Mark Lawlor's Nature Blog

It’s quarter to six, Sunday evening on 13th September. My wife is at work and me and the kids are tucking into a delicious pasta dish I made them for tea. The bird alert goes off and a photo flashes up of a possible Hen Harrier at Pleinmont. I glance at the phone screen and……..”frickin’ hell it’s a bloney PALLID!!!”

I dashed around, collecting everything together I needed whilst my daughter finished of the last few mouthfuls of her tea, then told her we were definitely going out for a drive in the car. As is usual in these circumstances I got stuck behind a slow driver who didn’t seem to comprehend the importance of the situation. I arrived on the headland maybe about 25 past 6 and was mortified that the bird had not been relocated since the news went out - how very dare it! I parked up just east of the scramble track and forlornly scanned the fields.

This was starting to get very familiar as, about the same time last year, I had pulled up in more or less the same spot after work one day, to dip out on Guernsey’s first Pallid Harrier - and not by too much either. I was certain that this bird had headed off east, never to be again but at least this time there were plenty of people looking. I kept scanning the Mont Herault fields and was momentarily fooled by a distant Short-eared Owl quartering the area.

Nothing had been seen of the Pallid for almost an hour, and I was entering the beyond-disgruntled zone. Then a message popped up that it had apparently just been showing east of the watch house, which was however just over the rise from where we were and therefore not visible. I was contemplating dashing into the car and racing round there when another message flashed up from someone else that it was now flying by the Vau de Monel which was 180 degrees from the other sighting. My reply of “It can’t be in two places at once!” was indicative of my total confusion and I was flummoxed as to where to look next and what to do.

It was now about five to seven and I was frantically spinning back and forth, stressfully scanning and scanning in any direction. Then I heard some shouting from behind me and the guys who were on the taller mound were desperately trying to attract my attention. They were silhouetted against the sky and I couldn’t really tell which way they were pointing and the shouts did not arrive at my ears as fully-formed words. I panicked and dived into the car to get closer to them, u-turning quickly and bouncing through the field (which my daughter found hilarious). The phone went off within a few yards of setting off, I skidded to a halt and it was Wayne telling me they could see it towards the TV mast - an area which was not still visible for me. So I revved up and sped away again, only to stop suddenly for a second time as Wayne was now flagging me down by the roadside. He pointed out that it was currently very low over the Societe fields but I still couldn’t see the sodding thing!

I thought rather than trying to glimpse it from where we were, since I was in the car, I might as well just drive right up to the fields in question. I set off again and bounced to a halt in the pull-in, flung myself out of the car for the third time in a minute, and had a superbly close fly-past of the beautiful PALLID HARRIER, as it slowly flapped across the road in front of me. Success! And a much deserved grip-back on last year.

I grabbed my camera and fired off some shots as it passed closest to me but they were unfortunately out of focus. The bird took its time and hunted round the bottom of the fields for a while before eventually disappearing behind the slope. It was so exciting to see a Pallid Harrier - my first one since I was in Israel all those years ago. I have not seen this species in the UK as it was still a pretty gripping rarity when we moved over here. The colour of this bird was astounding, a deep and glowing orange on the underparts and also on the upper outer-tail feathers, like LED lights along the tail. The face pattern was ideal for Pallid with the pale goggles contrasting with the dark face, and a fully pale collar, with the chocolate-coloured boa over the nape looking pretty uniform. It didn’t return straight away and seemed to just disappear because it was travelling so low. The same or another Short-eared Owl appeared in the field below us for even better views than before. A short while later I picked up the Pallid Harrier again over the scramble track and it flew towards us and gave us another relaxed fly-past which I managed a video of, but it was well after 7 pm now and the light was getting too dull for good photos. Satisfied with two excellent views, I headed home.

Back to the first week of September, when my birding opportunities become less flexible due to returning to work. After school on 2nd September I popped up to Pleinmont on an unlikely search for a Bonelli’s Warbler sp that had been briefly there the previous day. Despite only a short visit it was pleasing to see a few migrants about with 2 Redstarts and 3 Whinchats together at one point. I think that this was due to the amazing numbers of flying insects swarming in the balmy conditions. There was also a Reed Warbler in the trees and 3 Swifts feeding over the headland. Calling in at L’Eree, as many as 35 White Wagtails fed in the saltmarsh with a single early-arriving Grey Wagtail.

3rd September and it was high tide as I made my way to school. A large flock of gulls was feeding at the surfline at Pulias which contained 7 different Med Gulls which is an unusually high number for there. One of them was a very brown individual which initially looked confusing but I assume was a late moulting juvenile bird. A brief stop at Richmond, Vazon a few minutes later revealed two more Med Gulls, one of which was wearing a coded ring - RR1E. This bird is from a ringing project at a colony on the Atlantic coast of France. On the way back from work called in at the Vale Pond and saw the Cattle Egret that has been there a few days.

juvenile Mediterranean Gull - Pulias, 3 Sep 20

The next weekend was a no-birding weekend for me as Rosie was working all day, both days, but I did have a brief look from the car on 6th for the Pec that had been found at Richmond the day before, but only saw a Knot. After work the next day I did successfully see the Pectoral Sandpiper on the beach but not very close as it was quite low tide. It flew in from the west just as I was about to set off home, so not very satisfactory views. So I tried searching again on 10th when I was able to get pretty close to the wader flock for potentially cracking photos, but of course it was not amongst them.

The rest of the second week was quiet. I did get out to Pleinmont for an afternoon scoot around on 12th but there was few migrants. At least 5 Firecrests in the valleys seemed to me to be local post-breeding birds rather than new-in arrivals.

Moth-trapping was quiet at the start of September but livened up big style on the night of 11th. I blearily wandered outside towards the trap in the morning and tried to focus on what seemed to be a small bird resting, spreadeagled on the patio. Straining my eyes through the gap in the grapevine I thought crikey, that’s a moth, and a bloody big one! A few steps closer and I could see what it was, an absolute beaut of a CLIFDEN NONPAREIL, one of the most enigmatic species there is, and a new species for me.

I could see it was already starting to vibrate its wings and I was afraid it was going to fly before I got anywhere near it with a pot. So I decided that running in to get my camera was the best option and took some in situ shots of it sat on the tiles.

Satisfied that I got some shots for the record, I dashed inside again to collect a larger pot and I was lucky enough to catch it before it flew, which meant that I could get some proper pictures of it later in the day. It always rested with its forewings slightly open revealing the blue band, unlike the Red Underwings I get which always seem to have their wings closed. It even looked spectacular from underneath. 2020 seems to have been an excellent year in the UK for the species which no doubt is reestablishing itself in the country. The same night as I had mine, two more were also trapped on the island.

The other good species recorded was from the next night (12th) when I was surprised to see a distinctive Box Tree Moth (Cydalima perspectalis) resting under an egg box. Well ‘good’ as in a new species for me and only the 3rd record for the island, but not good overall since this is an invasive species which is increasing exponentially in Europe and not good for gardeners with box hedges.

The second half of August was pretty good birding overall despite no garnish of a rare. Just 20 minutes at Pulias on 16th and I had Sedge Warbler, Redstart and Greenshank, and the next day saw 2 Green Sandpipers at Claire Mare and a Pied Flycatcher at Fort Hommet - a selection not to be sniffed at and an indication that autumn had properly arrived. An education this summer has been improving my understanding of juvenile gulls and a few stops at Perelle beach have revealed a few Yellow-legged Gulls, mainly via the tutelage of Wayne. There’s many subtle differences for identification, but the main thing is that if it looks fresh and neat in August, it’ll be a Herring/LBBG, but if its faded/worn/moulty then it’ll be more than likely Yellow-legged.

second Yellow-legged Gull - Perelle, 18 Aug 20

On 24th August I managed a few hours out and a big surprise was a Green Sandpiper flushed from the shore on the west side of Port Grat, only the second bird I have seen on the patch I think. There was also a Kingfisher there, my first of the year. At high tide I went to look at the Sandwich Tern roost on Houmet Paradis island because Mark had seen about 150 birds there the day before, a record count for Guernsey and a sight worth seeing. When I got there it was indeed rather impressive but I thought that perhaps there were even more. I gave it a couple of counts and soon worked out that there were actually at least 355 terns present! This number was really incredible considering that prior to 2020 there has never been even a 3-figure flock seen before. Just why there has been so many this year is a mystery. Perhaps there is some specific disturbance elsewhere in the Channel where they usually congregate.

Sandwich Terns - Houmet Paradis, 24 Aug 20

Ringed Plover - opposite Houmet Paradis, 24 Aug 20

Ringed Plovers & a Dunlin - opposite Houmet Paradis, 24 Aug 20

Suddenly, on 29th August the winds finally swung round to the north and some seawatching was required. Unfortunately on the first morning I was unable to attend the session due to childcare requirements and I missed some fabulous skua passage. Undaunted, I managed to dash out for a bit in the afternoon, managing two hours on the rocks by myself between 2 and 4, and had a whale of a time. I saw 7 Bonxies and 16 Arctic Skuas including a fine flock of six birds. I may have even had a skua sweep but I couldn’t be 100% - one of the distant birds looked almost certainly a Pom and I am pretty sure I had a Long-tailed Skua just outside the reef. I’d just seen a few Arctics pass and this one looked smaller and lighter in flight and the plumage looked good - very pale below, a palish brown above and an almost white head. Perhaps with a few people beside me, I may have nailed it.

The conditions looked similar the next day and so I went out to Jaonneuse for a morning session. The skuas had slowed down but we still had 21 Bonxies, 5 Arctics and a Pomarine. There wasn’t much else passing but there was my first passage Kittiwakes and Common Scoter of the autumn.

31st August was the final day of the school holidays and I went up to Pleinmont. There were a few migrants about including single Swift, Whinchat and Yellow Wagtail. It was a bright and sunny day and Mark and I had a kettle of raptors suddenly appear in the sky above us. They were difficult to study due to their height and position but we picked out a clear Honey Buzzard in amongst the 20+ Common Buzzards.

Willow Warbler - Claire Mare, 17 Aug 20 - popped into Claire Mare whilst Chris was having a quick ringing session. Nice to get some birds in the hand, it has been a while.

young Collared Doves in nest - garden, 18 Aug 20 - it is amazing how quickly baby birds grow. On the previous post, the photo of the fluffy babies was only 10 days before the above. The birds left the nest about 2 days after this.

In the moth trap, despite the good time of year, I didn’t really get any notable species. Two species which do seem to have increased this year are the pair of invasive micros, Opogona omoscopa and Tachystola acroxantha, both recent additions to the local insect life. On 18th August I had eight of each species in the moth trap. There was pretty stiff southerly winds on the few days up to and including 20th August which I thought may have brought some interesting butterflies to Pleinmont so I went for a wander. There was none (which matched the lack of migrant moths) but I did spot a wasp feeding on the flower of a clifftop Fennel which I thought looked a bit odd. A close look revealed it to be a Tree Wasp, which has only a couple of records for Guernsey - not what I was searching for but a cracking new species nonetheless.

Tree Wasp - Pleinmont, 20 Aug 20 - note the tiny black dot on the face, the general hairiness and the general impression that it is plotting something.

Curculio glandium (Acorn Weevil) - garden, to MV, 18 Aug 20 - another corking new species for me and not really any recent records for Guernsey, although I am sure it is probably resident in small numbers sticking its beak into our local acorns.

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Mark Lawlor's Nature Blog

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September 2020 part i

August 2020 part ii

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