January 2025

January, definitely too dark as I head to work and a little too dark as I return from work, which means the birds are not very active and hard to find. I managed to eke out a few sightings by the end of the month when the day’s light had been stretched out a little: a Great Northern Diver at Grande Rocques on 24th and a first-winter Common Gull on Cobo beach on 27th. On 12th January I managed to spot the long-staying Avocet on the L’Eree saltmarsh as we whizzed by.

The most surprising sighting was seeing a Mute Swan swimming in Grandes Rocques Bay on the last day of the month which took off and flew East. It was probably the bird which had wintered on the golf course ponds at Grande Mare, getting itchy feet and looking to depart. I called in to see if it had alighted on the flooded fields at Barras Lane and was surprised to see 7 Shoveler swimming there.

Mute Swan - Grandes Rocques, 31 Jan 25

Mute Swan - Grandes Rocques, 31 Jan 25

Shovelers - Barras Lane, 31 Jan 25

Grey Plovers - Rousse 28 Jan 25

Grey Plovers - Rousse 28 Jan 25

With nothing new arriving to go and see, I spent quite a bit of time at the microscope, focusing on a big bag of flies I had collected over the summer. Flies are a massive group with lots of families and can be a bit tricky but can be identified a lot easier nowadays with many online keys available. I managed to identify 17 new species, the best being the one below, Limnophora obsignata, from the Grande Mare in May last year, which is a non-British species and looks like a possibly a new species for Guernsey.

Limnophora obsignata - Grand Pre, 18 May 24

Review of 2024

2024 was not a vintage year for birding - very few gettable rarities turned up on the island and any that did were unsatisfactory or occurred when I was away. Changes in circumstances at home meant that long hours in the field were now more unlikely, and this may explain the drop-off in decent birds found myself. Also, both migration seasons seemed particularly quiet this year, with bad weather at awkward times meant that my patch species list was the lowest ever. I don’t want to appear too gloomy though as, the older I get, the more I appreciate the birds I do see. Despite the low total, I managed four new species for the patch, which was an excellent count under the circumstances. Hopefully, 2024 was just averaging out an excellent birding year in 2023, and 2025 will pick up with some great sightings. My overall birding highlight was finally seeing Golden Oriole on Guernsey after all these years, the final “non-rarity” that I had not seen, and the excitement of the chase that was involved made it extra special.

The best of my other wildlife sightings was probably the Death’s-head Hawk-moth at the end of August on the cliffs but there were lots of interesting other species found. I particularly liked the Small Velvet Ants from the coastal dunes and the Australian Fern Weevil. A trip to Yorkshire brought quite a few new species and I especially enjoyed the beautiful summer’s day in the Yorkshire Wolds. Moth-trapping was OK this year but there were few ‘big nights’, I particularly was satisfied by the Garden Tiger and Golden Twin-spot on the same evening.

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STATS

0 new birds for the World List - on 803.

2 new birds for Britain (inc. C.Is.) - Golden Oriole, Lesser Yellowlegs - on 409.

2 new birds for Guernsey - Golden Oriole, Lesser Yellowlegs - on 279.

0 new 'self-found' birds - on 277.

0 new garden birds (in or from) - still on 98. (although Firecrest was new inside the garden)

2024 Guernsey year list total - second lowest ever, 133.

Official local rarities found - 1 - Cirl Bunting.

Official local rarities seen - 4 - the above, plus Pink-footed Goose, Scaup, Lesser Yellowlegs. 

4 new Hommet to Rousse 'patch' birds - Pink-footed Goose, Gadwall, Cetti’s Warbler, Cirl Bunting - now on 177.

2023 Hommet to Rousse ‘patch’ year list total - lowest ever, 88.

End-of-year British Pan-species list - 3120, (new species during year 74).

End-of-year Guernsey Pan-species list - 2555, (new species during year 54).

Garden moth list - 693

New Lepidoptera in garden - 5 - Teleiopsis diffinis, Mompha propinquella, Musotima nitidalis, Chestnut, Golden Twin-spot.

New Lepidoptera in Guernsey - 7 - The above five, plus Death’s-head Hawk-moth, Pale Shoulder.

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PHOTOS

Less photography was done in 2024 than average - but here are my 15 favourites from last year.

Argyresthia brockeella - May - A chance encounter with a tiny moth resting under a leaf, the camera flash bouncing off the shiny scales

Reykjavik Cathedral - October - probably my favourite building

Dexiosoma caninum - AUGUst - a group of these Tachinid flies were involved in some kind of mating dance in a sunny spot

Harebell - July - I love the textures here

Traditional Guernsey “Hedge Veg” stall - July - this is just along our road and, in the summertime the blue is always sitting in a sea of green

Blair’s Mocha - April - One of my favourite species, and this one is as fresh as they come

St. Peter Port Breakwater Lighthouse - January - On a sunny winters day

Mayfly - July - I don’t see that many mayflies, I don’t think they are very common on Guernsey - this one was in Yorkshire

River Hull - July - The chalk streams round Driffield are superb and this stretch of the river Hull is so quiet and peaceful - you can just make out a few Brown Trout in the shallows on the left

Misumena vatia - May - these crab spiders that hang around in the flowers are nice and easy to photograph

seljalandsfoss, Iceland - October - what a place!

German Tunnels - August - doesn’t look like the most healthy place for a hospital

Stonechat - September - A species that I hardly ever saw growing up, yet is so common here, and always open for photographs

Tomoato Greenhouse, Iceland - October - such a cosy haven in such a chilly place

Wall Screw Moss - March - the sunlight shining through the capsules like tiny light bulbs

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MOVIES