The Lincolnshire Bird Club

Why has there been such a dearth of Waxwing sightings this year, as compared with last year? What conditions (environmental, meterological etc) influence the population level of Waxwings visiting the UK from year to year?

The main factor affecting arrival of Waxwings in the UK is food.
If Waxwings have had a good breeding season and food is in short supply in N Europe they will irrupt southwards, if the food supply is good in N Europe, mainly berry crop, very few will move.
It now appears that food has run out in the north and large numbers arrived in southern Sweden in late January. This could mean that they will start to appear in the UK and the birds seen on the east coast at the weekend could be the start of an arrival.