January/February 2024

I didn’t manage to get out for some New Year birding until 3rd January when I trawled the patch. A few Kittiwakes and a Razorbill were off shore in the rough seas and a brief Purple Sandpiper was probably the first I have seen on Pulias Headland as far as I can remember. January and February turned out to be wet and mild, very much so during certain periods, conditions which don’t help the arrival of new birds. Ideally were want it cold, as cold as possible. So most of the decent birds I saw were already here wintering, such as the ringtail Hen Harrier at Tielles, Water Pipit at Vazon and the Canada Geese. Two Great Crested Grebes were seen at Vazon on 11th January, an unusual non-singular sighting for recent years. On 28th January I found a Black-throated Diver close in off the Imperial which was too dive-y for the camera. During February I more or less laid low and few other birds of interest were seen. Two Common Scoter spent the month at Vazon and I had a Red-breasted Merganser.

The middle part of February was so mild that I actually dusted off the moth trap on 15th and caught a few things. The best was a Chestnut which was a new species for the garden, probably because I do not trap at this time of year usually (I do get Dark Chestnut occasionally). The southerly winds brought in two Dark Sword-grass as migrants amongst the ten species I caught.

Chestnut - garden, 15 Feb 24

Dark Sword-grass - garden, 15 FeB 24

Clouded Drab - garden, 15 FeB 24

Velvet Mite, Trombidiidae sp. - garden, 16Feb24

The winter period is often a time that I catch up with identification of specimens and their display. Below are a few that I identified these months, all of which were new to me, the first and last I think were also new to Guernsey.

Sibinia pyrrhodactyla - Pleinmont

Chelonus inanitus - St Sampsons H Sch

Parapiesma quadratum - Pulias

Rhinoncus inconspectus - Grande Mare

Aphodius fimetarius - Mont Herault

Stenopsocus immaculatus - Sous L'Eglise

Castle breakwater Lighthouse

Rocquaine

Review of 2023

Rarity-finding was the theme of 2023 as I cannot recall a year when I have found so many good birds myself. Even though I didn’t really have much opportunity to spend long hours in the field, I made the most of the time that I had and, with a good sprinkling of luck, was really satisfied. It’s nice seeing a rare bird, but it’s amazing to find one yourself! The best one was probably the Night Heron which was the first in the island since last century. There wasn’t a huge amount of other rarities to twitch on the island but I was more than pleased to see the brace of Solitary Sandpipers at Rue des Bergers, an almost unbelievable record. A birding trip with the BUBO lads to Spurn was very enjoyable, but was rather low on rare species. However I got my usual British tick with the Forster’s Tern on the way back.

Moth-trapping threw up some nice surprises, with lots of new species for the garden, the best being the very rare Three-humped Prominent. I have been focusing on nights with warm, promising conditions rather than trapping every single opportunity, which has improved my enjoyment I think. Outside the garden, I finally saw my first Guernsey Underwing after all these years of residency, and also found my first Long-tailed Blue. The Coleophora scabrida colony which I discovered new to the British Isles last year seems to be thriving on its tiny patch of foodplant and the identification has now been confirmed by the beards in the UK. And the Tapestry Moths which appeared from the Barn owl pellets were superb. In my general studies of wildlife, I hit a milestone of 3000 species of organism recorded in the British Isles. Wasps and flies were two groups I have been learning about, and covered about a third of the 100 or so new species I saw.

My three top birding moments of 2023:

1) When a small heron flew across in front of me when I sat in the car outside the toilets at Rousse and I jumped out, sprinted down the road, jumped the wall and set eyes on the amazing adult Night Heron just perched up in a tree over the pond.

2) When I stood in the corner of the top deck of the Condor ferry, buffeted by the wind and waves, watching Cory’s and Great Shearwaters gliding past the boat in the evening sun.

3) Racing down to Rue des Bergers in my lunch hour to confirm a rare Solitary Sandpiper and watch it walk right in front of the hide (and then to repeat this exactly a week later for two of them to do the same thing!)

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STATS

0 new birds for the World List - still on 805.

2 new birds for Britain (inc. C.Is.) - Forster’s Tern, Solitary Sandpiper - now on 409.

5 new birds for Guernsey - Night Heron, Nightingale, Solitary Sandpiper, Leach’s Petrel, Sabine’s Gull - now on 278.

1 new 'self-found' bird - Night Heron - now on 278.

0 new garden birds (in or from) - still on 98.

2023 Guernsey year list total - well below-average 141.

Official local rarities found - 5 - Corn Bunting, Night Heron, Short-toed Lark, Nightingale, Glaucous Gull.

Official local rarities seen - 12 - above 5, plus Crane, Solitary Sandpiper x2, Sabine’s Gull, Leach’s Petrel, Cory’s Shearwaters, Glossy Ibis, Woodchat Shrike. 

Other quality birds found - Red-necked Grebe, Melodious Warbler, Richard’s Pipit

4 new Hommet to Rousse 'patch' birds - Canada Goose, Crane, Corn Bunting, Night Heron - now on 173.

2023 Hommet to Rousse ‘patch’ year list total - 98.

End-of-year British Pan-species list - 3049, (new species during year 103).

End-of-year Guernsey Pan-species list - 2555, (new species during year 72).

Garden moth list - 686

New Lepidoptera in garden - 10 - Pediasia aridella, Eudonia lineola, Diplopseustis perieresalis, Duponchelia fovealis, Acrobasis tumidana, Spiny Hook-tip, Three-humped Prominent, Clouded Buff, Centre-barred Sallow (+ Tuta absoluta ID of specimen from ‘22).

New Lepidoptera in Guernsey - 13 - Guernsey Underwing, Agonopterix umbellana, Trichophaga tapetzella (Tapestry Moth), Argyresthia pygmaeella, Choreutis nemorana (Fig-leaf Skeltoniser), Pediasia aridella, Diplopseustis perieresalis, Duponchelia fovealis, Acrobasis tumidana, Spiny Hook-tip, Three-humped Prominent, Centre-barred Sallow (+ Tuta absoluta ID of specimen from ‘22).

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PHOTOS

My favourite 20 photos taken in 2023:

1) January - Dexiosoma caninum specimen

2) March - Grey Plover

3) April - Redstart

4) April - London Docklands

5) April - Titanosaur, Natural History Museum

6) April - Puffin

7) May - Wheatear

8) May - Green Hairstreak

9) May - Green Tiger Beetle

10) May - Tapestry Moth

11) June - Minstrel Bug

12) July - Goldenrod Crab Spider Misumena vatia

13) July - Chloe & Willow

14) August - Coral Necklace

15) September - Solitary Sandpiper

16) September - Clifden Nonpareil

17) September - Grapevine leaf

18) November - Firecrest

19) November - Rainbow, Rousse

20) December - Town Church, The Albion & Xmas lights

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MOVIES