Sorry to come over all "Bah humbug" as the festive season looms, but I (and I suspect a lot of other heathland managers) am really hoping for a mild winter. The poor old Dartford warblers in particular would really struggle if we had another period of prolonged snow cover. Looking at the figures for the Thames Basin Heaths, which are scattered across north Surrey, east Berkshire and north east Hampshire you can really see the impact of recent harsh winters - in 2008 there were over 600 pairs, but in 2011 there were less than 50 pairs. It's a similar picture on some other heathland areas in SE England as well. Fortunately they weren't hit quite so badly elsewhere in their UK range, so there is a good chance of recovery, provided we get some mild winters. We have been here before - after the famously severe winter of '62/'63, there were less than 20 pairs in the country! They came back from that, so they'll bounce back again IF the winters stay mild. Of course my entomologist friends are hoping for a cold winter, because that will increase the chances of the field cricket nymphs successfully overwintering. It seems that you can't win with wildlife! Still, no-one said this conservation lark was supposed to be easy....
As might be expected it's pretty quiet out on the reserve at the moment, except for the crossbills. It seems to be a very good year for them here, with flocks of up to 20 regularly seen. Other winter visitors include large numbers of siskin (only a few redpoll this year), often in the larches. There was a very brief visit from a Great Grey Shrike on the 19th of November. It was only around for a morning, but it was a wonderful bird to see. Ironically, just the previous week I had been joking with one of the volunteers that this year we'd get the first shrike for the reserve!