Winter continued into April, with more wind and rain and very variable temperatures. Over 30mm of rain fell in the first four days, although thankfully most of it came in the nights and early mornings. The latest and worst of many viruses that had hit me through the winter months left me both fatigued and out of breath during the first week of April (I averaged 10 hours per day in bed during this period). I should have stayed at home, but I managed to get out to do some wildlife watching during this time.
On a return visit to Coopers Green gravel pits on the 1st I again met up with local expert Rupert Evershed, who was very helpful in pointing out birds that I might otherwise have missed. I saw my first Hertfordshire Swallows of the year here, as well as White Wagtail (the Continental version of our Pied Wagtail) and three Little Ringed Plovers. A pair of plovers showed signs of preparing to mate and I managed to capture the process (before, during and after) with stills, whilst Rupert videoed the copulation. Interestingly, it was the male that initiated the process (Image 1, below), whereas in other species I have always seen the female doing the initiation (either that, or their copulation comes straight out of the Kama Sutra....).
Image 1: Little Ringed Plovers Preparing to Mate (Male, with the thicker dark Band between the Eyes, at the rear), Coopers Green Gravel Pits, 1 April
Image 2: Little Ringed Plovers Mating (Male on top)
Image 3: Little Ringed Plovers after Mating, Male on the right.
Male Swallows on Telegraph Wire, Coopers Green Gravel Pits, 1 April
White Wagtail, Coopers Green Gravel Pits, 1 April
A short spell of warm weather from the 5th saw many butterflies and other insects taking to the wing. Over-wintering species seen during this period were Brimstone, Peacock, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell And Speckled Wood. A couple of newly hatched (Small or Green-veined) Whites were also seen on the wing, but didn't settle in places where they could be identified. The Pasque Flowers put on a great display on Church Hill, no doubt helped by the regular rainfall (and occasional sun).
Peacock Butterfly, Jubilee Wood, 5 April
Speckled Wood, Jubilee Wood, 5 April
Hundreds (Thousands?) of Pasque Flowers on Church Hill, 5 April
Sadly, most of my local walks serve only to allow me to retain a thin veneer of fitness - no wildlife of interest is seen or reported. This was true of many of my walks in April, even though this can be such an exciting month of the year for bird watching, with summer visitors arriving and/or passing through. My walk up to Hatchpen Farm on the 10th was noteworthy, however, because three Egyptian Geese were seen at Hatchpen Pond, fraternising with the local (flightless) farmyard geese which included the sole remaining Barnacle Goose. This was just my second sighting of Egyptian Goose on my Local Patch. A Wheatear was seen nearby in a spring that has seen an excellent passage of this species through the local area. There was no sign of the Egyptian Geese or the Wheatear on two subsequent visits, although another Wheatear was seen at Reed End on the 12th, the same morning that I saw my first Lesser Whitethroat of the year (and the first reported in Hertfordshire) near Phillup's Lake.
Two of three Egyptian Geese seen at Hatchpen Pond (Reed) on 10 April, together with the sole remaining (flightless) Barnacle Goose from the farm collection.
Male Wheatear, Hatchpen Farm, 10 April
The week from 8-14 April was also good for butterflies, with warm weather producing the first sightings of newly hatched Orange Tip, Green-veined and Small Whites and Holly Blue butterflies, together with more sightings of over-wintering butterflies including two increasingly rare Small Tortoiseshells. I was thinking of getting my macro lens out of hibernation to photograph the insect life when the weather started to get colder and colder thereafter, so that by the 22nd, with daytime temperatures of 10-11C, there was no sign of butterflies and hardly any insect activity.
Green-veined White on Dandelion, Reed End, 12 April
Small Tortoiseshell, Reed End, 12 April
A number of local walks produced little of interest during the second half of the month, although I added Treecreeper (Burloes Farm) and Whitethroat (various locations) to my Local Patch year list. I'll comment more on some of the missing species at the start of next month's blog. Further afield in Hertfordshire, things were more interesting. A trip to the Tring Reservoirs on the 17th was rewarded with views of Reed Warbler and lots of Common Terns at Wilstone, whilst a Common Sandpiper was seen at Startops End. However, for me the star bird was the wintering Pink-footed Goose at Startops End, a bird that I had failed to find on two previous visits to the area. I felt a little sorry for this bird, as the other geese were paired up and (in the case of the Greylag Geese) already had young to feed, whereas the Pink-footed Goose looked rather lost. Hopefully it will be reunited with its kind in the future! On the way back from Wilstone, I stopped along the Baldock to Wallington road, walking down a tarmac track and then a footpath to reach the field where people fly model aircraft. An amazing 16 Wheatears were seen, mostly on the close-cropped grass of the model aircraft field: I've never seen so many in one area! However, the 'icing on the cake' was to see a Whinchat on the far side of this field.
Pink-footed Goose, Startops End Reservoir, 17 April
A return visit to Cooper's Green on a bitterly cold evening on the 22nd was rewarded with views of upwards of 100 hirundines, including Sand Martins, two pairs of Mandarin Ducks, a Green Sandpiper and at least four Little Ringed Plovers. I got lucky when visiting Amwell on the 24th. As I approached the viewpoint I saw a very large, white bird ahead of me, in level flight going north above Great Hardmead Lake. The large, spatulate bill confirmed that I was looking at a Spoonbill, and not a swan or Great White Egret. Unfortunately I didn't have time to get my camera out and photograph the bird, so you only have my word for it, there being no other bird watchers around at the time. Two Common Terns, a pair of Red-crested Pochards and a Little Ringed Plover (seen in flight) were also recorded.
Common Tern, Amwell NR, 24 April
The very wet spring has benefited many plants, with luxuriant, fast growing vegetation seen right across Hertfordshire. Several plant species have thrived, in particular Garlic Mustard, a main food plant for the caterpillars of the Orange Tip butterfly (a species which has been prominent in the warmer weather this spring and hopefully will be present in even greater numbers in the spring of 2025). One surprise was to find a few Cuckoo Flowers growing on a verge of the A10, just a few hundred metres from my house. This species does well in damp, marshy areas and there have been plenty of these locally. Why, though, have I not seen Cuckoo Flowers here before? Do they (like some orchids) lie dormant for several years until conditions are right for them to flower? Have the seeds been introduced by guerrilla gardeners or have I just walked straight past them before without noticing? One other possibility was that, in previous years, the verge was mown before the flowers had the chance to appear, whereas it was too wet to mow in April (the verge was mown in early May).
Orange Tip Butterfly on Garlic Mustard, Jubilee Wood, 25 April
Cuckoo Flower by the side of the A10, Royston, 24 April
The garden had some welcome visits from a Song Thrush towards the end of April, which cracked open the shells of some of the many snails that the garden houses, eating the snails. If only it would visit more often! On the 30th I helped my friend John check the owl boxes on the farm that he and his son own. We found two Barn Owls in one box and one occupying another, whilst a family of Tawny Owls (two healthy young - see below) were the stars of the show. A few days later these owlets became the first to be ringed in Hertfordshire this year.
Tawny Owl Chicks, Rushden, 30 April
