With the shortest day thankfully behind us spring isn’t far away. Spring is signalled in the form of birdsong. The usual communication calls of birds are joined by the songs of territorial birds claiming their space and advertising for mates. For months the sound of robins defending their territories has been the only true song we have heard. Dunnocks, wrens, goldcrests and great tits joined in during December, with the first song thrush heard on the 31^st. The bird song has started early - apart from robins, bird song is usually delayed until late-December or even until the New Year. Over the next few weeks blackbirds and mistle thrushes will start to join in. The starlings, chaffinches and greenfinches that will join the chorus later are still gathered in flocks - there is still the rest of the winter to get through before nesting!  Listen out for great-spotted woodpeckers drumming on the trees – last year the first one was heard on 16^th December.

Great-spotted Woodpecker

Keep an eye out for wrens, which will often crowd together to roost in favoured sites in large numbers to conserve heat. Nestboxes are often used – more than 50 birds have been found in a single box at night. Listen out for the hoots of tawny owls. Like robins they have already paired up and have set up their territories. The crossbill, a coniferous woodland finch, is now nesting making it the earliest nesting British bird. Nests are situated high up in pine trees and can be very difficult to spot. Eggs are laid at this time of year because the crossbills’ main food, pine cone seeds, become available for the first time in the depths of winter. If cone crops are good, crossbills can easily gather enough to feed themselves and their nestlings. Most of the early nestlings fledge this month. Another bird found in the conifer plantations which is singing at the moment is the goldcrest – Europe’s smallest bird. Our resident population is boosted in winter by immigrants arriving from colder conditions in the north. The senior ranger caught a chiffchaff whilst bird ringing on the 30^th – the majority migrate to Africa during the winter months with only a small over-wintering population remaining. Over 35 siskin were recorded on 20^th December in the lower wood, with a redpoll on the 19^th. Brambling were finally seen on several occasions during last month.

Male Crossbill

There are small finch and redwing roosts in the Park – the latter are the smaller of the two winter-visiting thrushes that stream in from Europe. They feed on invertebrates for as long as they can, but when the ground freezes they transfer to fruit. They flock to berries, hips, haws and windfalls. Because they are so conservative in their tastes redwings often starve to death while other thrushes are seen tucking into kitchen scraps, fat and seeds. Both roosts are substantially smaller than in previous years.

Keep an eye open for woodcock this month. They lie low in damp woods, not taking off until you almost walk on top of them. They are more evident at the moment, their numbers swelled by visiting birds from the frozen North and Scandinavia.

The highest counts of wildfowl on the lake were 9 cormorants on 17^th December, 13 pochard on the 27^th, and 11 tufted duck on the 28^th. Teal were seen from 19^th December onwards. Over 100 black-headed gulls were recorded last month. In the marsh 13 snipe were recorded on 19^th December – this is the lowest count for 11 years. A male wigeon was spotted on 19^th December. Wigeon often graze on grass like geese, although they also feed in water. They migrate north to Scotland and Iceland during the summer to breed. A female scaup was seen on the 19^th and stayed on the lake for a couple of days. Scaup usually gather in large feeding flocks at sea during the winter and are rarely seen inland. Kingfishers are easier to see at this time of year. With no leaves on the trees, the contrast of their bright feathers against the muted colours of winter makes them stand out brilliantly.  Herons breed earlier than most birds, and if it remains mild then look out for a lot of noisy activity at the heronries by the end of the month.

On the mammal front, now is a good time to see roe deer, foxes and stoats as they search for food. The foxes and squirrels breeding season is currently underway. Listen out for foxes mating calls during the night; the most eerie is the vixen’s scream announcing that she is ready to mate. Amphibians such as frogs and toads may start to spawn this month if the weather remains mild. A red admiral butterfly was on the wing on 10^th December.  

Hazel Catkins

Snowdrops are due to emerge in January and the honeysuckle leaves have already started to grow. Keep an eye out for hazel catkins and primroses which will start to appear if the weather stays warm. There are a few ferns, such as the hard fern, which survive the winter, giving some greenery to Stover. Most of the fungi have now died down, but one of the stranger species, known as the earthstar fungus, appears at this time of year. It can be found in deep leaf litter and on old twigs under trees. At first, they are more or less buried, but eventually their globular fruiting bodies appear from the surface and split open into pointed segments. These curl back giving the fungus its name.

Earthstar Fungus