Local Wildlife Sightings November 2023

 The weather remained unsettled in the first half of November, with a mixture of wind and rain but with a few brighter, sunny days. Royston missed the worst effects of a couple of named storms. Temperatures dropped to just above freezing on a couple of nights, with a slight frost. Insect activity predictably dropped away, with just Winter Gnats, Bluebottles, Common Wasps and Eristalis hoverflies showing in sheltered, sunny areas by the middle of the month, although a single Red Admiral briefly fluttered into life on a cold but very sunny morning on the 11th.

Red Admiral on Ivy, Royston, 11 November

I had expected to see lots of autumn fungi appearing, with the combination of large amounts of rain, relatively mild temperatures and some sunny days, but this has certainly not been a vintage year for toadstools. However, I was able to find and photograph a variety of fungi growing on dead wood in Fox Covert.

Fungi Growing on a Log, Fox Covert, 6 November

The first Fieldfares of autumn arrived early in the month. At first they appeared, along with Redwings, in ones and twos, but by the middle of the month larger flocks were seen. Numbers of Goldcrests and Chaffinches, virtually absent from the area during the summer months, were present in greater numbers - doubtless swollen by arrivals from the Continent. Ravens were seen and/or heard in a number of places. I paid a visit to Phillup's Lake on the 9th. I hadn't expected to see the putative Scaup x Tufted Duck hybrid again but there it was, although the accompanying Tufted Ducks had gone. I took some more photos of the bird, both on the lake and when it flew from one end to the other, and have convinced myself that the bird is indeed a (female) hybrid - see the image below.

Scaup x Tufted Duck hybrid (note the lack of a tuft on the head, white feathering at the base of the bill but large dark area at the tip of the bill and dark back) with Coot at Phillup's Lake, Reed End, 9 November

Most of my local walks (I try to walk for at least an hour every day, unless I'm on the road) provide little of interest, but a walk up to Hatchpen on the afternoon of the 14th was more stimulating. There was rain as I walked up the hill towards Reed village, although with the weather clearing from the west. I had a surprise at Hatchpen Pond, where two Barnacle Geese were swimming about. However, before getting excited about a 'first' for my local patch and a rare (admittedly feral) bird for Hertfordshire I noticed some new 'Farmyard Geese' elsewhere on the pond. Every few years Mr Rand buys and releases some pinioned geese here and presumably these are intended as companions for the solitary farmyard goose that is the sole survivor from the last batch (and was ignoring the new birds). Of course, if the Barnacle Geese are seen to fly or disappear I will eat my words!

Barnacle Goose (presumed captive bird), Hatchpen Farm, 14 November

Further up the hill, the sun came out and birds started emerging. These included a flock of over 100 linnets, feeding in game cover and frequently flying from spot to spot, and our four commonest raptors (Common Buzzard, Red Kite, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk). The last was taking an interest in the Linnets, which may have explained why they were so active. A single Corn Bunting, several Yellowhammers and a flock of 30 Fieldfares were also seen. I built up a list of over 30 species recorded, quite a lot for a relatively short walk.

A few of 100+ Linnets seen at Hatchpen Farm, 14 November

Red Kite, Hatchpen Farm, 14 November

Sparrowhawk, Hatchpen Farm, 14 November

Moving further afield, a Short-eared Owl was regularly reported hunting along the Baldock to Wallington road in the early part of the month. When I visited on the 6th I was lucky to see two: one hunting and the other sitting in a field. This appears to have been the only day when two owls were seen. One report of interest was a sighting of two Ring-necked Parakeets on a garden feeder in Therfield village. I wonder how long it will be before I add this species to my local patch list.

On the 17th I embarked on the longest of my local walks (and one that I rarely do), a there and back 10.5 mile slog (mainly) on the Icknield Way, from my house to Heydon Pig Farm, in Cambridgeshire. On the way, I saw a few Reed Buntings (the first I've seen locally this year) and, just across the Cambridgeshire border, a loose flock of 70-80 Corn Buntings. So this is where all my local buntings go in the winter! A Stonechat was also seen and lots of Redwings and (particularly) Fieldfares were feeding in the bushes along the route. Around 400 gulls were loafing at the pig farm, including a good candidate for an adult Caspian Gull. However, the star bird of the day was a female ('ringtail') Hen Harrier, seen in flight over rough grassland to the west of Heydon Grange Golf Club on the way back.

Corn Bunting (top) and Starling on wire, near Heydon, 17 November

Pigs and Gulls at Heydon Pig Farm, 17 November

Perhaps this long walk hastened its arrival, but overnight on the 17/18th I developed a Flu-like viral infection that laid me low for several days and was made worse by a disastrous trip to the Norfolk coast on the 21st (see my UK blog). I didn't get out much locally and saw nothing of interest until the 30th, when I decided to test my returning strength and fitness with a long walk round the villages of Therfield and Reed. I passed a small flock of eight Golden Plovers at Hatchpen Farm (possibly displaced by a partridge shoot that was going on as I walked up the hill towards Reed). The weather was extremely cold, with farm ponds iced over, which may explain why so many birds were found on ice-free Phillup's Lake. I counted 60, roughly half of which were Canada Geese. Also present were seven Tufted Ducks (no sign of the Scaup x Tufted hybrid) and an impressive six Gadwall (three males and three females), easily my highest count of this species on the lake. Coot and Mallard made up the numbers, whilst a small bird that dived and didn't reappear as I approached the lake was typical behaviour for a Little Grebe. My best sighting of the walk came on the way back down the Icknield Way from Therfield, when a Barn Owl put in a brief appearance - my first local sighting for three years!

Male Mallard (left) and Gadwall, Phillup's Lake, Reed End, 30 November

UK Wildlife Sightings November 2023

 I was back at RSPB Titchwell Marsh on the 3rd, looking for photos of birds in flight. A Velvet Scoter was seen on the sea, accompanying a large flock of Common Scoters and several dragonflies were still on the wing (mating pairs were seen!), on a generally quiet visit.

Black-tailed Godwit in Flight (and about to land), RSPB Titchwell Marsh, 3 November

Brent Geese in Flight, RSPB Titchwell Marsh, 3 November

I was back on the Norfolk Coast the following week, looking for a juvenile Red-breasted Goose that had been reported at Warham Greens on the previous couple of days. I hadn't seen one of these increasingly rare geese in the UK for several years and was keen to connect with it. I spent 90 minutes with other bird watchers at the northern end of Garden Drove, looking for the bird but there was no sign, although a Pallid Harrier (presumed to be the same female bird that had wintered here in 2022-23) was spotted on the ground. I decided to explore further to the east and found the goose with Brent Geese on the saltmarsh, about half a mile away. It was very distant and kept disappearing from view: a poor 'record shot' is shown below. I passed on information about where to see the goose to the other bird watchers, but they didn't seem very interested, having just seem an immature White-tailed Eagle (one of the Isle of Wight releases)!

Poor 'Record Shot' of a distant juvenile Red-breasted Goose (Head down, 3rd from right), with Brent Geese between Warham Greens and Stiffkey, 7 November

The following week I chased after two rare American ducks. The first, a male Green-winged Teal, was quickly located at the south end of the dam at Grafham Water and showed well: I even managed some half-decent photos! I had hoped to get some 'side by side' photos of the bird with a male Eurasian Teal, but it didn't quite happen.

Male Green-winged Teal (note the vertical white stripe on its side), Grafham Water, 13 November

Male Green-winged Teal (right) with male Eurasian Teal, Grafham Water, 13 November. The Eurasian Teal has a horizontal white stripe (partially visible) along its side and no vertical white stripe.

A couple of days later I was on the road again, this time to Abberton Reservoir (Essex) to look for a male Canvasback. Just as the Green-winged Teal closely resembles our Eurasian Teal, so the male Canvasback closely resembles our male Common Pochard. However the Canvasback, which is a much less common vagrant to the UK (I have had one sighting in the past), was buried in amongst several hundred Pochards. When I arrived at Abberton I was told that it was in a distant flock of Pochards, roughly equidistant between the Layer de al Haye and Layer Breton causeways. I spent maybe 40 minutes scanning the flock, alongside many others, but if it was there it was too distant to identify. I gave up and decided to go to the Abberton Visitor Centre and have a wander around the reserve. The third hide that I went to, 'Gwen's Hide', was packed and, when I managed to squeeze in, I found out that the Canvasback was in amongst a flock of around 250 tightly packed Pochards that were in a line, diving to feed on what must have been some particularly juicy under water vegetation. Despite being told that the Canvasback was towards the right hand end of the flock, it was several minutes before I got a clear sight of the bird. After that I had four or five brief, clear sightings of the Canvasback as the flock moved around, often hidden from view behind bushes. I took quite a few photos, but was unable to get an identifiable image of my target bird. Eventually something spooked the ducks and the whole lot took off, together with other species, flew around, briefly landed and then took off again, flying towards the causeways. I took photos of the birds in flight and, after poring over them, found one with the probable Canvasback amongst the Pochards. Unfortunately, the tip of its bill is obscured by another bird, so I can't be certain. For the record, a male Canvasback is slightly bigger than a male Pochard and has a darker face with a straighter, all dark bill. The 'probable' in the image is roughly a third of the way in from the left and from the bottom of the image below - good luck in finding it!

Probable male Canvasback with (mainly) Common Pochards, 15 November

So far in November luck at finding rare birds had been with me, but it ran out completely on the 21st. Despite suffering from a rather unpleasant virus, I decided to travel to Winterton-on-Sea on the North Norfolk coast, with the aim of seeing a Pallid Swift that had been seen in flight and had been roosting in the church tower for the previous few days. Having established that it had left the roost in the morning and had later been seen in flight at around 9.00am, I set off with high hopes. Several other bird watchers were looking for the bird when I arrived at midday but, to cut a long story short, it was never seen again. Apart from a short coastal walk to see the pupping Grey Seals on the beach, I spent the rest of my time in the area of the church, hoping that the bird would reappear whilst steadily feeling worse as my health deteriorated further and the cold, northerly wind bit into me. That night I developed a temperature and a fever, which laid me low for 48 hours. This was definitely a 'twitch' that I won't forget in a hurry.

Waxwings have invaded the UK in good numbers this winter, and are steadily moving west. The first report of birds in Hertfordshire came from Berkhamsted, where eight were reported in the Tesco car park (a typical place for Waxwings to turn up!). However, I arrived too late in the day to see them on the 28th, and on subsequent dates sightings (almost always early in the morning) were reduced in numbers until the birds disappeared altogether. By the 29th I had, with the exception of a persistent cough, recovered from my illness and decided to visit Slimbridge WWT (near Bristol) on a rare, sunny day. My main targets were Bewick's Swans, but I was also looking forward to doing some photography of both wild and captive birds. Bewick's Swans have been arriving later and later at Slimbridge, and in smaller numbers, with just 14 individuals (including two families of four) seen on the day. Despite the low numbers the swans appeared quite aggressive to each other, something that I haven't noticed before. About 70 White-fronted Geese were seen, whilst near the Severn Estuary six Common Cranes and a large flock of Barnacle Geese were present. On the reserve itself I was surprised to see a Spotted Redshank with four Redshanks, giving me a chance to observe the differences between these two similar species. In the captive area, male Goldeneyes were already displaying.

Bewick's Swan with other Wild Birds, WWT Slimbridge, 29 November

Bewick's Swan Family in Flight, WWT Slimbridge, 29 November

Spotted Redshank (right) with Redshanks, WWT Slimbridge, 29 November

Male Goldeneye (Captive Bird) Displaying, WWT Slimbridge, 29 November

Valencia Wildlife Sightings, October 2023

 Towards the end of October my partner and I spent a few days in Valencia in south-east Spain. This was not only a holiday break, but a chance for us both to do some (particularly architectural) photography in Spain's third city, which is situated on the Mediterranean coast. The weather was very warm (mid-20s Celsius during the day) and dry, very different to the weather that I had been subjected to back home. In addition to some spectacular architecture (foremost being that of the City of Arts and Sciences), Valencia is situated very close to the Albufera National Park, which we visited for a few hours on one day.

Our hotel was near the beach and a very short distance from the harbour and docks. Every morning I went on pre-breakfast walks in various directions, always close to the sea. Familiar gulls seen were Black-headed, Yellow-legged and Lesser Black-backed, but I was also pleased to see a number of Audouin's Gulls, always singly. This is a comparatively rare gull, that nests nearby and over-winters here. Valencia has several parks and green spaces and I read somewhere that three species of parakeet can be found here. However, the only parakeets that I came across were Monk Parakeets, an introduced species (as all Europe's parakeets are), which is becoming common and widespread in many parts of Spain. Crag Martins were seen hawking insects around the coastal hotels, but small passerines other than House Sparrows and Robins were thin on the ground. The commonest species of bird appeared to be Collared Doves (seen practically everywhere) and the ubiquitous Feral Pigeons.

Audouin's Gull, Valencia, October

Monk Parakeet, Valencia, October

Our visit to Albufera produced several species not seen elsewhere on the trip, including Greater Flamingo, Black-winged Stilt, Ruff, Common Redshank, Common Sandpiper and some warblers, tentatively assigned as Common (not Iberian) Chiffchaffs, although my photographs - one seen below- are not conclusive.

Greater Flamingo near the Visitor Centre, Albufera National Park, October

Chiffchaff (?), Albufera NP, October

We saw several raptors in Albufera, including an Osprey that was carrying a rather peculiarly-shaped fish (I thought at first that it must have got its talons stuck in a branch), Black Kites and several Marsh Harriers. Spotless Starlings were present in their thousands, and one huge ball was attacked by a Peregrine (or was it just toying with them - it certainly didn't catch any). Kestrels and a Sparrowhawk were also seen. Water birds included Mallard, Shelduck and a flock of 100+ Red-crested Pochard.

Spotless Starling 'Ball', Albufera NP, October

Osprey with (I presume) a Fish, Albufera NP, October

Invertebrates seen included several unidentified Dragonflies and a few common butterflies. The best sighting was of a Plain Tiger butterfly, a new species for me, which looks similar to the Monarch butterfly. Its stronghold appears to be in North Africa, but presumably it is spreading northwards due to climate change.

Plain Tiger Butterfly, Albufera NP, October