NOVEMBER saw the first local appearance of a bird that is likely to dominate this winter, the waxwing.

These visitors from the far north have arrived in Britain in huge numbers, perhaps the largest influx ever recorded.

Its name comes from the red “candle-wax” tips to some of its feathers but these are not particularly noticeable in the field.

Nevertheless, the birds are very distinctive – starling-like, but with pinkish-grey plumage, black bandit mask and yellow-edged tail. They also have a distinctive call, a thin rolling trill that I’ve heard described as like distant sleigh bells. Particularly appropriate given November’s snow!

Because they come from largely uninhabited Arctic regions, they have had little contact with humans and so can be astonishingly tame.

Locally, the largest numbers were reported from Redmire with a flock of 100 birds. Up to 40 were also seen in Darlington, 30 were at Hunton and North Stainley, 20 at Nosterfield, a dozen in Romanby, ten at Skipton on Swale, seven birds in Bedale and odd singles at another five sites. There will undoubtedly be many more seen over the coming weeks and hopefully some of these will settle to allow people to catch up with this most charismatic bird.

Another characterful species, the bittern, was also seen in November. A bird was present again in the reedbed at Lingham, Nosterfield.

As usual with this elusive species, sightings were infrequent, but it was still there at the time of writing and is well worth the effort of looking for. Late afternoon may be the best bet as they tend to be more active at that time of day.

It, or another bird, was also seen at Bellflask quarry at the end of the month.

Much more unusual was yet another bittern seen near Maunby. A local farmer was driving towards the village when a bird launched out of a hedge and struck his Land Rover. He took the bird back to his farm, where it quickly recovered, and he fortunately took a picture of the bird confirming its identity.

Other sightings of note included an egret species on a farm pond near Hunton, nine snow buntings on Hurst Moor, a Lapland bunting and a very late osprey over Nosterfield, a large movement of pinkfooted geese over Ainderby Steeple, a probable rough-legged buzzard in the Hambleton Hills and a superb great grey shrike near Knayton.

As I’m writing this, the snow is lying thickly on the ground and, coupled with extremely low temperatures, makes this a particularly difficult time for our resident birds. I would encourage everyone to feed the birds in their garden and to try and keep some unfrozen water available.

Can I also make a special plea for the poor old wren. They suffer particularly in the cold weather because of their tiny size and ground feeding habits. A few crumbs of cheese scattered on snowfree ground under hedges or border plants can make a big difference to their survival.

It just remains for me to wish readers a very merry Christmas and a happy and birdfilled new year.