Local Wildlife Sightings June 2023

 The settled weather continued into June, as did the cool, north-easterly wind and lots of cloud, although there was some warmer, sunnier weather over the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd. Things changed from around the 7th, when southerly winds brought in much warmer weather. A heatwave ensued, with temperatures locally reaching 30C. Fortunately, the very wet early spring meant that vegetation remained relatively lush, despite very dry conditions. After a five week drought, some rain finally arrived between the 18th and the 20th, but the heat returned afterwards although with more cloud and the occasional light shower. June is an exceptionally busy month for the general wildlife enthusiast, with invertebrates, mammals and flowers all vying with birds for attention. Consequently, I'll divide this month's blog up into three sections.

Birds

A few late migrants were still coming through the area in the first week, and I had the chance to see and photograph three Black Terns at Dernford Farm Reservoir on the 1st. I flushed a Grey Partridge whilst photographing butterflies on Church Hill on the 4th and was also temporarily distracted by a small bird with an unusual song (a sort of cross between that of a Lesser Whitethroat and a Redstart, but with the tonal range of a whitethroat). The bird turned out to indeed be a Common Whitethroat when I finally had a good view of it. It continued to sing loudly and often in bushes to the west of the Therfield Road for the rest of the month, but sadly it was (presumably) unable to find a partner. House Martins were back at Hatchpen Farm, nesting on the 'new-build' house, on the 13th. Grey Partridges were flushed on The Heath on two further occasions and seen and heard elsewhere. Corn Buntings were singing both at Hatchpen Farm and Greys Farm, although the latter remained a wheat desert. A Cuckoo called a couple of times from just off The Heath on the 19th: this was probably a male on its way back to Africa from further north. Five Coot (two juveniles) were on Phillup's Lake when I visited on the 20th, but the only other bird seen (or heard) there was a moulting male Mallard. Nearby, a Willow Warbler was singing at Reed End hamlet. For me, perhaps the best news was of regular sightings of Spotted Flycatchers on The Heath. Two were seen together in Fox Covert on the 15th, with one (apparently carrying food to a nest site) seen in the same area on the 19th. On the 22nd one, probably two birds were seen on the east side of the Therfield Road. All the birds were adults. I'll keep monitoring the area in the hope of seeing fledged young in the next few weeks.

Two Black Terns in Flight, Dernford Farm Reservoir, 1 June

Butterflies

Adonis and Common Blue numbers on Church Hill and its surrounds remained disappointingly low, although one or two pristine males of the latter species were seen on the 4th, when I also saw my first Meadow Browns of the year. Single Small Copper butterflies were seen in three different areas on the 1st. This is a species that I normally struggle to see locally: are their numbers now increasing, or have I just become better at finding them? Adonis Blues continued to do better at the eastern end of The Heath, where I saw at least a dozen (including two females) in quite a small area on the Old Rifle Range on the 5th. This situation continued throughout the month, with gradually declining numbers of Adonis and Common Blues, as well as Brown Argus butterflies, being seen at the east end of The Heath, but hardly any being seen on Church Hill. As the temperature climbed, insect activity increased. The first Large Skippers were seen on the 12th, with Marbled Whites (15th), Dark Green Fritillaries (19th) and Small Skippers (24th) following. There was a fascinating report of a single Small Blue being seen on the western side of The Heath on the 20th, in an area containing much Kidney Vetch (the food plant of the caterpillars). I have searched this area for Small Blues before (and did so again, after this report) but without success. Has this individual come from a nearby, undiscovered (by me) colony, has a colony always been here or has there been an unlicenced introduction? I have still never seen a Small Blue in the Royston area, although I know that they do occur here on private land. Common Blues showed well on the small wild flower meadow close to my house and I was lucky to see and photograph two beautiful, newly hatched 'blue' females during the month (below).

'Blue' Female Common Blue, Royston, 12 June

'Blue' Female Common Blue, Royston, 24 June

Towards the end of the month The Heath was dominated by three butterfly species - Marbled White, Meadow Brown and Small Heath (which are having a good year), with hundreds of each on the wing. Around 25 Dark Green Fritillaries were on the wing when I visited the eastern side of The Heath on the 22nd, but none were seen on Church Hill on the 23rd. These are fascinating butterflies to study, as the males chase just about anything that moves (including small birds) and spiral upwards to great heights in territorial disputes. However, because of their very active nature, they are virtually impossible to photograph! Finally, a word about two species having vastly different fortunes. Although they were not seen until the middle of May, Holly Blues seem to have been everywhere this month. I've never seen so many! One (or possibly more than one) individual has been seen in the garden throughout June (I write this on the 25th). Holly Blues exist in equilibrium with a species-specific parasitic wasp, which has clearly been doing badly recently! However, I am concerned about the Small Tortoiseshell, which has been doing badly locally for a number of years. This year I have only seen two individuals. Why is a species that was once ridiculously common doing so badly?

Dark Green Fritillary, Therfield Heath, 22 June

The Rest

I continued to look for moths, dragonflies and other insects in the Royston area, with a view to ultimately producing a photo book. Finding new insects is not too difficult, photographing them is harder and getting good photos with which to identify them is harder still. Many go (at least for now) unidentified, but one interesting example that was identified was a rather tatty looking moth that I photographed on the local wild flower meadow on the 12th. It was rather small and at first I assumed that it was a micro-moth. Later, I wondered whether it might be a very worn example of a Four-spotted Moth, a very rare species that Butterfly Conservation members had been asked to look out for. However, it was confirmed by an expert (Liz Goodyear) to be a Small Yellow Underwing - still a new species for me. Also photographed at the same time was a rather strange-looking, unidentified micro-moth (below). Bees, wasps, hoverflies, crane-flies and an assortment of other insects were photographed and will, at some time in the future, be identified!

Micro-moth (Unidentified), Royston, 12 June

A dusk walk up the Icknield Way on the longest day (21 June) failed to provide any surprises, but did yield a reasonable selection of mammals including Fallow Deer (seen in more than one place), Brown Hares, (unidentified) bats and a Red Fox (an unusual sighting in a heavily keepered area). There are many Badger setts in the area, but these mammals were keeping themselves to themselves on this occasion.

The first Bee Orchids were flowering on Church Hill in the first week of June, whilst White Helleborines were still flowering in Fox Covert in what has been a very late spring. By the middle of the month a few spikes of Fragrant Orchid appeared in the usual place, but there was no sign of Common Spotted or Pyramidal orchids. The former seems to be declining on The Heath, whilst the latter is later-flowering. Later in the month I found more Bee Orchids in places where I didn't know that they existed, in Fox Covert and elsewhere. Wild Candytuft was doing well on Church Hill and Common Thyme, which is found all over The Heath, was thriving in areas of short grass which sheep had been grazing on through the winter months.

Bee Orchid, Church Hill, 8 June