Mark Lawlor's Nature Blog

June was all about the lepidoptera, with some terrific catches in the traps. I’ll start with 20th June because that’s when I saw one of my most wanted species - Latin. We’d set a few traps down on the cliffs down at Corbiere, hoping for a few good migrants or rarities, and it was certainly a good choice of nights to do this. One of the first things I saw when I looked inside my trap, clinging to the edge of the cliff, was this little hairy-legged weirdo. With its pink swirls, white splatters and golden-brown scales, and its crinkled wings and crooked antennae, and its furry legs akimbo, it was a superb specimen.

There were lots and lots of other things in the trap too, and even rarer was Sciota rhenella (Poplar Knot-horn), a rare immigrant to the UK, and new for Guernsey. Although similar to many other species of long-winged pyralids, the broad black band stood out.

The traps were heaving with about 580 moths of 110 species identified, including the subtle Agonopterix scopariella (Broom Buff) which was new to me but no doubt common on the broom plants on the clifftops. Other moths in the traps were 243 Large Yellow Underwings (I’ve never seen so many), 5 Small Mottled Willows, a Palpita vitrealis, 2 Radford’s Flame Shoulders, 28 Barrett’s Marbled Coronets, and a Catoptria verellus, a species I hadn’t seen for years.

Moth trap set up at Rue des Bergers/Pre D’Enfer NR

On 13th June we also had a field-trapping session, at Pre d’Enfer, in the rushes and reeds by the pond. In amongst the selection in the morning were two new species for me, Aethes cnicana (Thistle Conch) and Eudonia delunella (Pied Conch), plus, what turned out to be Coleophora taeniipennella (Small Rush Case-bearer) which was commonly netted in the evening. It was mostly expected species but a Grey Arches was only the second I have seen.

As we were in the unusual position of being in front of the hide, we had a potter around in the evening. There were lots and lots of Aproaerema larseniella and Glyphterix thrasonella there and I found a few figwort weevils on the Water Figwort, which were Cionus hortulanus, rarely recorded in Guernsey. Also, we were able to see two of the very few Royal Fern plants which grows on the island.

It was another fantastic month of trapping in the garden, although the conditions were not great in the first half of June. As the weather became hotter mid-month, I had over 80 species on 17th and 19th albeit containing nothing unexpected. There were similar numbers on 22nd but this included a few better species. I had only my second Eudemis profundana (Oak Marble), after one in 2004, a Catoptria verellus (Marbled Grass Moth), the first since 2018, a Lunar-spotted Pinion, a True Lover’s Knot, and an incredible 29 Brown-tails, after just one in the whole of 2024.

Conditions were even better on the night of 24th June, with the air feeling warm and sticky and the temperatures still 22°C at 10PM. In nearby France, during the day, it had been in the upper 30s and with the breeze drifting from the east from Normandy, it resulted in a very busy night. I counted up 472 moths of 121 species (although this does not include the c.200 Ectoedemia heringella in the trap, which I never count, just estimate). Looking back over the last ten years this is my largest count and second largest species number (124 is my record I think).

There wasn’t any big rarities in there, but good macros included my first Oak Hook-tip for ages, 3 Broad-bordered YU, a Pearly Underwing, a Scarce Merveille du Jour, 7 Small Mottled Willows, a Bordered Straw, and 31 Brown-tails. I also totted up 97 Large Yellow Underwings, which might be usual to many but is unheard of in my garden. Micro-wise, there were 7 Twenty-plume Moths, another Catoptria verellus, and 2 Acrobasis tumidana. Also noticeable was the number of other insects that came in, mainly attracted to the white sheet and walls, lots of weird beetles and flies that need identifying, and there was an unfamiliar hopper. This turned out to be Aphrophora salicina which has never been recorded before in Guernsey, and I had 4 or 5 of them this one night!

Oak Hook-tip - garden, 24 Jun 26 - now its a case of looking at all the Spiny H-T in case I spot an Oak.

The night of 26th June was also very good, this time 330 moths of 101 species, with another Acrobasis tumidana, a Splendid Brocade, Caloptilia leucopennella, and still 27 Brown-tails. I had the trap out on just 6 days in June and I managed 1737 moths and 210 species.

On 20th June I received a message that White-letter Hairstreak had been seen by The Bowl car park, in the same spot as someone snapped a pic of one last year. When I got down there I soon saw one near the top of one of the small elm trees, and after a while in the blazing heat we managed to see three individuals. This indicates, along with 2025’s sighting, that White-letter Hairstreak has colonised Guernsey, which is somewhat unexpected. This is the first time I have seen this butterfly in UK&CI, although I saw a few in Germany once. It’s very rare that I get a butterfly tick nowadays.

White-letter Hairstreak - The Bowl, 20 Jun 26

On 26th June, a bat was found resting in the school canteen and rescued and put in a box. Luckily, I was nearby and took a few phone pics. I was delighted that it wasn’t the expected Pip’, but a fabulous and freaky Grey Long-eared Bat. This species is quite rare in the UK (Brown LEB being more common), but Grey is the standard one here. The second pic below shows better the greyish fur on the upperside. Another unexpected tick.

Grey Long-Eared Bat - Les Beaucamps HS, 26 Jun 26

Variable Cockroach - St Sampsons HS area, 13 Jun 26 - Although this species doesn’t seem to be on the Guernsey list, this nymph being totally jet black with just a single white cumberband, matches Variable Cockroach. Lesser Cockroach nymphs tend to show more pale on them.

Hungarian Mullein - La Rochelle, 21Jun26

The first morning out birding was on 3rd May, when I did a circuit of Pleinmont. It was quiet for numbers of migrants, as May often is, a singing Sedge Warbler was the only record of note. However, the best sighting was non-avian. Wayne and I saw a couple walking a dog along the cliff path, and they said that they’d just seen some dolphins offshore, which were heading west. After a short search, we found them feeding off the rocky islets right of the Hanois, about 8 of them altogether. They were a little distant, but the tall fin and whitish colour meant that they were clearly Risso’s Dolphins. These are quite rare here, especially this early in the year, and these were only my second sighting of the species.

It was a bright, sunny morning on 8th May when I had my regular brief stop at Fort Hommet before work. I wasn’t expecting anything, and there was indeed nothing in the pines. Crossing the plateau, I flushed a lark from the dip, which flew low and away. The area often attracts a lone Skylark stopping off on migration, but this was quite late for one. The bird then surprised me by not flying high or dropping back down in the grass, but landing out of view, up in the lone tree by the road. A lark in a tree immediately sparks interest, and this was only ever going to be one species.

It dropped back down onto a path, and I could see its sharp supercilium but was struggling to see any other distinguishing features. It moved again and landed on top of the short grass on the plateau, and I could finally see the whole bird - a fabulous Woodlark. There are not lots of obvious plumage features that differ from Skylark, especially in duller spring plumage, but the black and white wing bend was visible, the rufous cheek, and I especially like the zig-zag pattern of the scapulars. Just as I was leaving, I saw it fly around briefly, where the different shape was obvious, and it also gave its distinctive call. This is only my second sighting of Woodlark in Guernsey (after the wintering group in 2012-13) and my first “self-found” migrant anywhere. Spring birds are unusual here, most occurring in late autumn.

There were slim pickings for most of the month, with just one or two Spotted Flycatchers noted on the patch. However, the second good sighting of the month happened at dusk on 23rd May when Andy and I were setting up a few moth traps on Icart headland to make the most of a brilliant week for insects (see below). We struggled to find suitable sheltered spots in the breeze, and so it was quite late when we were still putting everything together. It wasn’t quite dark yet, but I was sure I heard a short, two-second “churr” of a Nightjar coming from the trees along the nature walk behind me. I waited and listened and waited and listened, but there was no repeat of the sound, and I was beginning to think I had made an error and shrugged it off. Perhaps it was a distant engine or generator vibrating and carried in the wind. We turned on the lights as it was now properly dark, and we went back to the cars. I said to Andy that, just in case, before we headed back, I was going to walk down the nature trail for a wee way, and perhaps I could hear the call again. He came along, and we both had our head torches on as we headed into the darkness. A short way down, we turned a bend, and a Nightjar came shooting round the corner and above us in the sky, perfectly lit up in the torchlight!

It was a superb sighting. Not a gloomy shape in the dark like most of my other Nightjars, but a clear, point-blank view in the torchlight. The most noticeable feature was the bright white spots of the tail tips, glowing like landing lights on a small plane. This showed that the bird was a male, which matched the churring. We carried on down the trail, and we found it again as we rounded a corner, this time just taking off from a fence post it was perched on. Further along, we saw it a third time, hunting in the lee of the headland below the cliff path, racing back and forth. This is my second Nightjar in Guernsey and the first “self-found” migrant bird. Interestingly, a second bird was seen at Pleinmont at exactly the same time as our bird. I was so pleased that I decided to back myself and follow-up what I had heard. I could have easily just wandered home being none the wiser and missed such an exciting treat.

The last part of May was unusually hot for the time of year and, with winds mainly coming from France, it was definitely a time for regular moth trapping. I had the trap out in the garden on five nights between 21st and 26th May and recorded a total of 1358 moths of 167 species, the peak night being the 25th with 346 moths of 110 species. I have got these kinds of numbers in July or August in the past, but in May, this is exceptional.

I had a few new micros for the garden - Glyphipterix thrasonella (Eyed Rush Moth), Scoparia pyralella (Brown-spot Grey) and Epinotia bilunana (Crescent Tortrix), which are all relatively common on the island but warm weather encourages micros to wander more widely. I also caught an Epinotia nanana (Small Spruce Tortrix), which was the smallest tortrix I have ever seen, and needed a dissection, but appears to be new for the island.

Macro-wise, the rarest species was Many-lined, which I have had once in the garden, many years ago. This one is no doubt a migrant from the continent, as were the total of 39 Small Mottled Willows, easily my best ever period for this species. Other notable species were a Goat Moth, a Gem and a couple of Scorched Wings, plus a very early Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, which doesn’t usually occur until late June (NB - it wasn’t a Langmaid’s).

Many-lined - Garden, 26 May 26 - a second individual

Small Mottled Willow - garden, 22 May 26 - one of many

In the middle of this good week, Andy decided that it was worth trapping on the cliffs, so we set up at Icart, despite the breeze suddenly changing to the north. However, the immigrant moths had already arrived, and we had some fabulous individuals and total when we emptied the traps the next day, with 504 moths across the four traps. I had one lifer, Choristoneura hebenstreitella (Great Tortrix) which was indeed very large, and I assumed it was forsterana at first. The best migrant moth was probably the Striped Hawk-moth, but we also had Small Marbled. Some of the totals for certain species were very high, including a whopping 85 Small Mottled Willow. There were also 12 True Lover’s Knots and 59 Barrett’s Marbled Coronet, two species I have hardly ever had at home but seem to love the cliffs.

Choristoneura hebenstreitella (Great Tortrix) - Icart, 23 May 25

Barrett’s Marbled Coronet - Icart, 23 May 25

The other insect sighting of the month which was exciting, was a lucky discovery at La Garenne Nature Reserve on 30th May. I decided that it would be a great idea to head over to the reserve one afternoon with a big stick and a white umbrella and beat the hell out of the oak trees! I caught lots of interesting, but mostly esoteric stuff, but was particularly caught by two small, striking, vermilion and black ladybirds that I’d never seen before. I got home and thumbed through my brand-new ladybird book and was confused why the species was not there. Proper research entailed, and I managed to find Novius cardinalis (Vedalia Ladybird) which, seems very rare indeed. There is a single record from Jersey and a few from central London, and that’s it for the UK, more or less. It seems that this is an Australian species that has been introduced in various places as a biological weapon against the Cotton Cushion Scale insect, which can affect crops. Just how this Darth Maul cosplayer has turned up in Guernsey is anyone’s guess.

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Mark Lawlor's Nature Blog

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