Local Wildlife Sightings June 2023

 The settled weather continued into June, as did the cool, north-easterly wind and lots of cloud, although there was some warmer, sunnier weather over the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd. Things changed from around the 7th, when southerly winds brought in much warmer weather. A heatwave ensued, with temperatures locally reaching 30C. Fortunately, the very wet early spring meant that vegetation remained relatively lush, despite very dry conditions. After a five week drought, some rain finally arrived between the 18th and the 20th, but the heat returned afterwards although with more cloud and the occasional light shower. June is an exceptionally busy month for the general wildlife enthusiast, with invertebrates, mammals and flowers all vying with birds for attention. Consequently, I'll divide this month's blog up into three sections.

Birds

A few late migrants were still coming through the area in the first week, and I had the chance to see and photograph three Black Terns at Dernford Farm Reservoir on the 1st. I flushed a Grey Partridge whilst photographing butterflies on Church Hill on the 4th and was also temporarily distracted by a small bird with an unusual song (a sort of cross between that of a Lesser Whitethroat and a Redstart, but with the tonal range of a whitethroat). The bird turned out to indeed be a Common Whitethroat when I finally had a good view of it. It continued to sing loudly and often in bushes to the west of the Therfield Road for the rest of the month, but sadly it was (presumably) unable to find a partner. House Martins were back at Hatchpen Farm, nesting on the 'new-build' house, on the 13th. Grey Partridges were flushed on The Heath on two further occasions and seen and heard elsewhere. Corn Buntings were singing both at Hatchpen Farm and Greys Farm, although the latter remained a wheat desert. A Cuckoo called a couple of times from just off The Heath on the 19th: this was probably a male on its way back to Africa from further north. Five Coot (two juveniles) were on Phillup's Lake when I visited on the 20th, but the only other bird seen (or heard) there was a moulting male Mallard. Nearby, a Willow Warbler was singing at Reed End hamlet. For me, perhaps the best news was of regular sightings of Spotted Flycatchers on The Heath. Two were seen together in Fox Covert on the 15th, with one (apparently carrying food to a nest site) seen in the same area on the 19th. On the 22nd one, probably two birds were seen on the east side of the Therfield Road. All the birds were adults. I'll keep monitoring the area in the hope of seeing fledged young in the next few weeks.

Two Black Terns in Flight, Dernford Farm Reservoir, 1 June

Butterflies

Adonis and Common Blue numbers on Church Hill and its surrounds remained disappointingly low, although one or two pristine males of the latter species were seen on the 4th, when I also saw my first Meadow Browns of the year. Single Small Copper butterflies were seen in three different areas on the 1st. This is a species that I normally struggle to see locally: are their numbers now increasing, or have I just become better at finding them? Adonis Blues continued to do better at the eastern end of The Heath, where I saw at least a dozen (including two females) in quite a small area on the Old Rifle Range on the 5th. This situation continued throughout the month, with gradually declining numbers of Adonis and Common Blues, as well as Brown Argus butterflies, being seen at the east end of The Heath, but hardly any being seen on Church Hill. As the temperature climbed, insect activity increased. The first Large Skippers were seen on the 12th, with Marbled Whites (15th), Dark Green Fritillaries (19th) and Small Skippers (24th) following. There was a fascinating report of a single Small Blue being seen on the western side of The Heath on the 20th, in an area containing much Kidney Vetch (the food plant of the caterpillars). I have searched this area for Small Blues before (and did so again, after this report) but without success. Has this individual come from a nearby, undiscovered (by me) colony, has a colony always been here or has there been an unlicenced introduction? I have still never seen a Small Blue in the Royston area, although I know that they do occur here on private land. Common Blues showed well on the small wild flower meadow close to my house and I was lucky to see and photograph two beautiful, newly hatched 'blue' females during the month (below).

'Blue' Female Common Blue, Royston, 12 June

'Blue' Female Common Blue, Royston, 24 June

Towards the end of the month The Heath was dominated by three butterfly species - Marbled White, Meadow Brown and Small Heath (which are having a good year), with hundreds of each on the wing. Around 25 Dark Green Fritillaries were on the wing when I visited the eastern side of The Heath on the 22nd, but none were seen on Church Hill on the 23rd. These are fascinating butterflies to study, as the males chase just about anything that moves (including small birds) and spiral upwards to great heights in territorial disputes. However, because of their very active nature, they are virtually impossible to photograph! Finally, a word about two species having vastly different fortunes. Although they were not seen until the middle of May, Holly Blues seem to have been everywhere this month. I've never seen so many! One (or possibly more than one) individual has been seen in the garden throughout June (I write this on the 25th). Holly Blues exist in equilibrium with a species-specific parasitic wasp, which has clearly been doing badly recently! However, I am concerned about the Small Tortoiseshell, which has been doing badly locally for a number of years. This year I have only seen two individuals. Why is a species that was once ridiculously common doing so badly?

Dark Green Fritillary, Therfield Heath, 22 June

The Rest

I continued to look for moths, dragonflies and other insects in the Royston area, with a view to ultimately producing a photo book. Finding new insects is not too difficult, photographing them is harder and getting good photos with which to identify them is harder still. Many go (at least for now) unidentified, but one interesting example that was identified was a rather tatty looking moth that I photographed on the local wild flower meadow on the 12th. It was rather small and at first I assumed that it was a micro-moth. Later, I wondered whether it might be a very worn example of a Four-spotted Moth, a very rare species that Butterfly Conservation members had been asked to look out for. However, it was confirmed by an expert (Liz Goodyear) to be a Small Yellow Underwing - still a new species for me. Also photographed at the same time was a rather strange-looking, unidentified micro-moth (below). Bees, wasps, hoverflies, crane-flies and an assortment of other insects were photographed and will, at some time in the future, be identified!

Micro-moth (Unidentified), Royston, 12 June

A dusk walk up the Icknield Way on the longest day (21 June) failed to provide any surprises, but did yield a reasonable selection of mammals including Fallow Deer (seen in more than one place), Brown Hares, (unidentified) bats and a Red Fox (an unusual sighting in a heavily keepered area). There are many Badger setts in the area, but these mammals were keeping themselves to themselves on this occasion.

The first Bee Orchids were flowering on Church Hill in the first week of June, whilst White Helleborines were still flowering in Fox Covert in what has been a very late spring. By the middle of the month a few spikes of Fragrant Orchid appeared in the usual place, but there was no sign of Common Spotted or Pyramidal orchids. The former seems to be declining on The Heath, whilst the latter is later-flowering. Later in the month I found more Bee Orchids in places where I didn't know that they existed, in Fox Covert and elsewhere. Wild Candytuft was doing well on Church Hill and Common Thyme, which is found all over The Heath, was thriving in areas of short grass which sheep had been grazing on through the winter months.

Bee Orchid, Church Hill, 8 June

UK Wildlife Sightings June 2023

 On the 2nd I made the 140 mile pilgrimage to Martin Down in Hampshire, one of the best (if not the best) sites for butterflies in the UK. The sun shone throughout and I saw thirteen species, including Small Blue (lots), Grizzled and Dingy Skippers, Green Hairstreak and Marsh Fritillary. This huge area of chalk downland holds very similar species of plant, insect and birds to Therfield Heath, but none of the above are, sadly, present on my local patch! Also missing from Therfield Heath are Burnt-tip and Greater Butterfly Orchids, which were showing well here (Burnt-tip Orchids were present on The Heath many years ago, but were lost before I arrived in Royston). Whinchats and Stone Curlews nest on Martin Down, but neither species was seen on my visit. The familiar song of the Corn Bunting was heard everywhere I went, and Stonechats were also present in large numbers. Although I had the usual traffic problems on the M25, this was a very enjoyable visit.

Small Blue Butterfly, Martin Down, 2 June

Marsh Fritillary, Martin Down, 2 June

Burnt-tip Orchids, Martin Down, 2 June

On the 13th I made my first (I think) visit to Brampton Wood in Cambridgeshire, looking for Black Hairstreak butterflies, which had been reported there. By lots of scanning of Blackthorn bushes (Blackthorn is the caterpillars' food plant) I eventually managed to find some hairstreaks, but was unable to get any photos of them. This was the start of a busy ten days for me, as I made two visits to Stodmarsh NNR (Kent) on the 14th and 18th, the first to do a reconnaissance visit for a coach trip that I was leading on the 18th. Hobbies, Bearded Tits and Marsh Harriers were seen on both occasions and some of the coach party (not me!) also saw Bittern and Turtle Dove. On the first visit I had the chance to look for dragonflies and damselflies. Green-eyed (formerly Norfolk) Hawkers were everywhere and I also photographed a couple of individuals of the uncommon Variable Damselfly. The plan was to move on from Stodmarsh to visit a site for Heath Fritillary butterflies at Blean Woods. Fortunately, this species had just emerged when I visited on the 14th, and I was able to photograph a few pristine individuals. On the day of the coach trip it started to rain as we approached the butterfly site, but nevertheless everybody was able to see the butterflies - if not for long!

Male Marsh Harrier, Stodmarsh, 14 June

Variable Damselfly, Stodmarsh, 14 June

Heath Fritillary Butterfly, RSPB Blean Woods, 14 June

Always a sucker for punishment I was able to fit in a visit to RSPB Strumpshaw Fen in between the Stodmarsh trips, looking for (amongst other things) Swallowtail butterflies and Scarce Chaser dragonflies, both of which I duly found, on the 16th. A bonus here was to see and hear a male Grasshopper Warbler 'reeling'. Bee-eaters had been discovered nesting at Trimingham, about 45 minutes drive away. This was the same site where they had nested in 2022 and, since the viewing area was opened to the public for the first time on the 16th, I drove over there as well. Three birds were present, and I was able to observe them on nearby wires as well as at or near the nest site.

Bee-eater in Flight, Trimingham, 16 June

Swallowtail Butterfly, RSPB Strumpshaw Fen, 16 June

With hot, sunny weather bringing out many butterflies, dragonflies and other insects and an 'enforced' break coming up, I spent three consecutive days from the 21st to the 23rd zooming around both my local patch and further afield, looking for and photographing wildlife. On the 21st I visited the Wilstone area, looking for White-legged Damselflies along the Grand Union Canal and then popping over to the reservoir, where I saw a Hobby and possibly (since I was unable to get photographs) one or two of the rare (in the UK) Lesser Emperor dragonflies in amongst a host of Emperor dragonflies.

Immature Female Banded Demoiselle, Wilstone, 21 June

Mating White-legged Damselflies, Wilstone, 21 June

On the following day I paid my first visit of the year to the excellent RSPB Frampton Marsh reserve near Boston in Lincolnshire, with its recently-opened expanded visitor centre and cafe. The main purpose of my visit was to see Black-winged Stilts, following the recent announcements that two pairs had nested for the first time in Lincolnshire. I saw three, possibly four adults in amongst the rushes, although the young were being kept well hidden. Avocets have really taken to this reserve, with adults and young birds being seen everywhere. I also saw a couple of Spoonbills.

Black-winged Stilt, RSPB Frampton Marsh, 22 June

I was away yet again on the following day, this time walking round the reserve at RSPB Lakenheath Fen. Having missed out on Bitterns at Stodmarsh, I was hoping to see one here but the birds remained elusive on what was a surprisingly quiet late afternoon. However, many species of dragonfly were recorded, including Ruddy Darter and Scarce Chaser, which made the absence of Hobbies rather strange. I also found a Mayfly resting in the grass, which made an interesting subject for photography, even if the full inclusion of the enormously long tail spikes makes the body seem rather small.

Drake Mackerel Mayfly, RSPB Lakenheath Fen, 23 June

(Very) Mature Male Scarce Chaser, RSPB Lakenheath Fen, 23 June