Local Wildlife Sightings February 2022

 The redpolls were last seen on my garden feeders on the 2nd: hopefully, they find their way back successfully to their breeding site(s) further north. Apart from a probable stonechat, seen only in flight on two occasions at the western end of The Heath, it was a case of just seeing the 'usual suspects' on my regular walks. It was encouraging to see and hear more greenfinches locally, and on two occasions five were seen in the garden - the highest number for many years. With up to six chaffinches feeding on the ground below the feeders and up to nine goldfinches at a time using the feeders, the garden has been a bit of a 'finch haven' this winter. However, bullfinches have become even harder to find and must be in danger of dying out in the Royston area. Long-tailed tits were only seen in very small flocks, suggesting a poor nesting season in 2021. Many other nesting species were also hit badly by the very cold April and cold, wet May in 2021, but blue tit numbers this winter seem, if anything, to have increased (I counted 35 in trees on either side of the Icknield Way as I walked from Therfield down to Royston Hospital on the 7th). Great tit numbers also seem to have held up well. Going back to my garden, the single male collared dove that had visited throughout the winter finally found a partner at the beginning of the month. I rather like collared doves but so, for different reasons, do sparrowhawks and they take quite a toll on the local collared dove population.

Gulls, Gulls, Gulls - Again.

The middle weeks of February were desperately quiet for birds and other local wildlife. However, I did note a large flock of larger (herring-type and black-backed) gulls on the ground at Hatchpen Farm on a very dull late afternoon on the 9th. The local Kumliens gull had again been reported at Heydon Pig Farm, a few miles away, earlier in the day and I hoped that it might be in this flock. In very poor light I couldn't see it on the ground, but when the flock took off one gull did appear more uniformly pale than all the others. However, it was too far away for me to be certain of its identity. I walked up to Hatchpen on two other afternoons, seeing larger gulls on each occasion, but there was no sign of the Kumliens gull. Hatchpen and the Newsells Stud Farm seem to be on a regular flight path, possibly from Heydon, before they head west, presumably to roost. I regularly see roving flocks of black-headed and common gulls over the fields at this time of year, so it has become normal to see the four commonest UK species of gull on my walks.

Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gulls, Newsells Stud Farm, 10 February

Three 'named' storms passed through our area in the second half of the month, bringing trees and branches down. Walking became unpleasant and even dangerous for a few days, but when the storms abated bird watching on my local walks continued to hold little of interest. I saw a Mediterranean gull on another visit to Dernford Farm Reservoir (near Stapleford in Cambridgeshire, an 18 minute drive from my house) on the 28th.