Two Months to try and catch up on.

 Long time no post. Combination of Mum needing a lot of help now (with a two week break while she was in hospital in July-leaving on her 90th birthday), and the heatwave. Obviously the nearly two quid a litre didn't help much so I saved money and stuck to local venues.

I did the Aston End circuit a few times. There was still a bit of flowing water in the Beane into early July, but has since dried up. The pond at Chells Manor is also dry apart from a small spot, and the one near the model flying club has a few inches left, so the moorhens were able to raise a few chicks, but the mallards have long gone.

Ravens are now a bit more regular, I'm seeing them frequently around Aston, rather than further north towards Walkern. No evidence of breeding, though there does seem to be a pair.

I took a bit of a detour on the 10th to follow up a report of nesting House Martins in Aston opposite the school. There was one occupied nest-something of a rarity these days round here. The meadow by High Wood has been really good, and appears to be the source of the Dark Green Fritillaries I have been seeing in the last couple of years with several tens seen here and nearby. Marbled Whites and browns have also been abundant, but I have been really struggling to find any blues locally.

Other butterflies locally have been a bit of a surprise. My workplace for the last 23 years was finally abandoned before it fell down, and we have moved to a site further down the road. Unfortunately a bit too far for a quick sprint to the now largely inaccessible Norton Green tip. However it is a bit closer to the Knebworth wood complex which no doubt was the source of the Silver Washed Fritillary that flew past the canteen window one morning. The other one was moire of a shock. I was busy pottering in the garden during the milder part of the heatwave and saw a dull butterfly settle on my tall euphorbia sikkimensis. I got close enough to garb a few phone shots of what was a Purple Hairstreak. Despite having an old oak tree outside, I have never seen one on it.

The 14th of July was a red letter day which I nearly blew. Having got home, made a coffee and did some emergency watering in the garden and making arrangements for Mum in hospital I happened to glance at the phones twitter feed and realised that a Sandwich Tern had been found by Tom on the main lake at Fairlands and was apparently still there! Not easy to connect in Herts, most go through very early in the Lea Valley or Wilstone and don't linger. I haven't managed  to connect with one, so it was a bit of a panic grabbing the camera and racing down there. Fortunately Tony Hukin and Dave Beer were just leaving and pointed it out to me, so I joined Tom down by the cafe for a closer look. I then walked round to the north side and got a few shots.

I was joined by Alan Ford, and in between looking at the tern I scanned the jetty opposite where there was a large gathering of mostly Black Headed Gulls. There were a few Lesser Black backs as usual-a mixture of ages and a much paler bird which seemed too dark to be a Herring. I took some photos for reference as it seemed to be either Caspian or Yellow Legged but we couldn't be certain. Being a 3cy bird the dull flesh legs, long bill and small head suggested Caspian, but our regular adult bird caught us all out and proved to be a hybrid. Social media responses all agreed it was a real Caspian, and therefor likely the first pure bird for the Stevenage area.

My first real trip out of the county for several months was at the beginning of August when I took Jane and Sarah to Hyde Hall for the Plant Fair. The heat had taken a dreadful toll of many of the plants, but it was good to see that much had survived quite well. Naturally the dry garden was more than ok. What really caught my eye were the huge number of Small Red Eyed damsels around the Lily pond. Unlike most of my past views of them sitting on the pond weed doing nothing, these were incredibly active, very territorial and often high up in the trees and shrubs..

Today I had a day off and started my autumn birding with a short trip to the Wallington area. A stroll along the Baldock footpath produced a Wheatear (someone else had eight) and three Yellow Wagtails. Further along the road to the village the four Whinchats found yesterday were still present feeding in a weedy hedge, though at some distance. Decent numbers of Corn Buntings Linnets and Yellowhammers in the area, but I didn't want to stay out for long as the heat was really building up again, so a quick visit to Wallington church ended the trip-no Spotted Flycatchers but several House Martins was good to see.

Jubilee Week

 I was really looking forward to the long Bank Holiday and was expecting to be busy every day, either in the garden or out birding, with perhaps a long day out.

Didn't quite work out like that, and I ended up with the entire week off. Mum had a fever, and then a bad fall on the Saturday, badly hurting her leg (the good one) and was no longer able to get up, let alone stand. So I phoned 999 and was told that an ambulance would be with us within 14 hours..... Not good to hear, and she was in great pain and getting very cold so I tried to move her and ended up in a lot of pain myself-Ive still got shoulder problems from my fall earlier this year and ended up straining my back and arms . Fortunately the ambulance arrived very quickly and after assessing her she spent the rest of the weekend resting. By the time a GP called to check up on Monday she was back on her feet albeit rather bruised and the fever had subsided.

I had a bit of a temperature and a cough as well-tested negative for Covid, and was extremely tired but put that down to stress and my Addisons. Wasn't able to do much for a few days but by Wednesday I was moving around and managed and hour or so in the garden. This was fortunate as there was a really big mega in the country.

The first twitchable Eleanora's Falcon had turned up in Kent and had been seen reliably near Sandwich from the Friday, so naturally I was expecting to be there over the weekend. I called Colin once Mum was settled and told him I couldn't make it so he went down on the Sunday and got decent views, and very close views of a female Red Footed Falcon (one of two on site). Luckily for me, having checked each day and seen hundreds of stunning images being posted, it was still present on Wednesday so I called Colin and he was up for a return visit Thursday.

A decent run with light traffic saw us arrive not long after 0800 and a half full car park. It was a bit of a long slow trudge up to the raised bank and I could see the crowd ahead of me with a blob in a hawthorn by the path. Showing well to put it mildly. After a while the Eleanora's took flight and went low below the bank where I lost it, and then it was found in another hawthorn even closer, having caught what appeared to be an emperor dragonfly. Cue the machine gun sounds of lots of cameras. After digesting the emperor it decided to fly again just as I was getting the camera set up for flight shots which was typical, so I decided to wander down the track, watched the hunting Hobbys (3) and a very distant very pale headed female Red Footed Falcon. Didn't see a Kestrel all day!

The slow amble back was productive. I had hoped to see some dragonflies, in the ditches but the only ones were distant, being pursued by falcons. Talking of which the Eleanora's was now hunting over one of the larger bodies of water, looking like a super sized and more robust Hobby. Very impressive when it was high overhead, with slower heavier wing beats. We did miss a Golden Oriole that was seen on a couple of occasions, and a Honey Buzzard was seen in the afternoon.

We left late morning and headed up to a secret site and another lifer. Colin and I had tried on a couple of occasions in recent years to locate Late Spider Orchids at one of their known Kent locations. Unfortunately despite directions and misunderstandings we never found the right location. Since then I had been given grid refs to two spots. Unfortunately the Folkstone site was raided a few weeks back and all the orchids were stolen so I was keeping my fingers crossed when we got to the finally reached our destination-not helped by trying to navigate with a mobile and very poor to non existent reception. It was a relief to walk up the steep slope and see the cages ahead of us, where we spent twenty minutes or so appreciating the massive variation in the flowers. 

I was really flagging by now but we decided to pay a visit to Park Gate Down, where we were able to see a few more orchids-Fragrant, Common Spotted, Twayblade, a few potential emergent Pyramidal, a couple of almost over Early Purples, lots of the sites speciality Monkey Orchid, and the very magnificent huge Lady all on its own in the middle of a meadow, plus several Greater Butterflies. All in all a fine end to the day out.

 

May

 Here is a summary of May's activities.

On the 1st, being a bank holiday weekend, Colin and I decided to avoid the coast, and. stay fairly local. As  with previous years we headed up to Paxton, but based on last years experience went directly to the northern section of Diddington pits. The pits themselves weren't particularly exciting though there were a few Common Terns and Sand Martins feeding overhead, along with a few Swallows. The Nightingales were not playing ball this year, and while we heard four, all were well hidden. We also only managed to hear one Grasshopper Warbler, but there were good numbers of Willow, Chiffchaff, Garden, Blackcap and both Whitethroats, and Reed and Sedge Warblers. No Cuckoo or Hobby though.

We then went up to Bluntisham's Berry Fen. The lay-by was pretty good with one Great White, Six Cattle and most of the twenty Little Egrets that we saw around the Fen. There were a few Grey Herons but not being a brilliant white they were a bit trickier to find. We had hoped to see the female Blue Winged Teal that had been present for some time but, if it was present it was well hidden. The drake Garganey it was associating with was a bit easier and showed quite well.

On the way back home, we called in at Hitchin Lavender where after some searching with Mike Illett the female Ring Ouzel was eventually located. There were also two Wheatear and decent numbers of Swallows.

Our next big trip out was to Hampshire with a variety of sites planned.

The New Forest was the first area. Our normal spots proved to be a bit problematic as the car parks were  closed for the summer, but I had a couple of other areas in mind that seemed worthwhile following some reading, and fortunately access wasn't a problem. 

Knightwood Oak is a section of mixed woodland and open areas. We parked in the Woosens car park, and I had expected to head north. The steep path down was very muddy with a lot of boggy areas at the bottom, so we headed south west instead, but still managed to find a very wet area to negotiate. A family of Stonechat in one of the open birch areas was nice, as was the singing Tree Pipit. We then found an area of mixed conifers and birch. Crests were present, and while most were Goldcrest, one Firecrest was also heard. At one point it was above my head in a birch but couldn't be seen let alone photographed, and we only got flight views as it headed away from us.

Further north at Bolderwood, a circuit north east of our car park was worthwhile. A female Redstart showed quite well by the car park. Further on, we encountered a rather deep stream to cross and then entered a conifer and clear-fell area. Here we found another Tree Pipit, and while Colin carried on I lingered for a while which was fortunate as I heard a singing Wood Warbler and then had close views of a male Crossbill gathering food in the pipit tree. After rejoining Colin there was another flyby Crossbill and a few Siskins before we reached the car.

Our final destination was Martin Down. Butterflies were abundant as expected with hoards of Small Blues everywhere and large numbers of Common Blues, some Adonis Blues and Dingy Skippers. Small Heath were everywhere, but Colin got the only brief glimpse of Marsh Fritillary. A few Greater Butterfly Orchids were seen at the south end of the dyke, but the Burnt orchids were rather poor this year.

Birds were as expected, lots of Skylark, Whitethroat and Yellowhammer. One very distant calling Cuckoo was my first of the year, but things like hirundines were virtually non existent. The avian highlight was actually back by the car while I was packing up and a Turtle Dove flew over at very close range. I haven't had such good views for a long time.

Some Photos

 The photos that have accumulated in the cameras over the last month or two have finally been copied to the computer, so I can now post a few of them.

One of the Ring Necked Parakeets that were feeding in the Willows in Fairlands Valley back in March. They have now departed, but, as I am still hearing one or two occasionally, there is a possibility of nesting in the Stevenage area.

 Lots of Blackcaps singing in the area, but throughout April other summer visitors were lacking. This one posed well in one of the Fairland's copses.

The Treecreepers in the valley have been tricky to find this year, and I can only locate one territory in Ashtree Woods.

Further afield, one of many Corn Buntings in the Wallington area.

The Hares have been very obliging in the Knebworth and Langley area, with up to a dozens seen. 

Two Wagtails. The Grey was frequenting a reservoir for the stables near Aston End for a few weeks. The Yellow was a nice find at the end of April in one of the paddocks.

The Fox was seen along the Beane. There are also a couple of young ones in Fairlands that I saw recently, and although I haven't seen or heard them recently, a neighbour has mentioned that one visits his garden.

The Red Eared Terrapin has been in Fairlands for a while now, and is usually seen on the same bit of mesh.

March

 It's now the end of March, and after a very warm spell we are now getting snow showers and frosty nights again. Hope it doesn't go the same way as last year with a very cold miserable spring.

The month kicked off with a Sunday walk around Fairlands Lakes, being joined by Andy Day. We met up near the old farmhouse where one of the regular photographers had staked out a Long Tailed Tit's nest. It is one of about half a dozen that Andy and Tom Spellar had located so far this year. There were a lot of Robins, Blackbirds, Dunnocks and Song Thrushes singing from their territories, and the early Willow buds were being devoured the parakeets, but otherwise it was still late winter. The Water Rail was still being seen, a very elusive Little Grebe was on the conservation lake, there were still some Siskin around, and decent numbers of gulls and ducks.

Unfortunately, having checked the owl box-now occupied by squirrels the search of the woods on the way home was cut short when I had a bad fall and messed up my left shoulder (the good arm) which is still causing issues nearly a month later. Later paid a visit to A&E and basically I'm just going to have give it plenty of time. Perhaps I should have started on fixing the fence instead, as thats off the cards for the time being.

Not being up for much, the following Sunday I was back at Fairlands. It was starting to feel like spring now, and I heard my first singing Chiffchaffs. The parakeets were still demolishing the willows around the farmhouse. Three Great Crested Grebes were on the main lake, along with a male Tufted Duck, and an unusual sight were the three Mute Swans in addition to the resident pair.

A bit of weekend rescheduling enabled an early Saturday morning walk around Aston End. The Tawny Owl was still being harassed near Redwings Farm. I suspect that the three parakeets that seem to frequent the area have taken an interest in a nest hole. I recorded four Chiffchaffs, several Chaffinch and Greenfinch (seem to be recovering a bit from their decline) territories, and a diversion into High Wood produced a singing male Marsh Tit. There were still a few Fieldfare and Redwing in the sheep fields, and there was clearly a movement of Meadow Pipits as there were 16 with the thrushes. A full list is here https://ebird.org/checklist/S105201315

With the clocks changing on the 27th, I decided to take advantage of the Saturday morning and visit Dyes Lane and Norton. The last try in January was halted when my boot sole came adrift in the mud, but luckily after the recent warm weather the ground was a bit drier this time. Lots of singing Chiffchaffs, but no Blackcaps (I did hear one shopping earlier in the week). I had hoped to get a Wheatear or two but was unsuccessful-with the fencing off of the tip we have lost the traditional spot and can only hope the odd one turns up in nearby fields. I got my first local Grey and Red Legged Partridges as well as several Peacock and Small Tortoiseshells, and also the first bluebells of the year. List here https://ebird.org/checklist/S105591549

Elsewhere it has been interesting. On a few nights I have been woken up by a pair of Tawny Owls in the early hours, and I suspect the oak tree outside the bedroom is being used at times though they have also been a bit distant. It has been a long time since I heard them regularly. There are also a couple of foxes in the area judging by the noise and I have seen one of them recently. Otherwise, there was a fairly early singing Blackcap on the 25th at Poplars, and a flyover Yellow Wagtail at work on the 23rd-again a bit early.

February

 January always starts off with lots of enthusiasm, after all, it's a new year and a fresh start. Then February arrives and things go downhill fast. Normally it is the worst month for bad weather and this year was no exception with rain and strong winds most weekends and three severe storms to boot. Consequently I only managed to get out on three days.

 On the Saturday 5th, there was a clear period in the afternoon before heavy rain arrived to ruin the following day, which gave me a couple of hours around Fairlands Lakes. I spent a while at the balancing pond again, but the Water Rail wasn't playing ball. It was rather windy, so small birds were elusive, but there were a few small tit flocks, and a few finches (no Siskin though) and plenty of singing Robins and Blackbirds. Gulls were a bit tricky as there were a lot of people feeding them, but there must have been a couple of hundred Black Heads, as well as four each of Herring and Lesser Black Backs and a rather high count of 25 Common Gulls.

 I then had to wait until the last weekend to get out again. The Saturday 26th afternoon was spent doing a circuit around Aston End in warm and sunny conditions though it was still a bit breezy. Following the previous weeks storms, there were a few trees down and a lot of debris, but it was actually better than expected. The ground was rather firm and dry and there was a reasonable amount of water in the river, and the only downer was the fenced off fields and badly damaged footpath by Gresley Way where the new estate is going up.

 Undoubted highlight was the Tawny Owl calling near Redwings Farm. Judging by the noise, the crows weren't happy having it around. Finches and buntings were in short supply-the flock of Chaffinch and Yellowhammers seen recently appears to have dispersed, with only a few birds in the area now. The scrubby fields south of Walkern seem to be the favoured Redwing spot at the moment, with 24 birds feeding in a hawthorn clump. Further on, the big sheep field was as expected where I found the Fieldfare, with around 60 birds present, though I suspect there were more out of view.

On the Sunday, I was out with Colin visiting the Brecks. It was a sunny day, but rather cold with an overnight frost. Our first port of call was St Helens picnic area at Santon Warren. A short walk across and along the river produced  a good number of Siskin, Brambling and Redpolls with a few Nuthatches, Marsh Tit, a Bullfinch and some thrushes in the paddocks. It was a bit busy with dog walkers so we headed off to Lynford Arboretum, which turned out to be incredibly busy despite the early hour. We missed the Hawfinches which had left their roost though one or two were supposed to be visiting the feeders, which were busy with Brambling, Siskin, Nuthatch-basically a repeat of St Helens with the bonus of a few Yellowhammers. I had hoped for Crossbill and Firecrest here but we had no luck.

The next bit involved a drive around various spots in the hope of finding a displaying Goshawk and singing Woodlark. There were several stop offs which weren't successful, though it seemed that every ploughed field had a big flock of Fieldfare in it. Eventually we arrived at the best known watchpoint, stopping off a few hundred yards west on the higher ground. A superb male Goshawk was seen shortly after we stopped, and there were a lot of Buzzards up as well over the woods to the north east. Unfortunately and presumably due to the wind the Woodlarks couldn't be located anywhere.

 We finished at RSPB Lakenheath Fen. It was a pleasant end to our day but we didn't add anything to our year list. The wind was keeping Bearded Tits down and despite a long spell at the Joist Fen shelter, no Cranes or Kingfishers showed. The washes were more interesting with a small flock of Avocets and Oystercatchers among the wildfowl, and there was also a lot of Marsh Harrier activity, including a displaying male, and a nice pair of Stonechat as well.

The rest of January

 On Saturday 22nd I went for a walk around Aston End in the afternoon. It is usually a fairly quiet time of day, but being fairly warm it was pleasant. Unfortunately I noticed that work is starting east of Gresley Way for the new houses being put up, so a nice area of fields will soon disappear and generate a lot of disturbance in the Beane valley. Talking of which, the river is barely flowing despite the wettish previous couple of months, so the development will naturally been even more abstraction.

The walk was a bit of a slog and it was hard finding much of interest. The usual big Fieldfare flock appears to have moved on, along with all the Redwings and I couldn't find any Linnets, though there was a decent (at least for these days) gathering of at least 10 Chaffinch and 25 Yellowhammers in one of the riverside trees-no Brambling though.

The following morning I had considered going up to Therfield and beyond, but news of a Water Rail in Fairlands meant a late change of plans. Being the first for several years (and I hadn't seen the previous) I was keen to see it-it was in the muddy reeds of the balancing pond. A long spell along with a lad and his mother failed to produce the bird so I had a quick walk around the main lakes, producing 9 Siskin, 4 Greenfinch and 15 Redwings. The usual 'Caspian' Gull X307 was also present.

The afternoon of the 29th  and I was back in Fairlands Valley. Another long wait by the balancing pond was enlivened by three drake Teal. The circuit around the lakes produced the usual selection of gulls and ducks, and I returned through the woods to the pond where there was another long wait. I was just about ready to quit when I noticed the Water Rail at the norther end and largely out of view. Luckily I was able to move round to get a better view through the willows and grabbed a few shots.

Sunday was a planned trip to Abberton. It had been a bit frosty overnight, but it meant a bright sunny and cold morning. Starting off at Layer de le Hay, there were good numbers of wildfowl including several Goosanders, and the redhead Smew flew in while we were there. A Rock Pipit was also good. The nearby farm sheep field held 7 Cattle Egret. On Layer Breton, there were lots more wildfowl to scan through, and one of the drake Scaups showed quite well. A spell around the visitor centre produced the Long Tailed Duck that we had missed earlier but there was no sign of any divers or grebes. At Billets Farm screen we were told that the White Fronted Geese were off de le Hay so we went back there to find 29+ along with some Barnacle Geese. 

A new spot for me was at Abberton Church on the east side-we were told that the Bewicks Swans were here along with Red Necked and Slavonian Grebes. Thanks to disturbance everything was well offshore. I managed to pick the swans out at a great distance among some much larger Mutes, and while there were a few suspects we couldn't be sure of confidently identifying any of the grebes.

After a bit of lunch we paid a visit to Copt Hall where I was hoping to see Short Eared Owl and Hen Harrier on the salt marsh. Had it not been sunny and lots of dog walkers on the embankments we might have been lucky. The low tide probably didn't help much either, so there was no point walking down to the estuary to check for the Great Northern seen in recent weeks.