Local Wildlife Sightings September 2023

 Apologies once again for the sporadic nature of my updates. This is due to a combination of a particularly busy period and the fact that I use my own edited images, and image editing, labelling and indexing sometimes lags weeks behind the current date. Things should become somewhat easier (and the blogs shorter) as we leave the invertebrate-filled summer behind.

Having abandoned July and August, summer finally returned with a bang from the beginning of September, as we entered a ten day heatwave. The highest temperature of the year in the UK came on the 7th, a particularly unusual statistic. My walks in the local area became more sporadic and less interesting, as most insect life declined. On The Heath, few butterflies remained by the end of the first week, but some (mainly female) Adonis Blues were still present on the Old Rifle Range. A Painted Lady was seen near Royston Hospital on the 5th and one or two pristine Comma butterflies suggested a small second generation. The expected passage of song birds never really took off during the heatwave - presumably the fine, dry weather encouraged them to fly straight through. My 2023 'bogey bird' became the Whinchat, as visits to sites (some local) where they had been reported failed to produce any, although I did find a couple of Stonechats on my travels. House Martins (up to 20) were seen feeding over the local fields on a few occasions and three were seen at dusk, feeding over Royston town centre on the 7th.

During late August and early September I made three visits to Clothall Common, near Baldock. A colony of Chalkhill Blue butterflies has been established for a few years in an area close to the A505 bypass, and good numbers of both males and females were seen on each visit. Small Blue butterflies and, from 2022, Adonis Blue butterflies have also been seen there but I could not get good evidence for either species being present on my visits. I did take some photos of the under-wings of (presumably) female Chalkhill Blues there and will, when time permits, compare them with those of female Adonis Blues, as part of a project to look for differences between the very similar females of the two species.

Migrant Hawker Dragonfly, Reed End, 13 September

The summery weather held on during the second week of September, with plenty of sunshine and temperatures in the low to mid-20s. There was a noticeable passage of Meadow Pipits, with many birds either being seen in flight or heard in the fields surrounding Royston. On a walk in the Church Hill area on the 9th I came across an astonishing number of female Wasp Spiders, around 20 in all, including eleven having formed their webs across a short (around 100M) section of a rough path. I also recorded at least six Adonis Blues here, including two males - easily the highest total of the year in this location! Another walk around the villages on the 13th produced another Marsh Harrier sighting, possibly of the same bird, in fields to the south of the Hospital. Summer visitors appeared to have largely departed, with just Chiffchaffs and one or two Blackcaps hanging on. I came back to photograph the Wasp spiders on Church Hill on the 14th (a couple of images below) but could only find four. However, on my way there I found a migrating Wheatear on the golf course, my first local sighting of the year!

Female Wasp Spider, Church Hill, 14 September

Female Wasp Spider about to catch and eat a Fly, Church Hill, 14 September

Ivy bees appeared in the middle of the month and, for a while, were present in their thousands on The Heath and wherever Ivy bushes were in flower. However, the weather changed dramatically from the 17th, with thunderstorms followed by strong winds and heavy rain. I didn't get out much during the following week, but I did notice a strong passage of hirundines (Swallows and House Martins), with the swallows flying purposefully south, whilst the House Martins took their time, feeding over the fields to the south of Royston. A short visit to Church Hill on the 20th failed to produce any Wasp spiders. Small numbers of Large White, Small White, Meadow Brown, Small Heath and Red Admiral butterflies were seen and a single male Adonis Blue was fluttering about at the bottom of the hill. I suspect that I will have little more to say about butterflies this year.

Ivy Bee, Royston, 15 September

Due to the poor weather and a holiday from the 23rd (see 'UK sightings'), the only other September sightings of note were on the 22nd, when a party of six Ravens (a record count for me) flew over Royston Hospital, heading north, and another fresh Comma butterfly was seen on the same day.

Comma Butterfly, Royston, 22 September

UK Wildlife Sightings, September 2023

 When it comes to looking for wild birds, I'm a real sucker for punishment. On the 6th I decided to return to RSPB Titchwell Marsh, where the American Golden Plover that I had missed on 25 August had been seen on every subsequent day. Of course, the bird didn't appear. A report was put out later, saying that the bird had been seen from the Parrinder Hide at a time when I was there, but this must have been erroneous. In the midst of a heatwave, Titchwell was misty throughout my visit. The best bird seen was a Wood Sandpiper, whilst a few Spoonbills (83 seen here on the 5th) were still on the Freshmarsh. Other interesting sightings included Slender Groundhopper (my first), Wasp Spiders and a family of Wood Mice.

Spoonbill in Flight, RSPB Titchwell Marsh, 6 September

Juvenile and Adult Common Terns, Titchwell Beach, 6 September

On the 7th I visited RSPB Lakenheath Fen on a Royal Photographic Society Nature Group outing, organised by Ann Miles. The extremely hot weather (the hottest day of the year so far) precluded any serious walking, although I did eventually manage to go right around the reserve. This was, of course, a photographic trip, with an emphasis on invertebrates (mainly dragonflies, damselflies and spiders), although we did see Hobby and lots of Great White Egrets. The participants had found a shady area close to the car park where, at around 10.00am, darter dragonflies and Willow Emerald damselflies were warming up and allowed a close approach for photographs against a dark (and therefore uncluttered) background - see below for examples. This type of image appeals to me, although many photographers would prefer a paler background. Later in the day, spiders became the main focus of interest. Some members saw a female spider kill the much smaller male as he attempted to mate with her: this is far from unknown in the 'spider kingdom'!

Common Darter, RSPB Lakenheath Fen, 7 September

Willow Emerald Damselfly, RSPB Lakenheath Fen, 7 September

Great White Egret in Flight, RSPB Lakenheath Fen, 7 September

A pair of vagrant American waders (neither being an American Golden Plover!) starred on my bird watching trips over the next couple of weeks. News of a Buff-breasted Sandpiper at RSPB Minsmere prompted an excursion there on the 14th. The bird was found, after some searching, and viewed from the south hide. This was the first Buff-breasted Sandpiper recorded at Minsmere since 1961 (!) and my first since 2011. Stonechats and a male Kingfisher also showed well during my visit. The sandpiper was not seen again after the 14th. Pectoral Sandpiper is the commonest American vagrant wader to reach our shores and, despite a dire weather forecast, I decided to 'twitch' a bird at Stanwick Country Park in Northamptonshire, an hour's drive away, on the 20th. Never having been there before (my excuse), it took me over an hour to find the right part of the right lake where the bird had been seen, by which time the wind was driving heavy rain straight into my face. Nevertheless I was lucky to see the bird, accompanied by a Common Sandpiper, on a narrow spit of land. The key identification features were confirmed through my telescope (absolutely necessary) before it scuttled out of view.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper, RSPB Minsmere, 14 September

Buff-breasted Sandpiper in Flight, RSPB Minsmere, 14 September

Male Kingfisher, RSPB Minsmere, 14 September

I drove my partner down to Whitstable (Kent) on the 16th, in order for her to join an RPS walk there. Given free time, I decided to walk along the coastal path from Tankerton towards Herne Bay and came upon a high tide roost of waders (Ringed Plover, Turnstone and a single Dunlin). I took a few photos of the birds (below).

Ringed Plover, Tankerton, 16 September

Turnstone, Tankerton, 16 September

The first RSPB Local Group coach trip of the 2023-24 season took us to Cley NWT on the 17th. Most of our party wanted to see the long-staying Long-billed Dowitcher (another American vagrant wader) and the bird duly obliged, spending much of its time commuting between Pat's Pool and Simmonds' Scrape. A strong south-easterly wind offered a frisson of excitement to sea watching, but I was unable to come up with anything more than a handful of juvenile Gannets (no adults) and lots of Razorbills, Guillemots and terns.

Long-billed Dowitcher (distant bird) and Black-tailed Godwit, Cley NWT, 17 September

The theme of American waders continued, as I visited RSPB Frampton Marsh again on the 21st to see a recently arrived Lesser Yellowlegs (the second commonest US wader to reach our shores after Pectoral Sandpiper). The bird showed well from the East Hide, allowing me to get some photos.

Lesser Yellowlegs, RSPB Frampton Marsh, 21 September

Lesser Yellowlegs (left) and Juvenile Ruff, RSPB Frampton Marsh, 21 September

Cornwall, 23-30 September

Together with my partner and her brother (over from Australia) I spent the last week of September at Falmouth, on the south-west Cornwall coast. I had booked to go on a pelagic boat trip out from Falmouth harbour on the Sunday (24th) some time ago, and it seemed sensible to arrange a holiday around this event. Sadly and very disappointingly, the trip was cancelled a few days before we left due to predicted bad weather ('Storm Agnes'), so I missed the opportunity to add seabirds such as Great and Cory's Shearwaters, as well as (potentially) a variety of whales, dolphins and possibly Sunfish, to my UK lists. However, I did at least get the opportunity to 'twitch' the Hoopoe and juvenile Woodchat Shrike that were in adjacent fields at Marazion on what was an unpleasant and very windy day on the 24th. I also put in an hour sea watching at Porthgwarra later in the week when another storm ('Storm Nigel') was passing by, but was only able to identify a single Sooty Shearwater that passed close inshore, whilst further out to sea Gannets could be seen through my binoculars, soaring over the rough seas, whilst any accompanying shearwaters could not be seen clearly enough to identify, even when a few images that I took were blown up (see below). I doubt whether a telescope, if it had been available, would have helped.

Poor 'Record Shot' of the Hoopoe, Marazion, 24 September

Gannets (and other seabirds??) over a Stormy Sea, Porthgwarra, 27 September

During the course of the week I did see Cornish Choughs on three consecutive days, with the best sightings being near Lizard Point. Of course, this was not a bird watching holiday - we did do lots of other things!

Chough in Flight, near Lizard Point, 26 September

Cornish Chough, near Lizard Point, 26 September

Dipper near Newlyn Harbour, 27 September