At mid-way through the year it is definitely time for another update! Somehow the weeks have passed and I haven't got round to updating and Spring has come and gone. It proved a quieter one and has done for many other patches but undoubtedly in Stanborough's case, contributed to by the loss of the main body of water.

A summary of highlights will therefore suffice but one or two in particular stand out.  March closed with the first 2 Sand Martins of the year sneaking through on 31st and a Great White Egret visiting the middle pool - the first record since 14th Feb.

April then opened with a bang on the 3rd with 2 WHITE STORKS picked up heading northeast along the line of the A1 motorway.  Both birds were un-ringed and, as such, make it on to the Stanborough List as species #164

Of course, White Stork sightings are producing a growing conundrum for recorders as to the provenance of this species. Traditionally, un-ringed birds were considered wild while ringed birds were attributed to released birds and therefore treated as 'escapees'. Of course, if the ring could be read, the bird occasionally did prove to be a wild bird from a continental ringing scheme.

To date there are now many more release projects and not all released birds are being ringed, greatly muddying the waters.  As an additional spanner in the works, Natural England has declared that it does not believe there's enough evidence to show that White Storks were ever native to Britain! It seems we may now have a situation where any White Stork record will have to have a permanent question mark over it unless of course it carries a ring proving its wild origins! That said, as a humble local patch - it goes on the list!!

The 2 storks - it is assumed the same birds - were later picked up on the North Norfolk coast by several birders, apparently having continued their NE trajectory from Stanborough. We enjoyed distant views but, judging by the photos, the birds gave better views in Norfolk!

The storks provided the excitement of Spring but while wader passage was virtually non-existent the end of April did deliver a few welcome waders.  A Ringed Plover on 25th was a pre-cursor to more movement on 28th April with 4 Whimbrel appearing in the tilled fields near Symondshyde Farm. Later one observer found a Ruff but this did not stay long enough for others (including me) to see it. I did however pick up 5 Ringed Plovers flying through and together with the Whimbrel made for a welcome flurry of activity.

It was great to see these birds visiting the site, despite the loss of water, and also to hear their evocative 7-note calls.

As for the rest of Spring, it's very much been as expected with the bulk of arrivals throughout April and into early May and with wintering birds - snipe, wildfowl & thrushes - absenting themselves by early May.  A summary of key arrivals & departures follows:

5th April - the first Yellow Wagtail (see lead photo)
6th April - the first (and so far only) singing Willow Warbler
8th April - the first Little Egret of the year visits
9th April - 7 House Martins feeding over the site & the last flock of c30 Fieldfares are noted
10th April - the first Common Whitethroat is found
17th April - 2 Grey Partridge put in an appearance

18th April - Wheatear numbers peak at 8 with the last Wheatear staying until 19th May.  The first Cuckoo is also heard calling from Symondshyde Wood.
19th April - a Lesser Whitethroat turns up
22nd April - the first (6) Swifts are feeding over the site
25th April - a single Ringed Plover is found
28th April - wader day! 4 Whimbrel, 5 Ringed Plovers & 1 Ruff visit the site
1st May - a Sedge Warbler is singing & is later joined by another 2 singing males. To date, 2 pairs seem to be breeding
2nd May - a Reed Warbler is singing
3rd May - a russet-coloured Swallow is seen with normal Swallows on the fence wires by the middle pool - possibly an African (savignii) or Easter Mediterranean (transitiva) race? Either way a very striking bird that I managed to get a few snaps of a week later at Symondshyde Farm.

11th May - 2 Dunlin drop into middle pool

15th May - Garden Warbler singing by long pit - not a common visitor to the site
19th May - the first Hobby is seen at the site

Notable absences were Common Sandpipers (despite a good passage at other sites) and no Spring Whinchat.

With all the new arrivals the site year list has reached 108 species and the attention now turns to the breeding season. Early breeders have included Mallards (at least 2 broods), Canada Geese (at least 2 broods) & Mandarin Duck (at least 3 broods - presumably from the nearby woods).

At least 3 pairs of Lapwing have also bred while up to 3 or 4 pairs of Little Ringed Plovers have been stationed around various parts of the site.  Finally on 12th June, a pair produced 4 chicks on the 'deep pit' but inevitably these appeared to have dropped to just one chick by 19th June. Despite so much loss of habitat, these rare breeding birds have bred successfully yet again - long may it continue!

Yellow Wagtails and Skylarks seem to be having a particularly good year enjoying the farmland and no doubt soon young will appear. At least 2 pairs of Pied Wagtails have already fledged young.

I'm hoping the Little Owl seen earlier in the year is breeding while the Barn Owls have successfully raised 3 owlets in the box. Little Grebes remain on site but have yet to breed.

Despite staying into May, the male Stonechat eventually disappeared so no breeding there but a pair of Meadow Pipits may still be present although not recorded recently.  The large weedy area adjacent to the former main pit holds many pairs of Whitethroat and Reed Bunting. A fairly large (60+) Linnet flock is also enjoying feeding in the big oil-seed rape field.

June is typically a quiet month bird-wise but who knows - maybe a surprise will turn up...a Montagu's Harrier would be nice!  Insects and flowers come to the fore with Painted Lady butterflies having a particularly good year.  A single Pyramidal Orchid has also sprung up in the same area as last year.

Despite the restoration of much of the site 2024 proved to be another very good year for birds at Stanborough Gravel Pits with 131 species recorded, just one shy of the total for the previous year.

In all, 5 new species were added to the site list taking the all-time total to 156*.  First to be added were the 9 Brent Geese that appeared at the site on 11th March and later in the day a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was seen by one lucky observer - another new record for the site.  The day proved exceptionally good and can be read about here.

April saw the addition of a Sandwich Tern - seen by just a few observers - and then a Spoonbill in July seen by just one observer.  The final, and somewhat expected, addition came in December with the arrival of a 3rd winter Caspian Gull that then stayed to almost the year end.

In addition a number of escapes provided added interest in the form of a White Stork ringed at the Knepp Estate in Sussex.  On 16th May a pale-morph Lesser Snow Goose joined the goose flock and tempted thoughts that it might possibly be genuinely wild.  However, without a ring to prove it one way or the other, it is most likely a roving bird from a feral flock elsewhere.

Aside from the new additions, 2024 also held some real highlights on the wader front with the freshly scraped areas clearly proving attractive to migrant waders.  The 3rd May saw the site's second Avocet, 3-4 Little Stints on 21st & 22nd May, and both Spring and Autumn Wood Sandpipers.  Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Grey Plover and Sanderling also put in a good showing with a very smart summer plumaged Grey Plover from 15th-16th May.

While no evidence was found of breeding Lapwing this year, Little Ringed Plovers did breed successfully with at least 3 pairs raising a brood.  The site continues to be the main breeding site in Herts for this rare British breeding bird.  Little Ringed Plover numbers peaked at 17 on 23rd June and the last birds seen on site were on 15th August.   A lingering pair of Ringed Plovers gave hope that this former Herts breeding species might consider staying but they eventually left by the second week in June.

Other notable breeders at the site included Mandarin Ducks (although numbers were down on the previous year) and both Little and Barn Owls.  Sand Martins are likely to have bred but in small numbers while a pair of Corn Bunting may also have bred.

A number of birds recorded in 2023 were not seen in 2024 - some less surprisingly than others.  Garganey, Whimbrel and Ruff were surprise absences while Bewick's Swan and Turnstone less so.  The removal of the large scrubby area as part of the gravel pits restoration work meant that Sedge, Reed and Grasshopper Warbler were not recorded on site - a real loss as at least 2 of those species bred in 2023.  Common misses included Bullfinch, Brambling and Garden Warbler while Water Pipit and Tree Sparrow absences were less surprising.