Local Wildlife Sightings May 2022

It was a relief to find that the weather in May was much kinder to wildlife than it had been in the cold, wet spring of 2021. There was plenty of warm sunshine, but also enough rain to keep trees and plants growing vigorously. Although temperatures dipped towards the end of the month, this critical time for breeding and nesting will hopefully result in much greater breeding success (particularly for birds) than was seen in 2021. May is also the month when my attention switches over (though not completely) from birds and mammals to invertebrates, so I've divided this month's page into two sections. May is also the time of year when I spend a lot of my life out 'in the field', so my apologies for the less than regular updates.

Birds

After 'dipping' on wood sandpiper on two occasions (at Broom Gravel Pits in Bedfordshire and Amwell) I set off with some trepidation when I heard that a black tern was at Dernford Farm Reservoir, a short drive from Royston, on the 3rd. However, not only was the bird present when I arrived but it spent some time resting on a raft a few feet away from the edge of the lake, giving me my best ever views of this rather attractive 'marsh tern'. As an added bonus a couple of common sandpipers were present too. This reservoir has had more than its fair share of rarities in the last couple of years and is fast becoming one of my favourite local wildlife havens.

Black Tern, Dernford Farm Reservoir, 3 May

Black Tern (left) and Common Tern, Dernford Farm Reservoir, 3 May

Common Sandpipers in Flight, Dernford Farm Reservoir, 3 May

The female ring ouzel remained at the west end of Therfield Heath until at least the 3rd. Willow warblers were singing on territory for at least two weeks, both at Church Hill (where a bird sang throughout May) and near my home in Royston, suggesting possible breeding. A willow warbler, heard in Reed village on the 9th, had a peculiar 'willowchaff' song of the type that I discussed in this blog a year ago, but all the other birds in the area (more than I heard last year) had the normal, rather beautiful, 'descending cadence' structure to their songs. Several lesser whitethroats were on territory in the area. I didn't find any garden warblers on my walks around Royston this year but, as usual, there was one surprise visitor in the form of a sedge warbler, seen and heard behind Royston Hospital on the 17th. After their apparent complete breeding failure last year, I was very pleased to see a couple of spotted flycatchers back on territory near the Therfield Road on the 16th. Swifts were a little late to arrive in Royston, turning up around the 12th. As usual, house martins came back even later, with five being seen at Hatchpen Farm on the 18th. I was attracted at the same time by an unusual song, reminiscent of corn buntings and swifts, which turned out to belong to a male yellow wagtail! Although often seen and heard, I'm not sure that I've actually heard a yellow wagtail singing before. The resident pair of Canada geese on Phillup's Lake had three young in tow when I visited on the 9th. Also present were a mallard family (four chicks), a coot and a little grebe. A family party of long-tailed tits was seen in Fox Covert on the 17th and two more family groups of this species were seen on The Heath on the 24th, giving hope that this species will recover quickly after last year's poor breeding season. A family party of great tits and at least one recently-fledged song thrush were also seen here on the 24th.

Canada Goose with Young, Phillup's Lake (Reed End), 9 May

Male Yellow Wagtail, Hatchpen Farm, 18 May

By the month's end I had seen family parties of blue tits, great tits and robins close to home, a juvenile song thrush in the woods overlooking the sporting club and a family of coots (five young) at Phillup's Lake, my first evidence of this species breeding in the Royston area.

Invertebrates - Butterflies

Orange-tip, green-veined white, peacock, holly blue and comma butterflies were very active in warm weather coming in to May. I visited Church Hill on the 6th, hoping to see first generation Adonis blue butterflies on the wing. Although none were seen (they were first reported from here on the 8th) I did find a number of brown argus butterflies and one common blue (the first to be reported in Herts. this year). Male Adonis blues were on the wing when I returned on the 9th, with numbers increasing through the month to around 40 on the 23rd, when there was roughly a (1:1) ratio of males to females and a couple of variants were found. Small heath butterflies were seen in good numbers later in the month at both ends of The Heath, a new generation of red admirals was on the wing from the middle of May and brimstones were present in good numbers throughout. Adonis blues (eight males) were noted at the east end of The Heath on the 17th. A painted lady, seen close to my home on the 23rd, was likely to be the first of many, as there was a big influx from The Continent in the second half of May. A speckled wood (my first local sighting this year) was on the wing on The Heath on the 24th.

Male Adonis Blue, Church Hill, 9 May

Male Brown Argus, Church Hill, 6 May

Male Orange-tip, Fox Covert, 9 May

Invertebrates - the Rest

This year's wildlife project is to try to see, photograph and identify 200 different invertebrate species within a two mile radius of my house. I suspect that identification will be the most difficult part of the exercise, and I have already photographed a few species that I can't identify - including the insect (image below), which had the proportions of a crane fly but enormously long antennae. Does anybody recognise it? I've already seen a number of small bees, flies and spiders (including two species of crab spider and a tiny wasp spider), but there is much work to do to achieve my target. Dragonflies are surprisingly common around Royston, considering the lack of water in the area, and after seeing both azure and large red damselflies close to the house in early May I was lucky to see and photograph a beautiful broad-bodied chaser nearby on the 23rd. Scorpion flies seem to be particularly common this year - or maybe I just noticed more as I was looking for other species on leaves or other vegetation.

Broad-bodied Chaser Dragonfly, Royston, 23 May

Mystery Insect, Royston, 17 May

Miscellaneous

A half-eaten dead slow worm was found on The Heath on the 10th. I have seen quite a few dead slow worms over the years, but have never found a live specimen! I wasn't aware that they were present in the Royston area, common lizards being the only reptilian species that I knew about here. Of course, this reptile may have been deposited from elsewhere....