Birds

All I want for Christmas...

Loved ones will be thrilled that I am not asking for much this Christmas. Well, there is a cost of living crisis don’t you know?! No, here are my wildlife wishes for this coming festive season.

For starters, I would absolutely love it to be a ‘Waxwing Winter’. I keep hearing on social media that they are on their way; they are making their way south in Scandinavia. It’s going to happen any day… And indeed, early signs in November were encouraging, a few flocks here and there, some not that far from us. But, and it’s a big but, so to speak, we hear the same thing most winters and I think it’s just people suffering the side effects of ‘hopeium’. But why do I wish for such a bird? Well, for starters, they have such a great punk hair-do, make a fantastic trill noise, are suitably beautiful and I guess the fact I don’t see one every winter helps. They also remind me of my childhood. In 1996 there was a famous invasion of the ‘Scandinavian pretty boys’ where flocks of thousands were found at some places in the country. I was just a mere ten year old, confined to birdwatching from the garden and odd trips to the local gravel pits with Dad and Grandad. One morning, in December that year, I woke up and looked out the window to find a small flock of seven or eight Waxwings, feeding in a neighbour’s hedge. Excitedly, I told my father about this rare visitor to our garden and that the book said they would keep returning until the berries were gone. All though I was completely unaware of it at the time (due to my Dad being a kind sort of chap), my father didn’t actually believe that I had seen such a bird from our dining-room table. So imagine his surprise when the next morning there they were…. Our first ‘rare’ bird. As mentioned, they feed on berries to gorge themselves and can turn up anywhere: supermarket car park, garden or roadside hedge. So please keep any eye out for them…. And if you are lucky to find them, then please share your sighting!

My other wish this coming Crimbo is to finish the year on a high at Deeping Lakes. I don’t mean literally dear reader (though plenty of youths get up to such nonsense down there of an evening, I can tell you). I mean from a wildlife sense and, more to the point, a bird sense. See, I have been trying to see as many species as possible from Deeping Lakes this year. Last year I saw 140 and this year I have been stuck on 140 for over a month and although there are apparent ‘sitters’ still to get, they are only easy if you get see them! It would be amazing to see the greatest amount of species I have ever seen at DL, this year. In the spring I visited almost daily, often two of three times a day Waxwing (pre-work, lunchbreak and straight after work). And I have seen some truly wonderful things, such as the Curlew Sandpiper dropping in on its way south in September, the graceful Gannet that should have been out at sea, the hawking Hobby over the Lake, the Otters seen by moonlight on the river bank in spring, and wacky Whimbrel which alighted in May, when I

Tawny Owl

Words and Pictures by William Bowell

had given up hope of seeing one, only for it to have brought a Wood Sandpiper friend with it.

But the want and search for more continues and to break my own record (competing only with myself, of course). I still need Tawny Owl, which is embarrassing and maybe a crepuscular visit with a hoot - that would of course do it. But wouldn’t it be great if it was something rarer? Like the aforementioned Waxwing or perhaps maybe a Great Northern Diver or Rednecked Grebe? Is that too much to ask Santa for?

But, of course, the thing I’m looking forward to most this Christmas enjoying the wildlife on our doorstep, with family. Whether that be watching the gang of Starlings’ frenzy on the left-over Yorkshire pud in the garden or going for a walk along the river on a cold, crisp and clear afternoon. Sharing it with family will be the greatest gift of all.

But if it does snow, and an Otter runs out in front of us, or a Robin sits on top of a garden spade and I have my camera with me and take some award-winning photos, I would be happy with that as well… Santa?!

Will works at Grasmere Farm in Deeping St James (with a butcher’s and deli in Market Gate, Market Deeping) but in his spare time enjoys wildlife watching locally and across the country. He is also a keen photographer. Many of his images can be found at http://justwildimages.blogspot.co.uk and photo cards can be found for sale at Market Gate Deli in Market Deeping. Whimbrel