Local Wildlife Sightings June 2021

 As the warm, sunny weather continued into June I spent lots of time 'in the field', looking for plants, butterflies and other wildlife in my local area. Numbers of Adonis blues continued to grow on Church Hill, reaching an estimated 70-80 (mainly males) by the 3rd. Much mating was observed. I also saw my first small copper of the year there on the 3rd. Brown argus butterflies were also plentiful and I managed to see a couple of common blues here, but the Adonis blues had essentially 'taken over' the south side of the hill - an amazing sight! Throughout May I regularly saw common lizards in the small, un-grazed field at the bottom of the south side of Church Hill and several were noted there on the 3rd. I also saw my first bee orchid on the hill, whilst white helleborines were (finally) in flower in Fox Covert, where two pairs of spotted flycatchers were calling on the 3rd (I had previously only seen one pair here, so there may be as many as three pairs across The Heath).

Brown Argus, Church Hill, 3 June

Small Copper, Church Hill, 3 June

Elsewhere, at least four common blue and two brown argus butterflies were on the wing on the small wild flower meadow on the south side of the large agricultural field that backs on to my estate (and which is threatened by a housing development) on the 1st. I also saw a common toad here, my third local sighting of the year. Several quail have been heard singing in the area between Sandon (Deadman's Hill) and Baldock. Following an evening RSPB walk on the 3rd at RSPB Fowlmere (two cuckoos seen) I visited Deadman's Hill and heard one fairly distant bird. Evening walks at the end of May failed to detect any quail closer to home.

Common Toad, Royston, 1 June

Following a few days away I visited both ends of The Heath (and a bit in the middle) on the 8th and noted that, whilst the Adonis blues on Church Hill were past their peak, others had emerged right across The Heath. I estimate that 100 males were on the wing and, since the late summer generation is usually bigger than the spring emergence, there might be some spectacular numbers in flight in August. More common blues were seen. The willow warbler at the bottom of Church Hill had finally stopped singing, but this or another bird was singing at the other end of The Heath on the 14th. I had a couple of raven sightings from Church Hill, but there was no evidence of breeding. However, spotted flycatchers were definitely nesting in the woodland, with birds flying around with lots of flies stuffed in their bills. However, in general the breeding season seems to have generally been poor, with tits in particular suffering. My local pair of blue tits did manage to raise a single bird to fledging, but I think that many nests must have failed completely. A dusk walk along the Greenwich Meridian trail on the 9th was rewarded with a sighting of a little owl near a known Newsells Stud Farm nest site (whilst a second bird was heard calling nearby), but a tawny owl territory in the same area seems to have been abandoned in the last couple of years and there was no sign of barn owls anywhere.

Blackcap (Juvenile?), Royston, 8 June

Dragonflies

It is surprising how many species of dragonfly appear on my Local Patch, despite the shortage of water in the form of lakes, canals and streams. Many dragonflies are migratory, but these tend to appear here later in the summer. The dreadful spring weather has meant a late emergence of dragonflies this year, but despite this I had seen local broad-bodied chaser and emperor dragonflies, as well as a male banded demoiselle, by the middle of June. Common blue damselflies, as well as broad-bodied chaser and black-tailed skimmer dragonflies, were seen in early June near my nearest large patch of water, Mardleybury Lake (about 3.5 miles from my house).

Female Common Blue Damselfly, Mardleybury Lake, 10 June

Orchids

The very dry weather in May 2020 resulted in a poor showing of orchids nationwide. This year, there was abundant growth of vegetation through the cool, wet May and a far better showing of orchids in the 'orchid month' of June. White helleborines, always the first to show, put on a decent display in Fox Covert, peaking at the beginning of June and then quickly fading in the very warm, dry weather to mid-June. Bee orchids had a terrific year. I found plants in places where I had never previously seen them and there was an excellent showing on the south side of Church Hill, with an estimated 30-40 plants in early June. Bee orchids (13 plants) were also seen at Hatchpen Farm on the 22nd. A single large spike of common fragrant orchid was seen in the usual area and a single pyramidal orchid (always a rare plant on The Heath) was present on the Old Rifle Range on the 14th. No common spotted orchids were seen until the 21st, when three had appeared in their usual place on the Old Rifle Range.

Common Fragrant Orchid, Therfield Heath, 14 June

There is always a gap of a couple of weeks between the appearance of the 'blue' butterflies and the appearance of what I call the 'summer butterflies' (skippers, meadow browns, fritillaries etc.). However, the very warm (some would say hot) weather of the second week of June must have speeded things up a little because I saw my first meadow browns on the wing on the 14th and, a day later, at least five marbled whites (the first to be reported in the region) were patrolling the south side of Church Hill. On the same day there were two reports of dark green fritillaries on or near The Heath. Lots of day-flying moths were on the wing too: things were set fair. And then the weather deteriorated dramatically again, overnight on the 16/17th, with thunder and heavy rain.  Not a single shaft of sunlight was seen on the following five mid-summer days, daytime temperatures dropped from 28C on the 16th to 12C on the 18th and an inch of rain fell on the 18th. I managed to find a single roosting marbled white butterfly to photograph on the evening of the 17th, but otherwise wildlife went into hibernation.

Burnet Companion Moth, Royston, 14 June

Mother Shipton Moth, Therfield Heath, 8 June

Marbled White Butterfly, Church Hill, 17 June

Sunshine finally re-appeared on the 22nd and on the following morning I spent three hours visiting The Heath and surrounding areas. I was surprised to find at least one white-letter hairstreak flitting around the tops of elm trees along the Icknield Way. There had been a large emergence of dark green fritillaries on The Heath - I reckon that I saw at least 20 males rushing around and fighting each other. I found three more fragrant orchid 'spikes' on Church Hill, although none were as impressive as the first one. The weather deteriorated again towards the end of the month, although I was able to make a few photographic visits to The Heath, where roosting marbled white butterflies provided a few photo-opportunities.

Dark Green Fritillary, Therfield Heath, 23 June

Male Marbled White Sitting on Ox-eye Daisy, Therfield Heath, 25 June

UK Wildlife Sightings June 2021

 The upturn in the weather conditions in early June encouraged me to travel in order to see and photograph butterflies. On the 2nd I visited Bentley Wood (Wiltshire) in the hope of seeing three fritillaries (small pearl-bordered, pearl bordered and marsh) that don't occur naturally anywhere near Royston. Last year, when I visited the wood at roughly the same time of year, the pearl-bordered flight period was over, marsh fritillaries were faded and only small pearl-bordered fritillaries were on the wing in any numbers. This year, presumably due to the appalling weather in May, eight to ten pearl-bordered fritillaries were still on the wing and looking in good condition, whilst small pearl-bordered fritillaries (which have a later flight period) had yet to emerge. No marsh fritillaries were seen. I spent 3.5 hours on site and had the chance to examine the behaviour of a very rare butterfly in the UK in some detail - the males were impossible to pin down, but the females were more amenable to photography as they fluttered around, (presumably) looking for egg-laying sites (common dog-violet is the main food plant). I hadn't expected to spend any time looking for birds but, amazingly, I was able to add two species (tree pipit and firecrest) to my 2021 UK list whilst I was there. The firecrest sang almost constantly from surrounding trees, giving me plenty of time to learn how to distinguish its song from that of the goldcrest (I am lucky to be able to hear both species still - the songs are too high-pitched to be heard by many people of my 'mature' age).

Female Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Bentley Wood, 2 June

My partner's birthday gave us the excuse to spend a long weekend in North Yorkshire - only the second time that I have spent more than two nights away from home since September 2019. During our time there I saw several wall butterflies along the Cleveland Way and added red grouse and dipper (two of the bird species that I notably failed to see in the Peak District last month) to my year list.

Kittiwake in Flight, Staithes, North Yorkshire, 5 June

Knowing that the good weather would not last for much longer, I tried to fit in visits to some of my favourite reserves, looking for and trying to photograph butterflies. Unfortunately, the poor spring weather meant that butterfly emergence was considerably later than it had been in 2020 and numbers were also well down, making it nearly impossible to get high quality photos. Typical of this was a visit to Strumpshaw Fen on the 11th. I didn't see any swallowtails as I walked round the reserve, or when I doubled back to check again at their favourite spots. However, as I was just eating my packed lunch in the overflow car park after 4 hours of frustration I did see one individual, which fluttered towards my (red) car and looked as if it was about to land on it. However, it was a sunny day and the surface of the car was too hot, so it flew away before I could take any photos. I did see all the expected dragonflies on the way round, however, including scarce chaser and Norfolk hawker.

Female Banded Demoiselle, RSPB Strumpshaw Fen, 11 June

Male Norfolk Hawker in Flight, RSPB Strumpshaw Fen, 11 June

Glapthorn Cow Pasture woodland in Northamptonshire is one of the best places in the UK to see black hairstreak butterflies. In 2020 their numbers peaked at the end of May. This year, having not heard 'either way', I decided to visit on the 16th. The hairstreaks were out in small numbers and most were in good condition, but they were only occasionally coming down from their blackthorn trees to nectar on bramble flowers or rest on bushes, so again I failed to get images of sufficient quality to use for my ARPS panel, but at least I was able to get some decent 'record shots' of this very attractive butterfly.

Black Hairstreak Butterfly, Glapthorn, 16 June

With a forecast of dire weather to come I decided to visit Breckland on the same evening. I had no joy searching for stone curlews at Cavenham Heath, but I did get a few photos of the (literally) hundreds of banded demoiselles alongside the river there, whilst concurrently getting bitten all over by similar numbers of mosquitos. Moving on to do a 'recce' for an RSPB trip (see below) at my favourite nightjar spot in the forest I was lucky to hear churring almost as soon as I arrived, and then see a pair of nightjars - all before 9.45pm. I was able to set off on the 30 minute walk back to the car earlier than usual, which was just as well as I started to hear thunder. The rain started just before I reached the car and later became torrential as I drove home, heralding the start of another dire period of 'summer' weather. Fortunately, the weather relented just in time for an afternoon and evening RSPB spring trip to Lakenheath Fen and Thetford Forest on the 23rd. Lakenheath Fen provided us with views of bittern, hobby, marsh harriers, barn owl and cuckoo amongst many others. Instead of visiting Weeting Heath later, as we have done in the past, those of us who were staying on to look for nightjars decided to make the 15-20 minute drive to Icklingham, where a European roller had been located. Although fairly distant the bird performed well for us, occasionally taking off from telephone wires to catch large insects ('record shot' below). Returning to Mayday Farm, we recorded at least three nightjars 'churring' and saw one in flight. We also recorded tawny owl (which I saw), woodcock and stone curlews (both heard only). Between us, we recorded 68 bird species and lots of insects on a very enjoyable trip.

Record Shot of a European Roller in Flight, Icklingham, 23 June

There was more dull and sometimes wet weather over the following few days, but I managed to fit in a very pleasant afternoon walk on my first visit to Kingfishers Bridge nature reserve near Stretham in Cambridgeshire, a venue that our RSPB Local Group plans to visit in the late summer, on the 25th. Fine weather was eventually forecast for the 30th and I was undecided whether to use it to head down to Somerset to look for large blue butterflies and visit 'The Levels' or take a chance on seeing the black-browed albatross and doing some seabird photography at Bempton Cliffs in Yorkshire. Having already been to Bempton not so long ago I decided on the former course of action but rather regretted it, as the albatross showed well for most of the day. Meanwhile, large blues were hard to find at Collard Hill and, after over two hours of searching, I reckon that I only saw 6-8 individuals, all bar one in flight. My images of the one perched individual are too poor to show here! I went on to RSPB Ham Wall reserve, which was quiet although I did see a few marsh harriers and great white egrets as well as a decent selection of dragonflies and damselflies.

Male Small Skipper, Collard Hill, Somerset, 30 June

Female White-legged Damselfly, RSPB Ham Wall, 30 June