Local Wildlife Sightings June 2022

 Birds

I go searching for owls at a few locations during June, when breeding activity reaches a crescendo. On a cool, damp but still evening on the 5th I wandered up the Hertfordshire Way towards Hatchpen Farm. In a patch of woodland that separates Royston farmland from the Newsells Stud Farm a juvenile tawny owl was calling and, as I approached, one of its parents flew a short distance away. Further on a little owl was seen, close to a regular nesting site (on private land). There was no sign of the little owl when I returned a few minutes later, but the juvenile tawny owl was calling, having moved to the other side of the path, and once again I saw an adult owl fly away from the same area. Back in Royston a tawny owl was hooting from the Royston Hospital area. This was no surprise, as I've heard it hooting practically every night since early spring. I guess that this is a young male, trying to establish a territory. However, it has clearly failed to attract any female owls so far! 

Newly-fledged goldfinches were noticed on my bird feeders on the 2nd, although adults were by far the most common visitors. The local blue tits were noted in the garden on the 4th, feeding young with bits of suet. Whilst I was out photographing invertebrates (see below) on the 8th I heard a quail singing ("wet my lips, wet my lips") in a field about a mile from the house. The Royston area is regarded by many as the best in the country for quail - I hear them most years in the general area between Royston and Wallington - and both my UK sightings have been nearby. I flushed a grey partridge on Church Hill on the 15th. On the same day, the family of five Canada geese was still on Phillup's Lake, as were three tufted ducks (two males) and at least one little grebe (heard but not seen). A recently fledged kestrel was seen and heard calling near the hospital on the 20th and families of wrens and rooks were also seen in the area.

Invertebrates

The weather was more changeable in early June than it had been in May, but I was able to get out and about to 'blitz' the local area on the 2nd and the 8th. Highlights on the 2nd were my first sighting of a marbled white butterfly this year (also Hertfordshire's first sighting), a garden 'first' in the form of a (female) large red damselfly, and finding a pair of mating common blue butterflies, together with at least 30 burnet companion moths on the lovely little wildflower meadow situated a few hundred yards from my house. Common blue and brown argus butterflies were active at two other known sites and Adonis blues were still active at both ends of The Heath.

Male Adonis Blue Butterfly, Church Hill, 2 June

Mating Common Blue Butterflies, Royston, 2 June

Female Large Red Damselfly, My Garden, 2 June

I added large skipper and dark green fritillary to my year list when I visited The Heath (Old Rifle Range area) on the 8th. Common and Adonis blues and brown argus butterflies were active here, but when I visited Church Hill in the evening (after a heavy rain shower) the only butterflies I found were marbled whites and meadow browns. Other invertebrates found on the 8th included a very large (20+ mm), almost completely black bumble bee. I've seen this species, or something like it, in France and Spain. Research established that this was probably a ruderal bumble bee, a species that is slowly spreading in England, although still uncommon. Melanism is quite common in this species, but far less common in other species of large (but smaller!) bumble bees. An image of the bee is below.

Marbled White, Therfield Heath, 11 June

Ruderal (?) Bumble Bee, Therfield Heath, 8 June

Warm weather in mid-month saw the emergence of ringlet and small skipper butterflies and the first white-letter hairstreaks were seen on elms along the Icknield Way, south of The Heath, on the 21st. I had hoped to see chalkhill blue butterflies before I went on holiday the following day. Typically, they were reported on the 22nd and I didn't actually get to see one until July. What I did see on the 21st was a brassy longhorn moth, the earliest I have seen this species of micro-moth, which is closely associated with field scabious wild flowers.

Brassy Longhorn Moth, Royston, 21 June

I added gatekeeper butterfly to my year list during a brief visit to The Heath, following my return from holiday on the 30th.

Wild Flowers

June is the best month for seeing wild orchids, both locally and nationally. Whilst the white helleborines in Fox Covert had 'gone over' by the start of the month, I found three spikes of fragrant orchid and three spikes of bee orchid when I visited The Heath on the 8th. I caught the fragrant orchid spike at just the right time - image below. Later in the month, further spikes of fragrant and bee orchids were seen in the Church Hill area and small numbers of common spotted orchids were to be found at the usual sites, but no pyramidal orchids were seen by me on The Heath this year.

Fragrant Orchid, Therfield Heath, 8 June

Whilst pyramidal orchids may have been scarce this year on The Heath, I found a fabulous show when I visited Hillbrow in Letchworth on the 13th, looking for small blue butterflies (15-20 seen). Hundreds of pyramidal orchids were showing, together with a few common spotted orchids. However, the star of the show was a huge lizard orchid, the first I've seen in Hertfordshire (although, to be fair, I've never gone out looking for them). A close-up image of some of the distinctive flowers is shown below.

Lizard Orchid (Detail), Hillbrow, Letchworth, 13 June

UK Wildlife Sightings, June 2022

 When a bird that I haven't seen before in the UK turns up in the south-eastern quarter of England I start to take an interest in it. When it is a raptor, and a mega-rarity, I feel the urge to see it, if at all possible. Fortunately, the long-staying Eleonora's falcon at Worth Marsh (near Sandwich) in Kent stayed for over a week and, at the first opportunity, I drove down to Kent on the 1st. This falcon is larger than a hobby, but otherwise quite similar in its appearance and habits. I was lucky to visit on a day when it spent long periods in the air and was able to compare its behaviour to that of the local hobbies, which were often in the air at the same time. Although the Eleonora's falcon is not a slouch, its actions were slower and more deliberate than those of the dashing hobbies. This bird had a notched tail, which made it relatively easy to pick out, but the other differences could only be teased out by photographing the bird in flight and comparing it with a hobby in flight when its longer tail, yellowish breast 'wash' and darker wing coverts could be clearly seen. The Eleonora's falcon lacks the red 'trousers' of the hobby, but the facial markings of the birds were rather more similar than appears to be the case according to the field guides - see the composite image below. Whilst I was at Worth Marsh I was able to catch up with a female red-footed falcon nearby. Presumably this bird arrived at the same time as the Eleonora's falcon and it appears that they left together, a couple of days after my visit.

Eleonora's Falcon in Flight, Worth Marsh, Kent, 1 June

Comparison of Hobby (left) and Eleonora's Falcon (right) at Worth Marsh on 1 June. Note the longer tail, yellowish 'wash' on the Breast and dark Wing Coverts of the Eleonora's Falcon. The birds were photographed within a few minutes of each other.

On the 4th my partner and I visited Wells in North Norfolk, walking along the beach to Holkham and then back, inland of the pines. I was surprised to see a couple of juvenile crossbills on the beach alongside linnets - they flew away into the pines, vocalising with their characteristic "chip chip" calls. On the 9th I made my annual visit to Glapthorn Meadowss to view and photograph black hairstreak butterflies. I had intended to combine this with a trip to Fineshade Wood (Rockingham Forest) to get my first view of chequered skipper butterflies in the UK, at their recent introduction site. Normally, the first half of June is the best time to see this species in Scotland, where the only other UK colonies can be found. However, as I learnt to my cost, the flight season in England is very different and had finished by early June - something that I must remember if I want to see this species next year!

Black Hairstreak Butterfly, Glapthorn Meadows, 9 June

I had hoped to see the black-browed albatross when I made a photographic journey up to RSPB Bempton Cliffs in East Yorkshire on the 14th. However, as luck would have it, he was away on one of his fishing trips (in this case for nearly a week), so I had to content myself with photographing the 'regulars', in particular the gannets, during my stay.

Young Gannet Encroaching too close to a Nest Site, RSPB Bempton Cliffs, 14 June

Gannet Greeting, RSPB Bempton Cliffs, 14 June

Puffin, RSPB Bempton Cliffs, 14 June

In preparation for an RSPB trip that I was leading on the 19th I visited RSPB Strumpshaw Fen (Norfolk) on the 16th. Swallowtail butterflies were hard to find on both trips, although I did eventually see one in flight on the later date. A white admiral butterfly, seen in woodland on the reserve on the 19th, was my first of the year. A good selection of dragonflies was on the wing on both occasions, with scarce chasers and Norfolk (green-eyed) hawkers particularly prominent. All the expected reed bed birds were present, with the exception of bittern, which was neither seen nor heard.

Male Marsh Harrier, RSPB Strumpshaw Fen, 19 June

Male (above) and Female Scarce Chaser Dragonflies, RSPB Strumpshaw Fen, 19 June

A particularly gruelling season of RSPB field trips came to a conclusion on the 20th, when I led a walk around RSPB Lakenheath Fen. We recorded 60 species, with multiple sightings of marsh harrier, cuckoo and hobby, but for myself the most exciting moment was the sight of ten (or possibly eleven) common cranes in the air together just off the reserve.

Eight Common Cranes in Flight near RSPB Lakenheath Fen, 20 June

A day before our holiday (see below) I nipped up to Cottenham (north of Cambridge) to see the white stork that had taken up residence there. Wood sandpiper had also been reported from the site, but I was only able to find green sandpipers (seven in all) there.

White Stork, near Cottenham, 21 June

Scotland, 22-29 June

Dumfries and Galloway in South West Scotland is one of the most beautiful parts of Britain, with sandy beaches, rocky coasts, mountains and valleys - beauty in every direction that you look. My partner and I have been on holiday here in the past and on this occasion we were joined by my brother and sister-in-law for a couple of days. We were based in the village of Kippford. Our hotel had a wonderful view over the estuary, which harboured a good variety of water birds and waders, whilst I soon discovered that the woodland behind the hotel had common crossbills, ravens and tawny owls amongst many other species. On the first couple of nights we were serenaded by the sound of curlews and oystercatchers on the estuary. Unfortunately, there is one problem with SW Scotland - the weather! We were often subjected to gale force winds and driving rain for the remainder of the holiday and had to close our window due to the noise of the wind whistling through the rigging of the boats at the nearby sailing club. However, we did manage a full day out to the far west, where black guillemots were seen in Portpatrick Harbour (probably the best place in Britain to photograph this species) and a good variety of sea birds was seen on the Mull of Galloway. Rock pipits were nesting in a garden a couple of doors away from the hotel, apparently feeding their young on shrimps (see image)! They disappeared a couple of days before we left - hopefully the young had fledged successfully. I managed to see 80 species (including a common scoter, perhaps blown into the estuary by the wind) during the week - not bad, considering the poor weather and the fact that this was not a bird watching holiday (despite what my partner might have thought)!

Black Guillemot with Lunch, Portpatrick Harbour, 24 June

Rock Pipit with Food (Shrimps?), Kippford, 26 June

Instead of sorting myself out and doing all the things that you are supposed to do when you get back from holiday I decided to go to see the bee-eaters, which had taken up residence in Trimingham, south of Cromer, on the 30th. The weather deteriorated on the way and it was raining heavily on arrival. The car park attendant waived the £5 parking fee, saying that the birds hadn't been seen for a while and were unlikely to appear in the rain. However, for once my luck was in and four birds appeared after about 20 minutes during a brief respite from the rain, posing on (distant) telegraph wires and on bushes. I managed a few 'record shots' before leaving for what turned out to be an interminable journey home. If the birds nest successfully they could be present until August and I may go to see them again, hopefully in better weather!

Bee-eaters on Telegraph Wires, Trimingham, 30 June