Local Wildlife Sightings October 2021

 My final Adonis blue sighting of the summer was of a very tatty male on Church Hill, on the first. Coming back from a week away I wasn't expecting to spend much more time photographing invertebrates, but unusually warm weather with occasional sunshine brought out quite a few insects including what, for me, was a new local species - a dock bug. I discovered that, by looking carefully at the yellowing leaves of (particularly) maples and sycamores, large numbers of green shield bugs, harlequin ladybirds and hoverflies (mainly eristalis species) were revealed, whilst ivy bees were still very active around the many late-flowering ivy bushes.

Dock Bug, Church Hill, 10 October

Harlequin Ladybirds, Royston, 15 October

I went on a bird watching walk around the local villages on the 11th. A tawny owl called from one of the trees along the Icknield Way between Therfield Heath and Therfield, but it remained well-hidden when I looked for it. Further up the Icknield Way a flock of about 90 golden plovers swirled around over my head. Perhaps these were some returning birds that wintered here in 2020-21, with a few lingering until well into April. A mixed flock of gulls at Hatchpen Farm (Reed) caused me the usual identification problems. Three or four 'herring-type' gulls of various ages defied identification at distance - one bird standing erect had the posture of a Caspian gull, but the same gull in flight didn't show the pattern of white on the black primary feathers that I would have expected (images below). The bird was moulting flight feathers, making identification even more tricky, and so remains (as usual) unidentified.

Herring-type Gull, Reed, 11 October

The same Herring-type Gull in Flight, Reed, 11 October

Despite continuing warm weather in the second half of October, insect activity declined to the point where I finally decided to put away my macro lens for the winter. A few bugs were still to be seen on yellowing leaves, some large hoverflies (mainly Eristalis tenax) were still active, as were common wasps and the odd bumble bee. The insects were only active in sunny weather, however, and there wasn't a great deal of that around.

Dock (??) Bug Nymph, Therfield Heath, 20 October

Green Shield Bug Nymph, Therfield Heath, 20 October

There continued to be much tawny owl hooting on warm nights up to the 20th. I suspect that a young male was trying to establish a territory, much to the displeasure of the resident males. Normally there is an obvious passage of redwings overhead in late October, but I failed to record any in the month, although they were recorded by others. Flocks of around 250 starlings, seen at Reed on the 22nd and at Thrift Farm (Therfield) on the 27th, may have included birds recently arrived from Europe. However, a lone siskin, seen flying across The Heath, was my only obvious record of a passage bird. There was a remarkable record (T Wilson) of nine (!) great white egrets flying over Royston on the 24th. Hopefully local bird activity will pick up in November, when I will have more time to get out and about.

UK Wildlife Sightings October 2021

 I was on holiday with my partner Helen in Cornwall from the 2nd to the 9th. Of course, I took the opportunity to look for choughs. None were seen when we did a 'there and back' walk from Lizard Point to Kynance Cove, but we did have four sightings of pairs of chough on a section of a long walk that took us past Pendeen Watch to Botallack, through an old tin mining area. This now seems to be the 'go to' area for seeing choughs in Cornwall. I was lucky to be doing the walk on a day when the strong wind was coming from the north west - ideal conditions for sea watching on the north Cornish coast. Hundreds of gannets were streaming by, as were thousands of auks (guillemots and razorbills). On a day when 63 Balearic shearwaters were reported in six hours from Pendeen Watch, I was allowed about 25 minutes to look out to sea and was lucky to see not a Balearic, but a sooty shearwater close in.

Choughs near Pendeen, 5 October

On the final day we went to the Scilly Isles on 'The Scillonian'. I was hoping to add to my year list wjth some choice sea birds on the crossings, but only managed a single kittiwake, a great skua and a couple of Manx shearwaters. Balearic shearwaters and Sabines gulls were reported from the crossings online, but those of us at the rear of the vessel (including far more experienced bird watchers than me) saw neither of these species. We had an enjoyable four hours walking on St Marys island, but failed to see any rarities here, despite it being the 'Scilly season'. What I did see were lots of speckled wood butterflies and a hummingbird hawk-moth. On the mainland I was lucky to see a digger wasp (possibly field digger wasp) predating and carrying away a fly, whilst we were walking round Trengwainton Gardens.

(Field?) Digger Wasp with Prey, Trengwainton Gardens, Cornwall, 6 October

Rock Pipit, Newlyn, Cornwall, 6 October

The discovery of another 'mega' rarity, a long-toed stint, prompted me to make the long journey to St Aidans RSPB reserve, near Leeds, on the 13th. This tiny 'peep' showed well, albeit distantly, for most of my 90 minute stay, occasionally flying off alongside a small group of dunlin with which it was associating, alongside a much larger group of lapwings, when apparent danger appeared. However, the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, meaning that for most of the time the bird had its back to me as we all faced into the wind. The image below is the best that I could manage, a 'record shot' with the stint shown in profile. Alongside white-tailed lapwing and western sandpiper, this was the third wader 'lifer' for me this year. On the way back south I stopped off at RSPB Old Moor reserve, where a juvenile male peregrine flew around in front of the Bittern Hide for a couple of minutes, being pursued by corvids and gulls.

'Record Shot' of the Adult Long-toed Stint (left hand small Wader) alongside Dunlin and Lapwings, RSPB St. Aidans, 13 October

Despite the noticeable lack of rare passage migrants (particularly passerines) coming down the east coast in October (the prevailing wind was coming from the west throughout the month) I did visit the Norfolk coast on three occasions during the second half of the month. On the 19th I spent an afternoon at RSPB Titchwell, seeing my main target (a juvenile grey phalarope) and also flushing a woodcock from the dunes, although I missed the snow bunting that had been seen towards Thornham Point. A very rare 'free' weekend (partner at a wedding) saw me visiting Sheringham on the 23rd. The sea watching shelter was closed off and, despite the warm (but windy) weather I only stuck it out sea watching for around 45 minutes, seeing just a long stream of gannets, guillemots and razorbills, a few common scoters and a red-throated diver. A tame purple sandpiper on the promenade allowed me to take a few photos, before I drove to Wells and went on a long walk round the harbour and along the beach to Holkham Gap. I returned inland by the pines. As expected, passerine activity was very limited. Two red-throated divers were fishing in Wells Harbour. Several guillemots and razorbills were seen in the harbour and close to the shore, as well as at Sheringham. These were likely sick birds - worryingly, thousands of dead and emaciated auks have been found along North Sea coasts this year. The reason(s) for this seabird crisis are, as yet, unclear.

Juvenile Grey Phalarope, RSPB Titchwell, 19 October

Purple Sandpiper Standing to Attention, Sheringham, 23 October

Red-throated Diver A, Wells Harbour, 23 October

Red-throated Diver B, Wells Harbour, 23 October

I failed for the second time to find the American Wigeon when I visited Barleycroft Lake (Bluntisham) on the 21st. It was later reported nearby on the same day at one of the Needingworth Quarry Lakes, but was not subsequently seen in the area. Three red-crested pochards (my first sighting of the year!) provided some consolation. I took time out from a visit to London on the 26th to walk round Regents Park. London's parks provide good opportunities for photographing common birds, which are used to seeing people and are relatively fearless. On this occasion I managed to get a few decent photos of both little and great crested grebes, using the reflections of nearby trees in the water to get some (for me) interesting effects.

Little Grebe, Regents Park, London 26 October

My final visit of the month to the Norfolk coast saw me visiting Cley NWT on the 28th. Frustratingly, the snow buntings that had been present for several days near the East Bank had disappeared. I still needed this species for my year list, having missed out due to lockdown earlier in the year. However, after three hours of fruitless searching I was lucky to meet a couple who had earlier been to Titchwell and informed me that up to four snow buntings were showing well in beach dunes near the main path to the sea. I decided to go to Titchwell and, after a tortuous drive in bank holiday traffic, managed to get down to the beach in time to catch up with the buntings and observe one bird lose its footing and slide down the side of one of the dunes - an amusing and unusual sight, which reminded me of some of my own, painful experiences on steep slopes.

Snow Bunting, RSPB Titchwell, 28 October