Winter Wildlife

Birds

The coldest December for 30 years brought large numbers of birds into gardens, searching for food. Along with the commoner birds, one or two more unusual species came to feed, some more desirable than others.

Jay searching under nut feeder

Heron stalking pond

The bird of the month was a female hen harrier seen on the 5th and 17th quartering fields. The 17th also produced my second five raptor haul of the year which included; hen harrier, buzzard, red kite, kestrel and sparrowhawk.

The frozen ground towards the end of the month reduced available habitat for snipe to feed, resulting in several sightings along unfrozen wet ditches. A grey wagtail on the 30th was only the second sighting for the year. As usual red kite, buzzard and stonechat were regularly recorded.

2008 may have been a poor breeding year with fewer birds about but it produced my highest yearly species total for birds - 91. The highlight, undoubtedly, was the Cattle Egret, and other notable species include Green Sandpiper, Bewick's Swan and Common Tern.

Insects

Not surprisingly, there were few insect records; a brief warm period mid-month produced the only butterfly sighting, a small tortoiseshell presumably disturbed from its hibernation. There were no outstanding butterfly sightings during the year, marbled white and painted lady being the pick.

Painted Lady - July 2006

Despite the poor weather throughout the year for insects, 586 species of moths were recorded. The outstanding moth species recorded was a migrant, the Convolvulus Hawk-moth recorded on two occasions. One species I had been keen to record did turn up, namely the White-spotted Pinion a species restricted to elm woods, its stronghold nationally being in Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire.

Fungi

Fungi tend to rapidly disappear with severe frosts. Some of the more woody species may persist in sheltered positions such as the Candle-snuff Fungi found on rotting stumps.