Plenty of warm, sunny weather greeted the start of the month, with temperatures peaking in Royston at around 16C. March has, on average, been the driest month of the year over the last 30+ years in Royston, and there was no appreciable rainfall here until well into the second week, when a cool, showery period set in. I saw my first local butterfly of the year (a male Brimstone) on the 9th and a few bumble bees were also recorded, but early March is generally a quiet period for birds, with winter visitors gradually dispersing and summer visitors yet to arrive. The dull, cool months of January and February had left plant development somewhat behind schedule, and there was no sign of Pasque Flowers emerging when I visited Church Hill on the 6th. Birds were still active around the garden feeders, with up to seven Chaffinches seen on some days. The regular Stock Dove was joined by a second bird, making it more difficult for the Woodpigeons to shoo them away, and a colourful variety of Feral Pigeons were also visiting regularly. Blackbirds were very active, with males developing their breeding plumage and starting to sing. A Mistle Thrush was heard singing nearby on a few dates. A Coal Tit was seen on the feeders on one occasion.
Thursday, 13 March 2025
Local Wildlife Sightings March 2025
Monday, 10 March 2025
UK Wildlife Sightings, March 2025
The first ten days of March brought the longest, most settled period of sunny weather for well over a year, and with it the chance to get out and about. With my health restored, I visited WWT Welney, from where Common Cranes had been reported on previous days, on the 4th. I couldn't find the Cranes, with the Lady Fen trail being closed, but did manage to see my first (distant) Spoonbills of the year and, as an added bonus, saw a Cetti's Warbler at the edge of the main car park just before I left. Huge numbers of Whooper Swans could be seen from the visitor centre and seven Bewick's Swans were seen (and heard) in flight over the reserve.
More warm, sunny weather on the 5th encouraged me to visit the Goshawk viewpoint near Cockley Cley (Norfolk). Calm, sunny weather in March is ideal for seeing displaying Goshawks and I wasn't disappointed, seeing at least four birds during a 40 minute stay. I moved on from there to Cley on the North Norfolk coast. I walked right round the reserve, seeing two more Spoonbills (close enough to photograph, unlike the Welney birds) and lots of wader species including Ruff. My target bird, however, was Twite, a flock of which had been reported between Cley and Salthouse. These were duly tracked down with the help of another bird watcher: the photos (against the light, into the wind and with a fairly distant flock of small birds - my excuses) aren't great but I've included one for your interest.
Monday, 10 February 2025
Local Wildlife Sightings, February 2025
February saw a return to consistently dull and at times windy weather, with only a couple of sunnier days (the 5th and 6th) in the first half of the month. High pressure dominated, but with easterly winds blowing in lots of cloud and some rain from Europe and daytime temperatures averaging 5-6C, conditions could best be described as 'unpleasant' for outdoor activities, including bird watching.
Regular reports of a first winter Mediterranean Gull on the Boating Lake at Verulamium Park, St Albans, lured me out for a second visit of the year on the 4th and, after I hunted around for a bit, it appeared there briefly and I was able to take some photos of what was a second Hertfordshire 'first' for me here in a short period of time, following on from the Yellow-browed Warbler in January. I checked the cathedral for Peregrines (none seen) before leaving.
UK Wildlife Sightings, February 2025
Anybody reading my blog posts will have noticed that my favourite area for bird watching is the North Norfolk coast and I was back there again on the 5th. I firstly visited Snettisham, where my chief target was a flock of Lesser White-fronted Geese, which had flown across the North Sea from Sweden, where they are part of a re-introduction programme. This species of goose is rare and declining and I have only seen a couple of individuals in the UK in the past. Purist 'listers' tend to ignore re-introduced birds, but in my view any bird that is capable of flying across the North Sea is definitely wild and goes on my list! I hope that these re-introduced birds thrive: will they return to Sweden to breed? Several Russian White-fronted Geese were also present at the same site, allowing a comparison of the two species. The most obvious differences between the two are the smaller size, more delicate bills and (particularly) the obvious eye rings of the Lesser White-fronts - check out the images below.
Saturday, 11 January 2025
Local Wildlife Sightings, January 2025
Heavy rain on New Year's Day and almost throughout the following weekend (30+mm by the 5th) suggested that 2025 was going to be no improvement, weatherwise, to 2024. However, a 'cold snap' from the 6th brought with it some welcome winter sunshine, even if daytime temperatures barely reached 0C. I took the opportunity to do lots of local walking, as well as to visit some of Hertfordshire's 'honey pot' sites. A walk around my Local Patch on the 3rd (another sunny day) produced 42 bird species (40 seen): nothing special, but it was good to be out getting exercise in the sunshine, after several days of grotesque over-indulgence. Likewise, 37 bird species were recorded on a walk to Heydon Pig Farm along the Icknield Way on the 10th. With the ground very hard, not many gulls were seen at the pig farm. However, Ravens, a wintering Chiffchaff and hundreds of Starlings were present and good numbers of Fieldfares (but no Redwings) were feeding on berries in bushes along the way.
UK Wildlife Sightings, January 2025
Despite a very wet start to the year, with snowfall and flooding elsewhere in the country, the first half of the month brought some welcome sunshine as high pressure with northerly winds brought several cold, crisp, sunny days - particularly between the 6th and the 11th. Wearing my thickest fleecy jacket and having to scrape ice off the car was a small price to pay for the chance to start my 2025 bird lists in bright weather, ideal (with the sun low in the sky) for photography. My first trip of any distance was to Welney WWT (Norfolk), where I was lucky to see Short-eared Owl, all three UK egrets, Tree Sparrows, Whooper Swans and all the common dabbling ducks. The only disappointment was to miss out on a flight of five Common Cranes, which apparently flew overhead whilst I was in one of the hides. Everybody else saw them.....