Local Wildlife Sightings, October 2025

 Following the first 'named' storm of the autumn on the 3rd and 4th, high pressure dominated in the first half of October, with variable amounts of cloud, no appreciable rain and hardly any wind. Very few butterflies survived into the new month, with no 'blues' seen at all and hardly any 'whites'. Autumn bird passage had died down, although a few (presumably migrant) Meadow Pipits were seen and heard in the fields surrounding Royston. Several Chiffchaffs remained into October: I wonder whether any will over-winter locally. Smallish flocks of (mainly) Lesser Black-backed Gulls roamed the fields, although finding food must have been hard work except when following the plough. One or two 'Herring Type' gulls were also seen. I photographed one in flight (image below): is it a Herring Gull or a Yellow-legged Gull? Unfortunately, the legs were tucked in. After a quiet early autumn, Ravens were again seen and/or heard in various places.

'Herring-type' Gull in Flight, Therfield, 1 October

Whilst reports of swarms of Ladybirds may have been exaggerated, I certainly saw plenty - usually sitting on leaves. Ladybird 'instars' were also common. A few shield bugs put in belated appearances near the house. Here are a few early October insect images.

Ladybird emerging from a late 'Instar', Royston, 2 October

Red-legged Shield Bug, Royston, 2 October

Rhopalid Bug, Royston, 6 October

During the middle of the month, the weather became dry but cloudy, as a large area of high pressure established itself over the UK. Bird migration was obvious, with reports of flocks of up to several hundred Redwings, as well as a few Fieldfares, seen in Hertfordshire flying over from the east. I found a flock of 40-50 Redwings feeding on berries and on the ground in a field close to the house on the 13th. However, they were gone the next day and indeed there were very few reports of Redwings in Hertfordshire in the latter stages of the month. It seems that there has been a larger than usual influx of Crossbills from the continent in our area, with flocks of birds reported in flight. I made another visit to Scales Park on the 16th, again hoping to see a Marsh Tit, which had so far eluded me in Hertfordshire. My luck was in - not only did I see a Marsh Tit and hear at least one other, but I also saw and heard small parties of Crossbills feeding amongst the many pines in this 'mixed' woodland - the closest to my house that I have ever recorded this species. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any photos to show here. I wonder whether any of the Crossbills will stay, or will they move on, like the Redwings?

Otherwise, the middle of October was rather quiet, and I packed away my macro lens with hardly any insects, apart from a few bumble bees and wasps, to photograph. Distressing news came from the garden, as I found a dead Great Tit near the greenhouse at the bottom of the garden. I assumed that it had flown into the greenhouse glass, but a couple of days later a dead male Greenfinch was present in exactly the same place. By the time I found a second dead Greenfinch, again in the same place, I was becoming very worried. At least they showed no signs of disease, as a garden feeder was not too far away. I started to look round the garden and quickly found the likely culprit - a cat that was sitting, concealed, in bushes close to the feeder. I moved the feeder to a higher position, close to the house and made my opinions of the cat clearly known, although it has still been coming into the garden - previously, I had had no trouble from cats for several years. No more dead birds have been found since. This all may sound trivial, but cats kill up to 100 million small animals per year in the UK. Without them (fat chance) we would be giving our wildlife a much better chance to flourish.

Fallow Deer, Therfield, 8 October

On the 24th I went on another walk round the villages of Reed and Therfield. 'Storm Benjamin' had passed through the area the previous day, and I was hoping that it might have brought some interesting (migrant?) birds with it. However, once again the area was pretty quiet, with no sign of winter thrushes and, surprisingly, very few finches or buntings. Little Grebes were still at Phillup's Lake and, on my return down the Icknield Way, a tractor put up a (returning for the winter?) flock of 120 Golden Plovers. A single Red Admiral butterfly was seen, although the daytime temperature never rose above 12C.

Some of the flock of 120 Golden Plovers, seen off the Icknield Way between Royston and Therfield

Whilst the vast majority of Chiffchaffs seemed to have moved south by the end of the month, a handful remained locally, including one in the Green Walk Plantation, close to the house. I was trying to locate it on the 29th when I heard the (now familiar) "chip-chip, chip" call of a Common Crossbill and there it was, flying west over my head. This was the first Crossbill that I have ever seen on my Local Patch and probably deserves to be called my 'local bird of the year'. On the following day I went back to Scales Park, hoping for more Crossbills, but the woodland was very quiet. The vast majority of Scales Park woodland (which is mainly coniferous) is on private land, so the Crossbills may well still be around. On a sunny morning I saw both Brimstone and Peacock butterflies, presumably disturbed from hibernation.