Royston Wildlife Blog: UK Wildlife Sightings June 2026

Due to a combination of the wretched weather and other interests, I didn't make any long wildlife-watching trips in June until the 10th, when I decided to visit RSPB Strumpshaw Fen in the Norfolk Broads, despite a poor weather forecast. It was a risk that wasn't really worth taking: with regular showers, few sunny intervals and temperatures ranging from 12-15C, there was little chance of seeing Swallowtail butterflies, and the few dragonflies that were on the wing were not enough to tempt the resident Red-footed Falcon to put in an appearance during my visit either (it had been seen earlier in the day), although I did have a couple of sightings of Hobby and saw my first Green-eyed ("Norfolk") Hawkers of the year. However, I did come across a Mole above ground, which I watched for ten minutes as it moved around, starting to dig holes and then leaving them - was it looking for food? I didn't see it eating anything. I can't remember the last time I saw a Mole and I haven't been able to photograph one before. Despite very low light, I managed to get one or two 'record shots' of this rarely seen mammal: one is below.

A Mole Digging a Hole! RSPB Strumpshaw Fen, 10 June

Male Reed Bunting, RSPB Strumpshaw Fen, 10 June

Female Scarce Chaser Dragonfly, RSPB Strumpshaw Fen, 10 June

An RSPB Local Group trip to Carlton Marshes (Suffolk Wildlife Trust) on the 14th was a rare visit to an East Anglian reserve that I hadn't been to before. The reserve held all the reed bed 'specialists', and I had decent views of Marsh Harriers, Hobbies and Bitterns in flight. All three egrets were seen. I spent quite a bit of time photographing insects, which included an impressive number of Small Tortoiseshell butterflies - the highest concentration that I've seen for years.

Cattle Egret 'doing what Cattle Egrets do', Carlton Marshes, 14 June

Green-eyed (Norfolk) Hawker, Carlton Marshes SWT, 14 June

Drinker Moth Caterpillar (a big one!), Carlton Marshes, 14 June

Small Tortoiseshell, Carlton Marshes, 14 June

A family meet up in Dorset the following week gave me the opportunity to spend a couple of hours at RSPB Arne, a splendid heathland reserve on the Studland peninsula. I was lucky to see a male Tree Pipit, singing at the top of a small conifer tree (my first of the year) and some emergent Silver Studded Blue butterflies. A Keeled Skimmer dragonfly (a rare species in the east of England) was also seen. I was told that, earlier in the day, somebody had seen a White-tailed Eagle being mobbed by an Osprey! This unlikely event is now perfectly possible as both species have started to nest in the area.

Record Shot of a Distant Tree Pipit, RSPB Arne, 18 June

Male Silver Studded Blue Butterfly, RSPB Arne, 18 June

On the following day, on a visit to Lyme Regis, I came across a Rock Pipit that clearly had a problem with its left leg, which was kept constantly retracted. Despite this, it appeared to be successfully hunting for insects (image).

Rock Pipit, Lyme Regis, 19 June

With the arrival of another heatwave, more extreme than the one in May (see my 'Local Sightings' post) I stayed pretty close to home during the following week, but I did make one excursion (on the 23rd), travelling to Sea Palling, from near where the (apparently) resident Black-winged Kite was being reported every day. I first saw Black-winged Kite, probably this bird, at Hickling Broad NWT last year. It is the only one of its species in the country, and definitely a 'mega'. I had no difficulty seeing the kite, but it was quite distant and enveloped in a heat haze (at 9.30am!), so my photos were of little grey, white and black blobs - definitely not worth incorporating here. The bird was observed flying, hovering and sitting in trees and on telegraph poles, so was far more active than when I saw it at Hickling, where it just sat.

Hickling is only about six miles away, as the Kite flies, so I decided to visit in the hope of catching up with the Swallowtail butterflies that I had missed at Strumpshaw Fen. This time I was lucky, seeing at least three on the wing despite it being quite late in the season. One butterfly kept coming back to rest on the same tree, giving me ample time to take its photograph. Nearby, a few sections of the pathways were closed in order to safeguard breeding Fen Mason Wasps (which actually seemed to be widespread on the reserve). Of course, I had to take a photograph (below) of this endangered species, which can only be found on the Norfolk (and Suffolk?) Broads. Breeding Lapwings were present with their chicks on Brendan's Marsh. There had been reports on previous days of a variety of uncommon waders here. On my first visit to the viewpoint I only saw Lapwings. However, just before I left I had another look (Brendan's Marsh is close to the Visitor Centre)and photographed a distant wader. Close examination of the images confirmed that this was a moulting (?) Spotted Redshank, key features being the longish bill with a slight 'droop' at the end and the strong white supercilium. The bird was a welcome bonus, being my first sighting of this species in 2026 and 204th overall.