Winter

December

December is a month in which most winter visitors have arrived, but surprises are still to be found as birds move around to seek the best feeding and sheltering areas. This is particularly so in response to adverse weather conditions. The holiday season gives an opportunity for many birders to spend some more time in the field with the Christmas Bird Hunt, and maybe filling the last gap on the year list when weather and daylight allow.

Hawfinch – Steve Blain

Visits to most of the recognised pits around the county should be rewarded with a good selection of waterfowl, and regular visits will show the changes in numbers as birds move from one area to another. Shallower waters will hold attractive Teal, Gadwall, Shoveler and Wigeon, while the deeper pits may attract Goldeneye, Goosander or even Smew, which becomes more likely towards the end of the month. One North American duck species is an obvious gap in the county list and one lucky birder will eventually be able to celebrate the discovery of a Lesser Scaup.

Divers and grebes are also potential visitors in the colder and more unsettled periods, while the development of ice will make it more likely that a wintering Bittern will be discovered. The last few years have seen an increase in numbers and any reedbed in the county has the potential to hold this species. Most sightings have been as birds move to roost or when extreme cold forces them onto the open ice in search of food.

December is also a good month for the arrival of the scarcer grey goose species, which will often linger with the more established groups of feral birds that are widespread, particularly in the middle of the county. In 2008/09, a group of Tundra Bean Geese was with us for some months, though a group of White-fronted Geese is more likely to be discovered.

Now that the leaves have left the trees, woodland birds become easier to observe. A quiet, frosty, windless morning can offer good conditions for finding Nuthatch or the now very scarce Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. The latter might be located by listening for the tap of a feeding bird on a high branch. These species, and Treecreeper, sometimes join tit flocks moving through their feeding areas. Ivy covered trunks provide good feeding and shelter for Goldcrest, and wintering Firecrest is also possible in this micro-habitat. The month is also a good time for locating a group of wintering Hawfinches, particularly after an influx year. They are most likely to turn up in the county‘s parklands or estates where suitable open hornbeam and oak woodland is still to be found.

In the fields and hedgerows, game strips provide a focal point for birders searching for Tree Sparrows, finches and buntings. Any good feeding area should produce Bramblings and Reed Buntings amongst more numerous species such as Chaffinches and Yellowhammers. A Little Bunting was found with Reed Buntings near Great Barford in 2017 while nearby inland counties have records of Pine and Rustic Bunting in recent years, so maybe there is one to be found in Bedfordshire soon.

A Merlin dashing through these flocks in our fields is possible, as these fine raptors become more widely reported in winter. The increasingly reported Peregrine is more likely found around our wetlands, or possibly chasing pigeons and moving to roost in a sheltered and elevated town centre location.

Quality county rarities reported in this month in previous years include two out of five records of Eider (1982 and 1995), Velvet Scoter in 1985, 1986 and 2021, Red-throated Diver in 2017, Grey Phalarope in 2016, Penduline Tit (2014 and 2017) and Rough-legged Buzzard in 1997.

More likely, perhaps, is Ring-necked Duck, which has been recorded in consecutive winters from 2021 until 2024.