February 2022

There was an abrupt halt to everything at the start of the month when I discovered that I had contracted COVID and was isolated into my study until I was clear. Luckily for me I was not very ill with it and felt fine after a couple of days of a sore throat. However, my body insisted that I would continue to test positive for the full ten days and so was confined to the camp bed, missing 6 days of work. So, apart from the odd Buzzard out of the window, I saw very little. However, a true naturalist can find something interesting to see anywhere and I managed to take the photos below by leaning out of the window.

Bankesia conspurcatella - garden, 2 Feb 22

Bankesia conspurcatella - garden, 2 Feb 22

Mind you, I was very pleased that the virus found me at a quiet time of year and not in the middle of migration season, so I did not miss anything exciting. After escaping, there was not much activity on the island but was pleased to see my first Great Crested Grebe here in Guernsey since November 2020. This is incredible for a species that was wintering in most of the large bays when I first arrived on the island but unfortunately has declined so much since then. The bird was very distant on the far side of Vazon on 11th.

Rock Pipit - Pulias, 10 Feb 22

This time of year is a good time to look for the first Scandinavian Rock Pipits on the local beaches. The one above was very subtle - a bit greyer round the head and back, and a bit peachy on the face. The one below was more obvious and Water Pipit-like. It’s hard to know whether these birds are actually ones starting to pass through in the very early spring, or ones that have wintered here just now only showing plumage differences. I would say probably the latter.

Rock Pipit - Vazon, 23 Feb 22

Rock Pipit - Vazon, 23 Feb 22

Mid-month the violence of Storm *insert name here* arrived in Guernsey and took a particular dislike to our trampoline, throwing it through our trellis and grapevine, scalping the top of the wall in the process. And it did this not just once, but twice! - which was a bit rude. Any hopes of a rarity arriving in this windy week were dashed. I did try a bit of a seawatch on 21st but the only things passing Chouet were Kittiwakes. Those guys don’t seem to give a monkeys about stormy weather, just fly through it like its a light breeze. I wonder why they don’t just pitch down on the coast like the other gulls until its passed?

garden destruction, 18 Feb 22 - the mini-comets are hailstones

The rest of the month was quiet. I relocated the wintering Coal Tit at Le Guet on 23rd and a Merlin was watched buzzing the wagtails at the Shingle Bank on 27th. It was so tiny I thought it was a Starling flying in at first - so probably a first-winter male as it was quite brown.

Marsh Harrier - L’Eree, 25 Feb 22

A few minutes later on 27th I was driving past Vazon and noticed a whitish lump on the sand which wasn’t usually there. So I parked up and scampered down the beach to see the sad sight of a dead cetacean. I was confused at first as it lacked the beak of a dolphin so I thought it might be one of the small whales. However, looking it up at home I realised that it was a Risso’s Dolphin, a species that has been seen increasingly in the seas around Guernsey. It was a shame to see a species I’d never seen before dumped on the beach like this - it sounds like a few dolphins had been washed ashore around the island during the bad weather.

Risso's Dolphin - Vazon, 27 Feb 22

Risso's Dolphin - Vazon, 27 Feb 22 - with a very surprised expression (like someone had just poked an eclair through the curtain - eh, mum :D )