Royston Wildlife Blog: UK Wildlife Sightings, February 2026

On a dank, dismal day that was a feature of late January and early February, I visited Grafham Water (Cambridgeshire) on the 3rd, hoping to see one of the many (up to nine) Great Northern Divers that were wintering there. I was in luck: not only was a diver resting near the dam, close to the main car park, but I had chosen a day when parking was free! With a maximum temperature of 3C on the day and a lively breeze blowing in my face, I took a few photos of the diver and of a nearby flock of 20-25 Goldeneyes and left.

Great Northern Diver, Grafham Water, 3 February

I was lucky that a free day for bird watching (on the 4th) coincided with the best weather in the first week of February (dull, but bright with occasional sunshine later in the day and no rain until after dark). I visited the east coast of Norfolk, starting at Great Yarmouth where there used to be a sizeable flock of wintering Mediterranean Gulls (10-20 birds) on the beach on past visits. I hadn't been for a few years and could only find two birds this time. Whether this was due to a decline in wintering numbers or that other birds were elsewhere in the area, I don't know.

Mediterranean Gull, Great Yarmouth Beach, 4 February

I moved up the coast to Winterton, where I soon found the wintering Snow Buntings, my target species, sitting on top of one of the fishermens' huts, close to the car park. A couple of photographers were lying on the ground nearby, waiting for the birds to come down to feed on a patch of grass that had probably been 'laced' with bird seed. However, the buntings were reluctant to come down to the ground so I left them to it and moved on again, heading for Sea Palling.

Three of a flock of 23 Snow Buntings on the roof of a fisherman's hut, Winterton, 4 February

The juvenile Iceland Gull, my target species at Sea Palling, was located a few hundred metres north west of the lifeboat station, feeding alongside a few hundred other gulls and waders from a section of beach that stuck out into the sea, close to some rocks. I was told that adult and first winter Caspian Gulls were amongst the many Herring Gulls seen here, but for once I didn't spend much time searching for them - I had more bird watching to do.

Juvenile Iceland Gull (on the right) with other gulls, Sea Palling, 4 February

My final stop was at Hickling Broad, where I walked around the Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserve before heading down to the raptor watchpoint at Stubb Mill. On the way round the reserve I added Bearded Tit, Treecreeper and a single over-flying Common Crane to my year list. A Black-winged Kite, probably the same bird that I had seen for the first time at Hickling last year, had been present nearby during the previous week, but I was out of luck here: the bird did not make an appearance and was not seen on subsequent days either. However, as I was about to leave the raptor roost site at Stubb Mill a male Hen Harrier came in to roost. I missed this bird as I was putting up my tripod again to look for it, but I did see one of possibly two 'ringtails' (females or first winter males) that followed it in, to complete an excellent, if hard working, day of bird watching.

On the 12th, in my next 'twitch' of any distance I went just across the Hertfordshire boundary to Fishers Green in Essex, to see a single Tundra Bean Goose (a rare winter visitor from The Continent that I had missed when I visited Abberton Reservoir in January) and a flock of Russian White-fronted Geese. The weather was atrocious, but I managed to locate and photograph the birds. The only problem was that car parking payment was by 'app' only. After spending time downloading the required app and setting up a password, etc. a local fisherman walked by and remarked that parking was free because the authorities hadn't installed the cameras yet! So, for the second time in a fortnight, I got away with free parking.

Tundra Bean Goose, Fishers Green, 12 February

Russian White-fronted Goose, Fishers Green, 12 February

My partner and I spent a weekend in Eastbourne from the 13-15th. I expected bird watching to be minimal, but discovered on the first evening that there was a spectacular Starling murmuration, centred on Eastbourne pier (where the Starlings roost). On the Saturday, after a rare sunny day, we returned to see the Starlings. Murmurations are always difficult to capture well in the failing light, but I managed to take a few videos of the birds, as well as (less impressive) photographs, one of which is shown below. I estimate that about 3,000 birds were involved.

Part of a Starling Murmuration, Eastbourne, 14 February

During the following week I saw all five grebe species that occur in the UK. Great Crested and Little Grebes, which are common residents, were seen at various locations. A Black-necked Grebe (an uncommon breeding species here) was seen at Amwell (see my 'Local Wildlife Sightings' post for February) and on the 18th I visited Rutland Water, where I (eventually) had good views of a Red-necked Grebe, an uncommon winter visitor that does not breed in the UK.

Red-necked Grebe in Winter Plumage, Rutland Water, 18 February

To 'complete the set' of grebes, I drove up to RSPB Titchwell Marsh on the 20th to see a Slavonian Grebe (a rare and declining Scottish breeder and also a winter visitor), that had been present for several days on the Tidal Marsh, where a female Scaup (which had been present on my previous visit) was also feeding. I didn't stay for long on what was another poor weather day, but I did stop on the way back down the A10 at Sedge Fen (near Southery) , to view a flock of Bewick's Swans (along with a few Whoopers) which was feeding there.