Report from 23 to 26 november 2022

The weather is getting colder, and morning temperatures hover right around freezing. The Goldcrests and Firecrests are still much in evidence, as are large Meadow Pipit flocks in the rice stubble, but the real mass arrival concerned the Reed Buntings.

The only change in duck numbers was in our Shoveler count, which is now around forty.

Last year around this time we enjoyed record numbers of Lapwings, with up to two thousand birds; this year we must settle for one or two hundred, depending on the day, often with a handful of Ruff mixed in.

In the hour before sunset a stream of Pygmy Cormorants heads for their nighttime roost, with most arriving during the last half hour of daylight. They all follow the same flight path. They come from the south – from the Ticino river – in a long, snaking line, which makes them easy to count. The results were surprising: my highest count was of nearly 700 individuals! And a few more must have arrived after it was too dark to see. To think that only ten years ago this species was practically unheard of around these parts; who knows what caused such a population expansion?

Foggy days and sunny days have been alternating this week. When the sun is shining, the fall colours truly come to life.