December in Bicknor Wood

The meteorological winter started on December 1st. If you are more of a traditionalist you will have waited until the winter solstice when the sun reached its lowest point in the sky on December 21st. By New Year, we will make our closest approach to the sun and the earth will be orbiting at its greatest speed. So if you felt a bit giddy, that's probably why.

The month was unseasonally warm with bright days confounding the averages.

A walk on December 2nd brought the first Goldcrest since last winter. Perhaps it had been encouraged south by the icy blast of storm Arwen at the end of November. Other birds have not been seen since the summer have been returning. Chaffinches and Long-tailed Tits. 

The 16th was a particularly gloomy day brightened by a small flock of Bullfinches. The Nuthatch and Treecreeper were both seen on 21st. An upsurge in Blackbirds and thrushes possibly indicates harsher weather elsewhere.

A personal challenge was almost completed on December 28th. There is now a bar chart for the birds of Bicknor Wood with a record for every week of the year. 

Well, almost. An ugly scar, scraped down through the third week of June shows a missed entry. But there are records going back 6 years to bulk it out if you should ever need them. The eBird team have allocated a hot spot flag for Bicknor Wood which has attracted visitors from as far away as Boughton Monchelsea.

At last, I managed to get a photograph of a rabbit.

The nest boxes were repaired and replaced last month and birds have began showing an interest almost immediately. On 16th, Blue Tits were seen on boxes 3 and 4, whilst a Great Tit was investigating no. 14. There is no place to record the sightings of Santa, but I am reliably informed that he has been frequently spotted in the wood and in the surrounding area of Greater Bicknor.

 

The Great Spotted Woodpecker male was heard drumming on the 31st. He does this to advertise his presence and to attract a female. The female was seen, studiously ignoring him.

The Jay almost got her picture taken, but the battery failed just as I moved to a clear shot.

A few plants still retain some of their leaves and will continue to do so through the winter. Brambles, ferns, holly and yew typically retain their leaves. 

The creeping buttercups and thistles have already put forward new growth, confused by the remarkably warm December.

My last photograph of the year was a dusk shot on December 31st of the Great Spotted Woodpecker, silhouetted on the dead tree.

Thanks for reading and Happy New Year.

A bird list for December is appended below;

1 Common Wood-Pigeon - Columba palumbus

2 Eurasian Collared-Dove - Streptopelia decaocto

3 Black-headed Gull - Chroicocephalus ridibundus

4 Herring Gull - Larus argentatus

5 Eurasian Sparrowhawk - Accipiter nisus

6 Great Spotted Woodpecker - Dendrocopos major

7 Eurasian Jay - Garrulus glandarius

8 Eurasian Magpie - Pica pica

9 Carrion Crow - Corvus corone

10 Eurasian Blue Tit - Cyanistes caeruleus

11 Great Tit - Parus major

12 Long-tailed Tit - Aegithalos caudatus

13 Goldcrest - Regulus regulus

14 Eurasian Nuthatch - Sitta europaea

15 Eurasian Treecreeper - Certhia familiaris

16 Eurasian Wren - Troglodytes troglodytes

17 Song Thrush - Turdus philomelos

18 Eurasian Blackbird - Turdus merula

19 Fieldfare - Turdus pilaris

20 European Robin - Erithacus rubecula

21 Dunnock - Prunella modularis

22 House Sparrow - Passer domesticus

23 Common Chaffinch - Fringilla coelebs

24 Eurasian Bullfinch - Pyrrhula pyrrhula