Species Account
Extract from Bird Report 2024
Widespread winter visitor. Included in 9.9% of BirdTrack lists. (Red list).
Widespread at the start of the year, flocks of 200 or more were reported across seven sites, including 419 at Thurleigh Airfield on 11th February, increasing to 440 by 10th March. Birds lingered into April, with 30 still at Pegsdon Hills on the 5th, the last there being on the 15th, and one later record of a single at Bolnhurst on 26th April.
The first of the autumn were on 3rd October, with small numbers at Priory CP, Deepdale and Warden Hill Everton. They were followed by widespread small flocks until the end of the year. Vismig sessions at The Pinnacle recorded 193 on 30th October, with 130 at Blows Downs on 30th October and 187 at Sutton Hill on 18th November, but these peak counts were much lower than in recent years.
