 January 2026 is nearly over and, just like last year, I've already got to 99 species within 5 miles of home! Once again, this begs the question might I get to 100 again in January? I did last year but things have stalled this week so it may be touch and go! January 1st kicked off well with two, presumed, returning birds staying into the New Year at Verulamium Park. Firstly, the second-winter Mediterranean Gull gave itself up relatively easily in the morning while the Yellow-browed Warbler made me work a bit harder. However, a second visit in the afternoon gave me exceptional views. The Yellow-browed Warbler at Verulamium Park, St Albans on 1st Jan Also kindly hanging around in the New Year was the male Garganey at Coursers GPs, now resplendent in summer plumage. I needn't have worried with this one though as the bird has been seen since on the main pit at Tyttenhanger, cavorting with the male Teals. The male Garganey squaring up to male Teal at Tyttenhanger GPs on 24th Jan Other New Year's Day highlights included the over-wintering Jack Snipe at Stanborough GPs along with the Barn Owl pair cosied up in their box. Tyttenhanger GPs also produced a single Brambling with the large Chaffinch flock and the regular female Stonechat. I finished the day on 72 species and then headed down to Cornwall for a week. Notable by their absence were the White-fronted Geese, the Cattle Egret and the Great Black-backed Gull present locally over the Christmas period. Would I be able to find them in 2026? I returned from Cornwall to news on 10th Jan of 9 Common Cranes over the Bedmond area. Just within my 5 mile area these would have been a good addition for the year had they not headed off SW immediately. Just 10 days into the New Year and I'd already missed something! Over the next few days however, I managed to add 2 or 3 new birds for the year each day. The 10th saw a nice adult Yellow-legged Gull (#74) at Stanborough GPs and later the regular Little Owl (#75) in its hole at Willows Farm. I found the Firecrests (#81) in Garden Wood the next day and Crossbills (#85) in Symondshyde Woods the day after that. Adult Yellow-legged Gull, Firecrest & Crossbill The New Year always has its surprises and this one came on 14th Jan with a female Goosander on Tyttenhanger main pit. A bird I don't always connect with locally so great to get it on the list!  A distant 'record shot' of the female Goosander Jan 16th brought more good news with the re-finding of the French-ringed Great Black-backed Gull in the sheep field at Stanborough GPs. A bird I thought I might have to wait until December to see again! Indeed gulls seemed to be a theme with a nice first-winter Yellow-legged Gull present at the same sight that day and then a very smart adult Caspian Gull (#95) the following day at Tyttenhanger GPs. Not an easy bird to come by and it got me wondering if this could be the 3rd year bird that lingered last year, now in its 4th year. My only hesitation is whether any sub-adult traits would still be present as this bird was a stunning full adult.  The Great Black-backed Gull, 1st winter Yellow-legged Gull & adult Caspian Gull In amongst these larid ticks a few others were welcome additions, such as the Blackcaps in my garden - hard to come by sometimes in January - and the Woodcock in its habitual place at Highfield Farm. A visit to the Watercress LNR in St Albans got me a smart male Bullfinch while Coopers Green GPs delivered me at least 16 Mandarins (#97). A walk around Redbournbury with John on 22nd Jan brought a surprise encounter with a female Marsh Harrier. I say surprise partly because I had listed it as a wish for the walk but also as it is the first I've seen locally for a little while. Having had many sightings earlier last year they seemed to peter out as the year went on. Almost as soon as I had ticked the harrier off news came in of a single Golden Plover at Stanborough GPs. A scarce bird so far this winter I had to make the dash across St Albans where it was waiting patiently in amongst 220 Lapwings. Number 99 was in the bag but will I get one more this month...? Marsh Harrier & Golden Plover on 22nd Jan
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 Since leaving Cornwall a week has already gone by and each day has delivered one or two additions to the 2025 5 Miles From Home List. In fact I am 6 species up on the same date last year so the local area has certainly been delivering! Since my Cornish trip I have added a further 17 species to the list - some of them expected such as Greenfinch, Sparrowhawk, Green Woodpecker, Raven and Red-legged Partridge but others not so expected. The Little Owl headlining this post is always a pleasing find - especially as this one at Tyttenhanger Gravel Pits has been harder to find in recent years. After what appeared to be a good year with 2 pairs at nest holes they then disappeared and have not been regularly seen in the last couple of years. Knowing they are still there is reassuring as I know of at least two other sites where the main nest tree has been felled - either by the land manager or by strong winds. Two star birds reappeared while I was away - the Yellow-browed Warbler at Verulamium Park in St Albans and the Black Redstart over-wintering in the roof of St Albans Abbey. The Yellow-browed Warbler & the Black Redstart in St Albans The Yellow-browed Warbler had been giving astonishing views low down at the lake's edge but I had to make-do with treetop views. Local birder Murray Brown had re-found it on 7th January after it went missing during Christmas. The Black Redstart - presumably last year's returning bird - was a somewhat peculiar sighting in that the bird has taken up residence in the cathedral roof. It's believed to be feeding on a healthy supply of Ladybirds but can only be seen when it appears at a small diamond-shaped window at the west end. I trust it knows how to get out but is no doubt benefiting from the shelter and free food! The same day saw me visit Stanborough GPs where I flushed a Jack Snipe and Garden Wood at Tyttenhanger GPs where I found an over-wintering Firecrest - both great birds to get on my list so early on. I was a bit slow with the camera but did manage a distant shot of the Jack Snipe as it (unusually) chose to fly around quite high before dropping back down.  Jack Snipe at Stanborough GPs A very pleasing find on 14th came in the form of a Woodcock in a wood at Highfield Farm on the edge of St Albans. It has become my most reliable site for the birds and will hopefully remain that way for many years more. A dog walk around the Munden Estate, Bricket Wood the next day gave me a pair of Mandarin Ducks but these were out done on 19th with a flock of 15 at Coopers Green GPs! The dog walk the next day brought brief views of a Barn Owl that has been regularly hunting at Redbournbury and at least 2 of the resident Cetti's Warblers there. My list now stood at 90 species. Distant video-grabs of the Short-eared Owl at Stanborough GPs on 16th Jan I was extremely pleased to get the Barn Owl - after all I've yet to hear or see a Tawny Owl this year. However, that same evening I popped into Stanborough GPs and was rewarded with a distant Short-eared Owl. It appeared to fly up from Cromer Hyde farm but then headed off north-west flying higher and higher. This is a real bonus bird as I didn't record one locally in the whole of 2024 despite there being 4 in the area at the end of 2023. To have it 'in the bank', so to speak, this early on bodes well for the 2025 year list! The week was not done however and with gulls on my radar I spent some time checking local roosts. I trekked out to the back of Coursers Farm where a newly scraped area has been attracting gull flocks. After some scanning I was rewarded with an adult Caspian Gull that with the Little Owl took me to #93. A visit to Coopers Green GPs today also revealed a healthy gull roost with a surprise Great Black-backed Gull among them. This is a bird I usually have to wait until Christmas to see and is maybe the bird that appeared at Coursers GPs this Christmas just gone. Either way, it takes me to 94 species for my local list and begs the question as to whether 100 is possible before the end of January? Watch this space...! Adult Caspian Gull at Coursers Farm and a Great Black-backed Gull at Coopers Green GPs
 2024 is almost over and 'man-flu' and heavy misty weather had somewhat subdued the final week of the year. However, a few final highlights were to be had most importantly in the form of an adult Great Black-backed Gull that appeared on 28th Dec at Coursers GPS. Now a really scarce visitor to Herts (less than 10 records this year in the whole of Herts), this sighting becomes #151 for my 2024 Five Miles From Home List and mirrors my only sighting last year on 24th Dec 2023. This also means that my local list hits a new record count with the previous highest total being 150 in 2023! Gulls unsurprisingly have been the focal point for December and Coursers GPs together with the fresh quarry scrape at Stanborough GPs have been the key areas. Both a third winter Caspian Gull and an adult Yellow-legged Gull have been seen on and off at Stanborough while a smart adult winter Mediterranean Gull appeared at Coursers GPs on 22nd Dec. From left to right: 3rd winter Caspian Gull, adult Yellow-legged Gull & adult winter Mediterranean Gull Aside from gulls December has been fairly quite apart from the already-mentioned Yellow-browed Warbler at Verulamium Park in St Albans last seen on Christmas Eve. Sadly it could not be relocated in time for the Herts Bird Club Christmas Count. A few shots of the Yellow-browed Warbler at Verulamium Park on 20th Dec 2024 A single Dunlin sheltering with the Lapwings on 1st Dec at Coursers was the only real wader highlight and up to 3 Great White Egrets have been gracing Tyttenhanger GPs. The wide-ranging immature male Marsh Harrier was also spooking the gulls at Coursers on 28th Dec. Dunlin with the Lapwings at Coursers GPs on 1st & 3 Great White Egrets at Tyttenhanger GPs on 22nd Some video screen-grabs of the immature male Marsh Harrier at Coursers GPs on 28th Dec That's it for 2024 (I think) so Happy New Year one and all! Let's see what 2025 brings...
 I was preparing myself for an '11th hour' scramble to get to my 150 species target for my annual "Five Miles From Home List" but then Sun 10th Nov dawned and, before I knew it, the target had been achieved. Sitting comfortably on 148 species for the year, I had assumed another 2 species would be possible but didn't expect to get both in the same day! The previous day had seen a Black Redstart appear at Stanborough Gravel Pits and a hybrid Caspian Gull so I knew the easterly winds were once again doing their job. Both species were however already on my list so I still held out hope for something new. Slow into the field I decided to visit Coursers GPs first and I arrived just after 9am. As seems to (annoyingly) often be the case, all the birds went up in the air as I arrived, disturbed by some unseen threat - maybe a fox along the bank. However, this time the melee of birds allowed me to immediately pick out two small waders flying around - Dunlin. I watched them settle back down along with a larger wader on the distant mud. My immediate thought was a Redshank but once the scope was focussed I could see it was a Ruff - new to my local year list and the one wader I felt I had missed this year!  A distant shot of the Ruff on 10th Nov There have been very few Ruff records in the county this year so to get one so late on was really pleasing. The 2 Dunlin stayed close by the Ruff but always distant from me and I left them feeding together to check Stanborough GPs - after all other birds may have arrived elsewhere. Arriving at Stanborough just long enough to establish that there wasn't anything extra to be seen I got a text from local birder, Steve Pearce, to say that a Red-crested Pochard was on the scrape lagoon at Tyttenhanger GPs! This is a less than annual bird in the area so I knew I had to back-track the way I had come as this would be the target #150 for the year! Arriving at Tyttenhanger GPs the male Red-crested Pochard was immediately viewable, staying close into the bank and only a few metres away from us. A beautiful bird, albeit in Category C as a 'naturalised' bird, this species nevertheless takes the honour of being the cherished 150th species for the year on my Five Miles From Home List. That said, I could argue that the Ruff was the true 150th as I have resigned myself to lumping both Mealy Redpoll and Lesser Redpoll together as a single species. That would make the pochard #151 but I have decided, rightly or wrongly, to align my lists with the current accepted list of species so have to forfeit Mealy and Lesser in favour of just 'Redpoll'. Before I sign off, it is worth mentioning another sighting that I almost ignored at the time - a smart Caspian Gull at Coursers GPs. It immediately stood out from the Herring Gulls around it but my mind was on other things. Thankfully, I took a few record shots that others were able to confirm as a 3rd winter/sub-adult Caspian Gull.  The 3rd winter Caspian Gull (centre bird) at Coursers GPs on 10th Nov All of this leaves me once again amazed at the sheer variety of species that can be seen in the year all within 5 miles of where I live. It also leaves me wondering what else might still to be found this year with over a month left to go...I am still missing Great Black-backed Gull after all!
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Rupert’s BlogHere you'll find my observations and musings on the wildlife I encounter - usually locally but sometimes further afield. Archives
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