Local Wildlife Sightings, October 2026

 The warm, dry, settled weather from September extended into the first week of October, with daytime temperatures reaching 24C on a couple of occasions. The latest 'drought' of over three weeks was finally broken on the 7th, when a day of rain at least allowed me time to update my blog! By the start of the month Small and Large Whites appeared to be the only butterfly species left on the wing. A few faded Common Darter and Migrant Hawker dragonflies were seen during my occasional local forays. Ivy, still flowering in shady areas, continued to attract Ivy Bees together with Honey Bees and a few hoverflies. I was interested to see both a Hornet Hoverfly, and then a genuine Hornet, flying around the same bushes near the house.

Ivy Bee on Ivy, Royston, 5 October

With nearly all the summer visitors having departed (except for a few Chiffchaffs) and autumn visitors yet to arrive, all was quiet locally on the bird watching front. A few Little Grebes and a single Tufted Duck were on Phillup's Lake when I visited on the 1st.

Female Tufted Duck, Phillup's Lake, Reed End, 1 October

I usually see Garganey in the spring, soon after they have arrived from their African wintering grounds. However, I missed out this year so reports of a young male bird at Wilstone Reservoir (Tring) encouraged me to make another visit on the 6th. Having earlier reminded myself of the differences between Garganey and the very similar (and similarly sized) Teal in 'eclipse' plumage, I was able to identify the bird (a juvenile male) fairly quickly as it swam around, showing well. The two images below (deliberately high key) illustrate the key features that distinguish Garganey from Teal, namely the longer, straighter bill, pale loral patch at the base of the bill, emerging stripe above the eye, pale, whitish chin and throat patch and the lack of a pale patch at the side of the tail. Some emerging feathers on the back (not clear in these images) were suggestive of this being a male bird. For comparison, I've included an image of a female Teal below, taken at the same time.

Juvenile Male Garganey, Wilstone Reservoir, 6 October

Juvenile Male Garganey, Wilstone Reservoir, 6 October

Female Teal, Wilstone Reservoir, 6 October

Also seen at Wilstone were an unusually pale Common Pochard, at least four Pintails and two Roe Deer (image of one below). An interesting observation was that a couple of Teal were seen diving in shallower water, even though this is known as a dabbling duck. The Ferruginous Duck that I had seen on my last trip to Wilstone was reported again, but I didn't see it on this visit.

Roe Deer (Seen from the Hide), Wilstone Reservoir, 6 October

As the month wore on the weather deteriorated somewhat, becoming considerably more autumnal (and more like the weather we expect in October). Bizarrely, the only butterflies that I saw locally after the 6th were all Clouded Yellows - two on The Heath on the 8th and one near the house on the 12th. My walk on the 8th took me up the path between the far western section of The Heath and Thrift Farm, where a returning Stonechat (I saw up to four here last winter) was present.

Stonechat at Thrift Farm, 8 October

Regular readers will be familiar with my gull identification struggles. This usually involves trying to separate the various age groups of Herring Gulls from Yellow-legged and Caspian Gulls. A walk up to Hatchpen Farm provided another opportunity, when an adult gull, with a mantle darker than that of a nearby Herring Gull but lighter than those of several Lesser Black-backed Gulls, was present in a large group of gulls on the ground there. This individual also had dark 'smudging' around the eye, making it an excellent candidate for Yellow-legged Gull. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me and (at distance) its legs were not obviously yellow. Nevertheless, I'm confident that it was a Yellow-legged gull. I saw another flock of larger gulls at Thrift Farm the following day. I had my camera with me, but this time only Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls were present (image of a Herring Gull below). A visit to Phillup's Lake on the 15th produced a local rarity in the form of a small flock of Lapwings near the lake. Little Grebes were the only birds of note on the lake itself.

Adult Herring Gull at Thrift Farm (Royston) 8 October

Little Grebe (Moulting into Winter Plumage?), Phillup's Lake, 15 October

A large field at Hatchpen Farm was ploughed on the 19th. When I walked up the following day there was an extraordinary amount of small bird activity as both seed eaters (Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Linnets, Yellowhammers and Corn Buntings) and insect eaters (Skylarks, Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails) were seen, mainly on or around the edges of the field. Linnets (200+) were the dominant species, but there were surprising numbers of Chaffinches (winter visitors from Europe?) present, as well as 30+ Yellowhammers. I had hoped to find a local rarity (Brambling, perhaps?) but had no luck there. One very pale bird stood out as it fed. It never came close to me, but I managed to get a few photos as it fed amongst the Goldfinches and Linnets. It appeared significantly larger than either, so I am guessing (and it is a guess) that it was a leucistic Corn Bunting. Check it out, in the image below.

Linnets and (?) a Leucistic Corn Bunting, Hatchpen Farm, 20 October

Meadow Pipit sitting on a Solar Panel, Hatchpen Farm, 20 October

Yellowhammer at Hatchpen Farm, 20 October

UK Wildlife Sightings October 2026

 On the 2nd I drove up to Rutland Water, where two American waders (Lesser Yellowlegs and Pectoral Sandpiper) were both present, viewed from the same ('Shoveler') hide. Following the summer drought, water levels were very low and the Shoveler hide was one of very few hides looking out over water that was closer than 100 metres away. I was lucky to see both species at reasonably close quarters, with the Pectoral Sandpiper (one of the commonest American vagrant waders) showing well enough for me to get some decent photos - not great, but my best ever for this species. The Lesser Yellowlegs was also much closer than the individual that I had seen in September (September UK blog post).

Lesser Yellowlegs (with Shoveler), Rutland Water, 2 October

Pectoral Sandpiper, Rutland Water, 2 October

I visited other hides in the complex of Lagoons 2, 3 and 4 but 'Shoveler' was the only hide offering decent photographic opportunities - a couple more images from the trip are included below. Other waders seen from this hide were Little Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper and Snipe.

Common Snipe, Rutland Water, 2 October

Common Teal, Rutland Water, 2 October

Autumn is the best time to go sea watching on the east coast, as migrating skuas, shearwaters and some of the rarer gulls pass through the North Sea, generally heading south. I missed out last year, but on the 9th I decided to visit Sheringham to see 'what was about'. Wind is all important in governing whether many birds will be passing (in easterlies or north-easterlies) or none (in what are normally the prevailing westerly winds). The previous two days had produced good conditions for sea watching, but by the 9th (the only day that I could make) the wind had turned back to a westerly direction. Nevertheless, I did see a distant Arctic Skua and several juvenile Gannets in a little over an hour. I was also kept entertained by a Rock Pipit, hunting for invertebrates beneath the shelter where I was sitting. I decided to move on to Cley NWT reserve afterwards and was rewarded with a brief but close sighting of a 'ringtail' Hen Harrier on the reserve. I walked down to and along the beach seeing a second, much closer Arctic Skua, as well as a Spoonbill in flight and several more Gannets. Some of my images from the day are shown below.

Dark Phase Arctic Skua passing Cley NWT, 9 October

Juvenile Gannet over the Sea, Cley NWT, 9 October

Rock Pipit, Sheringham, 9 October

Following a quiet spell, I decided to visit Farmoor Reservoir, west of Oxford, on the 13th to see a Grey Phalarope that had taken up residence there. Grey Phalaropes are cute little waders which survive by surface feeding on tiny aquatic invertebrates and their larvae, which they bring to the surface by swimming round and round in the water. The bird at Farmoor had no need to do this because a strong wind was making the water very choppy and it had found the roughest edge of the reservoir. It took me a little time to find the bird, which was dwarfed by a nearby Black-headed Gull, but having located it I managed to get a few photographs as it was feeding.

Grey Phalarope, Farmoor Reservoir, 13 October

Grey Phalarope, Farmoor Reservoir, 13 October

The October RSPB Local Group meeting was to Holme NWT reserve, on the 18th, and gave me a chance to look for Shore Lark, a bird that I had missed out on last winter. Three had been reported at the eastern (Thornham Harbour) end of Holme dunes in the preceding days and, after hunting around for a while and unknowingly almost stepping on the birds, they were found by others and I was able to get a couple of decent photos of them (below).

Grumpy Shorelark (I almost stepped on it), Holme Dunes, 18 October

Shorelark, Holme Dunes, 18 October

A strong wind, blowing in from the north east, should have made for ideal sea watching conditions but we missed out on rarities (a Little Auk was reported passing close inshore shortly before we departed), although there were plenty of juvenile Gannets around. Waders seen by our group included Jack Snipe (not seen by me). On the way down to Thornham Harbour I took a few photos of what I assumed to be Stonechats, but one bird turned out to be a very late Whinchat (note its strong, pale supercilium on the image below). Lots of Pink-footed and Brent Geese were seen.

Whinchat, Thornham Harbour, 18 October

Grey Plover, Thornham Harbour, 18 October

Austria, September 2026

 My partner and I visited the Austrian Tyrol (an Alpine region) for a week's walking and relaxation (there is more of the latter than the former as I get older) near the end of September. The weather and scenery were fantastic, the hotel was excellent and the walking was good, but what about the wildlife? Well, this part of Austria is not renowned for its wildlife but I was hoping for something special - a Golden Eagle or a Snow Finch perhaps? The outcome was predictably more prosaic - here are limited highlights.

Birds

I explored the local village on five early morning walks. This was 'pine country', so it was no surprise that Coal Tits were the commonest species. Great Tits and Blue Tits were also common and a few Crested Tits (quite common and widespread in Europe) were seen or (more often) heard. Long-tailed Tits were heard on one occasion. Chaffinches and Goldfinches were common and a couple of Bullfinches (a female and a juvenile) were recorded on every walk. One notable difference with the UK was that Black Redstarts were very common, often being seen and heard singing from rooftops in the village. Flocks of Common Crossbills were seen on the edges of the village, where Nuthatches, Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers were occasionally recorded. A few Starlings flew over and Blackbirds were resident. Swallows and Crag Martins, presumably passing through on migration, were seen on the first couple of days but not thereafter.

Female Bullfinch, Austria, 23 September

Black Redstart, Austria, 25 September

A Kestrel was seen on a couple of occasions and a Buzzard was heard, but no other raptors were recorded. Local ponds yielded only Mallard and Coot. On one day we took a funicular railway high into the mountains above the town of Seefeld. It was here that I saw my only Alpine speciality in the form of several Alpine Choughs, which were snaffling chips and other food items discarded by people at the Alpine restaurant - not an unusual sight in this part of the world - these birds are the Alpine equivalent of our Herring Gulls! At the end of the week I had recorded and identified 38 bird species, whilst a couple more 'got away'.

Alpine Chough (not a Blackbird!), near Seefeld in Austria, 27 September

Invertebrates

As in the UK, late September is not the best time for seeing invertebrates with most species' flight seasons having finished. Large and Small Whites were the dominant butterfly species seen, with a few Painted Ladies and Clouded Yellows recorded, presumably on southwards passage. The ubiquitous Common Blue was also seen, alongside a few Red Admirals and a single Comma. The only non-familiar (for me) butterflies seen (although they do occur in the UK) were Grayling and Scotch Argus.

Grayling Butterfly, near Seefeld, Austria, 23 September

Dragonfly sightings had a familiar feel to them, with Migrant and Southern Hawkers, Common Darters and Willow Emerald Damselflies all recorded. A lake in the Imperial Gardens in Innsbruck was rich in these and possibly more species. The image (below) appears to show two male darters in tandem, but it is not clear which species they belong to - a mystery still to be solved.

Two Darter Dragonflies, Innsbruck, 25 September

Hummingbird Hoverflies were, as in the UK, quite common here. Some pretty grasshoppers, including ones that 'flew' for short distances, revealing red 'wings', were seen. One or two unidentified large, flying insects were noted but otherwise there was little of interest.

Mammals

Only two wild mammal species were seen on the holiday. A single black squirrel (presumably a melanistic form of Red Squirrel) was observed close to our village, but possibly the star of the show was a single Chamois, seen from the balcony of our hotel room, feeding in the grounds of the hotel! Despite the assurances of the holiday company, Marmots were neither seen nor heard at any stage of the holiday!

Chamois, as seen from our Hotel Balcony, 23 September