Local Wildlife Sightings November 2024

 Late October saw a dramatic change in our weather. It actually stopped raining! As I write, on 10 November, we haven't seen any meaningful rain (just some drizzle) since 21 October, nearly three weeks ago. This represents, by some distance, the driest period for well over a year. That is the good news. The bad news is that the weather has been DULL. The sun was last seen on the afternoon of 30 October and since then, barring the occasional glimpse of blue sky through the gloom, Royston seems to have been living in perpetual dusk. Sunshine is promised for tomorrow, but for now we live on in the longest period of gloom that I can recall.

I had to go in to Stevenage on the 4th and took the opportunity to visit the Fairlands Valley Lakes, hoping to see the hybrid Caspian Gull 'X307', which is a regular winter visitor. There was no joy there, but plenty of gulls and other water birds were on display and I spent a pleasant 30 minutes photographing them and other birds. At one point a Common Gull found a potential food item (I'm not sure what it was - possibly some discarded rubbish) and was chased around the main lake by other gulls before dropping it. A Black-headed Gull picked it up and was immediately pursued by the Common Gull. I think that this is just a little game that the gulls play, without necessarily being interested in eating whatever they find!

Common Gull with Food (?) being chased by an immature Lesser Black-backed Gull, Fairlands Valley Lakes, 4 November

Cormorant at Fairlands Valley Lakes, 4 November

On the 5th it was time for another walk around the villages. By now, all the summer visitors and passage migrants had gone (no Chiffchaffs recorded), but winter visitors had arrived and I saw my first Fieldfares of the autumn in the Therfield area. Finches and buntings were much in evidence, particularly in the Therfield area where I estimate that around 450 Linnets (two very large flocks and a few smaller ones) were seen, as were an estimated 70 Yellowhammers and 25 Chaffinches, the last almost certainly migrants from Northern Europe, as I've hardly seen any locally in the spring or summer. Phillup's Lake harboured another unusual female Tufted Duck, with a strange head shape and no tuft. Perhaps I keep finding anomalies with these birds because, with them appearing on my local patch, I study them more carefully than I would (say) the large numbers that occur on lakes elsewhere in Hertfordshire. Two Ravens flew across the Icknield Way, but the biggest surprise on my walk was to hear the familiar raucous calls of at least one Ring-necked Parakeet on the far (south) side of Therfield - a new record for me in my local area, although they have been recorded by others before (and were recorded in Royston on the same day). Was this/these bird(s) a pioneer of an invasion, or just wildly off course? Time will tell.

Female Tufted Duck with an unusual Head Shape, Phillup's Lake, Reed End, 5 November

Toadstool Photographed near Therfield, 5 November

A morning and early afternoon walk on the 8th, eastwards along the Icknield Way from the main A505 layby to Heydon Pig Farm and back, produced nearly 40 bird species recorded, including a flock of 24 Corn Buntings and more Fieldfares. A huge flock of gulls (the vast majority Lesser Black-backed) was loafing at the pig farm (image of some below). I couldn't pick out any rarities. I have mentioned before that a gull expert told me that all the larger gulls pass through our area as they head to or from warmer climes in the winter and that they do not over-winter here. I beg to differ, as there are hundreds of gulls at Heydon Pig Farm throughout the winter. Perhaps the recent warmer winters have encouraged these gulls to over-winter in the UK, rather than heading further south.

Just some of the Gulls loafing at Heydon Pig Farm, 8 November. A Little Egret (Centre Foreground) and a few Mallard Ducks (Foreground) can also be seen.

Fieldfares and Corn Buntings near Flint Cross, 8 November

The sun finally reappeared late on the 10th and showed off and on for the rest of the month. I started feeding the birds in the garden again in late October, using an expensive squirrel-proof feeder that actually worked! Now the squirrels just hang around underneath the feeder, alongside the pigeons (feral birds and one or two Stock Doves have reappeared), waiting for food to drop down. The feeder (which is filled with sunflower hearts and dominated by Goldfinches and Greenfinches, together with one or two Chaffinches) proved very popular during the dull days, with birds fighting to get to the four slots, but less so when the sun appeared. Robins, Wrens, Blue Tits and Great Tits were much in evidence and on the 20th I had a visit from two Song Thrushes, the first time that I've seen more than one in the garden. A very noisy (and close) Tawny Owl was heard outside on the evening of the 17th, after the first significant rain of the month. Coincidentally (or not) one or two Common Frogs were seen after dark in the back garden, enticed out by the rain and still looking for food when they should have been hibernating!

Away from the garden, a Stonechat was seen in Therfield on the 10th, my first local sighting for several months. A 'cold snap' from the 19th, accompanied by wintry sunshine, enticed me out to do another walk round the villages on the 20th. November seems to be a good month locally for both quality and quantity of birds: I've found and/or seen Rough-legged Buzzard, Short-eared and Long-eared Owls, Hen Harriers and Great Grey Shrikes in the halcyon days of past Novembers. Nothing particularly exciting happened on this walk, but I did see a Grey Wagtail at Hatchpen Farm (a first for this site) and a male Common Pochard at Phillup's Lake, with the lake also housing a Tufted Duck, a Little Grebe and two pairs of Coot, which are now resident on the lake. A total of 47 species recorded (44 seen) was my best for some time.

Fieldfare, Therfield, 20 November

Male Common Pochard, Phillup's Lake, Reed End, 20 November

I was on holiday in The Gambia (West Africa) from the 21st I'll attach a brief trip report in mid December.

UK Wildlife Sightings November 2024

 I spent an afternoon at RSPB Lakenheath Fen on the 1st, looking for Water Pipits and Common Cranes. A single Water Pipit was heard, but not seen, near the Joist Fen viewpoint. Also seen were three Whooper Swans, four Great White Egrets and at least two Marsh Harriers on a quiet day.

 

Two Whooper Swans and a Great White Egret on Washland, Lakenheath Fen, 1 November

My quest for cranes continued on the 6th, when I drove up to Willow Tree Fen, north of Peterborough, where Common Cranes had been regularly seen coming in to roost. I hadn't been to Willow Tree Fen for about 15 years and was surprised to find that, whereas before I had been able to walk out onto the fen, I was now restricted to a car park with a viewpoint looking out over the fen. However, that was all that I needed as 25 Common Cranes came in to roost at dusk, with several Marsh Harriers (including a leucistic individual) and seven Cattle Egrets also seen from the viewpoint.

Record shot of some of the 25 Common Cranes that roosted at Willow Tree Fen on 6 November

Staines Reservoirs have proved a happy hunting ground over the years, and particularly last winter when I had great views of some of our rarer grebes and divers. News of a Lapland Bunting on the causeway between the north and south reservoirs enticed me to visit again. I arrived on the 7th to find the bunting hopping on the causeway almost at the feet of the assembled birdwatchers (I suspect that somebody had put food down for it here). I knelt and waited as it came towards me, getting so close that I couldn't focus my camera on it! My images don't do justice to this characterful little bird, which is still present at the site as I write this on the 9th. Further along the causeway I counted five Black-necked Grebes on the South Basin. It is unusual not to see this species here during the winter months and they are sometimes joined by Slavonian Grebes.

Lapland Bunting, Staines Reservoirs, 7 November

Lapland Bunting, Staines Reservoirs, 7 November

Three Black-necked Grebes, Staines Reservoirs, 7 November

On the 12th I made another visit to the North Norfolk coast, spending time at Thornham Harbour before moving on to Titchwell. Once again I had a glimpse of a Water Pipit as it flew in front of the Parrinder Hide, uttering its distinctive, sharp, one note call. Several Meadow Pipits were also around. One pipit seen from the Parrinder Hide had a very distinctive eye ring, which didn't fit with any pipit species! I've included a somewhat pixellated photo of the bird below (it was a long way away). I assume that the bird is a Meadow Pipit. Fourteen wader species, including Ruff, were seen on the day.

(Meadow?) Pipit (nearest bird) with Conspicuous Eye Ring, RSPB Titchwell Marsh, 12 November

Eleven Little Egrets, RSPB Titchwell Marsh, 12 November

Sanderling on Titchwell Beach, 12 November

An RSPB coach trip on the 17th saw us spending the day at Rutland Water (Egleton Reserve). Slavonian Grebe, Great Northern Diver, Cattle Egret, Kingfisher and Scaup were amongst the species seen. Several Great Egrets were present on the reserve and two appeared to be courting, walking close together with bills pointing to the sky - behaviour that I haven't seen before. I took some photos at an angle through glass, which didn't come out at all well, so I'll include a more conventional image below.

Great Egret, Rutland Water (Egleton Reserve), 17 November

Blue Tit near the Feeding Station, Rutland Water (Egleton), 17 November

I left the UK on the 22nd for a wildlife holiday in The Gambia (West Africa). I will get back to writing my blog posts when I've recovered, in mid December.