Birds
I go searching for owls at a few locations during June, when breeding activity reaches a crescendo. On a cool, damp but still evening on the 5th I wandered up the Hertfordshire Way towards Hatchpen Farm. In a patch of woodland that separates Royston farmland from the Newsells Stud Farm a juvenile tawny owl was calling and, as I approached, one of its parents flew a short distance away. Further on a little owl was seen, close to a regular nesting site (on private land). There was no sign of the little owl when I returned a few minutes later, but the juvenile tawny owl was calling, having moved to the other side of the path, and once again I saw an adult owl fly away from the same area. Back in Royston a tawny owl was hooting from the Royston Hospital area. This was no surprise, as I've heard it hooting practically every night since early spring. I guess that this is a young male, trying to establish a territory. However, it has clearly failed to attract any female owls so far!
Newly-fledged goldfinches were noticed on my bird feeders on the 2nd, although adults were by far the most common visitors. The local blue tits were noted in the garden on the 4th, feeding young with bits of suet. Whilst I was out photographing invertebrates (see below) on the 8th I heard a quail singing ("wet my lips, wet my lips") in a field about a mile from the house. The Royston area is regarded by many as the best in the country for quail - I hear them most years in the general area between Royston and Wallington - and both my UK sightings have been nearby. I flushed a grey partridge on Church Hill on the 15th. On the same day, the family of five Canada geese was still on Phillup's Lake, as were three tufted ducks (two males) and at least one little grebe (heard but not seen). A recently fledged kestrel was seen and heard calling near the hospital on the 20th and families of wrens and rooks were also seen in the area.
Invertebrates
The weather was more changeable in early June than it had been in May, but I was able to get out and about to 'blitz' the local area on the 2nd and the 8th. Highlights on the 2nd were my first sighting of a marbled white butterfly this year (also Hertfordshire's first sighting), a garden 'first' in the form of a (female) large red damselfly, and finding a pair of mating common blue butterflies, together with at least 30 burnet companion moths on the lovely little wildflower meadow situated a few hundred yards from my house. Common blue and brown argus butterflies were active at two other known sites and Adonis blues were still active at both ends of The Heath.
Male Adonis Blue Butterfly, Church Hill, 2 June
Mating Common Blue Butterflies, Royston, 2 June
Female Large Red Damselfly, My Garden, 2 June
I added large skipper and dark green fritillary to my year list when I visited The Heath (Old Rifle Range area) on the 8th. Common and Adonis blues and brown argus butterflies were active here, but when I visited Church Hill in the evening (after a heavy rain shower) the only butterflies I found were marbled whites and meadow browns. Other invertebrates found on the 8th included a very large (20+ mm), almost completely black bumble bee. I've seen this species, or something like it, in France and Spain. Research established that this was probably a ruderal bumble bee, a species that is slowly spreading in England, although still uncommon. Melanism is quite common in this species, but far less common in other species of large (but smaller!) bumble bees. An image of the bee is below.
Marbled White, Therfield Heath, 11 June
Ruderal (?) Bumble Bee, Therfield Heath, 8 June
Warm weather in mid-month saw the emergence of ringlet and small skipper butterflies and the first white-letter hairstreaks were seen on elms along the Icknield Way, south of The Heath, on the 21st. I had hoped to see chalkhill blue butterflies before I went on holiday the following day. Typically, they were reported on the 22nd and I didn't actually get to see one until July. What I did see on the 21st was a brassy longhorn moth, the earliest I have seen this species of micro-moth, which is closely associated with field scabious wild flowers.
Brassy Longhorn Moth, Royston, 21 June
I added gatekeeper butterfly to my year list during a brief visit to The Heath, following my return from holiday on the 30th.
Wild Flowers
June is the best month for seeing wild orchids, both locally and nationally. Whilst the white helleborines in Fox Covert had 'gone over' by the start of the month, I found three spikes of fragrant orchid and three spikes of bee orchid when I visited The Heath on the 8th. I caught the fragrant orchid spike at just the right time - image below. Later in the month, further spikes of fragrant and bee orchids were seen in the Church Hill area and small numbers of common spotted orchids were to be found at the usual sites, but no pyramidal orchids were seen by me on The Heath this year.
Fragrant Orchid, Therfield Heath, 8 June
Whilst pyramidal orchids may have been scarce this year on The Heath, I found a fabulous show when I visited Hillbrow in Letchworth on the 13th, looking for small blue butterflies (15-20 seen). Hundreds of pyramidal orchids were showing, together with a few common spotted orchids. However, the star of the show was a huge lizard orchid, the first I've seen in Hertfordshire (although, to be fair, I've never gone out looking for them). A close-up image of some of the distinctive flowers is shown below.
Lizard Orchid (Detail), Hillbrow, Letchworth, 13 June
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