Local Wildlife Sightings July 2022

 Invertebrates

I had to wait until the 2nd to see my first chalkhill blues on The Heath. By the 4th they had increased in number to perhaps 30-40 (all males seen) in the Old Rifle Range area, but surprisingly few were seen on Church Hill where marbled white, despite a big decrease in numbers, was still the dominant species. Once again, a very large colony of Essex skippers was located along a field margin on the Hertfordshire Way, south of Royston, with an estimated 100-150 individuals on the wing early in the month. Very few small skippers were seen in this area, although they were common elsewhere. Ringlet butterflies, which have a short flight season, peaked in the first week of the month. The commonest moths appeared to be 'grass veneer' moths, which were present in huge numbers at the bottom of Church Hill. Around 20 brassy longhorn moths were seen on and around field scabious plants, near the hospital, on the 4th. Some interesting hoverflies were seen on The Heath.

Small Skipper, Therfield Heath, 1 July

Male Chalkhill Blue, Therfield Heath, 2 July

I ventured to Scales Park (a large, privately owned area of mixed woodland near Anstey and Meesden, with a public bridleway running through the woods) on the 5th. I have seen purple emperor here, but had no luck on this occasion. However, a couple of male silver-washed fritillaries were seen including a relatively confiding specimen, which allowed me to take some photographs.

Male Silver-washed Fritillary, Scales Park, 5 July

Covid-19 finally caught up with me early in the month and forced me into isolation for a few days, although I did venture out on my own once or twice, looking for and photographing invertebrates in the fields around my house. On my return to The Heath, male and female silver-washed fritillaries (12th) and an unexpected clouded yellow (23rd) took my 'local patch' butterfly list up to 29, with only small blue (colony apparently on a private site to the east of Royston) missing. Chalkhill blue numbers rapidly increased on The Heath to an estimated 2,000+ as the 'heatwave' temperature continued to rise to a record-breaking 39C on the 19th. As temperatures cooled somewhat from the 20th numbers of second generation brown argus, holly blue and common blue started to increase. A second generation small copper on the Old Rifle Range was an unusual sighting on the 23rd. However, my most surprising sighting of the month was of a white-letter hairstreak in the back garden on the very hot afternoon of the 18th. Presumably this had come from one of the Elm trees in Green Walk Plantation (at the bottom of my road) - needless to say, this was a garden 'first' on a 'white-letter day'!

Mating Chalkhill Blue Butterflies, Therfield Heath, 18 July

Clouded Yellow, Therfield Heath, 23 July

White-letter Hairstreak in my Royston Garden, 18 July

The middle of the month saw the emergence of big numbers of six-spotted burnet moths in the area. Another long overdue local 'first' for me on the 18th was a Jersey tiger moth, seen a few hundred yards from my house. This species is spreading rapidly northwards and has been present in the Royston area for 2-3 years now. My next challenge will be to photograph this moth! On the 19th (yes, the hottest day on record) I visited Hertford Heath and Balls Wood, looking for dragonflies and purple emperor butterflies. I saw my first southern migrant hawker dragonfly (a recent 'Climate Change' import from southern Europe). Some excellent photographs of this individual have been taken, but mine were, unfortunately, not worth keeping. However, I did manage to photograph a scarce emerald damselfly (image below). The most unusual sighting was that of over 100 (I kid you not) purple hairstreak butterflies at ground level, both on the mud that was all that was left of the water in the dragonfly pools and in vegetation throughout Balls Wood. Perhaps the sun had become too hot for them to stay in the oak trees where they normally hide? Certainly, very few other butterflies were on the wing in temperatures that were rising towards 100F.

Scarce Emerald Damselfly, Hertford Heath, 19 July

Purple Hairstreak, Balls Wood (Hertford Heath), 19 July

Other Wildlife

A lesser whitethroat was amongst a number of warblers heard singing on The Heath on the 2nd and the 4th. This may indicate that they will attempt to raise a second brood. Sadly, there was no sign of any spotted flycatchers in the woods across The Heath, although I have yet to do a comprehensive search. Two ravens were seen when I visited Scales Park on the 5th (see above). I've recorded ravens here on a number of occasions - I assume that they nest in the woods. On the 16th I was doing a quick 'recce' for butterflies on the Old Rifle Range, in preparation for leading a Herts. and Middlesex Butterfly Conservation walk, when I heard once familiar purring coming from trees on the hillside to the west of the valley - a turtle dove! It is six years since I've recorded a turtle dove on my local patch. The bird continued to sing intermittently for 45 minutes and appeared on a couple of occasions, flying between bushes. I guess that this bird was a 'wanderer', although it is possible that it may have bred, unseen and unheard, locally. The bird was seen in the same area on the following day and there was another report later in the week, although I failed to record it on two further visits. The coot family (five young) was seen at Phillups Lake on the 6th and the 20th. The Canada goose family (three young) was also seen here on the former date and I was pleased to see a juvenile little grebe, together with its parents, here on the latter date. My annual swift survey, counting birds seen as I walked on the evening of the 22nd from my house on the southern edge of Royston to Tesco in the north, gave an approximate count of 85 birds, very similar to last year's total. It is, of course, impossible to get an accurate count of birds that are wheeling about rapidly, close to their nesting sites. Comparing with last year I guess that there were (sadly) fewer breeding sites available this year but that breeding success (in better weather) has been higher for this still declining species.

After a week away I walked up to Hatchpen Farm on the 31st, recording 14 corn buntings, three house martins and a swift there. A large flock of black-headed and lesser black-backed gulls was in a field on the Newsells Stud Farm estate, following light overnight rain. In the driest July on record (6mm of rain in Royston) I then got soaked by a shower as I walked home!

UK Wildlife Sightings July 2022

 I visited Wilstone Reservoir and the nearby Grand Union canal on the 4th. There was no sign of the golden oriole that had been recorded at the reservoir the previous afternoon but I had, as usual, good views of the uncommon white-legged damselflies that live along a stretch of the canal near Wilstone village. Black-tailed skimmers, an emperor dragonfly, banded demoiselles and a variety of (mainly blue-tailed) damselflies were also seen along the canal.

Mating Blue-tailed Damselflies, near Wilstone, 4 July

Male White-legged Damselfly, near Wilstone, 4 July

A positive Covid-19 test the following day resulted in a week of isolation. Fortunately, my symptoms were mild but it was frustrating to have to have to stay at home for a week. I was back on the road again on the 11th, spending a couple of hours on a hot, sunny day at the Swanton Novers (Norfolk) watchpoint, waiting for a sighting of one of the summering (and, presumably, nesting) honey buzzards which never came. I moved on to Kelling Heath, where frustrations grew as I searched for silver-studded blue butterflies. Surely their season couldn't be over already? It appeared that this was, indeed, the case, but I did manage to find and photograph a single female on a part of the heath that I don't normally visit. Finally, I made my way to RSPB Titchwell Marsh, where I had an enjoyable time photographing sanderlings in their breeding finery, running along the beach. July is the only month when adults of my favourite bird species can be seen in full summer plumage in the UK, as they start to return from their nesting sites further north.

Female Silver-studded Blue, Kelling Heath, 11 July

Running Sanderling, RSPB Titchwell Marsh, 11 July

The appearance of a family of six black-winged stilts at WWT Welney on the 14th encouraged me to visit. I guess that the birds had nested nearby but news had, understandably, been suppressed. I was lucky to see the birds because they had disappeared by the following day. These gangly waders are quite cute!

Adult Black-winged Stilt in Flight, WWT Welney, 14 July

Juvenile Black-winged Stilt, WWT Welney, 14 July

With the hot weather continuing, I took the opportunity to visit Thursley Common (Surrey) again, this time looking for dragonflies. The Moat Pond, adjacent to the car park, is an excellent spot to see two rare dragonflies, downy emerald and brilliant emerald. However, these are extremely difficult to photograph as they fly low along shady edges of the pond and then rest in the conifers that fringe the pond. Both species are on the wing in July. On this occasion I probably saw both species in flight and I also managed to photograph one individual, resting above my head in a conifer. Close examination of the images (one shown below) suggests that this was a downy emerald based, amongst other things, on the very hairy thorax (not visible on this image). Other 'regular' Thursley dragonflies seen included small red damselfly, keeled skimmer and black darter.

Male Downy (?) Emerald Dragonfly, Thursley Common, 15 July

Male Black Darter, Thursley Common, 15 July

I went back to Titchwell on the 22nd. An elusive wood sandpiper was eventually found on the freshmarsh and I took the opportunity to photograph avocets here, as well as sanderlings on the beach on a rather overcast day. This was my last field trip of the month, as I was abroad (for the first time in nearly three years), enjoying more hot weather in the South of France with my partner. Since this is a 'UK Sightings' blog I won't go into detail about what we saw there. However, the towns of Nimes and Arles were notable only for their lack of bird species variety (feral pigeons and more feral pigeons...), whilst the Pont de Gard held nesting crag martins - Alpine and common swifts were also seen here. The dominant butterfly species was the (not so) scarce swallowtail and the dominant dragonfly species was black-tailed skimmer. One other notable sighting was of a juvenile black redstart, hawking insects from the tables and chairs of a cafe where we were having our evening meal! I may add a couple of images if I ever get round to editing them!