November can be a quiet month for birders in the UK. The summer visitors have long ago headed south, to warmer and more hospitable climes. But while birds from further north and east should now be arriving to overwinter in Britain, many have not yet done so – or if they have, they are in much lower numbers than usual.
The clue to this is the dramatic change in the weather on their breeding grounds in Siberia and northern Europe, as a result of the climate crisis. In recent years there has been unseasonably milder weather, with temperatures often staying well above freezing, which allows the birds to stay put.
Even if they do migrate, many are travelling shorter distances than before: stopping off in the Baltic states or the low countries, where again the late autumn and winter weather is far milder than it used to be.
This phenomenon has been given a name: “short-stopping”. It affects a wide range of species, from starlings, fieldfares and redwings – all of which used to be seen in vast numbers in our countryside – to swans, geese and ducks.
At well-known wildfowl hotspots such as the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve at Slimbridge, flocks of key species such as Bewick’s swan and white-fronted goose are far smaller than they used to be. And some once-regular wintering species, such as the great grey shrike and rough-legged buzzard, are now so rare that only a handful appear in the UK each year.
