One of my regular walks takes me along the river Rother. It is a habitat that can always spring a few surprises but equally, particularly in late autumn, it can be devoid of any apparent life at all. Recently, having walked for half an hour without seeing anything, I had just resigned myself to being contented with enjoying the remoteness of the area when I spied a movement on a recently ploughed field. A brown bird with a yellow head flew up. I felt sure it was a Yellowhammer, a very welcome species to see. I focussed my binoculars on the ground from where this bird had flown and was amazed to see a flock of about twenty birds. It is a long time since I have seen a flock of that size locally. The field had previously been set-aside for a year or two and towards the edge of the field where this flock was feeding the plough had not done a very thorough job, exposing some weed seeds. The majority of the flock appeared to be the more brightly coloured males. I continued my walk with renewed vigour. Three duck flew over the marsh. Two were obviously Mallard but the third had a large white patch on the inner wing. My first thought it was hybrid Mallard/domestic duck of which there quite a few about but it seemed familiar and when it landed some distance away I was able to identify it as a Wigeon. It is unusual to see a lone Wigeon as they very much tend to winter in large flocks. My return journey was along a well reeded ditch where a pair of Stonechat had decided to make their winter quarters. Stonechats are very obliging birds to watch as they make their “stone clinking” calls from the top of the tallest vegetation that is around. Skylarks were in the pasture meadows making short flights and calling their ‘preet preet ‘ calls as they moved from one feeding spot to another. Just as I was leaving the river I heard a strident whistle and turning round watched a Kingfisher flash by downstream. It has been a couple of years since I saw one on this stretch of the river and I was concerned that they had abandoned it.

On a trip down to Devon at the beginning of November, I called in at Ham Wall nature reserve on the Somerset Levels to watch the Starlings come in to roost. It was a pretty miserable day with large threatening clouds all around but it added to the atmosphere of the fading light. About half an hour before sunset the first large flock of about a thousand birds appeared and wheeled over a nearby wood. Small flocks of between fifty and a thousand birds joined the throng. A few formation laps of the reserve took place before the flock hovered above the reed bed as they chose their roosting spot and descended out of view. This scene repeated itself several times before one of the threatening clouds dropped its contents and sent me scurrying back to the car. I estimated very roughly that 100,000 birds roosted at this one site of which there are three within a radius of a couple of miles. I gather later in the winter and with better weather conditions the three sites join up to form a massive flock of a quarter to half a million birds and perform some spell binding coordinated displays. I shall have to have another visit. What a shame!