May 2025 part ii
/The bird of the second half of May was bumped into whilst in the car on a family outing. There were lots of birds of prey in the sky on the sunny afternoon of 18th May and, as well as plenty of Buzzards, I had already seen 3 different Marsh Harriers during the journey. As we climbed the hill along Pleinmont Road, about level with Mont Herault, I noticed yet another Marsh Harrier flying low over the fields to my right. After passing it, my brain clicked into gear and I had a sudden thought it was not a harrier at all. I asked Rosie to stop the car and I jumped out to look back. Straight away, I saw a Black Kite gaining height and moving easterly towards me.
Black Kite - near Mont Herault, 18 May 25
It carried on soaring for a wee while and I managed to get my camera out and fire off a few shots. It was only then I realised I was standing in the middle of the main road over a blind summit, and I really should move. The family thought so too with their frantic gestures. There had been a Black Kite seen 48 hours prevuisly but not at all the day before so I was considering whether this may be a new bird in. However, when I compared my photos with those taken on Friday, the nicks and gaps in the flight feathers matched the pattern exactly so it was the same bird as before. Black Kite is still a surprisingly rare bird here as we thought records would increase and it would become a regular visitor. This is only the 14th in Guernsey and only the second since 2020.
Black Kite - near Mont Herault, 18 May 25
The rest of May was quiet for birds with just the regular passage species noted. On 30th May I managed to get out in perfect conditions to look for insects on the cliffs, warm, dry and not very windy. The cliffs in Spring are full of insects in these conditions and I saw lots of interesting species. There were four lifers seen with Scarce 7-spot Ladybird being the one I was especially looking for and wasn’t hard to find in the end as they are nearly always by the large ants’ nests. The large Honeysuckle-feeding sawfly Abia fasciata (or Banded Clubhorn) was photographed. The other two new species were Spiked Shieldbug, of which I only saw a tiny nymph which was predating springtails, and the Broom-feeding weevil Polydrusus confluens.
Evacanthus interruptus - Corbiere, 30 May 25 - a pleasing photo of a distinctive leafhopper
Scarce 7-spot Lapybird - Corbiere, 30 May 25 - It looks pretty much like your standard 7-spot, with the main difference being a couple of extra white spots on the underside.
Abia fasciata - Corbiere, 30 May 25 - one of the larger sawflies
Pammene aurana - Corbiere, 30 May 25 - a very typical moth on the spring on the cliffs which is more or less the only place I see it
Grey Bush-cricket nymph - Corbiere, 30 May 25
Violet-winged Mining Bee - Corbiere, 30 May 25
Spiked Shieldbug nymph - Corbiere, 30 May 25
Corizus hyoscyami - Corbiere, 30 May 25