever recorded this species. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any photos to show here. I wonder whether any of the Crossbills will stay, or will they move on, like the Redwings?

Otherwise, the middle of October was rather quiet, and I packed away my macro lens with hardly any insects, apart from a few bumble bees and wasps, to photograph. Distressing news came from the garden, as I found a dead Great Tit near the greenhouse at the bottom of the garden. I assumed that it had flown into the greenhouse glass, but a couple of days later a dead male Greenfinch was present in exactly the same place. By the time I found a second dead Greenfinch, again in the same place, I was becoming very worried. At least they showed no signs of disease, as a garden feeder was not too far away. I started to look round the garden and quickly found the likely culprit - a cat that was sitting, concealed, in bushes close to the feeder. I moved the feeder to a higher position, close to the house and made my opinions of the cat clearly known, although it has still been coming into the garden - previously, I had had no trouble from cats for several years. No more dead birds have been found since. This all may sound trivial, but cats kill up to 100 million small animals per year in the UK. Without them (fat chance) we would be giving our wildlife a much better chance to flourish.

Fallow Deer, Therfield, 8 October

On the 24th I went on another walk round the villages of Reed and Therfield. 'Storm Benjamin' had passed through the area the previous day, and I was hoping that it might have brought some interesting (migrant?) birds with it. However, once again the area was pretty quiet, with no sign of winter thrushes and, surprisingly, very few finches or buntings. Little Grebes were still at Phillup's Lake and, on my return down the Icknield Way, a tractor put up a (returning for the winter?) flock of 120 Golden Plovers. A single Red Admiral butterfly was seen, although the daytime temperature never rose above 12C.

Some of the flock of 120 Golden Plovers, seen off the Icknield Way between Royston and Therfield

Whilst the vast majority of Chiffchaffs seemed to have moved south by the end of the month, a handful remained locally, including one in the Green Walk Plantation, close to the house. I was trying to locate it on the 29th when I heard the (now familiar) "chip-chip, chip" call of a Common Crossbill and there it was, flying west over my head. This was the first Crossbill that I have ever seen on my Local Patch and probably deserves to be called my 'local bird of the year'. On the following day I went back to Scales Park, hoping for more Crossbills, but the woodland was very quiet. The vast majority of Scales Park woodland (which is mainly coniferous) is on private land, so the Crossbills may well still be around. On a sunny morning I saw both Brimstone and Peacock butterflies, presumably disturbed from hibernation.

UK Wildlife Sightings, October 2025

 After a very busy start to October I finally had a day to myself on the 7th. The choice of where to go was a 'no-brainer', since a Red-tailed Shrike was 'showing well' on the National Trust reserve at Dunwich Heath. Red-tailed Shrike (previously known as Turkestan Shrike - it breeds in central Asia) would be a world 'lifer' for me. I would also get the chance to photograph the bird. I parked at RSPB Minsmere (free parking for me - I do come from Yorkshire.....) and walked the mile or so to view the bird near the coastguard cottages. I wasn't disappointed: shrikes have the endearing (for bird watchers) habit of sitting on the tops of bushes looking for prey and this bird didn't disappoint: it had quite a small territory (just a couple of large bushes), but seemed able to catch lots of prey items and store some in its larder inside one of the bushes. It was also a handsome adult male (most of the shrikes that are seen in the UK on passage are rather dowdy juveniles) - even better! Keen / professional photographers were having a field day, trying to catch the bird in flight and/or eating prey. I noticed that in some of the online images posted the bird had mealworms in its bill: a bit naughty, since it means that it was being fed in an attempt to keep it in the area. Anyway, here are a few (of many) photographs that I took.

Red-tailed Shrike, Dunwich, 7 October

Red-tailed Shrike, Dunwich, 7 October

Red-tailed Shrike with Prey (a Moth?), Dunwich, 7 October

After I had had my fill of the shrike, I went looking for Dartford Warblers nearby, seeing at least three including a recently fledged juvenile (2nd or 3rd brood?) and hearing others. Later, I wandered round the Minsmere reserve with (limited) highlights being a rather late Hobby and an obliging Stonechat (image).

Stonechat, RSPB Minsmere, 7 October

This began a sequence of four trips outside my area in eight days, starting with a visit to RSPB Snettisham on the 10th to see a Short-toed Lark, which had been present a few hundred yards north of the beach car park for several days. This bird took longer to find, despite the presence of several birdwatchers, as it searched for seeds in vegetation between the high tide line and the coastal path. However, after about an hour I was able to get decent views and one or two photos of this bird - my second UK record. Following this, I had a good look round the RSPB reserve and beyond. Cranes had been reported in an inland field, but they were not there when I looked. Instead, I did see the small flock of feral Snow Geese that have been at Snettisham for many years, mingling with a large flock of Greylags.

Short-toed Lark, Snettisham, 10 October

Greylag and feral Snow Geese, Snettisham, 10 October

The following day, I was off again - this time to Dungeness, to do a reconnaissance trip ahead of leading an RSPB Local Group members' visit the following weekend. The weather was dull and misty and there was little to excite me during a two hour visit to the RSPB reserve. However, down at the national nature reserve I was lucky to catch sight of a singing male Black Redstart, on one of the power station buildings. The garden that surrounds the old lighthouse was full of small birds, eagerly feeding on small insects. Most were Chiffchaffs, presumably passing through the area, but there were at least two Goldcrests and possibly a Willow Warbler here. I took several photographs, some of which revealed differences in the plumages of the Chiffchaffs. The two that I have included below possibly refer to different races (Collybita and Abietinus or Tristis) or a mixed race bird: assigning Chiffchaffs to specific races is extremely difficult for the experts, let alone me.

Chiffchaff (common UK race, collybita?), Dungeness NNR, 11 October

Chiffchaff (a paler bird, possibly ssp. Abietinus or Tristis?), Dungeness NNR, 11 October

Also seen near the power station were two very tame Red Foxes, which had apparently been fed from a car before I arrived - this may explain why they were so approachable!

Red Fox, Dungeness NNR, 11 October

The bird watching trips continued on the 14th when, for a change, I visited an inland site (Rutland Water) to look for what would be my second UK Baird's sandpiper. The bird had been around for a week, and in the previous few days had restricted itself to feeding in a small creek on one side of the Whitwell Peninsula. I had naively expected to see the bird trotting round the edge of the reservoir, but this was not the case. I and a handful of other birdwatchers were unable to locate it, although it had been reported around lunchtime (I arrived mid-afternoon). I walked well beyond its apparent range without success. However, as I was about to give up I met a local bird watcher, whose wife had discovered the bird. We discussed its habits, and I realised that it could be further up the bank, away from the water. We still couldn't find it and I headed back to the car: he said he would wave his hands if he saw it. You can guess what happened next. I walked back and there it was, superbly camouflaged as it walked very slowly amongst the pebbly shoreline, a short distance from the water but with a low profile. There's no way that I would have found it on my own and I'm very grateful for being called back! I was able to get close enough to the bird for some decent photos, a couple of which are shown below.

Baird's Sandpiper, Rutland Water, 14 October

Baird's Sandpiper, Rutland Water, 14 October

After several days of calm, dull weather, the RSPB trip to Dungeness on the 19th coincided with the arrival of rain. However, most of our bird watching was done in dryish (if very dull) conditions and we ended up with a bird list of 83 species recorded, including Firecrest and Black Redstart (seen outside the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway Cafe!). As I was leading, I didn't get much time for photography. However, unlike at Cley in September, I did manage to photograph one of six Cattle Egrets seen at the RSPB reserve, standing on the back of a cow. Gull identification proved a headache, as usual, but I'm pretty sure that I saw both juvenile and adult Yellow-legged Gulls, with a likely adult shown in the image below. Fortunately, most of the rest of our LG members don't have the same hang-ups with larger gulls that I do, and were happy to move on......

Cattle Egret standing on a Cow, RSPB Dungeness, 19 October

A Mixture of Juvenile, Immature and Adult larger Gulls with probable Yellow-legged Gull second left, RSPB Dungeness, 19 October

I was back in 'twitching' mode on the 21st, when I visited Eyebrook Reservoir (on the border of Rutland and Leicestershire) to look for a juvenile American Golden Plover, which was associating with a large flock of Eurasian Golden Plovers. Low water levels at the reservoir allowed the plovers to spend time on the mud a long way away from observers on the road that runs round the reserve, but this bird (which is slightly smaller and much greyer than the Golden Plovers and has a more obvious white supercilium) tended to stay a little way away from them, on its own for most of the time. I managed a few 'record shots' of the bird, with a couple (taken in different places, as the flock took to the air every few minutes) shown below.

American Golden Plover (smallest bird, just to the left of the Lapwings) with Lapwings and European Golden Plovers, Eyebrook Reservoir, 21 October

'Record Shot' of American Golden Plover, Eyebrook Reservoir, 21 October

I had been lucky in the late summer and autumn this year to see three 'lifers' and two 'seconds', all within 100 miles of home, on my 'twitches'. This would have been good enough for me, but I had the opportunity to see yet another 'lifer' when a Brown Shrike arrived on Hollesley Common, near Woodbridge in Suffolk. Brown Shrikes nest in Western Siberia, so this bird was, like the Red-tailed Shrike, way off course. I visited on the 28th. Finding the small area of land where the shrike (a juvenile, so not as stunning to look at as the Red-tailed Shrike) was relatively easy, but getting to the site was more difficult as major roadworks and the closure of a key railway bridge necessitated a very large detour. I had to wait 20 minutes for the bird to appear, on the perimeter fencing of an MOD site, but once it did appear it was viewable for over an hour before I left. I was able to get close enough to the bird to get some ok record shots. My UK bird list now stands at 375 (five added this year), still giving hope that I could still reach 400 in my lifetime.

Juvenile Brown Shrike, Upper Hollesley Common, 28 October

Juvenile Brown Shrike, Upper Hollesley Common, 28 October