March began much as February had ended, with unsettled weather and rain. A few days of drier weather followed as the wind changed to a cold easterly, but normal service was resumed in the middle of the month with mild weather (temperature reached 16C on the 14th) and more rain. My wellies were employed again at times, although the chalk soil rapidly dried out given a day or two without heavy rain. The water table was, however, very high, leading to huge puddles and occasional flooding on the roads. I went on a long overdue walk round the villages on the 4th, recording 44 bird species and a single Comma butterfly. My best sighting came very shortly after I set off, with a male Blackcap (presumably an over-wintering bird) being seen in a neighbour's garden. Four Tufted Ducks were seen on Phillup's Lake.
Common Buzzard, Reed End, 4 March
Tufted Ducks, Reed End, 4 March
Reports of a White Stork near Hertford prompted me to drive to the village of Essendon, where the bird had been seen, on the 5th. On arrival, I was told that the bird (apparently a young bird from the Knepp breeding population in Sussex - see my July 2023 UK post) had flown further down the River Lea. However, as I chased after it the bird flew back and passed me, before landing on the far side of the river, behind some trees. I didn't have my camera ready to photograph the bird in flight, so my only record is of a distant speck on the ground (below). On the way back I stopped along the Baldock to Wallington road for a walk and was lucky to see a 'ringtail' Hen Harrier, flying across nearby fields - my first local sighting for two years.
'Record Shot' of White Stork, Essendon, 5 March
My walks up to Hatchpen Farm had proved uneventful this year and, with increasing disruption (and field destruction) caused by building work up there I decided to switch my attention to the section of the Icknield Way that leads eastwards out from Royston into Cambridgeshire. This quiet section is surrounded by arable fields but has produced some good birds in the past. There is a rather boring section that leads out from my house past Burloes Farm, so I decided to park in a large layby off the A505 and walk eastwards along the Icknield Way from there. There had been reports of a first winter Iceland Gull in the area of Flint Cross, which is close to my route. On my first visit, on the 7th, I saw a huge flock of around 200 Corn Buntings (just) on the Hertfordshire side of the border with Cambridgeshire and an even bigger mixed flock of gulls on the wing. I photographed this flock and, being a complete 'anorak', pored through them, looking for the Iceland Gull. Only the four 'common' species (Black-headed, Common, Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls) could be identified, along with a single Great Black-backed Gull (quite a rare species inland). The birds were too far away to say whether any Yellow-legged or Caspian Gulls were amongst the Herring Gulls. However, as I moved into Cambridgeshire I found the Iceland Gull alongside many other large gulls, 'following the plough' in a field. Numerous attempts to photograph this gull ultimately gave me just one poorly-resolved image of the bird in flight (below).
A few of the 200+ Corn Buntings seen on the Herts./Cambs. Border off the Icknield Way, 7 March
Fallow Deer off the Icknield Way near Royston, 7 March
1st Winter Iceland Gull (flying just L of Centre, intersecting with top of Field), near Royston, 7 March
A similar walk on the 11th was less stimulating, although hundreds of gulls were again to be seen as another field was being ploughed. One of the gulls had some of the characteristics (upright stance, 'gimlet eye') of a Caspian Gull (image below), but my photo is too poor to be certain of identification. Big flocks of Fieldfares, Corn Buntings and Starlings were also seen.
Possible Caspian Gull (right hand Bird), east of Royston, 11 March
Three noisy male Siskins, seen in Fox Covert on the 7th, were presumably migrating back north to their breeding sites. On the same day a Chiffchaff was again seen in exactly the same area of woodland where one had been seen in late January, so presumably this was the same over-wintering bird. However, following warm southerly winds from the 13th, summering Chiffchaffs started arriving back in the Royston area in big numbers soon afterwards. A bird was singing on Church Hill on the 14th and on the following day I heard (and, in some cases, saw) no fewer than six singers on a walk on to The Heath. One bird on The Heath hadn't got its song quite right, replacing the 'chiff' with its normal call! Four Brimstone butterflies were flying around in the woods on The Heath during one of the occasional sunny intervals on the 15th.
This winter has been an excellent one for Waxwings, with birds being seen at a variety of locations, including Royston. However, I hadn't seen any in 2024 until the 14th, when I visited a flock of birds that had been showing regularly at an industrial estate in Letchworth. The birds were spending most of their time in a tree, occasionally flying down to feed on the copious red berries in a nearby (pyracantha?) bush. I managed to get a few photos of the birds (below) - it could be a few years before I get another chance to see them locally.
Waxwing, Letchworth GC, 14 March
Waxwing, Letchworth GC, 14 March
On the 15th I paid my first visit of the year to Coopers Green gravel pits, just off the A1 near Welwyn Garden City. The extraction of sand and gravel is still going on there, and the newly excavated pits prove attractive to migrant birds, in particular Little Ringed Plovers, which also nest in this habitat. Up to six of these birds, newly arrived from Africa, had been reported there in the preceding days but, in failing light, I managed to see just one.
Meanwhile, things were happening in my back garden. No fewer than 17 very noisy frogs were counted in the garden pond up to the 13th, when the first clumps of spawn were laid, with more frogspawn appearing on the following two days. A newt was also seen in the pond. After the first appearance of Feral Pigeons in the garden for 38 years (see my February blog), more and more appeared alongside the resident Woodpigeons and Collared Doves, feeding on sunflower hearts dropped from the feeders by the rather messy finches. Then, on the morning of the 21st, a Stock Dove appeared as well. It would be a slight exaggeration to say that my garden resembled St. Mark's Square in Venice! This or another Stock Dove (a species which has occasionally visited the garden before) turned up regularly over the following few days. I guess that it would be too much to hope for a Turtle Dove to turn up in the summer to complete the set?
Frogspawn in the Garden Pond, 15 March
Stock Dove in my Garden, 21 March
Warm, southerly winds in the middle of the month brought up not just lots of Chiffchaffs, but also other 'early-arriving' summer visitors, with numerous Wheatears and a handful of Garganey being reported in the county. A few Willow Warblers and Ring Ouzels, which normally arrive in April, were also reported in the Home Counties. On a walk from the Wallington to Baldock road to the Baldock model aircraft field on the 23rd I saw at least three Wheatears, including a nice male on the aircraft field itself. However, the final days of the month saw a change to very unsettled weather, with rain and/or strong westerly winds, and migration from the south appeared to dry up.
Brimstone, Red Admiral, Peacock and Comma butterflies were all seen on the wing on the warmer, sunnier days in March and other insects, including bee-flies, hoverflies and ladybirds, also emerged as the month wore on. Hundreds, possibly thousands of Pasque Flowers were blooming on Church Hill by the end of the month. Due to illness, my walks were short and restricted, but I did manage to get up to Phillup's Lake on the 26th (six Coot, three Canada Geese and a single summer-plumaged Little Grebe). I also saw my first Swallows of the year at Marsworth Reservoir, when I visited the Tring Reservoirs on the 29th. By the end of the month, Blackcaps were singing all across my 'local patch'.
Canada Geese, Phillup's Lake, Reed End, 26 March
