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.