November 2025 Ramsbury Bird Notes by Paul Swan

Canada Goose

One sign of autumn is that the tawny owls in the churchyard have become very vocal, and their calls on a cold, clear evening are quite haunting. We also have the apparent return of Edgar, the great white egret that terrorized our garden ponds two years ago. He was recently seen at the river, not far from a little egret, which emphasised just how large he is!

We are still awaiting the return of the golden plover to Spring Hill, but the skylarks, yellowhammers and stonechats are all in residence, with the first two being very vocal. Hens Wood recently hosted a flock of crossbills and some tree pipits. Sadly, one of each variety was recently found dead on the ground. There have also been reports of a few dead pigeons so we may have a local outbreak of avian flu. Let’s hope that remains contained.

We always have a contingent of Canada geese on the river, but I was delighted to have around forty fly low over the garden in a perfect V formation. Their honking and the noise of their wings were very dramatic.