January 2026 — Just A Bird

Least Adders-tongue - Fort Hommet, 6 Jan 26

I knew that there was a population of the rare and weird fern, the Least Adder’s-tongue, on the patch, but I didn’t know where exactly it was. I even knew the approximate location, within 10 metres or so, and I had casually looked for it in the past but with no success. The problem is that it is so very small, just a cm or two high, and it only grows in about a metre square of turf on the island. I am sure that I could have asked someone to tell me exactly where it was, but I never have done. So pretty tricky to find, and it is also a mid-winter species, growing before it gets swamped by other vegetation. Someone had put a pic online during the week, which reminded me to go have another look and, one cold afternoon after work, I wandered around the turf in the vicinity of the relevant outcrop of rocks. As usual, I was aimlessly blundering, when a lady walking her dog stopped and assumed what I was looking for. She very kindly pointed out the exact spot for me and we saw a few “tongues” poking up through the moss. So, so small, it is a definite hands and knees job. The photos show the weird spore-release slits, and the small, single, rubbery leaf.

There were no drastic cold snaps nearby in January, so no hard-weather bird influxes. However, there had been a bit of a White-fronted Goose influx into the UK and a small flock of 9 birds arrived in Guernsey so I went to take a look. The fields of Barras Lane are our equivalent to Slimbridge and I found the White-fronts there, feeding with 5 Canada Geese, a few feral Barnacle Geese and 30+ Greylags. I was more interested in a weird sleeping bird which was greyish with a darker brown head. I couldn’t tell what it was until it started wandering around and revealed itself to be an escapee Australian Maned Duck, a species I had never seen before in Guernsey. this shows why we still have to be very wary of “wild” species of rare wildfowl suddenly appearing. We are an isolated island, but we still get wandering fence-hoppers appearing every now and again.

goose flock - Barras Lane Fields, 3 Jan 26

goose flock - Barras Lane Fields, 3 Jan 26 - the Maned Duck is the greyish blob on the right

It seems to be a good winter for Great Northern Diver with numerous birds seen round the coast this year so far. I’ve seen birds at Vazon, Cobo and these two, close together off Rousse. The numbers seems to be decline a few years ago but they seem to be making a comeback. I didn’t see a great deal else during January, especially because the weather was awful - it rained every single day in January on Guernsey! I did pop in to see a few Purple Sandpipers at Fort Hommet late in the month which is always a good species to get on the patch list.

Just A Bird

Just A Bird

Mark Lawlor's Nature Blog

Just A Bird

Just A Bird