Can you believe that 2022 is almost over? A year of monthly reports almost complete. Only December left to do. So, what has been seen this month? It is time to look back on the final month of 2022.
Rainbow at Reception (Dec 5th)
December has been a fairly quiet month and a very cold one. There's been days of heavy mist, rain and even rainbows. However, temperatures then dropped below zero. Strumpshaw was frozen solid. Sheets of ice formed on most of the broads, ponds and ditches of the reserve. For about a week, there were plenty of sightings of wildlife on ice, including otters, great white egrets, water rails and bearded tits.
Mute swans on ice at Fen Hide
Winter visiting species, such us redwings, fieldfares, siskins and redpolls continue to congregate in the trees in impressive numbers throughout Strumpshaw. Meanwhile, at Buckenham, 4 waxwings were seen briefly for one day only. On December 1st, they were seen making their way towards Strumpshaw, but sadly, no one has found them since. These beautiful crested birds really love berries and have a call that has been best described as ringing sleighbells. So next time you visit, keep a close eye on the berry bushes.
Starlings continue to roost in front of Reception, but not quite in large numbers we've been hoping. If you are up early enough, as I have been a couple of times this month, you may be lucky to see them leave just before day break (roughly before half 7 in the morning).
Roosting marsh harriers have been ranging between 14-26 throughout December. While at Buckenham, the rook roost has been delighting those who went to watch them. Though there's no official count, they usually peak to around or over 60,000 rooks and jackdaws by now.
Wigeon
At Buckenham and Cantley, geese numbers have also started to peak. The highest counts so far have been 1600 pink-feet (Dec 8th - though they've been averaging between 400-500+ most days) and 85 white-fronts (Dec 11th). There are also 2,670 wigeon (Dec 26th) and 1,620 teal on the marshes, an impressive sight with many of them gathering close to the main path. Sadly, our regular visiting small flock of Taiga bean geese have not arrived this year. This is probably the first time in many years that we've had a no show from this rare species.
Frozen Rosehips
2022 has been an interesting year. Be sure to look out for my first ever report of the year next week, where I'll be looking at how our reserves faired through numbers. Until then, I hoped you all had a fantastic Christmas and let's hope 2023 will provide more exciting wildlife encounters. Happy new year!