Wild Wings and Wanderings

I'm Speechless!!

2012-01-25T16:31:00.000Z

!??!!!!

I Just Had To!

2012-01-19T23:39:00.002Z

Well, it's been a while. I've finally arrived at my new abode but still have loads to do at the old one before we hand the keys back. I just can't believe how much useless tat we've managed to accumulate over a mere four years. Still, another week or so and I should be back out birding, and let's face it I need to be because I fear I'm lagging behind a teeny bit in the patch yearlist stakes! I did take a break from all the moving mayhem on Monday, when I drove over to Hampshire for the Spanish Sparrow and the Dark-eyed Junco. I don't know how I held out so long for the Junco because it's a bird with a bit of a history for me, after having missed one in Somerset in the most horrible fashion. Read about it here if you like. I remember at the time Gavin's words of comfort were something along the lines of " Don't worry there'll be another in the next 18 years or so". Turned out to be just a knock over three until this one turned up so I was pretty keen to see it. Bun had already been to see both birds twice already, but took pity on me and kindly accompanied me. "The Junco's easy" he said, so we went to the Sparrow first. Fortunately it was showing really well in a garden and the kind owner let us in to look through the window. There were only a couple of people in the kitchen so I asked if I could bring my scope in to take a photo, Not at all easy though because the bird was too near!! Gorgeous bird, but then I'm biased because I love me Sparrows and this was an Uber-sparrow if ever I've seen one! I was soon itching to move on and try for the Junco, so we made the short drive to Hawkshill in the New Forest and joined a small crowed in the bird's favoured locality. We waited, and waited, and waited. There were plenty of Chaffinches and Reed Buntings showing down to a few feet on several seeded areas but the Junco appeared to be hiding in some dense foliage on a fallen tree. The bird showed briefly a few times and on each occasion I missed it, I was starting to get rather worried, 'the curse of the Junco' was going to strike again! It didn't I'm relieved to say and eventually got I to see it too. The long, cold wait of two and a half hours was well worth it.What a smashing little fellow he was! I managed to snatch a few digiscoped shots as he sat in a tree thinking about dropping down to a seeded area, then had superb close views of him feeding too. On the way home we received a text from Ian M on patch, there were two Golden Plovers on Bridge Marsh, not an easy bird on patch most years, so it was a race against time to get back with enough daylight to look for it. We arrived just in time to scan over the Ploverless fields in the half-light, can't win 'em all!

The Sparrow was this near! (3x zoom on compact camera)

Spanish Sparrow

The Dark-eyed Junco's favoured area.

The Twitch.

Why is there always somebody wearing a bright red hat!?

Chaffinches showing well.....

...as were the Reed Buntings

Here's a close up view of that weird shaped bill in action.

My first view of the Junco was this.

I managed to get this record shot and thought that would be it, but then I got these...

What a little gem!

My favourite shot

It Was All So Horribly Predictable

2011-12-23T15:50:00.006Z

Yesterday the humble Axe Estuary saw numerous visitors all hoping to see the Caspian Gull which had shown on the three previous days, some spending many many hours waiting patiently and hopefully, scanning the hundreds and hundreds of gulls, but alas, it was a no show. So when I received a text from Gav this lunchtime it was a horribly predictable one " Caspian Gull opposite Coronation Corner again". I immediately felt pangs of sympathy for all yesterday's unfortunates. Didn't stop me popping over there to 'fill me boots' though. I'd been unwell when it was showing so well on Wednesday. If you dipped yesterday and are reading this, firstly why? And secondly, you may want to look away now!

Sticks out like a sore thumb...when it's there!

Big Billed, Saggy Bottomed Gull

Erm?... It's erm?.....Oh yes, that's it....Stunning!

Saggy Bottom

2011-12-19T21:58:00.001Z

Firstly, just in case anyone cares, sorry for lack of blogging recently I've just been too busy because we are in the process of trying to move house. We have somewhere lined up now and are just waiting for the green light, hopefully all being well we'll be in by the second week of January. I really needed to have a break and get out in the field today and despite the persistent rain decided to pop down Seaton Marshes to try and see the December Wheatear. Leaving this until the nineteenth of December probably wasn't the best plan I've ever had. It wasn't there needless to say. I was just trudging back to the car when I got a text from Gav, which said "Caspian Gull at Coronation Corner now!" I took this as an order and dutifully drove round there straight away. It was a full scale local twitch and I think Gav was pretty surprised when I was the first to arrive. This was my second Caspian Gull on patch and it was much further away than the last one. Still, I was able to see all the salient features reasonably clearly (when Gav pointed them out that is!) including a very obvious 'ventral bulge' which I thought made it look a bit like it was 'wearing a nappy', a nappy requiring urgent attention! I took a few snaps but none of them came out particularly well.

My clearest shots were always when it was head on which didn't show much

except perhaps the whiteness of the bird's head.

This is a heavy crop of the photo above, quite awful I know

but it does show that 'saggy bottom' beautifully!

As well as having no time for birding I haven't managed to do much astronomy either (feel free to stop here if astronomy bores you), seems like ever since I brought myself a good telescope the weather's been almost permanently cloudy, or windy or usually both! I have had some more superb views of Jupiter though and got a 'record shot' of it showing the Great Red Spot (which is actually a beige spot this year) and one of its moons, Io.

On The Roof

2011-11-21T22:15:00.002Z

This morning Bun and me went to see what appears to be the most photographed roof in Devon. My cunning (but risky) plan of waiting until Monday paid off nicely as there were very few people there. I'd never been to Mansands before and it wasn't an easy place to find by road, so thanks to Mark for the directions and gen. When we arrived the roof was showing very well and what a superb roof it was too! Absolutely teeming with creepy -crawlies and therefore very attractive to birds. On the roof this morning were a Wren, a Rock Pipit, a Pied Wagtail, a pair of Stonechats, a Black Redstart and a Desert Wheatear ... so not too shabby as one of these was a lifer for us both :-)

The famous roof, which belongs to the coastguard cottages at Mansands near Brixham.
On the very right hand side (just behind the solar panel) you may be able to see the Black Redstart. The Desert Wheatear is sitting on the furthest chimney just in front of the pots, you'll have to take my word for that though.
As you can see the footpath here is raised above the level of the roof, which made for easy photography, the rain and cloud didn't. There were some brighter spells though.

Being used to the more crowded twitch, Bun solicits the attention of passing ramblers...

Soon we can't get a look down our own scopes!

The lovely Black Redstart.

The stunning Desert Wheatear
EDIT: I don't know why I didn't notice before I posted it but the bird was in the midst of a rather private moment here! So I'll add this less embarrassing version...

.... Sans poop!

He was a bit too near at times , I only just got him in this one.
( It's worth opening)

On The Beach

2011-11-10T16:01:00.011Z

I popped over to Seaton Hole with Rex this morning, he can't manage long walks these days but still seems to make lighter work of the steep accent from the beach than I do! I was hoping for at the very least a nice Black Redstart and although conditions on the beach were superb (tonnes of seaweed and millions of flies) there was very little birdy activity. All I saw were a few Robins and a couple of Rock Pipits. While Rex stretched his legs I had a rummage about in the seaweed looking for my favourite gastropod (doesn't everyone have one?) Patina pellucida which feeds on kelp.

Fitter than he'd have me believe.

Lots of lovely kelp, just a shame the birds don't seem to have noticed yet.

Patina pellucida, The Blue-rayed Limpet.

These are very small, only about a centimetre across and have the most beautiful bright iridescent blue spots. When I first spotted this one I thought it didn't have any. Worryingly though, they are all too obvious in the photo. I'm going to have to start taking my reading glasses into the field soon!

I stopped to chat to Steve on the esplanade just as a flock of six Greylag Geese flew over and straight out to sea, they didn't look like stopping before they reach France. Steve told me the Snow Buntings were still there so I popped in to see them on the way home. I took a couple more photos but with my super-zoom this time. I thought it would be interesting to see how it could do.

Not bad. This shot of the male turned out quite well.

It was nice to get a shot with them both in it as when I digiscoped them on Tuesday they were just too near for one.

I tried to get an arty-farty shot with the waves breaking in the background but you'd probably not know there were waves in the background if I didn't tell you!

And just in case your not sick to death of the Snow Buntings (as if anyone could be) here's a video I took of them this morning. Turn the sound down as there's lots of wave noise and yakking in the background.

Snow Buntings on Axmouth Beach

2011-11-08T14:49:00.001Z

I didn't manage to get any photos of the White-rumped Sandpiper yesterday because unbeknown to me at the time my camera had a flat battery ( too long since I'd last used it, so my own stupid fault!) Fortunately it was recharged and raring to go this morning when Steve found a couple of gorgeous Snow Buntings (male and female) on the beach near the yacht club. The habitat always looks ideal for them here but these are the first since a single in 2006! They were very confiding as always. Definitely one of my favourites, they're so cute!

Female

The gorgeous male

A close up of that funky bunting bill!

Light Box...Yuk! Light Bucket...Wow!

2011-10-21T00:03:00.007+01:00

I haven't found the time to blog recently and haven't read many either, so when I tried to open a photo in one the other day I was shocked to find that they now open in a horrible format called Lightbox. Even if you do find it aesthetically pleasing ( I don't, you may have noticed) its main drawback is that when a photo is opened (clicked on) it just appears the same size, which is of little use if the image is meant to be viewed larger. The good news is it can now be disabled in the settings menu. I've done mine, which would be useful if I ever posted anything!

While I'm ranting here's another thing to rant about, the continued despoiling of my beloved Seaton, once a backwater extraordinare! Yes, it was a bit run down but that's what gave it its charm and kept it quiet. Now the once peaceful birding sites along the river valley are major 'leisure' honey-pots and the town centre is being swallowed up under the monstrosity which is the new Tesco 'Eco-store' whatever that is!? They have more lights in the new carpark than the average airport. Today I was very saddened indeed to see that yet more premeditated dendrocide is on the cards.

Here's the proposed victim. It beggars belief why when Harbour Road is about 95% tree free they should decide to stick a zebra crossing here. This tree is a lovely flowering cherry which used to really brighten up the place in the spring. It's also the favourite singing perch of a local blackbird. Why a crossing here anyway, nowhere near the new store? One side of the road's houses and on the other side Harcombe Trailer Centre, a few houses and a Bradfords Builder's merchants. Obviously of the greatest attraction to pedestrians! Don't know what the grey pole in the foreground is going to be yet, it's wired for electrics, it's right opposite our house, ooh, I can't wait to find out.

On a brighter note I thoroughly enjoyed a patch tick yesterday morning, a Richard's Pipit in fields near to Beer Cemetery. I'd seen one on the deck a couple of years ago on Bryher but hadn't heard one call until yesterday, so now I know what to listen out for. I find you can never really get to grips with a bird's call until you've actually witnessed it coming from the bird itself, if you know what I mean.

A Richard's Pipit is in there somewhere to the left of Gav.

You should be able to enlarge this if I've successfully disabled Lightbox.

I was disappointed not to be able to go to the Scillies again this year because I couldn't get the week I wanted off work. To take my mind off it a bit I took the money it would have cost me and bought this.

I might be able to spot the odd Eagle out at sea with this!

It's an 8" Newtonian reflector on a Dobsonian base also known as a Dob or a 'light bucket' for obvious reasons!

Twenty or so years ago I was really keen on astronomy, I had a really crappy little scope back then and could only dream of getting something decent. Scopes were very, very expensive. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered just how affordable they are these days, easily cheaper than spending a week sleeping rough on the Scillies!

The best thing about astronomy is that the vast majority of the things which you might want to see aren't ever going anywhere and the only limiting factor in seeing them is how long you can live for! :-( The time and distances involved are simply mind-blowing!

Jupiter's been showing well recently and nearing opposition on October 29th meaning it's only a mere 369 million miles from earth. Close enough to digiscope it I'd say.

With three of the four largest moons showing

I was amazed how much detail I could see at 200x.

Crop of above photo.

Three Years and Counting...Well, Only Just!

2011-10-05T22:51:00.009+01:00

On the 15th of September this blog was three, yes, THREE years old. I really can't believe I've been finding enough material to keep going so long. I was going to put on an anniversary post but circumstances prevented it (eldest off to university amongst other things) and since then I've kinda got out of the habit. I've still got a few things from the summer that I really want to get on here (as a personal record for me as much as anything) and although I've not been out and about that much recently I've a few bits and bob to talk about. I've actually had two lifers over the last few weeks, the first being the Semi-palmated Sandpiper that was found on patch a week last Saturday. I didn't see it until it had been around for a whole three days! How slack is that? I was due in work when it was first found and the next day I went to Burpham in West Sussex with Bun and Nick to spend over five hours standing by a field. What fun that was! ;-) I finally caught up with the Semi-P on the estuary on the Monday and got reasonable scope views. It was never near enough for decent photos, but you don't need to see any from me coz they're plastered all over the internet! This Sunday Bun and me had another shot at Pallid Harrier ( the bird we didn't see at Burpham), this time much nearer home near Cheddar in Somerset. We we're successful this time but still had to wait nigh on three hours! The bird was first spotted on the horizon by a famous Dawlish birder, not often seen 'off-patch' (nice to meet you again). However, for some reason Bun and me were the only ones to set off to look for it over the hill it had disappeared behind (only about a kilometre away, if that.) We were rewarded with superb views as it flew almost directly over our heads. I think most birders saw it later in the day at the same place, when they eventually made the effort! ;-)

Semi-palmated Sandpiper

You've seen the rest, now see the best!

We also made a visit to see the Sabine's Gulls and Grey Phalarope at Exmouth beach, leaving it a bit late, (6 days or so) so that when we arrived there was only one Sabine's Gull left. They were unusually flighty and after we'd been there about five minutes they were gone. I took a few lame photos of these too, actually I kind of like the Grey Phalarope ones even though it's distant.

Sabine's Gull

Grey Phalarope, doing what they do best.

A few photos from Black Down, Cheddar, not featuring the Pallid Harrier, which was way too quick for me.

The bird had been reported showing by the trig. point, so most of the birders there stood right on it. Nothing like making yourself blend in!

This made me smile. A photographer with netting draped over is enormous camera making it look like a small cannon from a distance. But not as much as this.....

Don't ask me what this was all about!

The things you see while scanning the countryside for a raptor. Yes, it's two blokes with animal heads on being photographed by a young lady. Art project? I hope so!

If you don't like Spiders...

Look away now!! Whoops, too late!

We have a plague of these in the garden at the moment, seems to be a web attached to just about everything. This one's on the wheelie bin.

Cats aren't good for birds, we all know that, but they do have their uses. My cat Fidget used to kill the odd bird and I was always a bit upset by this, but he killed about ten times (probably more like a hundred times) more rodents. Unfortunately ( or fortunately if your one of those cat haters) he was run over a few months back and since then I can't really feed the birds, because if I do this happens.

This one's just a baby! They even get on the hanging feeders.

I don't know what I'll do in the winter when the birds really need to be fed.

Finally, I haven't completely lost my ability to take a decent photo, so after all those lame efforts here's one I got right.

A Whimbrel

I'll endeavour to not leave it another month until my next post! :-)

PS: Anyone who read his when I first posted it will have noticed the deliberate mistake. What can I say but...whoops! You'd think with a master's degree to my name I would at the very least have the ability to count from eight to eleven sorted out.

Shameless!

2011-09-07T22:22:00.003+01:00

One from the archives that I just haven't found the time to slot in. I found these in Morganhayes Wood in the middle of June. I see them most years, in fact I always smell them first. I have a particularly acute sense of smell which I'm not altogether sure is a blessing, however it's not needed to smell this beast!

Phallus impudicus or the Common Stinkhorn.... Say what you see.... and smell!

Even though I've seen loads of these over the years these were the first ones I've seen with all the gleba ( greeny brown smelly goo or more correctly spore mass) in situ still.

Mmm... lovely. Still, flies love it because it smells like a rotting corpse.

They walk on the gleba and carry it off on their little tootsies to spread around the woods.

It's all in the name.

Botanist John Gerard called it the "pricke mushroom" or "fungus virilis penis effigie" in his General Historie of Plants of 1597, and John Parkinson referred to it as "Hollanders workingtoole" or "phallus hollandicus" ( Hmm...Not sure if that's meant as an insult or compliment!).Linnaeus (1640) was responsible for the fairly obvious genus name. Its specific epithet, impudicus, is derived from the Latin for "shameless" or "immodest".

Old specimens without the gleba.

Anyone interested in fungi has probably heard the story of Henrietta Darwin (Charles Darwin's erotophobic daughter) and her one woman crusade to rid the local woods of the fungus.

In our native woods there grows a kind of toadstool, called in the vernacular The Stinkhorn, though in Latin it bears a grosser name. The name is justified, for the fungus can be hunted by the scent alone; and this was Aunt Etty's great invention. Armed with a basket and a pointed stick, and wearing special hunting cloak and gloves, she would sniff her way round the wood, pausing here and there, her nostrils twitching, when she caught a whiff of her prey; then at last, with a deadly pounce, she would fall upon her victim, and poke his putrid carcass into her basket. At the end of the day's sport, the catch was brought back and burnt in the deepest secrecy on the drawing-room fire, with the door locked; because of the morals of the maids

Gwen Raverat (1952). Period piece: A Cambridge childhood.

A couple of things always puzzle me when I read this, firstly, if 'the maids' were in fact that innocent why protect them from seeing the fungus because surely they wouldn't have any idea what it resembled would they? Secondly, what strange behaviour to take the stinkhorns home and lock herself in the drawing room with them. They are very delicate and could easily have been squashed/flattened in situ. "The lady doth protest too much, methinks " comes to mind .... I can't help wondering if she lined them up and admired them!?

Great Day at Porthgwarra

2011-09-06T09:57:00.005+01:00

On Saturday evening a 'few' Great Shearwaters were reported from Porthgwarra. Never having seen one of these awesome birds I was as mildly gripped as I usually am. Who am I kidding? I was extremely gripped because the 'few' were no less than 2003!! This was it, this was my chance! If that many were in the area on Saturday evening then there must be at least one left by the morning, surely there must? I was even confident enough to delay leaving Seaton until 6.00am, not wanting to get over-tired like I did on a trip to Pendeen Watch back in July. (Oh, I didn't tell you about that did I? I saw my first ever Cory's Shearwater, but got wet, cold and extremely tired, broke my daughter's umbrella (resulting in a good telling off when I got home) went to 'visit the bushes' at the most inopportune moment and thus missed the closest Cory's that passed and was so tired on the drive back I bumped up a high kerb and wrecked my car's wheel. I didn't feel like talking about at the time. Still I saw Cory's Shearwater, so mustn't grumble! ;-) ) (See a photo of Bun and me enjoying the delightful conditions HERE on Jonathan Lethbridge's superb blog, Wanstead Birder) So once Bun eventually replied to my text message, a six o'clock start it was. We arrived at Porthgwarra at 8.45 and could see a small group seawatching just by the entrance to the car park. When we were close enough to hear them we could tell they were seeing Great Shearwaters, in some numbers too. We set up our scopes behind them, I pulled off the lens cover, put my eye to the eyepiece, focused in on the water and there right in centre of my field of view was a Great Shearwater, how easy was that! Then another and another, one was really close, close enough to see all the features clearly. Apparently I embarrassed myself as usual by making an excited shriek and various exclamations of joy and wonderment. We decided to walk up to the main seawatching area on the cliff tops where there is a greater field of view and also the Runnel Stone marker buoy, which is a great help for getting each other onto passing birds. In the next hour and a half we saw at least 49 Great Shearwaters, eight Sooty Shearwaters and a single Great Skua. After this the weather closed in, and as showers gave way to persistent rain, the passage of Shearwaters stopped. We left at 2.15 and were back in Seaton for 5.00 after an incident free journey this time. Quite a good day then!

There weren't that many folk there considering. Several of these had been here the previous day and had come back for more. It's nice to see a good mix of sexes and ages for a change.

Note the glorious weather too....it didn't last.

A few hours later the weather's very different and only three remain. Can't see them? Well this is another occasion where my super-zoom 'comes into its own'

Taken from the same spot, here's one of them and my empty chair. I'd wandered off to try and get a photo of the Gannets which were passing close below but that's where my super-zoom lets itself down, they were just too quick for it to focus on. Still here's one of my better efforts.

After the initial couple of hours of good seawatching we spent most of our time like this..

... this..

...and even this.

The group of women walking by in the background were laughing at Bun's lack of British character in hiding from a spot of rain. What else could it have been?

There are two Great Shearwaters in this view, honestly!

Great Shearwater passing some distance behind the Runnel Stone.

This is the closest one that I managed to 'photograph'. Shockingly bad but if you look closely you can actually see the white collar and tail patch.

A crop of the previous photo.

The views were a gazillion times better than these lame images would have you believe. Still, I'd love to see one from a boat someday.

Finally, recycling at its best! How ingenious. Great use for an old welly.

Young Kingfisher and Morons

2011-08-31T19:02:00.000+01:00

I was lucky enough to get good views of this young Kingfisher on the estuary this morning. It was a shame the weather was so gloomy. I haven't seen a lot else toady it's pretty quiet. I went up Axe Cliff this afternoon and saw one bird, that's right just one bird! A Dunnock. This evening I was planning on spending a pleasant hour or so watching the valley from the farm gate viewpoint. Well, that was until I opened the car door, at which point the stink literally took my breath away. Some dirty bastards had emptied their chemical toilet on the grass at the edge of the layby. They must really appreciate the local area. That's right, come here on holiday cover the place in s**t! Morons! Sometimes I wish it was winter already :-(

Anyway enough of that, have a look at the lovely Kingfisher.

End of Season at Fontmell Down

2011-08-30T21:55:00.004+01:00

Yesterday I joined Dave and Hazel for an end of season trip to Fontmell Down. We were hoping to see larger numbers of both Silver-spotted Skipper and Adonis Blues than on our last visit. We weren't due to be leaving Seaton until 9.00am which gave me ample time to nip down Black Hole Marsh and spend another hour not seeing my first ever patch Cuckoo. We weren't disappointed at Fontmell Down though with plenty of Adonis Blues and Silver-spotted Skippers on the wing, especially as the day warmed up. On our last visit I hadn't managed to get a nice photo of the diagnostic silver spots on the underwing of the Silver-spotted Skipper but they were behaving much better this time, even sharing their most intimate moments with us! Still lots of lovely wild flowers to see too. The six hours we were there just seemed to fly by. One of my favourite spots for sure!

Adonis Blue.

I've never seen one with the row of black spots along the hind-wing before.

An even more vivid individual.

Female Adonis Blue

Female Silver-spotted Skipper

...and a male.

A pretty worn out specimen which was content to sit on my warm hand.

Nectaring on Dwarf Thistle.

I couldn't believe my luck when I spotted a mating pair complete with an interloper!

He's trying his best to 'get in on the action' so to speak.

I didn't realise that they can bend their abdomens as far round as that!

Squinancywort.

A small and inconspicuous flower of chalk grassland.

Quite lovely close up.

After arriving home I responded to a text telling me the Cuckoo was showing at Black Hole Marsh again. I arrived just in time to learn it had flown off over the river. I waited another hour or so but again to no avail. That was seven hours I'd put in looking for it in total! I didn't bother this morning and had a lie in instead. I did eventually succumbed to temptation (or masochism) again this evening, arriving at 5pm to find out it had been seen half an hour ago. Aghh! Finally though, in the last five minutes of my eighth hour looking I spotted it flying over the lagoon and perching on the tram-wires. Pretty distant, but beggars (patch listers) can't be choosers!

Gotcha!

This Week I Have Mostly Been Dipping

2011-08-28T22:37:00.001+01:00

Starting on Wednesday when I hot-footed it ( well, not really I drove) over to Beer Cemetery Fields to see the Pied Flycatchers which Ian M had seen less than an hour earlier. Despite spending almost three hours there I didn't get a sniff of one. There was a nice 'first winter' male (can it be that already?) Common Redstart, at least six, probably eight Spotted Flycatchers and several Tree Pipits. The Redstart evaded my camera but the Spotted Flycatchers were posing well as usual. I noticed that they were catching a lot of Meadow Brown butterflies which were looking pretty lethargic in the cooler weather we're having recently, always sad to see the butterflies on their 'last legs' so to speak. Today I've spent around four or five hours not seeing any sign of the juvenile Cuckoo that's been around the Black Hole Marsh/Stafford Marsh area for a few days. It was showing well yesterday afternoon at the exact time when I'd got to go to work and it was seen this morning briefly but not by me. I was even there at the tine but briefly went into a hide to check if it was on Colyford Common. When I came out it had been and gone. Rats! I've never seen a juvenile Cuckoo either. There were still plenty of nice waders to look at on the lagoon tonight though, including a male and female Ruff and two Little Stints.

Juvenile Little Stint

And an adult I think

The female Juvenile Ruff.

Base Jumping Gull

2011-08-23T22:25:00.004+01:00

Way back on the 4th of June, I mentioned on my blog that the single Herring Gull chick which hatched out in the precariously positioned nest on our chimney, subsequently fell a long way to the ground and lived. I rescued it from next door's drive and installed it on our out-house roof. Watching it grow has been a bit of a bitter sweet experience, the pleasure of watching a beautiful creature develop to its full potential ( Yes, I know some people hate Gulls...but not me I think they are beautiful) contrasting with the not so pleasurable fishy smell ( the nest I made for it was only a few feet above the back door) and the even worse dive-bombing we were subjected to on a daily basis. I had to run to the car with a brolly to be on the safe side! I was only actually hit by a poo-bomb once though. Fifty-one days after the impressive free-fall the youngster took her first flight (pretty sure it was a her, reason to follow) but I was dossing in bed and missed it. It must have been successful though, because that was it, she was gone. Both the parents kept coming back periodically but there was no sign of baby. Then last Wednesday, a whole 24 days later, when I'd given up hope of seeing her again I arrived home from work and was just feeding the Guinea Pigs when I heard a familiar sound. Both parents and baby were on the roof, she was still begging for food and the male gull duly obliged...yuk! . It was almost dark but I took a few snaps as a memento. I've seen her several times since...I wonder where she went for over three weeks?!

Scene of the initial 'base jump'. It's a tall house!

Day one.

After a week...very cute indeed!

After four weeks, um, not quite so cute now.

Last Wednesday and the young gull is now about eleven weeks old and quite independent

although not adverse to a free meal if she can get it!

The male gull is an absolute brute of a bird with a very fierce look about him and very unusual plumage. His mantle feathers look almost wet all the time because they have dark markings on them. I thought it was something to do with moulting at first but he always looks like this, it hasn't changed. I don't recall seeing any other gulls like it.

The young gull eventually developed into a very pretty individual with a small cute head which leads me to believe it's a female. Although some people ( unfortunately, probably many more than a few) would not thank me in the slightest for saving her life, thus ensuring another 'winged rat' is at large, I'm pleased I did. It was a pleasure...Not sure I'll miss the sight that greeted me most mornings when I opened the back door though...

...the doting mummy.. fully loaded and ready to attack!

The Same But Different

2011-08-22T22:38:00.002+01:00

Earlier today I got to thinking that it was possible that Autumn Ladies Tresses were growing on patch, on Goat Island to be exact. I've seen a total of nine species of orchid there and Ladies Tresses would make a nice rounded ten! And here they are:

This time not on Fontmell Down but 'on patch' so totally different!

Large areas of Goat Island were carpeted with Autumn Gentian, mostly not in flower at the moment they are going to look spectacular in about a week I reckon.

Stunning flowers close up.

I've never seen a completely pink Small Scabious like this before.

The sea was completely flat and I could just make out some cetaceans feeding about a mile off Beer Head which made me wish I'd taken a scope along. There wasn't much in the way of bird activity, just a few Linnets, Yellowhamers, a couple of Wheatears and a flock of 63 Swallows and a single Sand Martin resting on wires along the lane where I park.

This evening I made my usual Monday pilgrimage to Black Hole Marsh, one of only two evenings when I can get there and the evening really is the best time to be there, very few punters and more often than not superb light. I asked Martha along, she wasn't all that keen and when I took my scope out of the boot she exclaimed "Oh no! I didn't know you were bringing that, you'll be ages now! I thought we were just going to have a quick look"

Ten minutes later.... and I can't get a look in!

Still, with my bins I noted lots ( I couldn't be bothered to count them) of Dunlin, two Ringed Plovers, three Greenshanks, three Wood Sandpipers, five Common Sandpipers, a Lapwing and a Knot. The Knot was quite distant at first and seemed rather unsteady on its legs, flapping every time it moved. All became clear when it flew a bit nearer and we could see it was actually unsteady on its leg!

Pretty sure it only had the one leg. It seemed to be managing well enough though.

I'm not sure what this Woodsand was trying to hide from.

I've never had so many great views of Wood Sandpipers.

Fontmell Down

2011-08-16T11:51:00.004+01:00

Yesterday I (along with the rest of the 'optimistic four', Dave, Hazel and Doug) visited Fontmell Down near Shaftesbury, Dorset. It was only my second ever visit here and it was every bit as wonderful as last time, well that's not exactly true because last time it was 'swarming' with Adonis Blues, and we were a bit early for them this time. Still, good excuse for another visit! The target species was Silver-spotted Skipper, again we were a bit early but were hoping to catch them in tip-top condition. We did see some but boy are they difficult to pin down! They only seemed to stay still long enough for me to switch my camera on, seldom nectaring and spending any time that they were stationary amongst the grass. The breezy conditions didn't help either I expect. Silver-spotted Skipper was the 53rd species that I've seen this year, though I don't suppose any regular readers of this blog will be surprised by that! Unfortunately the weather deteriorated rapidly after a couple of hours causing the butterflies to 'vanish'. Still, there's plenty of nice flowers to look at there.

Male Silver-spotted Skipper

The silver spots are on the olive-green underside, just about visible here.

They spend a lot of time basking on bare soil trying to keep warm

The Adonis Blues were surprisingly shy, not being inclined to open their wings much at all. I presume it was the breezy conditions. This is the best view of the gorgeous blue wings I managed to see.

Fontmell Down and Harebells

White Harebell

Autumn Gentian

Fontmell Down and Hoary Plantain, menacing clouds rolling in put paid to any more butterfly sightings.

Hoary Plantain, a very attractive flower close up I think. A pretty colour anyway.

The exquisite orchid Autumn Ladies Tresses were just coming into bloom too.

Covered in small hairs they look almost 'frosted' close up.

More From Black Hole Marsh

2011-08-14T22:26:00.008+01:00

I've paid a couple of visits to Black Hole Marsh today, one at either end of the day to avoid the crowds, and there are crowds compared to the 'old days'. It's becoming an extremely popular reserve and it isn't hard to see why. There were six Woodsands yesterday evening but only three were still around today, along with the first Little Stint of the autumn., which also arrived yesterday. Lots of other bits an' bobs too.

Artistic shot of the Little Stint

Little Stint

The calls of some excited Herring Gulls drew my attention to a Grey Heron that was flying in. It was carrying a large Eel which it proceeded to dunk in the water and generally bash about a bit, before swallowing it whole, like they do. It always makes me feel nauseous when I see it. I don't know how they fit it in!

Now you see it.....

....Now you don't.....Well, actually you can still see it! (enlarge it) Gross!

"Eel, what eel?..It wasn't me...I haven't seen an eel!"

Whilst there I heard about some Hawk-moth caterpillars which were showing well on some recently planted 'willow sculpture type thingies'. So I twitched them, like you do.

Poplar Hawk-moth Caterpillar

Eyed Hawk-moth caterpillar

Eyed Hawk-moth again....

.....and again, doing what caterpillars do best.

And this evening I took a few of snaps but had a bit of trouble with the lighting.

Two of the Wood Sandpipers ( a bit too much light here)

And a Greenshank with too little light at gone 8pm, resulting in absolutely zero depth of field. Still, I quite like it anyway.

Wood Sandpipers

2011-08-12T22:04:00.004+01:00

I was away in Exeter this morning and I'd forgotten to take my phone. Strangely this made me feel quite anxious, I used to go everywhere without a phone in the 'old days' without a care in the world, so why can't I now? Afraid of missing something I suppose. The most annoying thing was that nowhere seemed to have a clock (assuming everyone has a phone I presume) which made getting back to the car before my ticket ran out was a bit tricky. Anyway when I got home I had missed a couple of text messages about three Wood Sandpipers on Black Hole Marsh, one of which was also warning me how jam packed full the hide was. I was tempted to leave it until after work again but I cracked and went down there anyway. The hide was indeed pretty full but I didn't have to go into it because the Woodsands were showing well through the gaps in the wooden screening along the edge of the marsh. They were too near to get a nice shot with all three in it but I managed to get a few nice shots of one of them. Always nice to see... and my favourite wader I think ( well this week anyway!)

I got one photo of two of them together but they were preening a lot which made getting them both in focus rather difficult. So I concentrated on one instead.

Pectoral Sandpiper on Black Hole Marsh

2011-08-06T22:31:00.001+01:00

Tonight I saw what I think was my fourth Pectoral Sandpiper on patch ( in fact I haven't seen one off-patch) It was found on Black Hole Marsh quite late this afternoon, a bit too late for me to see it before work. I rushed down there to see it straight after instead ( coz I like Pec Sands they're nice!) but unfortunately the weather was awful. Most evenings when I leave work it's still quite sunny, but not today, menacing dark clouds made it seem like nightfall was coming early. Still I got really nice views considering. Interestingly it appeared to be the only wader on the marsh apart from the resident Oystercatchers, so it was really easy to find, which was good news after my embarrassing attack of Rare Wader Blindness this morning. To be honest though I didn't have to find it, James Mc was there when I arrived and pointed it out to me. I wonder if I'd still be there now if he hadn't? ;-) I took a couple of photos in the murk, just in case it does a moonlight flit tonight. I hope not, I'd like have another attempt.

Stilt Sandpiper Gets a Bit Closer

2011-08-06T15:30:00.001+01:00

Bun and me revisited Lodmoor this morning for another look at the Stilt Sandpiper, which has been showing on one of the main scrapes for the last couple of days. We arrived to news on the pager that it was showing well. I couldn't see it but Bun soon located it just in time to see it fly off! I still didn't see it! After an hour of patient waiting it eventually did the decent thing and landed slap bang in front of me. Much, much better views! :-)

Remember Me?

2011-08-02T22:41:00.032+01:00

I'm afraid the blog's been put on the back burner of late, there just aren't enough hours in the day, or so it seems. I've been doing lots, especially looking at 'bugs' and so have lots of material to put on here on a 'rainy day', though probably not actually a rainy day because they're good for birding aren't they? For the moment I'll catch up with the last two weekends worth of goodies, which (shock, horror!) actually include a BIRD!

Firstly last Sunday four of us made a visit to Portland hoping to see Chalkhill Blue and Lulworth Skipper. Chalkhill Blue was easy, being very abundant in the quarries there but Lulworth Skippers didn't show at all. We unexpectedly cut short our visit when news came in of the Stilt Sandpiper over at Lodmoor (only about a mile away). It wasn't showing when we got there and we spent a good while looking for it without any luck. Three of us were keen to head along the coast a bit to try another site for Lulworth Skipper but I suspected Bun (being the desperate twitcher that he is) wanted to stay. Fortunately the bird was sighted again and so we dropped him off at the viewing spot and made our way to some cloudy, windswept cliff tops to the east of Weymouth where we got ... some nice exercise! Two hours later and still Lulworth Skipper-less we joined Bun who had a scope on the Stilt Sandpiper ready for us, but it was asleep. It eventually woke up and began to feed again but was often out of view behind vegetation. We'd only taken my tiny scope along as we weren't really expecting to do any birding, so digiscoping it was probably going to be out of the question. I just couldn't help myself though, it had to be done. The results are predictably dire, I reckon I could have got quite decent shots with my big scope though. Hopefully it will move to the main scrape eventually, or even better, Black Hole Marsh.

The Chalkhill Blues were only just beginning to emerge at Portland. This really recently emerged male was very lethargic and happy to crawl onto my hand.

The same butterfly back in the grass, you can see how 'new' he is because he's so furry and his antennae are still a bit kinked.

Another pristine male.

Female

Ringlet...Well, what's left of one.

Always sad to see butterflies in this state.

Prepare to be amazed!

There is a Stilt Sandpiper in these photos, it's the black, white and ginger-ish area, towards the centre in each.

You can definitely see it here.
The scope views were much better than these lame photos would suggest.

Yesterday, Dave, Doug and me went looking for Lulworth Skippers once more. On Sunday Bun and me had failed to find any on Portland again so there was nothing for it but to head for the Lulworth Cove/Durdle Door area where they are virtually guaranteed. This area is reputed to be swarming with thousands of them, but we only saw about half a dozen individuals. It does appear to be a bad year for Skippers, I've certainly seen much lower numbers of Small and Large Skippers than in previous years, probably to do with the very dry spring.

Lulworth Skipper country - swathes of sun-drenched grassland as far as the eye can see.

Just us, the butterflies, wild flowers and a gentle sea breeze... I wish!! Looking slightly to the left of Dave...

Aarrgghh!!

Lulworth Skippers were outnumbered about 100 to 1 by these. Durdle Door's certainly swarming with something, just not Lulworth Skippers! It is a beautiful stretch of coastline, though I think I'd visit in January to look at the scenery.

Doug photographing Durdle Door from a safe distance!

Nice beach... from a distance anyway!

Assorted Lulworth Skippers

I took this one photo of a Small Copper and was just about to delete it because it isn't really in focus, when I noticed the blue spots on the hind wing. This is the aberration called caeruleo-punctata, which is apparently not that uncommon although I've never noticed it before.

I'd soon had enough of the crowds at Durdle Door so we decided to head north to Alner's Gorse because we'd heard that Brown Hairstreaks had been seen there the day before. Dave and Doug had already been there on Saturday and seen Essex Skipper, another one I wanted to see. It couldn't have been more different to Durdle Door and we had the whole reserve all to ourselves for a couple of hours. We saw at least two Brown Hairstreaks, both of which were males and to say they were showing well is an understatement! I put in a bit of effort chasing Skippers around until I finally caught up with an Essex Skipper, it wasn't easy sneaking up to try and get a photo of the underneath of the antenna from the front, especially as the weather was swelteringly hot and so they were a bit on the active side!

Essex Skipper

Male Brown Hairstreaks

Here I'm taking a macro shot with Doug's compact camera. It was a bit breezy so I'm holding the thistle still with one hand. The butterfly seems totally oblivious.

Same butterfly on same thistle. This wasn't a macro shot though I stood back and used zoom, which helps get the dark featureless background. Worked quite well I think :-)

Apologies to anyone who may have been reading this on Tuesday night. Some of it vanished for some reason. It's all here again now, hopefully to stay this time.

Valezina at Alners Gorse

2011-07-12T22:34:00.007+01:00

A few photos from Sunday's trip to Alners Gorse in North Dorset. The target species here was the valezina form of Silver-washed Fritillary. In fact the target site was originally Lydlinch Common, but a quick stop to look at Alners Gorse on the way there, sort of ... lasted all day! It was that good! We saw a beautiful valezina within ten minutes of arriving, she kept visiting the same bramble patch for hours but was surprisingly tricky to photograph. Lots of Purple Hairstreaks here too, feeding low down on the flowers of Alder Buckthorn. There were also White-letter Hairstreaks, but these were very elusive in the increasingly cloudy weather.

Silver-washed Fritillary form valezina

Unlike the typical form valezina is quite well camouflaged on flowering brambles

The upperwing, depending on the light, looks to have either a greenish or bluish sheen. The underwing is supposed to be green and dusky pink but I couldn't see any pink on this individual

A male of the usual colour ( all valezina types are female). Males don't find the valezina form as attractive as the normal form which keeps their numbers low even though the gene causing the colour difference is apparently a dominant one. We watched her for well over an hour and several males passed close by her but didn't seem to even notice her....

...like this one, he only stayed a second or two and didn't pay her any attention.

Another view of the beautiful underwing, shame she's got her head behind a bramble hiding her buggy face!

Isn't she lovely?

Purple Hairstreak ( male) on Alder Buckthorn

He even showed off his supreme purpleiness!

A photo of Sneezewort... for no reason other than because I like it.

Not at Alners Gorse but seen yesterday whilst not seeing White-letter Hairstreak somewhere else. I saw these, what I assume to be moth eggs of some sort. There are around sixty of them and twenty-five have hatched. At the top of the leaf you can see the tiny new caterpillars huddled together, although one brave individual on the right is branching out on its own!

Closer but blurrier view. Anyone have any idea what they might be?

Pheasant's Eye

2011-07-09T09:18:00.010+01:00

On Tuesday I got up very early and made the journey to a location somewhere on Salisbury Plain to see Pheasnat's Eye, Adonis annua, now a very rare plant in the UK. Although a native of North Africa and the Mediterranean region it as long been established further north. In Britain it's an archaeophyte (a plant naturalized before 1500AD). I set off at approximately 5.00 am to beat both the traffic and the weather front on the way in from the west. The plan worked well and when I arrived on site it was dry and calm with high cloud and watery sun, making for a very atmospheric scene.

There was a fairly large area which had just been ploughed and left to colonise naturally with 'arable weeds'. What a gorgeous sight. It's hard to imagine that this was once commonplace. This is the only place I've seen all four species of Poppy (Common, Long-headed, Rough and Prickly) growing together.

The Pheasant's Eye are diminutive in comparison to the Poppies and were difficult to spot at first.There were just five small plants and these were very close to the edge of a trackway used by army vehicles. In fact a couple of the plants looked to have been run over a bit! You may be able to spot them in this photo. Much smaller and deeper red than Poppies.

I also saw a couple of other firsts for me

The rather impressive, Knapweed Broomrape.

Also this white form of Greater Knapweed.

This plant had been flattened by a tank and I had to prop it up to take a photo.

When I got up at 4.00am Martha hadn't even gone to bed yet! I asked if she wanted to come along and keep me company. I think when I said I was going to Salisbury Plain she misheard me. She thought I said the South Pole!!

Five Go to Bentley Wood....Twice!

2011-07-05T21:02:00.013+01:00

Last Sunday ( June 26th) five of us went to Bentley Wood on the Hampshire/ Wiltshire border hoping to see Purple Emperors. The weather was exceptionally hot and we were very hopeful. Although most of us saw at least one, only Bun and me saw one pitched and that was only for a second or two. We also saw White-letter Hairstreaks, but like the Emperors, these were also staying in the treetops. So although it 'were a grand day out' we all left without a photo of HIM (His Imperial Majesty). Hoping to rectify this we went back this Sunday. Lots, and I mean lots, of people had the same idea and even though we arrived an hour earlier than the previous week we were only just in time to grab the last space in the car park! The weather was sunny again but nowhere near as hot as the previous week and we were optimistic because we knew that nine males had been seen on the Friday. We saw none! (well perhaps one or two distant ones in the treetops could have been males) What we did see though were at least six females, and four of those were on the ground, one for over 45 minutes! If the published literature, both in print and on the web is to be believed then that would be quite unprecedented. Females are supposed to very rarely land on the ground and if they ever do are always very unapproachable. Take this quote from the excellent website 'The Purple Empire' for example

"Females rarely descend to the rides, and seem to do so only in very hot weather. Matthew Oates has not seen any definite females down on rides since the long hot summer of 1976. Neil Hulme has seen five, all on hot afternoons, probing for moisture not mineral salts, and all very wary and hard to approach"

So either some kind of unusual conditions existed in Bentley Woods on Sunday or none of the dozen or so people who saw each grounded butterfly can identify a female Purple Emperor properly? I can't think we got the identification wrong.The butterflies were very big, bigger than the male we saw last week for sure. The background colour of the wings was a uniform brown and nobody saw even a hint of purple as the butterflies moved around, opening and closing the wings for prolonged periods. They were all near damp patches or on the edge of puddles, so most probably probing for moisture. Anyway, as you can probably imagine we had some superb photo opportunities, starting in the car park when a pristine female Purple Hairstreak dropped in. (As usual all photos will enlarge if clicked on)

This was the only shimmering purple we saw all day. I'm definitely not complaining though because instead we saw this...

'Herself'

That yellow proboscis is incredible!

This was the first grounded female we saw, after she'd gone I wandered off alone and soon found myself in the presence of another, she flew around me a bit and landed in a nearby tree.

I texted Bun to let the others know...

...a few people followed him! All the jostling and neck craning wasn't necessary in the end because like the other female this one descended and rested on the ground for several minutes.

She didn't even appear to probe the mud, her proboscis remained coiled up.

The third female we photographed was this one which remained in the sallows and appeared to be egg-laying.

The best was still to come. As we were making our way slowly back towards the car park Dave suggested we have one last look at the puddles on the ride where we'd seen the females on the ground earlier in the day. And there she was, a gorgeous totally unblemished female which appeared to have only very recently emerged. She was probing around on the edge of a puddle for several minutes before moving a very short distance to some mud on the edge of the ride, whatever she was slurping up from here was very good because she stayed put for over 45 minutes and nothing was going to shift her.

I took this photo just as she landed by the side of the track...I looked ahead to see this coming...

It drove right by, within about 3 feet of her and she didn't even notice it!

This didn't bother her either. It doesn't take long for word to get around!

Although not purple, The Empress is never the less very beautiful.

I hope to meet her consort one day.

Water Voles

2011-07-04T22:48:00.003+01:00

I've still got lots of stuff to get on here including a very successful trip to see Purple Emperor at Bentley Wood on Sunday, I haven't sorted through my hundreds of photos yet! Here are some photos from today though. They were taken at Black Hole Marsh where a family of Water Voles are showing superblyly well, off and on. They originate from the 2009/2010 re-intoduction scheme in the Lower Axe area. Great to see them doing so well here at least!

Mostly photos were turning out like this one.There was always something in the way! But during the six hours (!) I was there a few better opportunities did present themselves.

( please click to view full size pictures, it makes all the difference!)

One of the adults; they were much more wary than the two youngsters.

They are also a bit less adorable, only a bit though!

Youngster one: and if you think that's cute check out youngster two..

Aww!

Late addition of a short video clip:

Small Red Damselfly

2011-06-29T22:38:00.005+01:00

I've got lots of stuff backing up, waiting to make it onto my blog but I'm just not finding the time to get it on here. Something for a rainy day I guess. Today I went to Bystock Pools, on the East Devon Commons to look for Small Red Damselfly, which would be a new species for me. I was successful with good views of both male and female, fortunately intermittent sun made them nice and lethargic, allowing for a close approach which certainly helps as they are really minute! Click on the photos to enlarge...it's worth it! Unless your name's Martha of course!

Male has red legs, red eyes, unmarked red abdomen and red pterostigma.

So, very red then!

Female.

Male
( Best viewed full size)

Female.

Some other inhabitants of Bystock Pools

Bog Asphodel

Sundew

Common Lizard

Wood Ant
I never knew they have a spiny bottom, they have! Enlarge the photo to see it.

Red-eared Slider!!?

Rose-coloured Starling

2011-06-23T16:12:00.001+01:00

Having missed out on an adult Rose-coloured Starling that spent five days ( unbeknown to any local birders) in Colyford just a couple of miles away from my house a few weeks ago, I was ever likely to reply in the affirmative when Bun asked if I wanted to go to see the one which is in a garden in North Devon at the moment. We'd both seen a Rose-coloured Starling before but only a distant juvenile, which compared to the pinky splendour of an adult male just doesn't seem to count! We decided to leave very early and even after our slight detour, due to me missing the correct motorway junction ( it was too early for me!) we arrived at about 6.30. We were just in time to see the owner of the garden replenish the fat balls, which were soon swarming with all manner of garden birds. We had to wait around one and a quarter hours until the bird eventually showed up, it arrived high, from over some trees with fields behind, so probably from a neighbouring village. It initially hid in a dense hazel tree but then began to make sorties to the fat ball feeder where it feed voraciously, as only a Starling can! It was very active and difficult to get a photo of through the scope, every time I put the scope on it it had moved. The only place it stayed put was actually on the feeders but they were swinging in the breeze a bit. Talking of which, as well as being breezy it was very cool, more like a March morning than a June one! We enjoyed watching the bird in the company of one other Devon birder for about an hour. Then back to the car to warm up with a cup of coffee and back in Seaton by 10.30. That's my kind of twitch! :-)

And better late than never some video footage I took through the scope showing just what a glutton it is! The wind noise is pretty bad and it's horribly overexposed but apart from that it's yet another cinematographic masterpiece!

Fourth Time Lucky at Badbury Rings

2011-06-20T22:04:00.002+01:00

It doesn't really matter how grotty the weather is if your going orchid hunting, and this morning was very grotty indeed. I set off for Badbury Rings near Wimborne Minster in Dorset not long after 6.00am. Why so early? To beat the crowds, which on a wet Monday were probably going to be none existent! It was nice to have the place almost to myself when I arrived though. I'm happy to report that two years after the 'sheep controversy' (any long term readers (hope there are some left) will remember my tirade at the National Trust in 2009, which I'm too embarrassed to put a link to) the orchids seem to have recovered. I saw seven species today including the one I've looked for in vain on three previous occasions here, Frog Orchid. If you don't know exactly where it's growing, it's a difficult one to spot, it's quite diminutive and the red and green colours blend in with the surrounding vegetation. It took me almost two hours to find one today. I only found three in total and two of them were only just coming out of bud (so at least some things aren't early this year). When I returned to the car park it was just beginning to fill up nicely, with a couple of large groups arriving, so I had made the right choice arriving early. As well as seeing a new orchid I saw some good birds too. While walking along the top of one of the ramparts I flushed a couple of Grey Partridges which must have been down in the ditch below, they flew up right in front of me, first I've seen for ages. There are several pairs of nesting Tree Pipits on the site and some of them are very confiding indeed, foraging on the ground and singing from low shrubs just feet away. So near that I was able to get decent photos of one with my super-zoom. Yes, it really was that near!

Badbury Rings:

Looking very atmospheric now the National Trust have decided to remove all the fences from the surrounding land to create a more natural looking landscape.

There were some smashing Bee Orchids along side the entrance road.

The ones on the earthworks themselves were quite puny and very soggy!

'Spectacular' Frog Orchid

Very pretty close up though, I think. Talking of up close....

Fearless Tree Pipit!

It was so preoccupied with trying to out-sing a bird a few hundred yards away it wasn't in the least bit bothered by my presence.

I saw another new orchid this week on the East Devon Commons, Early Marsh Orchid. They are a complicated group with many subspecies and named variants. I think the ones I saw were subspecies pulchella, going by the colour, flower shape and habitat.

Early Marsh Orchid, Dactyloriza incarnata pulchella.

There were also several of these beautiful white forms.I thought these were probably the variety ochrantha, which often grows amongst pulchella but it is described as unmarked creamy-yellow.

Up close you can see the flowers are very subtly washed pink and have a few very faint pink spots at the base of the lip which leads me to think that they may be very pale forms of the subspecies incarnata. If they are Dactyloriza incarnata incarnata, then the purple ones could possibly be a purple variant of that subspecies and not pulchella after all. See, I told you they were complicated! Let's just say they are Early Marsh Orchids and leave it at that!!

Another new plant species for me was this Grass Vetchling, which until it flowers just looks like any other grass so I've probably overlooked it before.

Black Hairstreak

2011-06-15T13:18:00.006+01:00

On Monday morning five hopeful, optimistic even, folk set forth from a rain soaked and miserable Devon towards the Oxfordshire/Buckinghamshire border where they would no doubt find blue skies, fluffy white clouds and Black Hairstreaks. Happily all three were available in abundance despite the not so optimistic weather forecasts over the weekend. The Black Hairstreaks tend to be concentrated in a few discrete locations throughout Whitecross Green Woods but these are not very well publicized at the reserve. Fortunately these areas are easy to find out about on t'internet so we located them easily enough. The middle of June is usually the time that Black Hairstreak would be starting to emerge but we had been a little concerned that we could already have been too late as they were first seen in these woods on the 26th of May or thereabouts. We saw about ten in total seven of them in the one small area, most were getting very tattered and torn but a couple were still in good condition with a total compliment of tails. Some even ventured low enough in the bushes for photos and as the day wore on several congregated together on a single clump of bramble flowers. All in all a great day out, nice reserve, good company and a brilliant butterfly lifer! There was just one little spoiler to all this positivity and that was meeting 'The Wicked Witch of Whitecross Woods'. Okay, that's perhaps a little unfair, perhaps she was just having a bad day (we all have them) but as the volunteer warden she shouldn't really bring it to work with her. I'm sorry to say (and it wasn't just my impression) that she came across as a humourless crone, not at all helpful and transparently resentful of any visitors to 'her' reserve. I'm not saying she doesn't do a good job in other ways but her public relations skills are non-existent. Anyway here's a few photos of the star attraction, the Black Hairstreaks.

A couple were in good condition like this female.

And this, also a female I think.

More had been through the wars a bit, like this one.

Remarkably hairy!

This one is showing one of their feeding methods, walking along a leaf dragging its tongue along between its legs picking up the honeydew residue from the leaf's surface.

Some were also nectaring on bramble flowers.

This female looks to be in good condition but on the other side has a big piece of wing missing..

...like so, giving a rare glimpse of the upper-wing colour though. Her she can be seen egg-layeing on the stem of a blackthorn

And here...

and again here.

The one on the left looks to have survived a bird attack with a nice beak-shaped hole through both of the wings!

Totally unrelated, a pair of Green-veined Whites photographed yesterday in The Ashclyst Forest. Where I saw my first Silver-washed Fritillaries of the year but no White Admirals or Purple Hairstreaks yet.

Silver-studded Blue and Large Blue

2011-06-12T10:15:00.005+01:00

On Thursday morning I decided to visit the East Devon Commons to see if the Silver-studded Blues were on the wing yet, and indeed they were. Quite a few newly emerged ones in beautiful condition, mating pairs and best of all I spotted one which was very recently emerged and still being attended by ants!

Pristine males

The male of this mating pair still had slightly wavy wing edges suggesting he was very recently emerged. The 'silver studs' (blue spots) show particularly well on this female.

I found this female stuck fast in a spider's web, not a fitting end to her short life, so I extricated her so she might have chance to lay the eggs she was so obviously laden with.

No harm done.

This female was a typical chocolate brown colour on the upper wings...

...but this one was very unusual being quite iridescent in the sunshine. The colours on her wings look like the effect you see in an oily puddle, not a very attractive analogy but you know what I mean.

Newly emerged male attended by ants... How lucky is that?

It was so facinating to watch and photogrpah, I felt very privalidged.

So much so that when a heavy rain shower occurred I found a large burdock leaf and held it over the butterfly so he wouldn't be irreparably damaged before his first flight. I got very wet...but he didn't.

You can see on this where his wing is pressing on a plant which is preventing it unfurling properly.

He opens up his wings for the first time, you can see the dint where the plant was.

After his maiden flight, almost perfectly formed now.

On Friday I drove over to Collard Hill in Somerset for my annual Large Blue pilgrimage, much earlier than I've been before but a fair few had already emerged. I had arranged to meet Dave and Doug there but I was late arriving due to an incident with my resident Herring Gulls. I was just leaving the house with all my gear when the male gull scored a direct hit! I had to go back in and clean my coat and bag as well as may face!! I didn't have time to wash my hair though, and hoped a hat would suffice. Don't think I smelt too awful! When I arrived a bit late Dave phoned me to say he had a recently emerged Large Blue showing well with its wings open. I hurried over to the site as fast I could ( without running obviously) and it was still there like so...

Best views I've ever had of the open wings, this female just sat there in the grass waiting for a male to pass by and notice her.

There are a small group of Bee Orchids Var. trollii or 'Wasp Orchid' on the site. I hadn't known about these before so was keen to see them. They were at the bottom of the hill somewhere, but where? Not to worry, there was a teensy weensy little clue to their exact whereabouts....

Spot the orchid

After the crowds had departed we strolled down to see them and take a few photos.

Rare and unusual but I don't think any of the rare varieties of Bee-Orchid match the 'standard' form in beauty.

While we were looking at the Orchid we heard a call from the hillside that there was a mating pair, judging from the position of the people watching them one of the pair was 'our' obliging female. She'd certainly attracted a lot more than she's bargained for!!

She's in there somewhere!

As it clouded up the Large Blues took to the trees. the upper wings of this individual were the most amazing dark cobalt blue, shame I couldn't get of a photo of them.

There were a few Marbled Whites on the wing, my first this year, an Adonis Blue and this nice example of a Brown Argus.

High Brown Fritillary and a Bit of Patch Excitment...Well, For Me at Least

2011-06-08T13:32:00.010+01:00

On Monday four of us went up to a site on Exmoor to look for High Brown Fritillary, one of Britain's rarest and most endangered species. We saw at least five or six on only one small site, which is excellent news. The weather was cool but sunny and in the sheltered valley where we were it became quite warm and the butterflies were very active. Both Dark Green and High Browns were on the wing along with a few Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries. Dark Green Fritillaries outnumbered High Browns by about 5 to 1 and scores of these were seen. Photo opportunities were good, as we found a large patch of thistles and brambles which were being visited by the butterflies. There was no need to follow them hoping to see them pitch, just choose a thistle and wait for them to come to you was the best idea, especially as the ground was very steep and slippery. I fell over several times! Worth it though ... most definitely.

A popular clump of thistles, I think there are five Dark Green and one High Brown on them in this shot. At one stage Doug counted no less than twelve individuals on this one clump!

Dark Green Fritillary

Most of the Dark Green Fritillaries were males, like this one.

Females are much more boldly patterned like this stunning specimen.

Underneath the same butterfly.

The green colouring on the base of the underwing gives this butterfly its name.

High Brown Fritillary

All the High Browns seen were males.

A good view of the underside showing the row of brown spots with white centres which are the main distinguishing feature of this species and which give it its name (well the brown part at least, don't know where the 'high' bit originates)

My favourite photo. Enlarge it. It's really cool!

Yesterday news reached me of a summer plumaged Grey Plover on the estuary viewable from the tower hide at Black Hole Marsh. I've never seen Grey Plover in its summer finery, though there have been a couple on patch before, I dipped them both. It was getting on in the afternoon when I heard, but there was time to go and look before work. It was very distant but stunning none the less. I didn't linger more than a couple of minutes as the hide was quite busy and the bird didn't look like coming closer any time soon. I decided to go back after work, which I did at around 8.30. The tide was coming in and the bird had moved a bit closer but it was almost dark so I couldn't take any photos of it. I had the hide all to myself though, which is a novelty these days! This morning I went back yet again, very early, it was still there but still very distant like so....

I'd just love to get close to one of these beauties one day.
( Don't enlarge this...it only makes it worse!!)

On the track from the tower hide, at least this lovely Sedge Warbler was showing well.

This spring we've had a pair of Herring Gulls nesting on our chimney, which hasn't been used by gulls before probably because it has very little room between the chimney pots, making it very precarious for any chicks that hatch. The roof is very steeply sloping too so they would have nowhere to go if they fell off the chimney.... I predicted a disaster! On Sunday the single ( I presume) egg hatched and the chick staggered to the edge of the nest, stumbled and plummeted about forty feet onto the tarmac below. Somehow it survived this. I'm certain its days would have be numbered if left on the ground however hard the parents tried to protect it, so I made a platform on the outhouse roof and moved it onto that. It's only a couple of feet above the back door and for the first couple of days both the parents 'attacked' us every time we went outside. It's mainly bravado on their part though, if you stand your ground they back off and just poo on you instead! Neither parent has attacked for a couple of days now, though they still shout at me a bit. It's certainly not ideal having them there but I couldn't just let the helpless little chick die after it survived the fall.

Dad standing guard while I hide behind the Land Rover!

Look! I've even let them have our coconut doormat to sit on.

Spotted Flycatchers

2011-06-04T18:03:00.001+01:00

The only Spotted Flycatcher I'd seen this year was on the Devon Birds' Lundy Trip at the beginning of May, a few days before the Trumpeter Finch arrived there! So this morning I popped over to Colyton to look for the pair that are nesting in the town centre near the church. I spent well over an hour watching them, mainly because I bumped into an old friend, but amid all the idle chit-chat I could see that the female was sitting and the male was visiting to feed her about once every ten minutes or so. One time while he was away she flew out from the nest site and sat in a nearby tree for a bit 'stretching her wings' I suppose. I took a couple of snaps of them both.

The male

The female. Yes, I know, they look exactly the same!

Narrow-Bordered Bee Hawk-Moth

2011-06-03T21:49:00.004+01:00

After my success last week at Powerstock Common when I saw three of these in flight, I was keen to make a return visit, which yesterday I did, along with Dave and Hazel, hopefully three sets of eyes would prevent the little blighters getting away! Well I'm certainly glad we went because within five minutes of reaching the area of my last sighting we were looking at one. It flew past us and pitched, yes pitched! It rested for a while (only about an hour though) before heading off towards the old railway cutting, which appeared to be a favoured nectaring area for butterflies and moths and was where we saw another individual, which was always (more typically) very mobile.

Typical view of a Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth.

A sort of speeding, fuzzy, ginger and black flying blob with big black antennae. If your lucky though you can get to see this....

Hovering while nectaring on flowers. You may even get a photo like this one.

If your exceedingly lucky though you may get this....

My first ever view of a stationary Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth, and boy what a view! It just sat there while I got a photo from almost every possible angle.

Oh my life! It's got a little white 'Santa Clause' style beard.

After about twenty minutes resting in the grass it flew all of fifty metres and landed on...

A massive Marsh Thistle where it was even easier to photograph, ridiculously easy.....

...As demonstrated here by Hazel.

Heath Fritillaries on Exmoor

2011-06-01T11:32:00.005+01:00

On Monday morning the 'optimistic four' set off for Exmoor in rain and mist hoping to see Heath Fritillaries. We were (sort of) confident that the forecast would be right and sunny weather would follow in the afternoon. The big question was, what time in the afternoon? We made a quick stop on the way to look at a scarce plant which only grows on two Exmoor sites here in the South West but is apparently quite widespread in lowland Scotland, Pyrenean Valerian.

My photos of it didn't turn out all that well as it was raining and I didn't take my time. Both the sites in which it grows are next to busy roads, so taking photos is quite a dangerous business!

When we arrived on site we had our lunch while we waited for the skies to clear. We waited....and waited....and waited. Mind you, the scenery was breathtakingly beautiful and I can definitely think of worse places to wait. Eventually though, about an hour later than forecast ( which is quite impressively accurate for a change) the cloud began to break up and at the very first glimpse of the sun a couple of Heath Fritillaries took to the wing. As the weather warmed up, more and more appeared and began making the most of the first sunny and warm weather for a couple of days.

Prime Heath Fritillary country.

The most picturesque* place I've ever been to look at butterflies. The only way to improve this view would be to have a butterfly in it....

...Like so!

Heath Fritillary can be extremely variable as these three examples show.

This nice front on view is especially for anyone like my daughter who thinks butterflies are lovely as long as she doesn't have to see their 'buggy face'.

This underneath view is for no reason whatsoever...I just wondered what it would look like...erm ...different!

As the afternoon got warmer the butterflies got on with the sort of things butterflies get on with.

Not long after we arrived, while it was still cold and damp Dave somehow spotted this Heath Fritillary resting on a Heath Spotted Orchid. It had been cold and damp all morning and all of the previous day too. Therefore this butterfly had been sitting here in this position for well over 40 hours!

This is the same butterfly two hours later and warm enough at last to open up its wings.

Heath Spotted Orchid: A spectacular specimen.

Yesterday I went for a walk on Axe Cliff to Culverhole to check on the Small Blue situation. I was surprised how few butterflies were about considering the sunny weather. I did see a couple of rather jaded looking Small Blues, three Common Blues and only two Dingy Skippers. That was it, apart from the always present Speckled Wood and a nice fresh Small Tortoiseshell, which sadly seem to be in very low numbers this year. I was also surprised to find some Pyramidal Orchids in flower already and a Bee Orchid, which like the ones I found at Branscombe last year appears to be an aberration but not a named form.

Pyramidal Orchid with resident spider.

Aberrant Bee Orchid, with very little patterning on the lip.

Beautifully fresh flower with the pollinia still intact.

In the undercliff woods I was treated to my first ever views of this beast.

Lesser Stag Beetle.

This is a female, unlike in Stag Beetle the female and male have the same sized jaws, but you can tell the female because she has two little bumps in the centre of her head. If you can't see them clearly in this photo, try this....

What a beast!

Nowhere near as big as a (greater) Stag Beetle which apparently is more often seen (where it occurs) I've yet to see one though... It's bound to happen one day. I'm really looking forward to it too!

* I used to work for a man who pronounced this pictureskew! Although I'd cringe every time he said it I never gave in to the urge to correct him.

Fly Orchids and Herb Paris

2011-05-29T20:39:00.001+01:00

Today Bun and me went to a wood in Dorset to look for Fly Orchid and also Herb Paris. I believe (well I've certainly read somewhere) that this location is the furthest west that Fly Orchids can be found in England. I saw the orchids here in 2009 but couldn't find the Herb Paris which would have been a new plant for me. Bun hadn't seen either plant so obviously the excitement was almost too much to bear on his part! When I visited this wood in 2009 I was under the impression it was a private woodland and therefore only looked for plants near the roadside, I've since discovered that it is actually a Dorset Wildlife Trust reserve. Being able to venture into the wood made all the difference and both plants were soon found. There were around twenty Fly Orchids most of which had 'gone over' already, and around thirty Herb Paris plants in one large clump. I didn't get very good photos of the orchids last time and was hoping to do better but I don't think I did. It was just too gloomy to get good macro shots with my point and shoot. Woodland subjects tend to show up its limitations somewhat.

Single specimens of Fly Orchid can look very inconspicuous (it's right in the centre)

My two best efforts.

Fascinating plants, which I was just as thrilled to see as when I had my first views of them two years ago. I don't think I'd ever get tired of seeing them.

I resorted to using the flash. I rather like the results because you can see the almost furry appearance of the flower's lip.

Herb Paris: A much looked for but never seen (until today) plant

Its scientific name is Paris quadrifolia

which literally means four equal leaves, and you can see why... although..

...some plants are rebels!

The spiky protuberance in the centre is the not ever-so colourful but nonetheless beautifully constructed flower.

The black ovary in the centre becomes a single black berry.

A good morning then, with a new plant species for me and two for Bun. That wasn't all though. On the way home things got even better when we spotted a sign for what must be the deal of the century!

What normal human being could resist ... Free string!!

Powerstock Common and Sand Lizards at Dawlish Warren

2011-05-26T11:26:00.003+01:00

Having not managed even a glimpse of a Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth in north Devon last week I decided to do a bit of internet research to find out if there were any possible sites for them nearer to home and found one no more than forty minutes drive away. Even though it was already quite late in the morning I just couldn't wait to check it out so set off straight away. It's a superb place a mixture of ancient woodland with coppiced areas, acid, neutral and calcareous grassland, old hedge banks and ponds. I saw plenty of butterflies (13 species) and day flying moths including three Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moths! I couldn't get a photo though, they are just so difficult to follow in flight, especially on the rough grassland terrain where running was out of the question! Still, I was thrilled to have seen them at last and because it's so near to home ( I call 24 miles near) I'll be able to pop back there for another chance. Also on the wing here were Marsh Fritillaries, a bit more worn than the ones in Devon as they tend to emerge earlier in the year on their Dorset sites. I also saw a Southern Hawker, a dragonfly that isn't usually seen until high summer, definitely the earliest I've seen one, though this year nothing surprises me! It is usually a good site for orchids too, they don't seem to be doing very well this year though, due to the extremely dry conditions I suspect.

Teeming with life!

'Unimproved' grassland at Powerstock Common.

A serious business:

I saw this group setting up an array of equipment to photograph something. 'Must be something really good' I thought. I stopped to see what the fuss was about and was surprised to see the object of all this attention was just a Burnet Moth.

Twenty minutes later on my return trip along the path and they're still at it!

Perhaps it was some sort of wildlife photography class?

I couldn't resist taking a few snapshots of the Marsh Fritillaries. This one is a bit worn and shows the characteristic greasy appearance to the wings which gave them the name Greasy Fritillary in the past.

A pair (female above) sharing an Orchid

Heath Spotted Orchid ( I think?)

On Tuesday I went to Dawlish Warren to try and see the Sand Lizards there after having failed on a couple of occasions last year. They showed so well this time that I don't know how I managed to not see them before. Oh, and boy are they green!!

This one isn't threatening me. He's yawning I think, they do it a lot. He hadn't even seen me because I was using a lot of zoom. They do seem very used to people though. I was sitting quietly trying not to move when a guy walked past within about a foot of one of the lizards and I was quite surprised when it didn't move at all.

Even more zoom (say what you like about digital zoom, but I think it's great on occasions like this when you can't get close enough for a macro shot))

Even though the males are brightly coloured they are very well camouflaged. Can you see him? He's right in the centre and looking our way!....a bit closer...

...and now with full optical plus digital zoom applied....

Ta-dah!

And just to show I was being honest about the yawning thing heres a very short video of another one doing the same.

I saw a new flower for me here too Blue-eyed Grass, which wasn't in most of my books because it's an American species, naturalized at this site. I noticed it while looking for Adder's Tongue ferns which I couldn't find, but I was very pushed for time. One to go back for though.

Blue-eyed Grass

Now brace yourself for a shock...

Yes, it's a bird! I saw this Common Whitethroat with a bill-full of poor unfortunates.

And finally while on the subject of reptiles Bun let me know about a Grass Snake which was under a tin sheet on his neighbours garden. I went over to try and take a photo but hadn't envisaged the difficulty I'd have in holding up the large sheet of corrugated iron with one hand while taking a photo with the other. in the end I held it up with my foot, I must have looked ridiculous! It didn't help that the sheet was covered in ants. I was still finding them in my clothing hours later! The photos I got weren't very good in the end either but here they are anyway.

I couldn't stand far enough back to get it all in the frame.

So I tried a close-up of the head.

A bit out of focus but I like this as I managed to get it with its tongue out!

It noticed me and started to retreat so I quickly switched to video, you can here it hissing at me!

A Couple of Things I've Been Meaning to Do

2011-05-23T18:25:00.003+01:00

I've been putting off blogging again, (not on purpose, life just gets in the way sometimes) so it's another gargantuan post I'm afraid! I have a mental list of things I'm trying to get around to and this last week I've managed to do a couple of them. The first was to visit Dunsdon NNR, a reserve somewhere in deepest, darkest Devon, one of only a handful of Culm grassland sites left in England. It isn't at all easy to find, so when Dave and Hazel Land (two of the hopeless optimists from the Sand Point outing) offered to take me there I jumped at the chance. We were hoping to see Marsh Fritillaries but were again being very optimistic as it was a bit too early for them at this site. Still the weather was ideal and everything seems to be early this year so it was definitely worth taking the chance. We weren't disappointed either (optimism paying off again) and saw a good number of males which were obviously freshly emerged, most of them probably emerged that very morning. We weren't so fortunate with Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth, not a sniff of these to be had at Dunsdon. We also checked out another DWT reserve, Volehouse Moor, again a Culm grassland reserve and even harder to find than Dunsdon! A superb place though with vast swathes of Culm grassland and wild flower meadows teeming with insects. We saw many newly emerged male Marsh Fritillaries here too and both Dave and Hazel saw a Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth in flight, which unfortunately didn't stop.

The second was to visit Norfolk to see the Swallowtail. Early June is meant to be the best time for these but they are obviously very dependant on weather, so driving to Norfolk from Devon to look for them can be quite hit and miss, a wasted journey being highly likely. I was on holiday from work last week though and when I saw that Swallowtails had already been seen in good numbers and the weather forecast was for sunny weather on both Friday and Saturday, I thought, it's now or never! Okay that's a bit melodramatic, I actually thought it's now or..... next year. Bun was keen to accompany me even though he'd seen Swallowtails recently, a couple of weeks ago in Spain. He still 'needed ' Swallowtail in Britain though (whatever that means!)

After a six hour journey, we arrived a Strumpshaw Fen to find that Swallowtails had been showing well all morning in the garden by the reserve reception. We didn't look here straight away but went to the Doctor's Garden where we immediately had superb views of a pristine male. A second soon appeared in the garden and we saw half a dozen others flying over the adjacent lanes and fields. A further one was seen later in the garden by the reserve reception. They were a new butterfly for me and no amount of looking at photos can really prepare you for your first sight of one, they're just so much bigger than you imagine. Awesome butterfly! Definitely worth the long drive. As we'd seen the butterflies so easily on the Friday we had Saturday free for birding. There wasn't too much to tempt us up to the north coast and hence further from home, so we decided to go to Welney and try for the Bluethroat again. I say again because we dipped it last year, some of us twice! ;-) So how did we fare this year? The less said the better really...£7.10 a visit too!

Anyway here's some photos from Dunnsdon and Volehouse Moor, then Strumpshaw.

Marsh Fritillary on Meadow Thistle

The bottom photo shows a very recently emerged one, so much so that its wings are still a bit crinkled, not being fully 'pumped up'.

Another one for my 'photographed on the finger list'

And now...for a revolting interlude.....

Yuk!..A Snipe Fly Rhagio sp. also sometimes called a Down-looker Fly.

How can you tell it's looking down?

That's better.. Not nearly so revolting... A very popular Meadow Thistle,

here seen feeding a Burnet Companion, a Hover-fly, Rhingia campestris and a Bumble-bee Bombus pratorum?

Petty Whin,

This was a new plant for me.

These photos also show the Culm grassland habitat.

Swallowatails

If you were to go into the reception at Strumpshaw Fen you may well be told that although Swallowtails can be seen at the Doctor's Cottage Garden, one must not linger there or attempt to venture onto the garden.This is what the owner has asked them to to say apparently. This sign at the foot of the garden would suggest the exact opposite and wouldn't be put there by someone who wanted to discourage visitors, would it? I suspect the RSPB would prefer you to pay to enter their reserve though. We did this too as it's all in a good cause ( conveniently forgetting the Ruddy Duck cull, which still leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I give money to them)

When we arrived the owner was working in the garden and was very friendly and welcoming. Not only did he want us to see the Swallowtails he also suggested we look for the colony of Brown Argus which he has on his lawn. His tolerance may not stretch to having his photo splashed all over the blogoshere though, so I've disguised him with the smudge tool. Well if it's good enough for GoogleEarth it's good enough for my lowly blog.

Ooh!

Aah!

Wow!

All the ones we saw nectaring were in superb condition as you can see.

I really like this photo even though it doesn't show a whole one!

Here's a video showing just how big they are.

Yesterday on Beer Head I photographed this Mullein Moth Caterpillar. The sun shining through his legs make them look like they have lightbulbs in them!

Sand Point and a Bit of Patch Stuff...No Birds Though

2011-05-17T21:48:00.004+01:00

Yesterday, me and three other hopeless optimists went up to Sand Point near Weston-super-mare, hoping to see the Glanville Fritillary. We had naively believed the weather forecast which was for a warm, cloudy day with sunny spells and a moderate breeze. We got a cloudy, cool day without sunny spells and a strong breeze. To be fair the weather was glorious as we left Devon though. The chances of seeing any butterflies were extremely low. Not to worry though because Sand Point is also home to the rare and rather lovely Cheddar Pink which was showing superbly! After admiring this splendid plant for a while we never the less had a good look for the Glanville Fritillaries (still hopelessly optimistic) and even though there weren't any on the wing we were lucky enough to spot several (seven in total) resting on flower heads and in the grass. At one point the sun tried its very hardest (or so it seemed) to shine for us and the resultant precious few minutes of watery sunshine did the trick, stirring the butterflies out of their torpid state. Well, almost, but they did open up their wings briefly, allowing for some nice photo opportunities.

Cheddar Pink

The scent of this beautiful plant was so strong I could easily smell it even in the

strong wind which was blowing. It's growing right on the edge of a cliff as you can see. For some reason I had an overwhelming urge to see it from below so climbed down the cliff and into a bramble patch...

...worth it? Probably not. Hard climb back too!

Glanville Fritillary

Three different individuals,

The top one a bit washed-out, the bottom one looked freshly emerged.

The under-wings are simply stunning.

This one had warmed up enough to start nectaring.

Gorgeous!...Baby-blue eyes too.

I spotted this pair of Cream-spot Tiger Moths. I think the faded one's a male (feathered antennae) and the fresh one's a female.

I also found a Cream-spot Tiger out on the road outside my house a few days ago. Unfortunately it was a bit moribund. I think it had been hit by a car. Still, I took a couple of photos to preserve it for posterity. Yes, I know...I'm all heart!

I've been out and about locally for the last couple of weeks looking for more Small Blues. I've seen 13 in total, in four different locations between Branscombe and Culverhole to the east of Seaton.

Small Blues

I've taken photos of several other butterflies and interesting insects too.

Wood White.

Common Blue

Clouded Yellow. First I've seen this year.

How many moths can fit on a Buttercup? These are a new moth species for me. I must have seen them before I just haven't noticed them. They are Micropterix calthella. A teeny-weeny moth that feeds on pollen grains.

I think these may be Bronze Shield Bugs (Eysarcoris fabricii)

I'd never seen one of these stunning bugs before. It's a Corizus hyoscyami, which as far as I'm aware doesn't have a common name. A once rare bug of coastal dunes, which is now becoming more regular inland apparently. The plant it was feeding on was very pretty...

Rock Sea-spurrey. (Spergularia rubicola)

Finally, in my last post ( remember that? It was an awful long tome ago!) I said I'd try and get some better photos of the Ruby-tailed Wasp.

I think I did.

Under Hooken and Axmouth Beach

2011-05-07T15:09:00.002+01:00

When the sun came out yesterday l wasted no time in getting over to Beer Head and down into The Under Hooken hoping to find Small Blues. This was another location where they were discovered last year and their reappearance would be proof of breeding. If I'd have kept up my daily walk I might have seen lots of butterflies down here by now but sadly I gave up that idea, not due to idleness, honest! I was enjoying it, but that was until the glorious weather over the Easter holidays. It just became too busy for me, unless I did it very early, but I couldn't get there most mornings until at least 8.30. Anyway I did manage to spot a lone male Small Blue perching on a patch of nettles. Also of note were plenty of Dingy Skippers and a few Green Hairstreaks and Wood Whites. Later I returned to the beach to the east of Axmouth and found another Small Blue, a female this time, after Tuesday's male. Lots of Dingy Skippers here too and a couple of new insects for me, which have always been here I've just not been observant enough before I suppose.

Small Blue

Wood White

Green Hairstreak.

Typically leaning over to get maximum sun on its wings.

His generic name Callophrys is apparently Greek for 'beautiful eyebrow'

Easy to see how it got that name. Er,...um.....Gorgeous!

Female Small Blue

This brightly coloured insect is a Cuckoo Wasp ( lays eggs in nests of other insects) or Jewel Wasp (even more self explanatory) This one is of the species hedychrum niemelai The Ruby-tailed Wasp and is a female. Males have a green thorax. I couldn't get very good photos as they're so fast! I'll have another go one day ...now I know they're there!

This is a female Spiny Mason Wasp Odynerus spinipes. Here seen in the act of building the chimney which characterizes the species' burrow.

Birding...What's That?

2011-05-04T11:09:00.006+01:00

Over the long bank holiday weekend I've only managed a couple of hours birding, that being a visit to the marshes on Sunday evening, where I found a nice Wood Sandpiper on the Colyford Common Scrape. It was 'mucho distant' as is usual here so I didn't even attempt a photo of it. Why so little birding? Well, I've spent the best part of all four days looking at butterflies and generally basking in the unbridled beauty that is late spring (which is a couple of weeks early this year). Firstly, on Friday I took advantage of the almost deserted roads ( was I missing something?) to make a quicker than usual trip to a site on the edge of Dartmoor. Here I was hoping to see Pearl-bordered Fritillaries. The date was more or less the same as when I was here last year and when I immediately saw some small orange fritillaries I assumed these were Pearl-bordered Fritillary. When I got a close look at the underside of one I realised it was in fact a Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary. I began to look more closely at others and soon realized that they were almost all small pearl-bordered. I only found one very worn pearl-bordered among them. It was only the 29th of April and they had already 'gone over' at this particular site. In 'all the books' it says that the Pearl Bordered Fritillary used to be called the April Fritillary but its name was changed when the calendar was put back eleven days in 1752 and the butterfly was then not seen until May. It's certainly still the April Fritillary at this site.

Saturday and Sunday I visited a site in Somerset, on Saturday to look for Duke of Burgundy Fritillary, which I'm happy to say I found, and on Sunday with Bun because he wanted to see Bird's Nest Orchid! (okay, that is a joke). After nobody ( I know of) seeing more than a single female at this site last year it was looking very grim for this lovely and rare little butterfly. The good news is that on both days I managed to count four males and one female and without thoroughly searching the whole site. There were masses of Grizzled Skippers here too along with Dingy Skippers, Holly Blues and Common Blues. An added bonus, and a big one at that, were half a dozen singing Nightingales one of which we had superb views of in the salubrious setting of a travellers site. "It's showing well!... There... Behind that burnt out mobile home" was the cry. Fortunately when watching a Nightingale in full song, the sight is so captivating that the surroundings become all but invisible, well I think so anyway. We also got to see several Bird's Nest Orchids (much to Bun's delight) these like everything this year being very early.

On Monday the destination was the Haldon Forest, to the south of Exeter where Pearl-bordered Fritillaries were still very much on the wing. Despite the generally cloudy weather there were scores of them. They make a glorious sight amongst the spring woodland flowers. The two Pearl Bordered Fritillaries' scientific names are after two Greek goddesses. The Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary is Boloria selene, Selene being the moon goddess and here I can't see a connection. The Pearl-bordered Fritillary however, is perfectly named Boloria euphrosyne. Euphrosyne is one of the 'Three Graces' and the Goddess of Joy. It is ( in my opinion ) very difficult not to feel joy in the presence of these exquisite creatures, even whilst standing under monstrous pylons and crackling power lines, which at one site we were.

I simply love this time of year, May is definitely my favourite month. I'm not at all good at expressing myself in the written word so I'll let George A. B. Dewar do it for me. I have a book written by him in 1904. It's called (rather quaintly it seems today) The Glamour of the Earth. It's an account of the wildlife in his local woodlands in north Hampshire at the turn of the century. A very interesting read...I didn't know the Goldcrest used to be known as the Golden Wren, for example... anyway he says...

"Two butterflies, Euphrosyne and Selene, pearl-bordered and small pearl-bordered fritillaries, I never could think of apart from the short, glorious period of crowded life and rapture, which crowns the throned summer. Once to have tasted this time in the hazel coppices, it is a kind of sin not to watch for and taste it here-after."

...and I agree

I took lots of photos and here are a few of them...

Typical Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries

A very strongly marked individual

Two views of the brightly patterned under-wing. George A.B. Dewar says..

"How exquisite in its detail is the checkered pattern on the under side of the wing of the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary!" Once again I have to agree.

Amazing to think that as a small child, no matter how deftly I thought I was creeping up on a butterfly I seldom caught them, even with the aid of a net on a four foot pole! Now I can often just put my hand nearby and they just hop on! Actually this only works in cloudy conditions as the butterflies are probably attracted to the warmth of your skin. Some are attracted by minerals in your sweat too

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

The undersides of the wing are not as boldly patterned as on the small pearl -bordered, lacking the black markings but are equally as exquisite. In the bottom photo the butterfly is resting on the buds of Wild Columbine. I've only ever seen Columbine as a garden escape before.

Female egg-laying.

Here on a piece of dead Bracken but always very near to the caterpillar's food plant, violets. Sometimes eggs are laid directly on the violet's leaves....

...like this.

Very freshly emerged individual...George A.B. Dewar says..

"The Pearl-bordered Fritillaries are lovely for the first hours of their lives. Then they have a velvety bloom about them." Couldn't have put it better myself.

Male Duke of Burgundy

Males only have four (usable) legs

Females are generally more brightly coloured and have...

...the full complement of six legs.

Other Butterflies.

Grizzled Skipper

Obviously feeling a bit chilly.

Seeing it on my finger shows how tiny it is.

Dingy Skipper

Female Holly Blue laying egg on Dogwood flower buds.

Aesthetically challenged Bird's Nest Orchid

We visited Barrington Hill Meadows NNR in Somerset on the way home from seeing the dukes. There are thousands of Green-winged Orchids here, including a few almost white ones like this. I think they look especially beautiful in this colour with the green veins in the 'wings' showing so clearly.

Yesterday I took a stroll along the beach to the east of Axmouth Harbour. It was sunny but also very windy, with the wind coming in off the sea. Butterflies were about but finding it hard to fly. I searched the vegetation and was thrilled to see this perched on a sheltered piece of Bird's Foot Trefoil

A brand spankin' new male Small Blue!

After seeing the lone male in the area last summer, this freshly emerged one is proof that they did indeed breed at the location, which is brilliant news.

White Stork and Hairy Fairy

2011-04-28T16:02:00.005+01:00

After having missed the (would have been a lifer) Purple Heron last Saturday whilst at work I was a bit worried when yesterday, again while at work, I missed a call from Phil. Turned out that it was a White Stork this time, again in front of the Colyford Common hide. It wasn't another potential lifer but was a patch tick. Fortunately it stayed long enough for me to see it distantly from the 'Farm Gate' viewpoint at around 8.30pm. Better than nothing. This morning I got back down to Colyford Common just as soon as I could (which wasn't as soon as Phil and Steve who'd been and gone before I got my idle carcass down there!) I was hoping to get there before the sun rose from behind the hills to the east. I didn't. The morning sun makes viewing, and especially photography, quite tricky from the Colyford hide. Still the sun wasn't too fierce and no heat haze had developed yet allowing me to get better digiscoped shots than I'd expected. A few other (keen) birders from Devon and Somerset arrived during the half hour or so I was there. The bird was feeding along the edge of the main scrape until two Canada Geese flew in honking loudly and gesturing at it until it moved off into the grass. It was still present at 6.50am when I left but a couple of later scans from the Farm Gate drew a blank. Great bird to see on patch, better than a Purple Heron any day! ;-)

Other Birds on Colyford Common Scrape

Grey Heron

Common Sandpiper.

The Stork kept lunging at this Sandpiper, shooing it off, but it kept coming back for more...brave or stupid? Probably just too quick!

Canada Geese.

Sent it packing.

Now for a bit of other stuff I haven't had chance to get on here. Last Wednesday, well I think it was, I went over to Orcombe Point in the hope of seeing a male Sardinian Warbler. I dipped. It was a lovely sunny day though and I'd been meaning to visit to see the spectacular swathes of Green- winged Orchids which grow on the cliff top pastures here. They were indeed a real spectacle. Having said that I wasn't too sorry to leave because the sunny weather had also brought out swathes of scantily clad holiday makers, the scantily clad ones invariably being the overweight, middle-aged male ones! Euck! It was also most disheartening to see at least one of these oiks ( I mean respected fellow humans) picking an orchid! Polite words from another birder and myself were met with much rudeness and the customary "Well there are loads of them, one wont matter" ... ******* oiks!!

Swathes of Green-winged Orchids.

One of the nicer sights at Orcombe Point!

I've been walking Rex on Axe Cliff for the last few days and though I haven't seen many birds of note I've seen a few interesting bits and bobs, including a new moth for me Adela reaumurella. It's from the family Adelidae or the Fairy Longhorns.

The unofficial common name for these is the Green Fairy Longhorn but I reckon it should be the Hairy Fairy Longhorn, I mean, just look at the two on either side!

The wings are iridescent and look green in some lights and coppery or black in others.

Here the upper wings look green and the lower wings are a bronze colour. It's glaringly obvious why they are called longhorns....

Impressive!

Yesterday I saw my first Common Blue of the year, earliest I've ever seen this species.

Look closely, it's got a passenger!

This Pink Campion is a hybrid between Red Campion and ( believe it or not) White Campion.

Whilst walking into the long grass to get this photo I disturbed half a dozen or so of these.

Common Lizard

Whilst taking a photo of Green Alkanet this landed on it. Looks pretty scary.

It eats nectar though. It's called Rhingia campestris one of the Hoverflies.

Pretty darn ugly though eh?...But....

...Not as ugly as this!!

I think it's the larva of the Bloody-nosed Beetle? Whatever it is though, it's almost as easy on the eye as the Orcombe Point sun worshippers!

Pasque Flower, Powerlifting and Patch Tick

2011-04-19T22:28:00.004+01:00

Yesterday I headed over to Martin Down NNR in Hampshire (well only just) hoping to see the rare Pasque Flower. It is only found at a few locations in the UK albeit quite numerous at a couple of them. Not Martin Down though, which I think is its southernmost location. Here there are only a handful of plants, four I think. I only know the location of two of them having seen them in seed last year. I was hoping to see them in all their glory this year but unfortunately I was just a tad too late. I reckon they'd have been at there best last week while I was in Scotland. Still they weren't too awful...

One plant had three flowers, looking a bit curled at the edges.

Still very pretty and a lovely colour...

Past its prime.

When in ful flower they have a bright yellow centre. Here though the seed head is already forming, the green and red filaments in the centre later fan out as the purple sepals fall off, to form a spiky globe. I'll remember to take a photo of it when I return in late May for the Orchids.

The other plant had two flowers and was a bit less withered.

Back on patch it was nice to see a few Early Purple Orchids in flower at the usual site.

Today a quick visit to Alyesbeare Common on the way back from a trip to Exeter, was extremely quite with very few birds and not much in the way of insects either apart from a few Brimstones. Although the Wood Ants were showing well, as usual.

Here making light work of lifting what looks like half a large Centipede.

An overdue patch tick for me this afternoon when news reached me of a Great White Egret on the lagoon at Seaton Marshes. There have been a couple on patch over the years and I think I'd be right in saying that only the relative newcomers to the patch, like myself and Bun, hadn't seen one here. Well we have now and what a corker! I've never had good views of an adult in full breeding plumage before. I know it's still only a white bird but it has lovely salmon pink legs and brilliant pea green around the eye. It was entertaining too, feeding on small fish and what looked like a frog too. I couldn't stay as long as I'd have liked due to work being imminent. Best Great White Egret I've seen though. Most definitely!

You can see the colour of the face on this one (click to enlarge)

Love that bendy neck, it's like a piece of rope

Scotland

2011-04-18T20:35:00.013+01:00

As you may know I've recently returned from a birding holiday in Scotland with Steve, Bun and Nick. It was mostly very enjoyable ( a bit too long long in woods fruitlessly waiting for Parrot Crossbill for my liking! ;-)) A great trip for Nick with twelve lifers, three for Bun I think and I had six (or seven depending on how scrupulous I am about what goes on my list). My six, er...seven were Black Grouse, Capercaille, Ptarmigan, Black Guillemot, Scottish Crossbill and White-billed Diver. Summer plumage ticks were Slavonian Grebe, Red-throated Diver, Great Northern Diver and Black-throated Diver. I also saw three new mammals, namely, Red Squirrel (yes, really) Mountain Hare and Pine Marten. They were all amazing but my favourites were definitely the Black Grouse, Black throated Divers and Red Squirrel. The White-billed Diver was very distant and the views were 'untickable' to be honest, which was disappointing. Other disappointments were dipping a King Eider and the 'Speyside Wildlife Mammal Watch' This is where three of us saw the Pine Marten but only extremely briefly. It's pretty darn expensive to attend and we were very annoyed because although we were given a sheet of paper with a list of rules, including, obviously, to be SILENT! One woman continually yakked away with no attempt to even hush the level of her voice a little. What compounded this was that the guide made no attempt to stop her, in fact he positively encouraged her! Really! He asked her if she could name all the species of mice in Britain...which she then proceeded to shout out. Being British we bit our lips and somehow refrained from a punch up. The guide said it was the worst night for Pine Marten in months... I wonder why?! I'm writing to complain... for what good it will do. Still all in all we had a great time and the scenery was as amazing as the birds! :-)

I won't describe what we did each day in detail as Steve is doing a superb job of this on his blog. I did take quite a few photos (surprise, surprise) so I'll stick 'em on here with a few captions.There aren't as many nice ones as I'd have hoped for because on the first night of the holiday disaster struck, when I accidentally (obviously) deleted all that day's photos. I'll put it down to being tired, not being stupid! I could recover the photos at home but only if I didn't use that camera any more (Note to self. Buy a spare card, coz it'll probably happen again). I therefore had to rely on the old super-zoom and my back up digiscoping camera which I'm not very good with. I didn't get photos of everything but here's a selection of what I did get.

BIRDS

Black Grouse

Red Grouse

I think this Red Grouse is an older male than the one above....

judging by the size of that eyebrow!

Female Red Grouse

Ptarmigan

Hooded Crow

Great Northern Diver.

Slavonian Grebe

Black-throated Divers.

Stunning birds. Bird of the trip candidate for sure.

White-billed Diver. Obviously!! ;-)

Gorgeous Eiders. My favourite ducks, the call is as good as the colour.

Great views of hundreds of these on the Ythan Estuary made up somewhat for dipping the King Eider, which was back there the day after us!

MAMMALS

Highland Bulls

Red Squirrel.

She looks a tad on the pregnant side to me. Aaah!

Grey Seals

SCENERY

Rock cunningly fashioned into shape of crashed car? ...or do I need help?

Findhorn Valley

Somewhere on the west coast.

We saw a superb adult White-tailed Eagle over these here mountains don't you know.

Loch Whatsit...

Loch Thingy

Rattray Head..

another place we dipped King Eider at, gorgeous beach though.

View from atop of Cairngorm

PEOPLE

The Cairngorm Centre car park was worryingly full...

We were crammed into the cars of the funicular railway like sardines.It was the last weekend of the snow sports season!! Steve makes like a tourist..which is of course what we were!

Nick struggles to see past the hoards of skiers

Steve spots the Ptarmigan from the edge of the intermediate snowboard run.

Various Ptarmigan watching shots.

You can see how little snow was actually left on the ski runs. It was plenty good enough to accommodate around 200 skiers though!

Steve photographing Loch Thingamajig

They have every angle of Loch Oojamaflip covered.

That Black-throated Diver's there somewhere.

Gourmet lunch at the Nethy Bridge Spar shop..

Steve chose a cake in his favourite colour.

First and best. Watching the Black Grouse lek on day one.

Towards the end of a long day, Bun tries to squeeze the last dregs out of his flask.

We saw two Golden Eagles over the hills in the background a couple of days later. Yes we did all fit in that car....though I don't know how!

Finally, I was taking a photo from the Loch Garten ( I remember that one) hide when I thought it would make a good demonstration subject for showing the capability of the Canon SX1 super-zoom. I took four photos thus.

No zoom.

The Osprey nest is between the two sets of trees and barely visible.

Full optical zoom (20x)

Digital zoom (40x)

Full digital zoom (80x). Pretty nifty really.

A Bit of Light Relief

2011-04-04T22:24:00.002+01:00

This post isn't all moaning honest!

Fortunately I'd gotten up at 6am this morning, if I hadn't I'd have soon been woken by the 'good 'ol pipeline' It's becoming like a member of the family, it really does grows on you in time! 7.10 am was the start up time this morning, how considerate! Still Tesco are doing their best to quieten it down look...

They're insulating it, supposedly for soundproofing but it looks suspiciously like it will just be warmer!! Neat job they've done so far, can't see it surviving the ravages of a spot of Atlantic weather for long though. You can judge for yourself how well the soundproofing is working, here's a video taken in my garden this morning. I've been recording the sound levels throughout the day and they peaked at 94 dB and are averaging around 85dB.

I was very pleased therefore to see on Birdguides that the Short-toed Lark was still present at Portland, I let Bun know and we were soon on our way. On arriving we could see a couple of birders just giving up looking, but within about five minutes Bun had spotted it in a small ploughed field. It was really difficult to pick out until it moved. Lovely little bird and a lifer for me ( Bun only 'needed' it for Britain). According to Collin's Bird Guide its rufous cap makes it a bird from Spain or North Africa. This was another one of those twitches I love, for a long time three was the highest number of birders looking. Until.....

Uum...that looks suspiciously like a tour coming from the Observatory. Not to worry they're not coming our way....oh..

...They are!!!

An RSPB tour.

Actually we weren't mean enough to just scarper, we stayed and let anyone who wanted one have a look through our scopes. We only left because our parking ticket was due to run out...It's true!!

The bird was reasonably close in this ploughed field but unfortunately the rape in the foreground was just that bit too tall, making digiscoping it a bit tricky. As usual I had a go though. They're not all photos of soil...look closely!

When I got home the pipe was still going, in fact it was in action for about nine hours today. I popped out again to run a few errands and when I got home this had happened...

They'd only put this on our drive and strapped it to our fence. It's to stop the neighbours accessing their own path! We cut it free and dumped it back on the site. The Cheeky *****!!