The final month of the year naturally brings concluding thoughts of the year past and renewed expectations for the year ahead. Lists are totalled up and reviews written with fresh targets for the coming year set. Will the focus be on the life list, the year list or the patch list? How did this year compare to previous years and what were the highs and lows? Combined with the season’s festivities, actual birding can take a back seat and yet December comes with the potential for its own birding highlights.
Of course, the natural focus this month is on....
..areas of open water where the chance of our scarcer winter wildfowl is greatest. With the general increase in ducks, Goldeneye are to be expected, and Goosander should be regular, but Smew are becoming harder to find each year. As always, cold weather forces wildfowl to move around and brings the possibility of rarer ducks being found amongst the regular Tufted Ducks and Pochard – maybe a Scaup, scoter or Long-tailed Duck.
December is also one of the best months for grey geese to turn up, sometimes in small flocks. White-fronted Geese along with Pink-footed Geese are most likely but Bean or
Brent Geese are a possibility too. It is worth checking any large flock of geese during the winter months lest a rarer species is hidden away with the Canada and Greylag Geese. December has also seen regular records of Whooper Swans with one flock of 21 recorded in 2014.
If you regularly watch a gull roost or pre-roost, December is the best month to find the increasingly scarce (in Herts) Great Black-backed Gull along with the occasional Caspian Gull, Yellow-legged or Mediterranean Gull. Identification of these gulls in their various seasonal plumages and age-groups is not easy and sharing sightings and photographs with others is essential to build knowledge.
Flocks are not confined to water bodies and walking farmland in Herts at this time of year is likely to bring encounters with large flocks of Redwings and Fieldfares maybe mixed with Starlings and the odd Mistle Thrush. Lapwing numbers also continue to increase along with Golden Plover too. While birds seem to have favourite roost fields these may change daily depending on disturbance levels with both Peregrine and Merlin apt to target such flocks.
With the colder weather finding smaller birds can be more challenging. While woodlands tend to be quieter an encounter with a roving tit flock can liven things up with real variety. Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, Goldcrests and Treecreepers can all be found tagging along with the tits. These groups can also harbour over-wintering Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps and are worth checking for Firecrest too or even the now very rare Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. At woodland edges you may also flush a Woodcock that will now be here for the winter.
Urban areas can be of interest too with churches and large buildings sometimes attracting an over-wintering Black Redstart. Shopping centres and municipal car parks with small trees also play host to large roosts of Pied Wagtails attracted to the warmer environs with trees adorned with Christmas lights being a favourite! In previous years, Welwyn Garden City has seen well over 300 wagtails roost in the shopping centre.
A final highlight of December birding must surely be the song of the Mistle Thrush that echoes out on cold winter days when all else is silent. It is a joyous sound and one that will continue through into the New Year.
December is not known for its rarities but nevertheless it has turned up a few, not least a County first:
Parrot Crossbill - Broxbourne Woods (2017) – a County first
Iceland Gull - Hilfield Park Resevoir (2017)
Rough-legged Buzzard - Braughing (2014)
Great Grey Shrike - Redbournbury (2022)
Red-breasted Merganser - Tyttenhanger GPs (2019)
Long-tailed Duck - Tring Resevors (2023)
