Species Account
Extract from Bird Report 2024
Mainly a winter visitor and late spring migrant, has possibly bred. Included in 6% of BirdTrack lists. (Green list).
The first winter period accounted for 62% of records and, after an encouraging end to 2023, flocks of 50 or more were noted on 20 occasions during that time. From January, there were strong counts from central Bedfordshire, with 70 at Flitwick Moor on the 7th, 100 at Sandy Smith NR on the 11th and another 100 in Ampthill on the 28th. Two days later and further east, 200 were at Pegnut Wood, Potton, that being the only high count from that site. In February, the Flitwick Moor and Ampthill flocks remained stable, there were 200 at Chicksands on the 9th and there was a sizeable increase at Sandy Smith NR, with a peak of 300 there on the 27th, the highest of the year. The rest of the period saw no further triple-digit flocks, though decent gatherings were at Willington (75), Priory CP (60) and Swiss Gardens (50), with another 50 at Warden Warren and finally, Eversholt, where there were 85 on 13th March. After numbers dwindled during April, there were just two reports of singles in May, and then two at The Lodge on 12th June, which were a possible indicator of local breeding, though there was no further evidence.
The first of the autumn was at Deepdale on 15th September, but the second winter period was generally quiet. In October, modest numbers were recorded from The Pinnacle and Blows Downs, both traditional vismig locations. On the 13th, Rushmere CP held 72, though that was an exception as there were only seven more reports of parties of 20 or more. The best of those was of 36 at Sandy on 26th December.
