 The last week has seen the rather undramatic arrival of migrants - a steady trickle compared to last year's bumper days. Though less dramatic it has meant that most days have held some interest with new birds being found on site. Heavy rain on 15th April felt like it should have delivered gulls and terns but instead brought down a fall of wagtails with at least 30 Yellow Wagtails (including another Blue-headed Wagtail) and 3 White Wagtails with the usual Pied Wagtails. Always a delight to witness even if the rest of the site felt quiet. Earlier in the day a single Wheatear had been found along side the main pit. The next day saw the arrival of a singing Lesser Whitethroat in the hedgerow bordering Coopers Green Lane and this was still singing at the time of writing on 20th April. A pair of Wheatears were found in the freshly ploughed restored areas on 17th and these were joined by a third bird - a female - on 20th. Some passage was in evidence on 19th April with a Greenshank found early morning that later appeared to relocate to Tyttenhanger GPs. The afternoon saw the first Hobby of the year over the site along with a passing Common Tern. The next day saw another or possibly the same Greenshank hidden at the far end of the main pit along with another Hobby over high. A singing Sedge Warbler joined the Lesser Whitethroat at the track entrance taking the site year list to 112 species for 2025. Female Wheatear on 20th April along with an elusive Greenshank
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 It's a slow, steady March so far this month but, as expected, the headline is that the Little Ringed Plovers are back with a pair appearing on 14th Mar - exactly the day they appeared last year and one day later than the year before! What will they make of the 'restored' site I wonder - will they find enough gravel scrapes to breed on? Only time will tell but in the meantime, we'll enjoy their visits. With them the Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail flocks continue to grow and the first White Wagtails have begun to appear with up to 4 birds on 14th. A really pleasing find on 16th was a Rock Pipit that gave itself away with its calls. Seemingly an annual bird - possible in both spring and autumn - it is nevertheless always rewarding to find these birds inland. Knowing its call and knowing where to look is half the battle but this one showed well enough for a few photos. The Rock Pipit on 16th Mar - the middle photo showing it eating a ladybird Wheatears and Sand Martins are the next expected spring arrivals but the Little Ringed Plovers and the Rock Pipit take the site's year total to 91.
 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  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  A Hobby on one of its favourite perches June is a busy month at the pits for breeding birds with many farmland birds finding the site attractive. This year an oil-seed rape crop has been buzzing with life supporting not just many insects but breeding pairs of Reed Bunting, Whitethroat and Skylarks. The field has also attracted surprisingly large flocks (for this time year) of Yellowhammer (20+) and Linnet (60+). The month as also seen a couple of Hobby visiting the site, at least 2 Corn Buntings singing from the weedy field margins and several pairs of Yellow Wagtails raising young. Pied Wagtails seem to have had a particularly good season with juvenile birds almost everywhere you look! At least 4 pairs of Little Ringed Plover have successfully hatched young although it is not clear how many went on to fledge. A pair of Ringed Plover, once a Herts breeding species, lingered to the middle of the month giving hope that they might breed but the last bird departed on 16th.  Little Ringed Plover chick Mandarin Duck numbers have fluctuated but a female emerged with 11 ducklings on 16th. Compared to last year, at least to date, the Mandarins don't seem to be having such as fruitful year and this may have something to do with increased disturbance on site and the removal of areas they would formerly have used.  The female Mandarin Duck with her brood of 11 new ducklings Both Little Owls and Barn Owls have nests on site and the Barn Owls have raised at least one chick and probably more. In addition, a Cuckoo seen on 28th gives hope that they may too have bred nearby. At least 3 singing males were present in the Spring and may well have bred around the Symondshyde Farm end of the site.
Some species appear not have faired so well this season such as Lapwing that, despite being present on site most days, don't seem to have taken advantage of the seemingly perfect habitat. Sand Martins also seemed to adopt a number of holes from last year but haven't raised young from them. That said, they remain in good numbers on site so may have bred nearby. |
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