October proved to be an exceptionally warm month, but also an extremely wet one. Temperatures reached 20C on a few occasions throughout the month, but torrential rain on the 20th produced 54mm, making this day wetter than any single preceding month this year! All told, 112mm fell in the month, according to my rain gauge. However, invertebrate numbers dropped away after the first few days and the emphasis for the rest of the month was on bird watching. Butterflies on the wing in the first week included common blue (several sightings), small copper, peacock, red admiral, brimstone, speckled wood, and small and large whites. A visit to the Old Rifle Range on the 3rd produced more than one female Adonis blue, including a specimen that was in surprisingly good condition (image). A late holly blue was seen close to my house on a glorious, sunny day on the 18th. Ivy bees were still active until near the end of the month, as were field crickets and hairy shield bugs. A hornet was seen in Therfield on the 6th, when I did my long walk around the villages.
Hairy Shield Bug, Royston, 3 October
Female Adonis Blue, Therfield Heath (Old Rifle Range), 3 October
Golden Plovers in Flight at Dusk, Therfield, 17 October
A redwing was heard passing over the house on the 3rd, but arrivals from the east were few and far between in the first half of the month, perhaps being held up by westerly winds and unseasonably warm weather. A flock of up to 200 golden plovers was seen in flight from the Icknield Way on the 3rd and the 17th and on the ground on the 6th. Lapwings were seen early in the month, but later disappeared. Further afield, merlin and marsh harriers were sighted by others from along the Wallington to Baldock road. I visited on a couple of occasions, failing to see these raptors but noting up to four stonechats and two reed buntings at the edge of a field of quinoa, where a Dartford warbler had been seen and photographed by one lucky person earlier in the month. This field proved to be quite a draw, with many skylarks and meadow pipits using it as well. News of a jack snipe (the first for five years) at the attractive little Lemsford Springs reserve, near Welwyn Garden City, on the 10th gave me an excuse for a return visit on the 11th. When I arrived in mid-afternoon the bird hadn't been seen all day. However, I hung around and fortunately it re-appeared just as I was about to leave. I managed to get some photos of the bird, in the company of a common snipe, but they are poor and not worthy of publication. Up to eight green sandpipers were on the reserve, along with at least three little egrets, a water rail, three snipe and a pair of grey wagtails (image).
Grey Wagtail, Lemsford Springs, 11 October
Chiffchaff numbers dropped away during the month, although individuals were heard locally on the 27th and 31st. There was a noticeable increase in numbers of goldcrests towards the month's end, presumably part of a large influx into the country from Continental Europe during the middle of the month. Despite a corresponding massive influx of redwings into the country, only a few individuals were seen locally, and no fieldfares were recorded by me during October. Gull numbers grew, particularly following the heavy rain later in the month, and a yellow-legged gull was seen at Greys Farm on the 24th. At least two stonechats were seen on The Heath on the 25th (just east of the Therfield Road). Unfortunately, they were in the middle of the golf course, making photography difficult, although I managed a few 'record shots'. These birds appeared to have moved on by the month's end.
Stonechat, Therfield Heath, 25 October
Butterfly activity continued until the end of the month although, apart from the odd 'white', only potential hibernators (small tortoiseshell, red admiral, brimstone and peacock) were seen. A few bumble bees and common hoverflies were still active to the end of the month and a very late hummingbird hawkmoth was seen taking nectar from a neighbour's garden flowers on the 27th.
Hummingbird Hawkmoth, Royston, 27 October
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