The change over from summer to winter migrants began in early October. The last Chiffchaff was seen/heard in the first week whilst the first Snipe were seen on the 8th. This was followed by the appearance of Redwings and Starlings on 15th and Fieldfares and Golden Plover on 29th. We now have Redwings roosting in the Spruces by the house and quite large flocks of Redwings and Fieldfares can be seen roving ours and neighbouring fields. The Starlings commenced with a small group but have  now increased to a couple of hundred. I find it strange that in winter we can have large and sometimes very large numbers of starlings around and yet do not see even a single bird the rest of the year. The Golden Plover were seen as a group of 30 flying around in the late afternoon. These dawn and dusk flights being well known for the species.
As well as the welcome return of the migrants a Green woodpecker has been around for the last week. I assume it has dispersed form its birth site. The farm used to host two pairs but the winters of 2010 and 2012 caused their demise.  I look forward to hearing the "yaffle" again next spring.