Hornets Doing Well

I have heard on various e-mail groups that hornets appear to be having a good season and are being seen quite widely. Living next to a wood, I see hornets every year, as this is the habitat that they like, but I would have to say that they do seem to be seen more frequently this year.

One of the downsides to moth trapping by light during late summer is that occasionally wasps and hornets are attracted into the box. Hornets especially, can cause havoc by rampaging through the box and grabbing any unwary moths in its path. It is not uncommon to find in the morning that if a hornet has been trapped, that you are left with many moth wings rather than moths in the bottom of your box! This has certainly been the case this year, when several of my traps have also attracted hornets - luckily they are quite docile in the cool morning and can be removed fairly easily. I have attached a picture of a hornet on an egg box from the trap.

Another interesting hornet sighting from September 20th relates to an individual that I watched from the back patio during the afternoon. It had located a bush cricket that had fallen prey to one of the myriad of Garden Spiders around the garden. I watched it fly up to the cricket several times and actually land on it, but I was not sure whether it was stealing a crafty snack from under the eyes of the spider or whether it was trying to release the cricket from the web to take for its own. Either way, it departed without the cricket after a couple of minutes.

Raven and Late Swift

Flushed with my success in seeing the Marsh Harrier, I continued to watch the skies to see what else might be on the move.

On September 14th at 2:30pm, I heard the familiar 'cronk' of a Raven and watched one fly over from east to west. This is my first Raven record of the year and they are still a good record despite their apparent increase and spread across the region. My first garden record was as recently as September 2007, which was followed by a further 4 records in 2008, so I was hoping that they might be becoming more regular - alas no! September appears to be a good month to see them, so my records might relate to dispersing local breeders.

Later in the afternoon, at 4:30pm (I hadn't been birding for all that time!) I glanced out from the lounge window and noticed the familiar shape of a Common Swift quite high in the sky. I grabbed my bins and watched the bird fly around the valley with the local House Martins for some 10 minutes before it departed southwards. Common Swifts breed here in the summer and start to depart their breeding grounds in late July, with most having left the country by the end of August. It is always nice to see a Swift in September, so a bird on the 14th is quite late and certainly my latest record for many years.

Migrating Raptors

The weather system over the UK from about September 9th brought a change to local conditions, with high pressure and north-easterly winds. This is classic weather for drift migrant birds on the east coast and gives potential for inland Honey Buzzards migrating south from Scandinavia.

With this in mind, I spent about an hour during the early afternoon on both September 10th and 11th looking skyward in the hope that I might be lucky and catch a sight of one of these magnificent birds. I actually saw fewer raptors than normal on both these days, with the resident Red Kites and Common Buzzards seemingly less visible than normal - maybe the fairly stiff winds were not to their liking.

The best bird on the 10th was an adult Hobby that circled southwards at 2:40pm. However, the 11th was a bit of a red letter day, as at 1:40pm I watched a Peregrine circling and drifting south west. This is a garden tick, so I was quite chuffed. Then at 1:55pm, I picked up a distant raptor flying more or less east to west and quite high up. I managed to get this in the 'scope and saw a generally dark, chocolate brown, long winged and long tailed raptor with a pale head, showing slight pale patches at the base of the under primaries - Black Kite came to mind briefly, but closer inspection revealed a round-tipped tail and cream coloured head markings - a female/imm Marsh Harrier. At one point it fanned its tail, which from below looked quite pale reddish brown, but it wasn't hanging around and after about 20 - 30 seconds of viewing it disappeared westwards. This is the third consecutive year I have had Marsh Harrier fly over the garden in the autumn - it just goes to show that you never know what is flying over!

Tawny Owl Uses Pond

On the evening of August 31st at about 11:30pm, I was standing on the back patio watching the moth trap (seems perfectly normal to me!), when I heard a splashing coming from the garden pond. In the light from the trap, I could see a Tawny Owl take off from the pond into nearby trees - it had obviously been bathing. I guess that this is not too unexpected, as most other garden visitors visit the pond at some stage for a drink and a wash, but it is nice to confirm that the local owls do too.

Hoary Footman - 3rd for Bucks

A bit of excitement on the evening of August 25th - I had decided belatedly to run the moth trap and put it on after dark at about 9pm. About an hour later, I went to have a look and see what sort of activity there was and noticed almost immediately a footman that had alighted on the lounge window adjacent to the trap. I had a feeling that this pale moth was quite interesting, so I caught it in a pot and took it indoors for a closer look. Lo and behold, I was looking at a Hoary Footman, a silky silvery grey member of the family. I knew that the first record for Bucks was as recent as September 2008 in Chorleywood, which isn't too far from here. The second record was from the same site earlier in August this year, so my record constitutes the third and second site record for Bucks. The status of this moth appears to be a nationally scarce resident in south-west coastal localities, but also a suspected immigrant. In the morning, I had also trapped another new species for the garden, a rather battered Six-striped Rustic, which is a common species.

Hobbies Passing Through

It is not just warblers and flycatchers that are on the move in August. As can be seen from my earlier post on Whimbrels, waders are also flying south and if you're lucky, you might also see some migrating raptors. August is one of the best months for seeing Hobbies from the garden. It is difficult to say whether these birds are just dispersing local breeders or genuine migrants, as the views do not often allow you to ascertain whether you are seeing the same or different birds. However, the following birds were observed during August:

2nd - 1 high over south
16th - adult over west
22nd - juvenile over west
24th - 1 over south west
28th - juvenile over west - this bird had a distinctive pale forehead and unusually flew at tree top height over the garden. I would say it was a different juvenile to the bird on the 22nd.

Another Hummingbird

As I was walking in to the house after work this evening (August 20th), my wife pointed out a Hummingbird Hawkmoth nectaring on purple verbena just by the front door. Although these moths are fairly regular, I always enjoy watching them hovering next to the flowers they are feeding from - it is not surprising that these little gems have been mistaken for Hummingbirds in the past.

Migrating Warblers

August is the month when migrant warblers start to appear, usually mixed in with roving tit flocks. I always hope that I might see flycatchers too, as my only records of Spotted Flycatcher and single record of Pied Flycatcher have all been in August. August 17th saw a little flurry of warbler activity, with 2 Blackcaps (fem/imm), 3 Chiffchaffs and a single Willow Warbler seen (not all at the same time!)

Another Generation of Hawkers

Reinforcing my belief that Southern Hawker dragonflies are taking over the pond, today (August 17th) I watched a female egg-laying on logs around the pond's edge. This is the only species of dragonfly that I have observed egg-laying this year, although both Large Red and Azure damselflies continue to breed. Female Southern Hawkers often lay their eggs on logs or vegetation around the pond and also carry this out without the presence of a male. You can watch them working their way around the pond, clinging to logs and constantly dabbing the end of their body onto the log to lay the eggs. The other dragonflies I have seen ovipositing are Common Darter and Broad-bodied Chaser, which both lay straight into the pond whilst flying in tandem with the male. Female Emperors, like Southern Hawkers, lay without the presence of a male and tend to lay straight into the pond, but usually on submerged vegetation. The attached photo is from a previous year, but replicates the sighting.