After two months of incredibly mild temperatures and lots of rain, December proved to be very different as wintry weather, with mist, frosts and daytime temperatures close to freezing, arrived. I decided to go on a now monthly walk around the villages on the 1st, despite it being a misty, murky morning. Because of this I wasn't expecting great things from my walk, so I was pleasantly surprised to arrive home five hours later having recorded no fewer than 53 bird species including a local 'first' in the form of a (first winter male?) pochard at Phillup's Lake, where I again saw a gadwall, as well as little grebe, coot and a flock of at least 25 Canada geese through the mist. A reed bunting, seen at Hatchpen Farm, was a local first of the year and I also saw a marsh tit at Reed. Lots of redwings and (recently arrived) fieldfares were seen in several places, a tawny owl hooted near Reed and a flock of golden plovers was still present in a field off the Icknield Way in Therfield.
'Record Shot' of a Gadwall taking off through the Mist at Phillup's Lake, Reed End, 1 December
'Record Shot' of a Pochard (First Winter Male?), Phillup's Lake, Reed End, 1 December
I went on another long walk, exploring what was happening in the countryside to the east of Royston, along the Icknield Way as far as Heydon Pig Farm, on the 6th. Huge flocks of gulls and starlings were seen 'following the plough' in a field along the way. They all took to the sky at one point as a peregrine came over. It started chasing the starlings before moving off. I managed to get one or two 'grab shots' of the peregrine, which revealed it to be a juvenile / first winter bird (streaking, rather than barring on the body), as it flew away - an exciting encounter! A male stonechat and more reed buntings were seen on the way to the pig farm, where a raven and at least five species of gulls (including yellow-legged) were seen.
Juvenile Peregrine, off the Icknield Way, Cambridgeshire, 6 December
A few of the Gulls seen at Heydon Pig Farm, 6 December
An unexpectedly heavy snowfall, the biggest for a few years, arrived on the evening of the 11th and the morning of the 12th. With northerly winds dominating in the following week and daytime temperatures which rarely reached 0C, the snow persisted until the 18th, when milder weather arrived. There was very little bird activity in the countryside during this period, when I walked mainly from home, with a raven over-flying Fox Covert on the 15th the only noteworthy bird. The return of warmer, wetter weather from the 19th saw me being more active, but the only birds worthy of reporting were a mixed flock of yellowhammers (50+) and corn buntings (5+) at Hatchpen Farm and a flock of around 200 linnets in a field close to the Barkway Road, just outside Royston town.
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