Sat 2nd June 2012

Just the one notable bird sighting during the last week. On Monday evening, quite late on at about 8 15, I was having an al fresco cuppa when I noticed a Marsh Harrier drifting south. I picked up my bins and watched it as it slowly went by. Then behind it there was another bird following in the same direction - quite clearly a Honey Buzzard. The angle of light and the low height of the bird made the ID straightforward, with the pale grey upperparts and the dark-carpaled, banded underwing showing well. I sexed it as a male by the paleness of the grey and the broad white underwing band. Only my second record for the house.

male Kestrel with Guernsey Vole - Les Grantez, May 2012 - Watched this Kestrel catch and dismember this vole (note the flying bit of fur on the left!). I don't know much about the mammals of the island, but I think that the Guernsey Vole is an endemic subspecies of the Common Vole.

The sun was finally out most of the week and, when sheltered from the breeze, it was quite hot. This brought legions of insects out and I spent most of the week observing these little beasts. I'm trying to broaden my knowledge of insects a bit more this summer. I know the local butterflies, moths, dragonflies, grasshoppers and crickets quite well, but there are hundreds of beetles, flies and the like that I have no idea about. In the coastal grasslands there has been lots of small moths flying about this week, species such as Grapholita compositella, Elachista argentella, Dichrorampha petiverella, Aethes smeathmanniana, plus a few migrant Diamond-back Moths. But the highlight was a plume moth which is new to me, that I disturbed by the car park at Rousse headland today - Platyptilia pallidactyla. Only the 8th island record, but it is probably more common than that since it feeds on the abundant Yarrow.

Platyptilia pallidactyla - Rousse, 2 Jun 2012

Esperia sulphurella - garden, May 2012

Adela croesella - Les Petites Vallees, 28 May 12

Broken-barred Carpet - garden, 1 Jun 2012

Speckled Wood - Les Grantez, May 2012 - The local Speckled Woods are much more orangey than the ones in the UK, which are generally cream-spotted.

Bristle-legged Seaweed Fly (Coelopa frigida) - Portinfer, 29 May 2012

Red-tailed Bumblebee feeding on Sea Radish - Rousse, 1 Jun 2012

Common Broomrape - Grandes Rocques, 30 May 2012 - Despite its name, this is not the common broomrape on the island, Ivy Broomrape being abundant everywhere. This species is uncommon, usually found in the coastal turf.

Red Valerian above the beach by Grandes Havres

Tue 5th June 2012

TRIP TO DISNEYLAND, FRANCE

For the half-term holidays, my splendid parents treated me and Abigail to a trip to "EuroDisney". Of course, as this was a holiday for Abigail, I did not expect to see much interesting wildlife during our organised fun, but I was excited all the same since I had not been abroad for over ten years, and was happy to be going to another country. So we flew to Gatwick on Sunday afternoon and stayed near Folkestone for the night. I had never been there before and I was surprised to see how run-down and depressed it looked, especially in the fog and rain. We drove round the town looking for somewhere to eat and failed spectacularly, ending up buying sarnies at the garage. And our hotel was situated in such a glamorous location - sandwiched between the SAGA offices and the born-again Christian centre.

After a fine sleep, we awoke to the sound of pouring rain bouncing off the sodden tarmac, and the sight of families sprinting to their cars under brollies and coats. Yes, the weather was the pits (But at least we weren't standing on the banks of the Thames hoping for a glimpse of an old biddie). However, we would remain dry as we were going underground - I soon added "under the sea bed" to my list of places I'd been, as I took my first ever trip in the Eurotunnel.

I found it really weird and sci-fi like - felt like we were driving onto some massive space-ship, ready to boldly go to a far-flung star system. And not long later we were in France and I spent my first ever 'Euro' (and possibly my last if the recent news stories are anything to go by).

I kept a look out for any interesting species from the motorway as we drove south, but the wet and windy weather continued and a single Marsh Harrier was all I could spot. If it wasn't for the road signs and the cars, we could have been driving through southern England as the terrain and the habitats were similar. (but don't the French like their graffiti - it was everywhere). The oddest sighting was as we headed round the outskirts of Paris and two Ring-necked Parakeets flew over the road - I wasn't even aware they had any in France. After a few hours we eventually arrived at the Disney Resort and Abigail became somewhat excited as we hadn't told her where we were heading. We found the hotel, which was one of the outer hotels in the resort, so quite in the countryside really, and checked in. As we had a family suite, it was a "Planet Hollywood" themed room.

The picture above shows my bedroom, with the tasteful zebra-striped furnishings, and a mural of 80's-action heroes on the far wall. There was also lots of different film memorabilia on the walls - I slept under Cyrano de Bergerac's nose, and most impressively, the broken glasses from one of the best films of all time - Chinatown.

Whilst the others relaxed and unpacked - (what's the point of unpacking when all the clothes are neatly arranged and tidied away in a suitcase?) - I headed out for a wander round the hotel area, despite the dampness and windiness. I was really pleased that there was a lake right next to the hotel with a path around it so that I could explore a bit.

 The Explorers Hotel at Disney, with fishing lake just next door.

The first species of interest I came across was a couple of Green Woodpeckers feeding on the cropped lawns - not a species I see very often. They were present every day whilst we were there and I think that they were nesting in the copse behind the hotel, on the right of the above picture. The photo below was taken from our room window. 

Green Woodpecker, Disney Resort - 4 Jun 2012

There was a family of Great Crested Grebes on the lake but not many other birds. However, I spotted a small wood a bit further away and I snicked through a housing estate to have a look. I couldn't see in the wood very well but the leeward side of the trees was adjacent to some waste ground that I could trudge through.

As the wind was quieter here, I could actually hear some birds singing. There was a couple of Blackcaps warbling away, and pretty soon a Nightingale started up which was nice. I could also hear another faint song I didn't recognise, and walking further around I noticed a Melodious Warbler singing on a small shrub. Quite a surprise, I thought they'd be quite rare here on the northern edge of their range.

Melodious Warbler - near Disney Resort, France, 4 Jun 2012

The next day was a full day in the Disneyland theme park, so no wildlife was seen - apart from this Grey Heron hanging out with the Pirates of the Caribbean. I thought it was an life-like model until it moved a bit.

But we had great fun there, despite the queues and the masses of people making me somewhat claustrophobic. I probably saw more people in just one morning than I have seen all year. Abigail (and mum) had a whale of a time!

The iconic image of Disneyland

One of the nice things about Disneyland is that the children get to have their photos taken with the grotesque, comical, massive-headed cartoon characters.

After two days of non-stop action, we were to have a little more relaxed Wednesday. But being the hardcore birders that we are, after breakfast, me and Dad decided to have a go at a bit of forest birding. So, from the site guide I had brought with us, I picked out a forest right on the edge of Paris and we headed there. This was one of the many forests there are in the country and it was classed as an 'urban' forest as it was just by the french equivalent of the M25. Of course, not being used to the concept of rush hour, we got stuck in some serious traffic and got there later than planned. The directions in the guide were superb and we parked up. The area looked a slightly bit dodgy, so Dad decided to stay with the car whilst I went for an hour's sprint through the woods.

Foret de Notre Dame, Paris

The main species to go for were Middle Spotted and Black Woodpecker - I've never seen the former. There was always a chance, but in just a short time it was a long shot. The woods were quite magnificent however and it was a great place to explore. Massive trees everywhere, really, really tall - clearly they have been here for a very long time. I easily found lots of typical forest birds. Lots of Nuthatches, Jays and Marsh Tits, a few Cuckoos, and at least 4 Great Spotted Woodpeckers were seen. But the only non-British species I saw was Short-toed Treecreeper - hmmmm. I did have some success though, as when I reached the furthest point in my walk, I heard a drumming from a woodpecker. I didn't know what a Black Woodpecker drum sounded like, but this felt like it was coming from a large bird, as it was slower and lower-pitched than Great Spots usually are. I managed to get some sound recorded but it was too deep within the trees for me to see anything. Later at home, comparing the sounds on the internet, it clearly was a Black Woodpecker drumming. (two recordings are included below)

Black Woodpecker - sound recording of drumming - Foret de Notre Dame, 6 Jun 2012

The spectogram shows the very deep drumming beats as the short vertical lines. There are about 30 in a two second period.

Our main activity for the day was to take Abigail to see the Eiffel Tower, and perhaps some other Parisian sights. But as we trundled on the train towards the city, it soon became clear that perhaps Abigail wasn't feeling too great. I won't go into detail, but I exited the train with a "bag-full". So, with this unfortunate sickness, we decided that we wouldn't stay in the city for very long which was a shame, but unavoidable. So we had a quick look at L'Arc de Triumphe, then strolled down to the Eiffel Tower, before jumping back on the train again. Paris - the City of Love Puke.

Sightseeing in Paris - note the suspicious, Bond-like character by the bus, clearly waiting for his spy contact like in "A View To A Kill"

Returning to the Hotel for Abigail to rest, I managed an hour or so around the lake, where I concentrated on searching for insects. The weather again was not very helpful, but I did see a new moth species - Burnet Companion. There was a few other species of moth around, as well as quite a few damselflies - including a new species for me,  White-legged Damselfly. Butterflies were practically non-existent during our whole trip, but there were a few Small Heaths in the grass.

Small Heath - Disney Resort, 6 Jun 2012

probably Chrysocrambus linetella - Disney Resort, 6 Jun 2012

male White-legged Damselfly - Disney Resort, 6 Jun 2012

The next day Abigail was feeling much better and we spent the whole day in the Disneyland Park dodging the heavy rain showers. Luckily Mum's prayers were answered and they didn't cancel the parades. Back at the hotel, I had the joy of taking Abigail swimming, which is my most favourite activity in the world. And looking out of the window, I noticed a pair of Black Redstarts feeding in the puddles and a small flock of Canada Geese flying over.

male Black Redstart - Disney Resort, 8 Jun 2012

The next day, Friday, was spent travelling back home. A successful trip - Abigail enjoyed herself. Not a great deal of wildlife was seen, but I did enjoy what I saw.

Fri 29th June 2012

The month of June seems to have come and gone very quickly. There were no unexpected birds seen by any of the local birders, although the Black-browed Albatross photographed 20 miles North of Alderney by a fisherman was a bit gripping! My only seabird encounter was an evening watching Storm Petrels off Chouet on 18th. It's one of my Guernsey birding traditions, having a pleasant evening's seawatch for Stormies (I saw 8 birds this time) - I have still never seen one whilst seawatching in the UK.

me watching Storm Petrels at Chouet - 18 Jun 12

Other than that, on Monday there was a first-summer Med Gull at Vazon, the start of the summer-arrival. And earlier in the month there was a singing Willow Warbler in willows at Les Vicheries. This species is a rare breeder here, with only a one or two pairs each year found. Chiffchaffs are very common breeders and outnumber Willow Warbler a lot.

singing male Willow Warbler - Les Vicheries, 13 Jun 12 

Usually during June I am well on the way with my moth trapping but the terrible weather this year has meant none at all. The rain and wind has been especially bad at the weekend which are the only nights that I can put the trap out. Hopefully July and August will be better, especially in the summer hols when I can trap with gusto. But I have been trying to get out in the field in my lunch hours as much as possible and have seen some interesting non-avian species. About a week ago, I went to visit an unusual habitat, which is a little bog on the beach at Albecq. Despite its location at the top of the beach, where usually the rockpools are salt water, these rocks collect water trickling down from the Guet. So these boggy pools have a large freshwater content, shown by the Blue-tailed Damselfly which was hanging around them.

the "Bog on the Beach", Albecq, June 2012

It may also have something to do with the unusual red granite of that area but a few plants grow there which grow nowhere else on Guernsey, and I found one of them - the Black Bog-rush  (which is funny 'cos it sounds like Bog Brush). There was also Sea Rush and Saltmarsh Rush too and all sorts of other things. I shall have to return.

Black Bog-rush - Albecq, 20 Jun 12

Bee Orchid - Port Soif, 15 Jun 12

Another reason why I have been looking more than usual for invertebrates this month is that I have bought a new lens for my camera. My Coolpix still takes good macro photos but the quality is disappointing compared to my new Lumix, and the Lumix is not designed to take the kind of macro shots I require. So I have been taking two cameras out with me in the field recently which is not satisfactory. However, I read on Mark Skevington's website, that he had bought a special clip-on lens for his Lumix and looking at his awesome shots, I fancied one too. So I bought one and have been practising for the last couple of weeks and have some pleasing results. It is tricky to use as the focal-depth is very small, especially at high magnification, but for general in-the-field insect shots it is superb. So I have now lots and lots of invertebrate photos, and I am sure i'll be doing lots more this summer. I don't have room for all of them on this blog, so I'll just select a few each time. The rest of the good ones will be on my Flickr site.

Cerobasis guestfalica - a species of Barkfly, garden, 17 Jun 12 - The photos above and below show the potential of the new lens for super close-ups. The above species are the c.1mm specks that crawl across the side of the shed, that can barely be seen with the naked eye, but with the new lens, you can even see the tiny hairs on the nose. However, a tripod and timer are really needed to avoid camera movement.

Mosquito - garden, 25 Jun 12

Coleophora deauratella - Vieille Rue, 23 Jun 12

Broad Centurian, a soldier fly - garden, 17 Jun 12

Phyllobius sp, a weevil - Vieille Rue, 23 Jun 12

Stiletto Fly, Thereva sp. - Vieille Rue, 23 Jun 12

It may look like I am pretty good at identifying all these flies and beetles etc, but most of these things have been identified by using the iSpot website. I wish I could identify all these myself, but the cost of buying all the books that I would need means this is impossible at the moment.

Sun 8th July 2012

Incredibly, that's another week of wet and windy weather. It is seriously going on too long now and getting on everyone's wick. Especially since it is choosing the weekends to be at its worst.

A bird highlight of the week was this superb adult-summer Med Gull that I drove past on the way to work. I just had to stop and have a look - can't get tired of this beautiful species.

breeding-plumaged adult Mediterranean Gull - Grandes Rocques, 4 Jul 12

The weekend deluges have meant that the moth trap is still moth-balling in the shed at the moment. But I am still searching for the little critters out in the field whenever I can. On Thursday lunchtime I had a walk round the Petit Pre Reserve in the Talbot and found two species I'd only seen once before - Syncopacma larseniella and Pammene aurita. On Friday I noticed quite a few Silver Y feeding along the coast so perhaps we have had a little influx of migrants in.

Pammene aurita - Talbot Valley, 5 Jul 12

Pempeliella ditutella - L'Ancresse, 3 Jul 12 - uncommon here, found where Thyme grows.

Aspilapterix tringipennella - Portinfer, 6 Jul 12

Cicadella viridis - Talbot Valley, 5 Jul 12 - a larger leafhopper

Tetragnatha extensa - Talbot Valley, 5 Jul 12

The above species of spider - aka the 'Long-jawed Orb-web Spider' and quite a spectacular one actually - was most notable as it was officially my 1500th species recorded in Guernsey. Something that came to my attention during the winter was the concept of "Pan-species Listing", which is simply recording every species of living thing you see, rather than just a certain group (for more details, see this website). Looking back in my records, since I arrived in Guernsey I have actually been recording all new species I have seen, and so with a little rearranging and re-filing it was very easy to calculate my Guernsey pan-species list - something like 1350. And since then, mainly with new plant species, I have been totting it up as I go. And the aforementioned spider took me to 1500. I wonder what number 2000 will be?

Tue 31st July 2012

My target this week was to find the Green Lizards of Guernsey. Even after all this time of living here, I've never really gone looking for them. They are very, very restricted in range, and only live on the warm cliffs south of St. Peter Port. They are a larger species than the lizards found in the UK, and I was surprised to learn that they were native, even mentioned by Gilbert White in the 18th Century. Mark G told me last summer where he'd seen them, by Clarence Battery near the bathing pools, and so I searched there.

Green Lizard habitat, Clarence Battery, St. Peter Port, July 2012

My first visit was unsuccessful but I managed to locate one individual on my second try. I was rather lucky to do so. All I saw was a small movement of the grass next to the path, and I crept forward slowly and I saw it shuffling around deep in the grass and under the Blackthorn bush. It never showed out in the open and slowly walked away, deeper into the bushes. I think maybe it might be better to get there earlier in the morning when the reptiles may have to be out in the open to warm their bodies up in the sun's rays.

Green Lizard (or part of it) - Clarence Battery, 28 Jul 2012

Also there, I noticed a couple of Thrift Clearwings feeding on the flowers. Looking at the records, this appears to be the first East coast record of this species.

Thrift Clearwing - Clarence Battery, 28 Jul 2012

The moth trap has been quite successful with the improved weather helping the insects. Incredibly I had two new macros in two nights this week. I only get a handful of new species for the garden per year nowadays after 8 or so years of trapping, so this was unexpected. The species involved though were not unexpected however, and I'd had both of them before in Guernsey, but not for a wee while. The first was Brussels Lace, which was my third record. This species feeds on lichen and I suspect it is quite a coastal species here. The second was Tawny-speckled Pug, for which there are no previous records for the North of the island.

Brussels Lace - Garden, 24 Jul 2012

Tawny-speckled Pug - Garden, 25 Jul 2012

Chinese Character - Garden, 22 Jul 2012 - I love this photo.

Sulphur Beetle - Clarence Battery, 28 Jul 2012

Sun 22nd July 2012

With perfect timing the Summer is upon us. The weather gradually improved during last week and finally today it has been properly sunny and warm. This was very helpful since I spent three days of last week on field trips to Herm with the year 7's. Even though it was pretty windy, we didn't get wet at all. I managed to point out two Puffins flying round the boat on Tuesday, because the tide was so low, the ferry went behind Jethou. I also saw my first Common Terns of the year. Other notable sightings were a family of Goldcrests in Candie Gardens, proving they bred there, and just today, an adult Med Gull flew slowly over the garden. Haven't had a lot of time in these last two weeks to take many photos of other things, but here are a few:

Robber Fly sp. - Ft. Hommet, Jul 2012

Pyrausta ostrinalis - Herm Common, 17 Jul 2012 - this species appears to be restricted to Herm Common where it is very common. Although there are many sites that Thyme grows here on Guernsey, I have never seen it here. What colours!

Marasmarcha lunaedactyla - Herm, 18 Jul 2012 - I've always called this 'Restharrow Plume' but the new plume moth book calls it 'Crescent Plume'.

Monday 6th August 2012

ALDERNEY

Despite being here in Guernsey since 1998, I have never visited the island of Alderney. So I arranged to take a trip with Pat and Pete, and we have spent the last four days there. I was pleasantly surprised by the island, as I have always been given the impression that it is a rather bleak place. But it wasn't at all - quite similar to Guernsey, but it also reminded me of St. Mary's on Scilly. I wanted to go just to look around, so it was not totally a wildlife-hunting trip, but we were hoping to find some new micro-moths for the island because they have not been well-studied before. So far, we have found 6 or 7 new species of micro, with a few more to study with the microscope. The macros have been well-studied by David W who lives there and he was going to put a few traps out for us on a couple of nights. It is so surprising that despite Alderney being visible from Guernsey, the selection of species in the traps is quite different. Things common here may be scarce there and visa versa. So, I saw about 5 or 6 new macro species that I had never seen before.

Drinker - Lighthouse, Alderney, 4 Aug 12 - Appears to be quite common on Alderney but there are no recent records from Guernsey, although it may occur on Herm.

Engrailed - Essex Farm, Alderney, 4 Aug 12 - Another species that does not appear to occur in Guernsey despite being relatively common in Alderney.

Ear Moth - Lighthouse, Alderney, 4 Aug 2012 - I have only recorded Saltern Ear in Guernsey, but Ear Moth may also occur, it's just a case of picking one out. The ones in Alderney seemed smaller, darker and neater than the Saltern Ears that I get in the garden.

There are also plenty of rare plants that occur in Alderney but not in Guernsey and Peter had brought some helpful notes from Jennie G to follow. We managed to find quite a few new species that I had never seen before (and also failed to find quite a few!).

Orange Bird's-foot - Mannez Pond area, Alderney, 4 Aug 2012 - very rare in the UK.

Emperor Dragonfly - Mannez Pond, Alderney, 4 Aug 2012

Bird-wise, it was mainly just the local species seen, as migrants were not moving through yet. On the final day in Crabby Bay and Braye Bay, there were a few migrant waterbirds seen, with 5 adult Med Gulls, a juvenile Kittiwake, a Sandwich Tern, a Whimbrel and a Common Sandpiper. The highlight of the trip was the boat trip that I took. From the harbour we went right around Burhou and its surrounding reefs, over to the Gannet colony at Les Etacs, and then around the rest of the island. I had a very very very faint hope that we'd be bobbing about and spot the Black-browed Albatross that has been seen locally recently, or that I would spot it sat on a rock in amongst the colony. It was a superb way to see the island and the photos below were all taken from the boat.

Burhou and the reefs beyond - There was a very large feeding flock of Gannets just beyond Burhou. One of the most fascinating things about the sea around Alderney was the famous tides - "The Swinge" and "The Race". The speed of these tides has to be seen to be believed. In the photo above it looks like there is a wave coming in but it wasn't. This is just the tide racing past the island, and you had the bizarre sight of the sea sloping! The sea level is clearly higher beyond the rocks than where we were in the boat. It looked like we were on a fast-moving river rather than the sea.

Gannet - off Burhou, 3 Aug 12 - there were Gannets constantly close to the boat and if I was a knowledgeable photographer I would have been able to take lots of good shots.

Grey Seals - off Burhou, Alderney, 3 Aug 12

Ortac - the more distant Gannet colony which we could not visit because of the tides.

Les Etacs, or the "Garden Rocks" - this is the closer Gannet colony which we were able to go around, which lies just off the Alderney cliffs and can easily be watched from the coastal path.

I did take more photos during the time I was in Alderney, and these can be found in a Flickr Gallery.

Mon 20th August 2012

The birding excitement levels have been gradually winding up a notch during the last two weeks. Autumn migration is now on, and the expectation has risen. It has been ages since a decent rare bird has turned up on the island. There is usually something to go look at during the summer months but it has been quiet since the spring.

My personal highlights have been a Pied Flycatcher in the Fort Hommet plantation on 10th and a Great Spotted Woodpecker at the Grand Pre on 15th. These woodpeckers have spread so rapidly since they started breeding here. Also I got a new bird for the house on 14th, when I heard a loud wader call from the kitchen, so I dashed outside and saw two Green Sandpipers belting overhead. I wish I could remember bird-sounds better. I have heard Green Sandpiper many, many times before but I didn't recognise the call at all. Amateur. The nicest bird I saw was the whitish-cream Buzzard that circled over the house on 18th with three others. It was very high so I couldn't get a clear photo but it really was a beautiful bird.

Buzzards - over garden, 18 Aug 2012

Finally the summer weather has picked up and we've even had some warm southerly winds which brought in a few migrant moths. After the poor first part of the summer I was very pleased to be able to get some decent catches. I had two new species for the garden in the week. The Campion, which looks very like a Lychnis but did have a slightly different colour-tone which meant it was quite obviously different, and Trachycera suavella, which I may have had before as it is very similar to Trachycera advenella.

Campion - garden, 10 Aug 2012

Trachycera suavella - garden, 8 Aug 12

The night of the 17th was the best for rare moths. It was stuffy and warm with a southerly breeze, ideal conditions to get rarities. The best was a Scarce Chocolate-tip sat next to a Chocolate-tip. The latter species seems to have colonised the island in the last year or so, as I have had multiple records this year. The Scarce Chocolate-tip though was only the 3rd island record. Migrant-wise, there were a record 5 Gypsy Moths, 3 Cydia amplana and 6 Rush Veneer, and there were plenty of other good ones including Tree-lichen Beauty and my second-ever garden Tawny-speckled Pug.

Scarce Chocolate-tip - garden, 17 Aug 2012

Cydia amplana - garden, 11 Aug 2012 - one of the very few tortrix moth which is classed as a migrant

Tree-lichen Beauty - garden, 17 Aug 2012 - This used to be a big rarity but may be breeding on the island nowadays.

multiple Gypsy Moths (and a Great Dart) - garden, 17 Aug 2012 - My five caught that night seems to be the record non-pheromone catch for this species locally.

Goat Moth - garden, 13 Aug 2012 - I had not seen this declining species for five years.

Epinotia nisella - garden, 8 Aug 2012 - I think that this is nisella, but this orange form is nothing like any of the nisellas I have seen before and I assumed it was a new species. Very pleased with this photo - please click it to see it full-size.