A Look Back at 2019

Although I did manage a brief walk this morning the weather was poor and the results disappointing. A Muntjac and a few Teal were noted near the sewage treatment works while double figure counts of Gadwall and Tufted Ducks were seen on the pond near the A43. Every cloud however does have  a silver lining and my blank today gives me a chance to have a peek back at the wildlife highlights of 2019.  I'll start with the birdy best bits before moving on to the dragonflies and butterflies.

Smews and Shore Lark.

January saw me doing a lot of local birding which brought sightings of Great Grey Shrike and Corn Bunting near Hanging Houghton and Ring-necked Duck and Great Northern Diver at Pitsford. Eyebrook held good numbers of Smew while a nearby spot held several Short-eared Owls. A trip to Norfolk in February produced a good selection of winter birds including Shore Larks and Twites while March saw the arrival of the first Summer visitors. A first county Ring Ouzel for quite a few years in April was matched by my first ever county Cattle Egret at Stanwick.

Snow Buntings and Ring Ouzel.

Early May saw me over in Spain where I was treated to a very good range of birds of which a Collared Pratincole was my favourite. Norfolk weighed in with a first Wryneck in the UK since 1989 as well as a flock of Dotterels. Seabirds were the main focus in June, a visit to Bempton Cliffs was as dramatic as usual. The usual lull followed until August when another visit to Norfolk kicked things off again, a fine Purple Sandpiper being the highlight.

Collared Pratincole, Gannet and Dotterel.

The latter part of the year didn't produce too many memorable moments though seeing a Long-eared Owl again was much appreciated as was a large flock of Cranes and several Short-eared Owls at the Nene Washes. One of the last outings of the year to Rutland  delivered a quartet of Scaup and a Common Scoter.

Purple Sandpiper and Long-eared Owl.

2019 was not a vintage year for butterflies, in truth I probably neglected them a little bit but there were still a few good moments. The main feature of the year was the influx of Painted Ladies which saw records persisting into October, another migratory species, Clouded Yellow, was seen at two sites. My favourite sighting was an aberrant Purple Emperor in July at Fermyn while seeing Black Hairstreaks at two different spots in Harry's Park almost matched it. Elsewhere both Marbled White and Silver-washed Fritillary continued to do well locally. I didn't manage to find any Dark Green Fritillary in the county in 2019 despite an increase in records but perhaps next year will change all that.

Painted Lady, Purple Emperor and Black Hairstreak.

Things went better with my dragonfly watching as I was lucky enough to see two new species. A Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly in the New Forest was a stunning creature but it was more than overshadowed by a  Black Darter at Breney Common in Cornwall. I've looked for this species for several years and it was good to finally catch up with one.

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly and Black Darter.

Locally it was Variable Damselflies that stole the limelight as following on from the discovery of the Weldon population last year I was lucky enough to find them at two other sites in Northants. The first of these was at Wicksteed Park where a small breeding colony was present, the other site at Barnwell CP only held a few males but could yet prove to have another colony. The other species showing an increase in numbers was Willow Emerald, I saw them at six places in the county while others were seen elsewhere. The addition of this attractive damsel to the Autumn group of regulars is a very welcome result of their continuing colonisation. Banded Demoiselles enjoyed a long flight season lasting from April until October while there were late records of both Scarce Chaser and Small Red-eyed Damselfly.

Variable Damselflies and Willow Emerald.

A final very enjoyable feature of 2019 was the continuing presence of Otters at Barnwell. Although absent during the Summer I had some great views of them, hopefully they will be as obliging next year too.

Otter.