Late October saw a dramatic change in our weather. It actually stopped raining! As I write, on 10 November, we haven't seen any meaningful rain (just some drizzle) since 21 October, nearly three weeks ago. This represents, by some distance, the driest period for well over a year. That is the good news. The bad news is that the weather has been DULL. The sun was last seen on the afternoon of 30 October and since then, barring the occasional glimpse of blue sky through the gloom, Royston seems to have been living in perpetual dusk. Sunshine is promised for tomorrow, but for now we live on in the longest period of gloom that I can recall.
I had to go in to Stevenage on the 4th and took the opportunity to visit the Fairlands Valley Lakes, hoping to see the hybrid Caspian Gull 'X307', which is a regular winter visitor. There was no joy there, but plenty of gulls and other water birds were on display and I spent a pleasant 30 minutes photographing them and other birds. At one point a Common Gull found a potential food item (I'm not sure what it was - possibly some discarded rubbish) and was chased around the main lake by other gulls before dropping it. A Black-headed Gull picked it up and was immediately pursued by the Common Gull. I think that this is just a little game that the gulls play, without necessarily being interested in eating whatever they find!
Common Gull with Food (?) being chased by an immature Lesser Black-backed Gull, Fairlands Valley Lakes, 4 November
Cormorant at Fairlands Valley Lakes, 4 November
On the 5th it was time for another walk around the villages. By now, all the summer visitors and passage migrants had gone (no Chiffchaffs recorded), but winter visitors had arrived and I saw my first Fieldfares of the autumn in the Therfield area. Finches and buntings were much in evidence, particularly in the Therfield area where I estimate that around 450 Linnets (two very large flocks and a few smaller ones) were seen, as were an estimated 70 Yellowhammers and 25 Chaffinches, the last almost certainly migrants from Northern Europe, as I've hardly seen any locally in the spring or summer. Phillup's Lake harboured another unusual female Tufted Duck, with a strange head shape and no tuft. Perhaps I keep finding anomalies with these birds because, with them appearing on my local patch, I study them more carefully than I would (say) the large numbers that occur on lakes elsewhere in Hertfordshire. Two Ravens flew across the Icknield Way, but the biggest surprise on my walk was to hear the familiar raucous calls of at least one Ring-necked Parakeet on the far (south) side of Therfield - a new record for me in my local area, although they have been recorded by others before (and were recorded in Royston on the same day). Was this/these bird(s) a pioneer of an invasion, or just wildly off course? Time will tell.
Female Tufted Duck with an unusual Head Shape, Phillup's Lake, Reed End, 5 November
Toadstool Photographed near Therfield, 5 November
A morning and early afternoon walk on the 8th, eastwards along the Icknield Way from the main A505 layby to Heydon Pig Farm and back, produced nearly 40 bird species recorded, including a flock of 24 Corn Buntings and more Fieldfares. A huge flock of gulls (the vast majority Lesser Black-backed) was loafing at the pig farm (image of some below). I couldn't pick out any rarities. I have mentioned before that a gull expert told me that all the larger gulls pass through our area as they head to or from warmer climes in the winter and that they do not over-winter here. I beg to differ, as there are hundreds of gulls at Heydon Pig Farm throughout the winter. Perhaps the recent warmer winters have encouraged these gulls to over-winter in the UK, rather than heading further south.
Just some of the Gulls loafing at Heydon Pig Farm, 8 November. A Little Egret (Centre Foreground) and a few Mallard Ducks (Foreground) can also be seen.
Fieldfares and Corn Buntings near Flint Cross, 8 November
The sun finally reappeared late on the 10th and showed off and on for the rest of the month. I started feeding the birds in the garden again in late October, using an expensive squirrel-proof feeder that actually worked! Now the squirrels just hang around underneath the feeder, alongside the pigeons (feral birds and one or two Stock Doves have reappeared), waiting for food to drop down. The feeder (which is filled with sunflower hearts and dominated by Goldfinches and Greenfinches, together with one or two Chaffinches) proved very popular during the dull days, with birds fighting to get to the four slots, but less so when the sun appeared. Robins, Wrens, Blue Tits and Great Tits were much in evidence and on the 20th I had a visit from two Song Thrushes, the first time that I've seen more than one in the garden. A very noisy (and close) Tawny Owl was heard outside on the evening of the 17th, after the first significant rain of the month. Coincidentally (or not) one or two Common Frogs were seen after dark in the back garden, enticed out by the rain and still looking for food when they should have been hibernating!
Away from the garden, a Stonechat was seen in Therfield on the 10th, my first local sighting for several months. A 'cold snap' from the 19th, accompanied by wintry sunshine, enticed me out to do another walk round the villages on the 20th. November seems to be a good month locally for both quality and quantity of birds: I've found and/or seen Rough-legged Buzzard, Short-eared and Long-eared Owls, Hen Harriers and Great Grey Shrikes in the halcyon days of past Novembers. Nothing particularly exciting happened on this walk, but I did see a Grey Wagtail at Hatchpen Farm (a first for this site) and a male Common Pochard at Phillup's Lake, with the lake also housing a Tufted Duck, a Little Grebe and two pairs of Coot, which are now resident on the lake. A total of 47 species recorded (44 seen) was my best for some time.
Fieldfare, Therfield, 20 November
Male Common Pochard, Phillup's Lake, Reed End, 20 November
I was on holiday in The Gambia (West Africa) from the 21st I'll attach a brief trip report in mid December.
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