The weather turned much more wintry towards the end of the month, and a hard frost on November 29th may have been responsible for the snipe flock declining from 32 on the 12th to just 17. This could be due to birds spreading out across the site in search of unfrozen ground however, rather than a mass exodus.
The colder weather also brought in six pied wagtails (left), a bird not regularly recorded on the marshes, together with a male stonechat – last seen a year and a week ago. This bird appeared to be on its own (stonechats are almost invariably in pairs or family groups), so I am not confident that it will remain for the duration, just as last year’s bird was not seen again.
Wintering birds have been rather disappointing so far, with only two records of single little grebes on the river in the past two months. In previous years up to seven have been present, often around the railway bridge leading in to Canterbury East station, and it is beginning to look as though there is a definite downward trend. Also in very short supply are the winter thrushes: a flock of 18 redwing flew over on the 17th, but no fieldfares have been seen yet this winter.
Up to ten tufted ducks are now regularly seen on the neighbouring Tonford Lake, and they were accompanied by four little egrets on November 2nd; these most elegant of birds are primarily winter visitors to Hambrook, but little has been seen of them so far. Eight mute swans were there too, with a further two on the river. A squealing water rail (right) was the first for nearly three years – a secretive bird that is far more often heard than seen. Nine jackdaws and three rooks flew over one morning, two species that are seen far less frequently now, and which rarely stop to feed in Tonford Field any more.
A chiffchaff, last heard calling on November 7th, was the final link with summer memories. Small numbers now overwinter in damp valley scrub, or even in gardens, but at Hambrook they are seldom heard beyond November. By the time we get round to February, the occasional bird could just as easily be an early arrival from the Mediterranean rather than one that that has eked out a frugal winter existence on the Marshes.