A Kick in the Rookeries!

Going back to my earliest notebooks, I have always kept a record of rookeries. Up to the end of 2012, I had recorded 96 rookeries in Bedfordshire since moving to the county in 2002. Most had been recorded on journeys around the county by car, so most are visible from a road. I have rarely visited the south-west or north of the county so had few rookeries from those areas. The national survey in 1975 found 201 rookeries in Bedfordshire (Trodd & Kramer 1991) while in fieldwork for the latest atlas (2007-2011) Rooks were confirmed breeding in 179 tetrads, meaning a minimum of 179 rookeries in the county. Several tetrads hold more than one rookery, e.g. TL04B, Stewartby Lake (North) and TL03G, Apsley End Shillington.

 

Prompted by an email on HOSList, the Hampshire equivalent of the BedsBirds email group, I created a google.maps map, plotting the approximate position of all Bedfordshire rookeries that were known to me, including those no longer in use. I included the following extra pieces of information: Ordnance Survey six-figure map reference, year first recorded, tree species, in which nests were built, and 2013 nest count.

 

Many rookeries occupy traditional sites, but for most Bedfordshire rookeries the year first recorded is since 2002 (the year I moved to the county) although many have, undoubtedly, been existence longer than that, e.g. a rookery at Reynold (for which I do not have a map reference, so it is not, yet, included on the google.map ) has been occupied for at least 40 years (Bedfordshire Bird Report 2007).

 

In 1975 48% of rookeries in Bedfordshire were in Elm trees but following the loss of these trees to Dutch Elm Disease rooks nested predominantly in oak, ash, sycamore, beech and horse chestnut (Trodd and Kramer 1991). Given the variety of diseases that seem to be afflicting various trees e.g. acute oak decline disease, poplar scab and ash tree die back, it seemed an opportune time to determine which trees are used by Rooks for their rookeries. However, I have found it more difficult to identify trees in their ‘winter plumage’ than I had anticipated and so will try and re-visit at least some of the rookeries once the trees are in leaf.

 

I published the google.map via the BedsBirds email group and subsequently, with the help of other BedsBirders have added another 30 or so rookeries. As of 09/04/2013, the locations of 128 rookeries have been mapped. Counts for all bar 11 of these have been received for this year, giving a total, so far,  of 2899 nests. Seven rookeries used in previous years seem to be unused this year. Rookeries have been recorded in 99 tetrads suggesting there are at least 80 rookeries so far unmapped. A copy of the map, as of 09/04/2013, is shown. The red pins are rookeries no longer in use.  The up-to-date version can be viewed at:

 

http://tinyurl.com/BedsRookeries2013

 

Bedfordshire Bird Reports since 1995 mention a further 28 rookeries for which I do not have an exact location, some of which may be duplicates for known rookeries.

If you would like to help identifying the location of the above rookeries, supplying details of new rookeries or adding extra details to rookeries on the map, please email me or BedsBirds.

 

Thanks to Dave Anderson, Bob Hook, Judith Knight, Dave Kramer, Darren Oakley-Martin for already supplying additional information and special thanks to Jenny Hicks for joining me on rookery patrols.

 

First published in The Hobby 127: 9 - 11

Pied Wagtail Feeding in a Silver Birch Tree

In our front garden we have a weeping silver birch Betula pendula, which stands about 4m tall. The crown of the tree is a matted tangle of branches and twigs, which by early November was mostly devoid of leaves while the ‘weeping’ branches still retained many.

Remembrance Sunday 2012 was a fine autumnal day, starting frosty with clear blue skies and almost no wind. At 09:10, by which time the frost had mostly melted, I noticed a winter plumaged Pied Wagtail Motacilla alba yarrellii walking about on the crown of the silver birch. It stopped often to peck at branches and more frequently at the remaining leaves, sometimes pecking five or six times at a single leaf. BWP categorises this type of foraging as ‘picking’ (Cramp 1988). The Pied Wagtail foraged in the tree for more than five minutes, only leaving when two juveniles flew over, calling. The adult bird followed them to a nearby flat roof where they stood, each calling. After a brief while the juveniles flew off and the adult returned to the crown of the silver birch and resumed foraging. At this point I went to get a camera, but when I returned the Pied Wagtail had disappeared. Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus and Great Tits Parus major were present in the silver birch at the same time, moving through and apparently feeding from the ‘weeping’ branches.

I was away from home on 12-14 November 2012. Subsequently, a Pied Wagtail was noted foraging in the crown of the silver birch on two further occasions. On 15 November, it was first observed, already in the tree, at 13:30 and stayed for about 30 minutes. During this time it briefly flew off and returned three times. Once it was accompanied by a second, winter-plumaged Pied Wagtail but this bird did not stay long and did not forage. On 17 November it was first observed at 11:57, again already in the tree and it remained until 12:24 when it was disturbed by a car passing by. For six minutes, between 12:03 and 12:09, it perched on a branch at the top of the tree. During this time it was mostly still, not even wagging its tail. For the remainder it was actively foraging on the crown of the silver birch.

Photographs were taken of the wagtail on both 15 and 17 November. Comparison of the images suggests it is the same bird foraging on the crown of the silver birch.

Although less than 10m from where I was watching with 10x binoculars, I could not see what the Pied Wagtails were feeding on. Nor could I find any obvious prey items on closer inspection of the leaves.

I had previously recorded both Pied Wagtails and Yellow Wagtails Motacilla flava flavissima perching in the silver birch but this is the first time I have noticed foraging activity. Various other species have been recorded foraging in the tree, e.g. Blue Tit, Great Tit and Goldcrest Regulus regulus but these were usually on the ‘weeping’ branches. Starlings Sturnus vulgaris are the only other species noted foraging on the crown, when in the summer months, they feed on aphids.

BWP records Pied Wagtails foraging on the ground, floating vegetation and on the backs of pigs but does not record them foraging in trees (Cramp 1988).

Cramp, S. (ed.). 1988. The Birds of the Western Palaearctic. Vol 5.

Originally published in The Hobby 126: 17-18

Clerical Oversight and Elusive Ton

On 26 September 2012 I noted a lone Lapwing flying north over the fields near Poppy Hill Farm. I did not realise at the time that this was the first I had seen on my local patch this year and did not add it to my Self Found Year List (SFYL).

When the Self Found Year List (SFYL) challenge was made in March 2012 I decided I would concentrate on my local patch of Henlow Grange as I knew I did not have the time nor, possibly more importantly, the energy to compete with the big boys. By the time the challenge was issued, I had already recorded 70 species, of which 52 species had been found on New Year’s Day. I quietly set myself the target of 100 species, a target I hoped to reach by the end of the spring migration.

Henlow Grange is in east Bedfordshire, immediately east of Henlow village. My local patch includes the area around the Grange, stretching from the A507 in the south to Langford village in the north. The East Coast Main Line forms the eastern boundary while Henlow village and the River Ivel are on the western edge.. This area falls in atlas tetrad TL13Z and comprises two 1km squares TL1838 and TL1839. The River Ivel and its tributary the Hiz flow from south to north with disused gravel pits, now converted to fishing lakes, alongside. Sadly, none seem particularly attractive to waterfowl. There is some woodland in the grounds of Henlow Grange, not open to the public, and along the banks of the river including small conifer and poplar plantations. The fields east of the river are mostly arable, growing oil seed rape, wheat and barley with some areas of set aside and a few remnant hedges. This area supports a reasonable population of farmland species, including Corn Buntings, Yellow Hammers, Linnets and Yellow Wagtails.  Alongside the railway are some horse paddocks with short cropped grass which are favoured by thrushes and Starlings during the winter months and Wheatears and wagtails on passage. It is possible to walk a loop round Henlow Bridge Lakes in the south and another loop round the fields in the north, but there is only the one bridge over the River Ivel. I usually walk either the southern loop or the northern loop, preferring the latter as there is less disturbance from the traffic noise generated by the A507.

NERVOUS NINETIES: By early May I had recorded 90 species including most of the common summer migrants and was looking forward to notching the elusive ton. Another five species, Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Cuckoo, Sedge Warbler and Hobby were added in mid-May, all summer migrants that had been recorded elsewhere in the county up to 10-days earlier. A pair of Shelduck flying over and a single Spotted Flycatcher in the lime tree avenue leading to the Grange were the only additions in June. And then nothing new until the end of September. I tried hard to turn fly over gulls into the Yellow-legged variety but lacked the conviction to make a confident id. I scoured the remaining hedgerows hoping to turn up a migrating Redstart but to no avail. A pair of Ravens, cronking as they flew west took the tally to 98 or so I thought.   

Only when extracting data from BirdTrack to write an article titled ‘Nervous Nineties’ did I realise that the lone Lapwing had not been includied in my local patch total. This clerical oversight meant that the adult Mediterranean Gull seen on 25 October, which I originally thought was number 99 became number 100. Not a bad way to bring up the ton!

Highlights of the hundred have been the Woodcock flushed from beside the track on a snowy morning; the male Merlin perched on the wires, which I originally thought was a Mistle Thrush until I lifted my binoculars (my excuse is my glasses were misted with the rain); the spring passage of Wheatears on the horse paddocks with associated Whinchats and the pair of Kingfishers nesting along the River Ivel.

There are a few species recorded in previous years that I have yet to see this year, so hopefully still a few more for the list.

Sparrows Eat Beetroot

Only during the breeding season do House Sparrows Passer domesticus visit our Henlow garden in numbers. At this time of year family parties appear, usually comprising one adult, either male or female, and their brood. This year the first family, a female with three young was first noted on 14 June 2012, a couple of weeks later than in previous years. Subsequently, numbers have risen to a maximum of three males, three females and 12 young, presumed to be three broods of four chicks. At first the fledglings hide in the shrubbery only noisily appearing with wings quivering when the parent approaches with food, but perch more in the open as they become bolder.

On 14 June 2012 a female House Sparrow flew to our vegetable patch rather than the seed feeders and pecked at the leaves of beetroot. I assumed she had been picking an insect from the leaf. That evening while watering the garden, I checked the beetroot. I could find no insects on any of the beetroot leaves but small pieces had been torn from the leaves on one plant. The following day, I watched more carefully, and a female House Sparrow was seen to nip out pieces of beetroot leaf and, apparently eat them. Over the following four days, the leaves were stripped from this beetroot plant. The female House Sparrow fed at least one of the fledglings immediately after nipping out a piece of leaf and later the young birds were also seen feeding on the beetroot leaves. I could not tell if only one female and brood were involved. No males were recorded feeding on the beetroot leaves. Only one plant in the row of beetroots was attacked this severely although the leaves of other plants had been nibbled.

BWP (Cramp & Perrins 1994) records that House Sparrow regularly attack flowers and green leaves, but is not certain these are eaten.

Cramp, S & C.M.Perrins (eds) (1994). The Birds of the Western Palearctic Vol VIII.

 

Originally published in The Hobby 124: 11

SPRING EQUINOX

Spring is sprung the grass is riz, I wonder where the birdies iz?

The 2009 spring equinox fell on a Friday. Friday was a day of work. Work was where I was headed. In the preceding week the weather in southern Britain had been dominated by a high pressure system. This gave rise to clear nights resulting in a light frost followed by fine, sunny and warm days. Friday 20th March 2009 was no different. I ate breakfast looking out over the garden from the warmth of the kitchen and watched the frost dissipate as the sun slowly rose higher in the sky. The garden looks lovely at this time of year with daffodils flowering in the borders and the shrubs coming into leaf. Further evidence of spring was provided by two Eurasian Collared Doves canoodling on the garden fence, a Common Starling collecting a beakful of dried grasses and a female Common Blackbird tearing green vegetation from a flowering Aubretia and carrying it to a neighbour’s garden. Great Tits and Eurasian Blue Tits have been prospecting at a couple of our nest boxes but have not begun building yet. A pair of Robins have completed their nest in another box and already laid five eggs, but sadly, I think they may have deserted as I have not seen birds near the nest for several days.

Home is the Bedfordshire village of Henlow, about 45 miles (72km) north of London. By the time I came to leave for work at about 07:15, the frost had melted and I did not have to scrape the car windows. Several of the resident birds, Common Blackbird, Dunnock and European Robin were singing while both Common Wood Pigeons and Collared Doves were performing their ‘roller-coaster’ display flights. My office lies some 30 miles (48km) to the south entailing a commute of about an hour (depending on the traffic) and often enlivened by birding en route. The rookeries at Shillington (15 nests), Apsley End (49 nests) and Shillington Manor (3 nests) were hives of activity with much coming and going although building now appears to be complete. Major nest building in the rookery seems to take place between 8th-14th March in this part of the world. South of Hexton, my route climbs the north-facing scarp of the Chiltern Hills to 500 feet (155m) above sea level, before following the Mimram valley south-eastwards. A Red Kite, part of the successful reintroduction scheme, was seen perched in a roadside tree near Kings Walden. I now regularly record this species on my way to and from work, but less than 30-years ago had to make special trips to central Wales for a chance to see them. The upper reaches of the Mimram are dry, the first water appearing in ponds at Bendish Lodge where there were some Mallard and Common Moorhen. Nearby a pair of Mandarin Duck, they breed locally in most years, flew across the road. Northern Ravens are still quite rare in this area, so it was very pleasing to see one fly over just outside the village of Whitwell. My first for the year. Until very recently they were, like the Red Kites, absent from much of lowland England but in the last decade they have spread into the lowland counties although without the help afforded the kites.

My office is one of several in a converted barn at Bricket Wood, on the northern edge of Watford. Despite its location, the setting is pleasantly rural surrounded by horse paddocks and woods although traffic noise from the M25, London’s orbital motorway which lies just to the north, can be heard. In the warm, sunny conditions the birds were quieter than usual. Great Tits, Dunnocks and Starlings visited our bird table but only the wheezing European Greenfinches and the singing of Blackbirds, Dunnocks, Chaffinches and Robins came through the open window. The ringing cries of a European Green Woodpecker were heard, but other regularly heard species, such as Great Spotted Woodpecker, Eurasian Nuthatch and Eurasian Jay were noticeable by their absence.

I headed home via an alternative route, seeing fewer birds than on my way to work. Pairs of Red-legged Partridge were on the chalk fields along Whiteway Bottom, Kimpton where a Kestrel surveyed the ground from its vantage point on top of a telegraph pole. Sadly, the pair of Little Owls were not perched in their usual place.

Full species list for the Spring Equinox 20/03/2009: Grey Heron, Mandarin Duck, Mallard, Red Kite, Common Kestrel, Common Pheasant, Red-legged Partridge, Grey Partridge, Common Moorhen, Black-headed Gull, Mew Gull, Common Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, European Green Woodpecker, Pied Wagtail, Dunnock, European Robin, Common Blackbird, Song Thrush, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Northern Raven, Common Starling, Common Chaffinch, European Greenfinch, European Goldfinch, Yellow Hammer (33 species).

What is/are Peltops?

Peltops (Gr. pelte, a small shield; ops the face, Jobling 1991) are two very similar species

endemic to the island of New Guinea. They are aberrant fly-catching species of uncertain affinity, previously included with the flycatchers, Muscipidae (Rand & Gillard 1967) but currently placed with the Australian Butcherbirds, Cracticidae (Beehler et al 1986). Currently known as Lowland and Mountain Peltops, in common with many other New Guinea birds they have gone under a variety of names e.g. Shieldbill (Rand & Gillard 1967), Crassbill (Mackay 1968). Peltops are boldly patterned black, white and red.

Peltops are predominatly glossy black with white patches behind the eye and onto the side of the neck and in the centre of the upper back. The rump, upper and under tail coverts are red. Both species are so similar that it was not until 1921 that montanus was even recognised as a subspecies (Diamond, 1972). Lowland Peltops occurs, as its name suggests, in lowland rainforest from sea-level to 550 m. Mountain Peltops inhabits hill and montane forest from 550m - 3000m (Beehler et al 1986). The latter is the bigger species, with larger white patches but the two species are best distinguished by voice. Lowland Peltops has a unique clicking song giving rise to an earlier name, Clicking Shieldbill. Mountain Peltops has a tinkling song and was previously known as Singing Shieldbill. Both species flycatch over open areas in the forest with long aerial sallies.

When I began contracting in the mid-1990s I chose Peltops for my company name and logo to maintain my links with Papua New Guinea where my family and I lived for 6 years between 1985 and 1991. Peltops are boldly patterned birds but with only a few colours and so would be easy to reproduce on business cards and paper with a name that is relatively short and easy to remember.

References:

Beehler, B.M., T.K. Pratt & D. Zimmerman. 1986.
Birds of New Guinea. Princeton.

Diamond, J.M. 1972. Avifauna of the Eastern Highlands of New Guinea. Nutall Bird Club.
Jobling, J. 1991. A Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. Oxford.
Mackay, R.D. 1968. Birds of Port Moresby and District. Nelson.
Rand, A.L. & E.T. Gillard. Handbook of New Guinea Birds. Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

New Year’s Day, 2007

For the past few years I have spent each New Year’s Day (NYD) trying to see as many species as possible within 10 km of home. This year (2007), as usual, I was up and about well before dawn but before the birding could start I had to retrieve Andrew (number one son) from a party in Hitchin so that he would be in a fit state to go to work later in the day. A Robin singing under the village street lights welcomed in the New Year but no other birds were seen on the 25 km round trip.

Home for the last five years has been the Bedfordshire village of Henlow. My ‘home range’ stretches from the chalk downland of the Chilterns, rising to 183 m at Telegraph Hill in the south across the flood plain of the River Ivel and its tributary the Hiz to the greensand ridge in the north from which Sandy, HQ of the RSPB takes its name. The A6 trunk road between Luton and Bedford forms the western boundary while the eastern border is a line on the map passing through the village of Ashwell. Three towns, Hitchin, Letchworth and Baldock, all in Hertfordshire, occupy the south-eastern quadrant while the smaller towns of Stotfold and Biggleswade lie on the route of the A1 which runs north-south across the area. The larger towns of Luton and Bedford lie outside this area, to the SW and NW respectively. As ever, the aim was to beat last year’s score of 75 species.

By the time I had returned Andrew to home, where a second Robin had joined the pre-dawn chorus, it was 06:00. Time to head off on an owl patrol. Following my usual route through Clifton to Stanford and then Southill, there was nothing to be heard save for the wind. There weren’t even any Wood Pigeons roosting in the roadside trees which were presumably too exposed in these windy conditions. Just north of Southill, a small bird of prey was seen perched close up against the trunk on the sheltered side of a horse chestnut tree. When I raised my binoculars I was expecting to see a Little Owl but was surprised to see a female Kestrel. Just as I was about to get back into the car a Tawny Owl hooted from the woods in Southill Park and was answered by another from somewhere in the village. While listening to the owls, several Jackdaws started calling. Continuing the owl patrol around Old Rowney Lane and past Keepers Warren, Rabbits were numerous on the roadside verge but only a single Wood Pigeon was seen.

As in previous years, I spent the first hour of daylight in the mixed woodland of Swiss Gardens arriving just as the sky in the east began to lighten. For a while I was still relying more on my ears than my eyes. The chorus of Robins were joined by a Song Thrush perched on a branch over-hanging the road while the calls of a Redwing, Pheasant and a scolding Wren were also heard. The distinctive silhouette of a Cormorant flying over the ornamental lake in the gardens was the first bird seen in daylight. On the lake were 16 Mallard, two male Tufted Ducks, one male and two female Shoveler and a winter plumaged Little Grebe. As I walked the edge of the lake, a Moorhen was disturbed from the waters edge and pattered away across the lake causing a Blackbird to give its alarm call. Back in the woods it was still quite dark, but a Carrion Crow was heard calling followed by the yaffle of a Green Woodpecker. As the light improved a flock of Common Gulls drifted over on the wind but I was still missing most of the smaller woodland species. As I headed back towards the car, I came across a mixed flock working its way along the roadside hedge and nearby woodland; among the flock were Great Tits, Blue Tits (20th species at 08:30, over 30 minutes later than last year) Long-tailed Tits, Coal Tits and at least a couple of Goldcrests. While following the tit flock I also saw Dunnock, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Chaffinch. In the windy conditions all species except the woodpecker were keeping low down in the shrub layer and rarely venturing into the tree canopy except in sheltered areas.

Leaving Swiss Gardens at 09:01 with 27 species, I retraced my earlier owl patrol. Between Swiss Gardens and Old Warden a male Kestrel hovering low over the edge of a ploughed field caused me to stop. Feeding in the furrows were at least 3 Pied Wagtails and a flock of Black-headed Gulls was spread across the field. A bird-feeder in Warden Street was attracting House Sparrows (31st species at 09:20) and Greenfinches while in nearby hedgerows there was a mixed thrush flock comprising mainly Fieldfare (c.80) but also including Redwing, Starling and Mistle Thrush; all feeding on hawthorn berries plus a pair of Magpies. A feature of this area in mid-winter are the belts of maize left standing to act as cover and feed for game birds but invariably attracting mixed flocks of finches and buntings. One such area, alongside the Greensand Ridge Walk and between the road and Warden Little Wood had attracted Brambling in March 2006 but had been devoid of birds when I had visited on a recce between Christmas and New Year. Undeterred, I decided to give the area a quick look, just-in-case. With a belt of coniferous woods running alongside the track from the road to Warden Little Wood, this maize strip was largely sheltered from the blustery westerly wind and had attracted a large flock of birds to feed in the calmer conditions. Most of the flock was concentrated at the road end of the strip so I did not even have to leave the car to get good views of the birds. Small flocks were feeding on the ground among the maize but would often fly to the nearby shelter-belt so there was a regular turn-over of birds. The flock was predominately Chaffinches (I estimated 100+) but included Reed Buntings (c.20), Yellow Hammers (c.10) and a few Goldfinches. Also associated with the flock were two Meadow Pipits but bird of the day was a single male Brambling which I eventually picked out from among the Chaffinches and even stood in full view on the track. Buoyed by this success I headed for Broom gravel pits via Old Rowney Lane, where a Green Woodpecker foraged on the roadside verge and my only Buzzard of the day was harassed by two Carrion Crows, two Magpies and a Jackdaw, and Southill Park where the water in the lake was very choppy in the wind and (as ever) mostly bird-less, save for two Tufted Duck. A flock of Rooks (42nd species at 10:31) fed in a field on the edge of the village.

In previous years I have seen a lot of birds at Broom gravel pits and this year started off well with three Shelduck and a Redshank on the G&M outwash pit and some waterfowl on the pits containing water including c.20 Shoveler, four Teal, a pair of Mute Swan, a single female Wigeon and several Coot. A few Lesser Black-backed Gulls drifted over and a single Skylark (50th species at 11:20) was disturbed from the edge of the track. But sadly, that was it for Broom. Peacock’s Lake had been cleared of birds by a shooting party that were still parked at the southern (Broom) end of the pits. In previous years the gravel pits have yielded 20-30 species, this year it was only nine. By way of compensation a Sparrowhawk flew over the track as I was leaving.

In an effort to find some of the waterbirds I was missing, I headed for Warren Villas GPs, parking in Biggleswade and walking north alongside the River Ivel. This is usually a reliable area for Kingfisher, but not today. A Kestrel was hunting over the waste ground north of Sainsbury’s and a flock of c.30 Lapwings flew over heading north-west, into the wind. A covey of c.20 Red-legged Partridge was found among the mud piles of the new workings, walking up and over the mounds to disappear from view, where there was also a pair of Stock Doves feeding. The long trudge to the gravel pits was only rewarded with two waterbirds, a winter plumaged Great Crested Grebe and a pair of Gadwall. On the way back to the car, a second Sparrowhawk was seen as it flew low over the cricket pitch and disappeared into the gardens.

Another Kestrel was seen perched on wires near the golf range as I made my way to Holme (Jordan’s) and Langford Mills. As usual I was hoping for a Grey Wagtail in either mill race but, also as usual, was disappointed. Where do they go in the winter? Or are they only scarce on NYD? An adult Heron stood sentinel in the wet meadows, west of Langford Mill, but there were no geese or Snipe although I did note my first Collared Doves of the day. A visit to Langford lakes failed to produce anything new but I did record my sixth Kestrel of the day. As the light faded, I returned to Swiss Gardens, seeing two Greylag Geese en route. No new woodland birds were seen but a pair of Mandarin, on the pond, was my 60th and last new species.

My final tally of 60 species was the lowest I have recorded on a NYD in Bedfordshire mainly as a consequence of the reduced haul from Broom gravel pits and not helped by the very windy conditions. With 50 species recorded before midday, the afternoon return was even poorer than usual, mostly through not having a good back-up site for Broom. As might be expected I missed several species I had hoped to find without too much trouble, chief of which were Canada Goose (where had they all gone?) and Golden Plover. The Brambling was the only species I had not previously recorded on NYD in Bedfordshire taking my NYD total to 87 species. As in previous years I had stayed within Bedfordshire and as usual in the area mostly to the north and west of Henlow. I did drive more miles than last year (67 compared to 59, but 14 of these were my early morning taxi run, to pick up Andrew). I wonder what next year will bring?