I've been a good boy and have stayed within the Stevenage area over the last month or so. Apart from a couple of incidental observations, I have when the weather allowed covered Fairlands Valley and the Area around Aston End.
Generally speaking, the birds at Fairlands have remained pretty much the same all winter. Despite four major visits, I have yet to see any of the Grey wagtails, and the female Kingfisher which is still around but rather elusive. A Siskin flock has remained in the area, but I have only managed to see a couple on one occasion so far. Cormorant numbers seem to have peaked at 13, but the other fish eater, Great Crested Grebe seemed to vanish over Christmas and has only returned in the last couple of weeks.
Last weekend, the mini beast from the east had resulted in most of the water freezing. I went down on the 13th after shopping as I'd heard that the White Fronted Goose had been present early on along with a Barnacle Goose. Unfortunately, as expected both had departed by the time I arrived. It was bitterly cold despite the sunshine with a strong southerly wind, so rather unpleasant, and I only did a circuit of the main lake. There were a huge number of gulls present as expected. Black headed Gulls numbered 300+, and with birds constantly flying around I never tried a proper count. On the other hand Common Gulls had increased to at least 12 and there were a substantial number of Lesser Black Backs, with 17 present. Most unusually were the Herring Gulls-there are often one or two in winter but I counted 27 and I believe more were seen later.
On my circuit I came across a large mid grey mantled gull with no rings, but the light was bad. Despite this I was sure it was an adult Yellow Legged Gull and put the message out. I moved further around to get a better view and my heart fell when I found our usual Caspian Herring hybrid X307 standing on the ice in the same spot. I was sure my bird was unringed, and fortunately I eventually found the Yellow Legged sitting on the ice nearby. Relieved, I was told by Alan Ford that it was only the second for the lakes.
Monday 15th, the White Front was seen again early on, with the Canada flock so I called in on the way back from work, but there weren't many geese present. However it was reported later that afternoon so I decided to stop off on the way to work this morning (16th). The geese were grazing by the car park and there was no sign of the white Front-but the Barnacle was with them until flushed by some dogs. Not sure if I've seen one locally before, and no doubt this is one of the many feral birds.
Aston End has been a bit hard at times. In the colder periods, run off from the fields result in large sections of the lanes turning into a skating rink, while the footpaths generally remain a quagmire. It was really cold on the 14th, but luckily the paths had frozen solid, and my route was primarily dictated by keeping out of the wind. Numbers of birds like finches larks and buntings fluctuate and unless I bump into one of the flocks I can miss them completely. Thrushes are the same, though they tend to be a bit more territorial. There are at least 60 Fieldfare along the one mile stretch of river Beane that I cover, but I only found a few on the 14th, but numbers of Redwings have actually increased somewhat with a flock of 27 in one of the sheep fields. Nearby 26 Meadow Pipits were a very high count for the area and two flyby Lesser Redpolls and a Greater Black Backed Gull heading south were other highlights (I don't see either species all that often locally).
During the milder spells, the build up to spring is noticeable by the increase in singing Robins, Tits and Song Thrushes, and displaying Buzzards and Kites. One or two Greenfinches are singing as well, but I'm having a hard time finding Chaffinches-numbers seemed to have plummeted in the last few years and I have only found one or two recently. One wintering Chiffchaff was present two weeks ago near Chells Manor, hopefully it is still around. I had hoped to pick up one or two unusual species, Woodcock, Stonechat and Raven have been seen locally, and I thought that the beast would have produced some cold weather wader movements, but even Lapwings have avoided the area so it would seem.
The region west of Stevenage around Almshoe has been productive with large Linnet flocks, some Brambling and Stonechat. Andy Day has given me pointers on where to park and I'm hoping to get over there soon, along with watery Grove and Knebworth Woods for Marsh Tit.
