 The first week and a half of March saw some much warmer weather with temperatures reaching a heady 18 degrees Celsius. South-easterlies also felt promising but those elusive Spring migrants are still awaited. New planting has begun (following and perhaps prompted by the recent hedge destruction) and hopefully new good habitat will grow up along the track bank in time. Despite the lack of Spring migrants a few highlights have headlined the period and are indicative of the changing season. New for the year, a Shelduck appeared for one day on 2nd and another 2 on 11th. Also new for the year, up to 3 Barn Owls have been present on site with one regularly hunting the back of the turnip field. The real highlight came today, along with the 2 Shelduck, in the form of 2 Redshank feeding along the edge of the main pit. Hopefully harbingers of more wader passage and certainly an expected arrival in early Spring. Along with the Shelduck and Barn Owls, they take the site year total to 89. The first White Wagtail of the year was also with the Pied Wagtail flock. The Redshank feeding on 11th Mar Otherwise, the usual parallel trends of growing flocks of winter birds feeding up before leaving and others pairing and courting with a view to breeding have been evident on site. The Fieldfare flock enjoying the turnip field has stabilised around 200 birds while Common Gull numbers have diminished being replaced by increasing numbers of Black-headed Gulls. A female-type Marsh Harrier was seen on 7th and on the same day at least 24 Common Snipe were flushed from the main weedy area along with at least 3 Jack Snipe. In the same area a single Stonechat was last seen on 3rd and may be the last sighting until they return in late summer post breeding. On the water, wildfowl numbers have generally fluctuated day-by-day but overall have increased. Around 30 Teal, 5-10 Wigeon and up to 50 Shoveler remain on site along with up to 20 Gadwall and well over 30 Tufted Duck and just one Pochard. Mandarin Duck number remain around 12 birds with a peak of 16 on 7th but mostly now paired up. A Great Crested Grebe visited again on 3rd and a pair of Little Grebes are now exploring nesting sites around the deep pit. Coot numbers have risen to at least 5 birds and their calls are now heard constantly as they begin courtship.  Great Crested Grebe on 3rd Mar
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 The last half of February proved very quiet with little to report and many of the same birds present. However, a returning Oystercatcher arrived on 23rd and stayed until the next day - a welcome boost to morale as Spring tarries! The site would appear suitable for them to breed but, being relatively new habitat and in constant flux, the site may not hold enough food for them. Either way, the Oystercatcher brings this year's site total to 86. Other wading species were in short supply with a maximum count of 11 Snipe flushed on 20th along with 2 Jack Snipe - presumably the same birds recorded earlier in the year. Up to 80 Lapwing remained in the area along with 2 Green Sandpipers favouring the long drainage pit as usual. An adult Yellow-legged Gull joined the gull roost on 23rd and appeared to be a different bird to the one on 4th being a heavier, possibly male, bird.  Adult Yellow-legged Gull on 23rd Feb Wildfowl numbers have fluctuated, presumably in response to varying levels of disturbance at the site. Mandarin Duck numbers have grown to 12 birds with Wigeon fluctuating between 20 to 50 birds. A noticeable influx of Teal occurred with a peak of c150 on 24th but all virtually gone by the end of the week. Tufted Duck numbers also peaked at 19 birds on 24th and varying numbers of Shoveler (max 21) and Gadwall (max 10) were present. A single Pochard visited on 22nd while a Little Grebe has been seen on a couple of occasions. Two Great Crested Grebes were present on 26th and 2 Coot remain on site. Another Little Egret made a brief appearance on 23rd. Perhaps more noticeable on site has been the flocks of birds gathering to feed in the large sheep fields. Common Gulls have been passing through with the flock peaking at about 300 birds on 20th. The most dramatic flocks have been the Woodpigeons with some Stock Doves and Jackdaws mixed in. Several flocks of around 1,000 birds commute between the surrounding fields and virtually cover the crop when they land! Woodpigeons feeding on the turnip tops A smaller flock of c100 Fieldfares also remains in the field. These flocks of course attract predators and 2 Peregrines have continue to visit the site but, as yet, no Merlin. Last year's wing-tagged Buzzard has reappeared and at least 2 Ravens have been seen flying over the site on a few occasions. Another noticeable change - very much in line with previous years - is the growing flocks of Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits visiting the water's edge. Hopefully these in time will harbour White Wagtails and maybe some scarcer pipits.  Wing-tagged Common Buzzard - tagged in the nest in nearby Hatfield Park Passerine activity is more noticeable with the approach of Spring and both Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings are now singing on site. They will hopefully breed but one major set-back for all passerines has been the sudden removal of the willow hedge between the ruin and Symondshyde Farm. Aside from providing shelter and nesting opportunities for many birds the hedge-line also provided a valuable corridor into an otherwise shrub-less site. The track between the hedges also held a variety of butterflies not found elsewhere on site. It is not clear why the hedge was ripped out and hopefully it will be allowed to re-grow but equally it may be ploughed in and replaced with a fence. A real loss at the very start of the breeding season.  The good news is that March has arrived and with it the promise of Spring migrants. We'll hopefully soon have the calls of Little Ringed Plovers on site with Sand Martins and Swallows overhead. Last year March saw some excellent birds so let's see what this year brings!  Red-legged Partridge on 24th Feb  Despite the cold and quiet past few weeks of February little signs of Spring are beginning to creep in to view. Easterlies have dominated the month so far with temperatures struggling to get above 5 degrees Celsius. The cold, overcast conditions have not proved conducive to early Spring passage but finally, mid-month, it feels like we may be on the brink of Spring. The sun actually came out yesterday and this coming week promises a new and warmer weather system. By the last few years' standard, returning Oystercatchers are now officially late but little clues to early movement have appeared. Today the lone and patient Coot was joined by another - I assume they can now get to the business of courtship and nest-building but I'm sure challengers will arrive! Tufted Ducks have returned with numbers now up to 13 birds and just yesterday, 3 Mandarin Ducks arrived with 5 today. Despite their love of parkland pools with mature trees for their nests these ducks seem to really enjoy the bare gravel pits and appear to find plenty to nibble at on the stony ground.  Wildfowl numbers in general have fluctuated and never seem to have recovered from the shooting onslaught unleashed by the farmer on his pet Mallards. Unfortunately, the more savvy wild ducks are quick to leave and while occasionally visiting soon vacate the site once they spot human visitors. These have included around 30 Wigeon, similar numbers of Shoveler, a few Gadwall, a single male Teal and female Pochard. Other regulars have included the 2-3 pairs of Stonechats, 2 Green Sandpipers and varying numbers of Egyptian Geese arriving to roost in the evenings. A high count of 24 birds was noted on 5th Feb. A Chiffchaff was also foraging with the Stonechats on 5th. Highlights of the first few weeks of February include 2 Jack Snipe flushed along with 10 Common Snipe on 10th Feb and an adult Yellow-legged Gull on 4th Feb. A Little Owl was also calling from its usual area on 5th and a Little Egret was noted on 1st Feb. A Great Crested Grebe on 8th Feb and a pair of Grey Partridge on 9th were also new for the site year list. With a pair of Red-legged Partridge seen on 15th the site total now stands at a healthy 85 for 2025.  Adult Yellow-legged Gull on 4th Feb 2025 One final highlight of the month so far has been the continuing sighting of Marsh Harriers with a wing-tagged bird on 13th and a male on 14th. The male has been presumed to be an immature - possibly a 3rd calendar year bird - with contrasting underwing and dark trailing edge to it wings. However, it does not appear to be the same as a similar bird seen in November 2024 that had darker wings with dark ends to its tail feathers. In addition a full adult male was seen on 26th June last year along with a juvenile and female bird. Assuming some of the sightings are of the same birds it seems that there may have been 5-6 individuals involved over the last 12 months. With records in every month for a whole year it seems to bode well for a possible breeding attempt somewhere in the area at some point. Below are 4 of the birds seen over the last year: Having recently been introduced to a paper on Marsh Harrier identification I am less sure about ageing Marsh Harriers as the paper suggests it is nigh on impossible! The paper can be found here and makes for interesting reading.
Whatever the case, hopefully these birds will continue to be seen in the area and one day stay to breed.  You always know it's been a quiet end to the month when Coot headlines the blog! However, this bird that turned up on 31st Jan is the first one of the year and signals the start of some spring movement of birds. Many more will follow and, hopefully as in years gone by, will breed at the site. The last half of January was quiet but the site list grew steadily to 77 by the month end with singing Mistle Thrush added and 3 Pochard on 31st. A pair of Pintail on 24th was a nice surprise along with 55 Wigeon, 27 Gadwall and a few Shoveler. A pair of Peregrine were also in the big field on that day and at least 5 Stonechats were on site.  Peregrine on 24th Jan 2025 The regular immature male Marsh Harrier came through the site on 31st whilst the Skylark flock has held at about 50-60 birds along with up to 200 Fieldfares. Mute Swan numbers have fluctuated but tend to be around 15 birds and Lapwing numbers have varied from 30 to 100 birds. A couple of Green Sandpipers continue to favour the site, commuting between the long drainage pit and pools in the arable fields across the road. Gulls continue to provide a bit of interest although the 3rd winter Caspian Gull seems to now be favouring Tyttenhanger Gravel Pits a few miles away. A possible adult Caspian was present on 29th but at distance it wasn't possible to be 100% sure and, despite the nice clean head and darker grey mantle, I couldn't rule out a hybrid bird. Some video-grabs of the possible adult Caspian Gull on 29th Jan 2025 On the passerine front, Linnet, Goldfinch and Chaffinch numbers have dwindled and only about 20-30 Meadow Pipits are in evidence. A couple of Reed Buntings have also been mixed in with the flock along the track. February beckons and with it the hope of some migrant waders arriving at the site - hopefully Oystercatchers but maybe also Dunlin and Redshank.
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