July 2020 — Just A Bird

“And the award for the most underwhelming twitch of the century goes to an Egyptian Goose at the Reservoir…..”

During mid-July an Egyptian Goose appeared briefly at Claire Mare three times but never settled, so I never needed to really think about it too much (although I did spend a short time searching for it one weekend). However, on 24th I heard that it was settled at the Reservoir and so I thought that I should really go and see it. I can’t really think of a particular reason why this bird cannot be counted as new to Guernsey since it is now so widespread in the UK and parts of NW Europe and is expanding all the time - we saw plenty in Hampshire when we went a few years ago. It is most likely to be a bird from one of these feral populations that has wandered post breeding season. It wasn’t ringed or clipped and we’ve not had a history of Egyptian Geese appearing before (unlike Mandarin which has a history of random records here). So I’ve provisionally added it to my Guernsey List but it depends on the deliberations of the Rarities committee.

Quite why I decided that walking along the length of this log was worth it to get decent photos of the egyptian Goose, I’ll never know. Due to my extensive gymnastic training I managed not to fall in the water.

July was as usual focussed on insects rather than birds, and so I rarely picked my bins out of my bag. I called in to Pulias a few times for some local-patching and saw a couple of Balearic Shearwaters on 15th and a group of 5 smart, returning Sanderlings on 22nd.

In preparation for autumn migration I made a purchase during the month - a sound recorder. I can record bird sounds on my phone fine but this is different. The idea is that this is a continuous recorder that records everything whilst you are out birding. I am still very basic when it comes to bird calls and songs and so many times when I’m out on the headlands I hear something and think “that sounds like an *uncommon species* ”. But the problem is that I can never remember the call, even just seconds later. I can go straight to the phone app, play the example call, but then I can’t decide whether the call I heard is the same or not just from my memory. I don’t know whether it’s a common thing, but I can’t hear sounds in my head. I can close my eyes and picture birds in my head in quite detail, but sounds are simply not there. When I’m out in the field I can pick out a call of a Tree Pipit overhead, which I guess is just from habit, but sitting here now and trying to think what a Tree Pipit sounds like, I cannot. So with this, if I do hear something I think might be good and the bird flies off, I can note down the time and look over the recording at home. Also, if a rare bird does turn up and only a recording of the call will clinch identification, I am more likely to catch it using this system, rather than fumbling for my phone in my pocket, by which time it will have shut up. I’ve attached a little pouch to my bag strap and so the recorder is sticking up above my back - it looks like I have a furry friend perched on my shoulder!

Anyway, I took the recorder out for a trial run on 11th July, walking to the Track from home and the first birds I recorded on it were a family party of Firecrests just 100 yards down the road from my house. The male bird which I could hear singing in the spring from the garden must have found itself a mate and I saw at east two juvenile Firecrests plus two more birds in the trees by the traffic lights - recording below. This is the first time I’ve heard of Firecrests breeding in my area and the species has now almost totally colonised the island.

Juvenile White Wagtail - Claire Mare, 17 Jul 20

Juvenile Black-headed Gulls - Jaonneuse beach, 31 Jul 20

Shag - Jaonneuse, 31 Jul 20 - note the mixture of fresher dark green feathers and old, worn browny ones on the mantle

For most of July moth trapping was quite poor for the time of year but an Enarmonia formosana (Cherry Bark Tortrix) on 20th was new for the garden. The last few days of the month were better and a new macro for me was Jersey Mocha on 26th which I have been expecting for the last few years due to the increase in local records. On 29th I saw only my second ever Wax Moth and the 30th it was a very busy night with warm muggy temperatures and about 90 species. Amongst these was an unfamiliar and unspectacular tortrix which turned out to be a Cydia medicaginis (Alfalfa Moth) which appears to be a new species for Guernsey.

Jersey Mocha - garden, 26 Jul 20 - note the white spots on the forewing with no dark borders

Cherry Bark Tortrix (Enarmonia formosana) - garden, 20 Jul 20

In the final week of July after breaking up for work for the holidays I went on a few insect hunting walks and one of the best was around Les Vardes Quarry nature trail on 20th when there was lots of activity. Some silvery mines on a White Poplar turned out to be Phyllocnistis xenia, a new species for the island - it may have been here a short while but never noticed, although it is quite a recent arrival in the UK too. There were lots of species of bees, wasps and flies on offer and I photographed a random small fly that turned out to be a White-barred Soldierfly (Oxycera morrisii) a new species for the island. A good plant discovery was a couple of sprigs of Yarrow Broomrape at Port Grat, a new location for the locally rare species.

Phyllocnistis xenia - larval mines in leaf of White Poplar - Les Vardes, 20 Jul 20

Colletes Fodiens - Les Vardes, 20 Jul 20 - a new species for me that was common on the ragwort, where also a Pantaloon Bee was seen, also new for me.

Epeolus variegatus - Les Vardes, 20 Jul 20 - only my second sighting of this species

Oxycera morrisii (White-barred Soldierfly) - Les Vardes, 20 Jul 20 - a new species for Guernsey

Noon Fly (Mesembrina meridiana) - Reservoir, 24 Jul 20

Ectophasia crassipennis (female) - St. Sampsons HS area, 28 Jul 20

Gymnosoma rotundatum - Les Vardes, 20 Jul 20

Prickly Saltwort flower - Jaonneuse, 31 Jul 20

Of course something else important happened during the month but I can’t quite remember what it was….

Just A Bird

Just A Bird

Mark Lawlor's Nature Blog

Just A Bird

Just A Bird