Isle of wight Day 3-ventnor botanics

it was a overcast morning that greeted us, but it was quite warm so we decided to go to the botanic gardens at Ventnor. Botanic gardens are often good for wildlife so I went with my family to the gardens. The entrance building was quite modern, but when I saw the map I was gutted to learn that there was only one pond, and that was next to the cafe, so I didn't rate my chances of finding any dragonflies very highly.
There was however a meadow at the far end of the site, which might have had some butterflies, so i decided that that would be where I went for the day. But first there was the issue of going to the cafe, and there would be the pond there too.
The pond was a small concrete affair with a wide variety of plants but not much else. I got my first odonata sighting of the holiday with the small numbers of blue-tailed damselflies that were there, including form rufescens-obsoleta.

-Blue tailed damselfly

After a morning snack I made my way to the meadow at the far end. I was not surprised to find that it was just a field, all be it a very big one. I was also not surprised to find that there was an excessive number of grasshoppers and crickets in the field. I this one which was quite big...

-Large Cricket
There were also a large number of butterflies, including the usual gatekeepers, large whites and meadow browns, but also, for the third day on the trot I spotted a marbled white butterfly

-Marbled white
Secretly I was hoping for a glanville fritillary, although their flight season had past, there may be just one or two hanging around, and we were quite near to st. catherines point where they exist, so there was no reason why the shouldn't be here.

They would have to wait though, as i received a text from my dad telling me that they had found a family of partridges with babies, as well as lizards. When I caught up with them, back at the cafe my dad said that they had lost them, but showed me a lizard sunbathing on a flat rock.

-Common Wall Lizard

We look around for the partridges but it was my mum that found them, accidentally stumbling upon them resting away from the path. I watched them and counted about seven babies, as they began to move around looking for a new place to rest. I took some photos to show how cute they were, but there isn't a great deal more to say, so just enjoy the photos.

-Red legged partridge female with chicks
I then spotted another lizard, this one closer to me, allowing me to get a few more quick shots of lizards, this one was more awake and scurried when i tried to get closer.

-Common wall lizard
Back in the field, I spent my time walking around the clumps of thistle's looking for potential fritillaries, I didn't find any, but I did find a group of young willow warblers, that was nice-a real day for baby birds.

-Baby willow warblers
I continued to walk around the field and as i did so, I kept flushing small skippers from the grass, only when they landed again they had their wings closed which i have never seen before. This is what attracted me to have a closer look, and I kept finding them and watching them for a long time until they opened their wings. eventually i found one that did open its wings. I didn't really know what they were, but i knew that the difference between small and essex skippers is to do with the black on the underside of the attenne, so I had a look and it seemed to fit the bill. If I'm right then I have another new species of butterfly, but I still have some doubts over my I.D skills on such small departments. Anyway I took a lot of photos, so enjoy them, and if you know please tell me if I'm wrong.

-Essex Skipper

It got to lunch time and still no joy with the fritillaries, although I had also found a group of common blue.

During lunch there was a heavy rain storm so I guessed that me chances had just about finished, but I went back anyway to try and find one.

Moving further into the field i passed some cages, where there were ponds and llamas, and also a grey heron looking wet and miserable.

-Grey heron
I continued to walk around the field until I found a small stream, I followed it hoping to encounter a scarce blue tailed damselfly or summit, but instead i encountered a crab spider-my first time ever seeing one, so was pleasantly surprised. It was actually hunting too, although not very subtly,as it was on a purple thistle. It moved to try and subtly hide away from me as I got some photos of it, and it even moved sideways like a crab, by the far the best thing i have seen all day.

-Crab Spider

on my way back to the car park I received a text from my dad saying that they were going now and that I could either stay and catch up with them at Ventnor beach or come with them. I decided to stay so that I couldn't possible overlook anything in the field. The next thing I saw was a pair of juvenile buzzards perched high in a dead tree and calling really loudly. One adult kept flying around, but I dunno which one it was.

-Common Buzzard
One bird you will quickly get to grips with upon the isle of wight is the green woodpecker, every site seems to have them there, and this one was no exception, I had heard them all day, but only now did I spot one-in the top of a tree?? Its the first time I have ever seen one in a tree!

-green woopeckerAs I walked back through the field there continued to be plenty of essex skippers and as the weather began to improve they began to open their wings more, even though that didn't help at all with my I.D...

-Essex SkipperI left the field eventually and made my way to the exit. By now it was quite warm and there were a few more damselflies on the pond, all still blue tailed though.

-Blue tailed damselfly, rufescens obsoletaWhen I left the gardens I didn't really know what to do, but since it had brightened up I decided to go back to rew down, for the third time only this time I truly believed that I might actually see some of the butterflies it had there.

It was quite a walk, all up-hill but when I got there I was please to note that there were quite a few butterflies around, so I was quite optimistic about finding an adonis. The first butterfly that wasn't a gatekeeper was a marbled white, no surprise there.

-Marbled White
When I got down the the area of long grass, that was not mown I was not surprised to find a large number of blue butterflies. However having not done my homework I had no clue as to how to tell the difference between the common and adonis blue.

So I resolved to take a photo of every blue butterfly I saw, but I quickly realised that this was not sustainable as I was running out of photos on this card, and the other card was left in the caravan.

I watched the various blue butterflies, but the first one to catch my eye was the one featured below, was it a very brown common blue or a very blue brown argus. I think that it is a brown argus, but i would say that having seen plenty of common blues and only one brown argus.

-Brown Argus

I eventually found a butterfly that might be what I was looking for. I didn't recognise the underwing pattern, and although it refused to open its wings appeared to be an adonis. It was very small, which is what threw me. I lost this butterfly, but found one later that had the same markings, but upon opening its wings had very dark insides of its wings. That one was a female chalk-hill blue, but was this one, were they the same butterfly? The female chalk-hill blue would be much bigger in theory but I didn't see them next to each other so I can't call the size difference and that's the only thing I have to go on really.

-Adonis blue? or female chalk-hill blue?
And on the note of chalk-hill I saw one of them too, my first, a wonderful male with a rather sorryfull chip in its wings, but even so it was a really nice record and another new butterfly tick, so i followed it around to try and get some record shots, and I have done a decent job.

-Chalk-Hill BlueIt was great to see a butterfly, one of those i really badly wanted to see during the holiday, but once i lost it I decided I would have to try and return to find an adonis.

It was infuriating how many blue butterflies there were there, all of them common blues. Be having said that, the common blues looked great with the evening light reflecting off their wings.

-Common Bluewalking around I spotted a group of about three small moths or butterflies fluttering near a hawthorn tree. I wondered if they might be skippers, dingy or grizzled so I watched them. when they landed i was plesantly surprised by the fact that they were actually a very colourful micro-moth. I dunno what kind it actually is but from the book I reckon its a pyrausta genus

-pyrausta sp. (aurata?)
I managed to catch up with the chalk-hill blue again, and it was the same one judging by the chip on its lower wing-but it allowed me to get some more shots of what was a pretty impressive butterfly. I diddnt realise that they were so much bigger than other blues

-Chalk hill blue

Still the Adonis were avoiding me, and again I had common blues a plenty!

-Common Blue
but the chalk-hill blue made it all better

-Chalk-hill blue
I decided to look furthur affield in the reserve and not stick to the same area. I wondered if i was past the time of flight for adonis, and then thought that that never made any difference. It then occured to me that I haddnt seen a ringlet for about a month, and was filled with a sense of hope-less-ness, however, ironically I found a ringlet hidden amongst the hawthorn bushes.

I got a text from my mum and dad telling me that my lift had arrived, so I had to leave, but on my way out I spotted a wall brown on the path, which was my first of the year, and also my first oppertunity to get a record shot that I had been wanting.

-Wall Brown

So ends another day, and despite the rain the weather had been really good hence the large numbers of butterflies and with another two new species I was on course for a new butterfly ever day!

Cambridgeshire Day 4

I think that this day, Wednesday, was almost certainly the hottest day of the holiday! It was also the day that we decided to go and have a look for the stone curlew. Our chosen destination was NWT Weeting Heath because it offers great views, without disturbing the birds-and you actually have a good chance of seeing them.
I was a bit surprised when I got there! I was expecting slightly more, with ponds and stuff but it was actually a couple of hides overlooking a field with a woodland walk of about 3miles. Even so, I was not disappointed with the birds we saw. We decided not to go for the woodland walk but to only go to the hide to look for a stone curlew.
When we arrived in the hide, some other birders there told us that one had just disappeared from sight down a dip. so as we waited I had a look at what else was around. To be honest, not much really! there were quite a few rabbits, crows, rooks, and jackdaws but there was also a pied wagtail and a couple of lapwings.
Then the moment we were all waiting for-a stone curlew emerged from the ditch and began to move along the steel fence along the edge. It was much too far for the camera, but through the scope you could get great views of the bird, in all its unusual glory. The photos below are just record shots, the bird is in the photo somewhere but it might be a bit hard to find.
You got smashing views through the scope, but eventually one of the crows disturbed it and it flew off, further down the field where we could not see it.

-Stone curlew, surrounded by rabbits and crows
After that, we decided to head back to lakenheath fen, because the woodland walk seemed like it would be too far for my mum. Back at lakenheath I wasted no time in heading to the oriole point, to try and make up for my misfortune yesterday. same as yesterday, I did not see an oriole. I wandered around the stakeout for a while but didn't even hear it. There were however other birds to look at, for example, there were a few whitethroats around.

But then, In a small area of trampled grass with a random stick sticking out from the ground, I found a dragonfly perched. I had read on the sightings board that the dragonfly count was pretty low, the only species being hairy dragonfly, four-spotted chaser and scarce chaser. I knew it wasn't hairy and I could tell that it wasn't a four spotted chaser, so by process of elimination I knew that it was a scarce chaser, which is a first for me.

It was great, that I didn't have to chase it and that I managed to find it whilst it was landed, so I started to get some record shots. I managed to get quite a few, at one point it left but then returned to the same stick, as there supposed to do, but never do in my case, which was nice. The dark eye colour tells me that this is a female as appose to a juvenile.

-scarce chaser
I sadly scared it away by trying to climb over the stick to get a few head on photos, so I didn't manage any. And continuing with the dragonfly theme, I managed to find a Hairy dragonfly perched. It was not a great photography position as there were too many blades of grass in the way. It was also perched so that if i wanted to get the whole dragonfly in focus, I would have to shoot upwards at it, and there wasn't enough space below it for me to do that, but the photo I did manage highlight the stunning colours of the insect.

-Hairy DragonflyI then got a text telling me that I had to go back to the car for lunch. It was a pity, and I would be kicking myself if the oriole came out, but no-body seemed to be seriously looking for it today, where as yesterday, there was always a decent sized crowd.
On the way back I spotted a garden spider poised in mid air wrapping up his lunch, so I decided to take some photos.

-garden spider
After lunch I headed straight back into the reserve, with the intention to go straight back to the oriole site, but in the pool opposite the visitor center I spotted a dragonfly hunting, so I decided to try and take some photos to work out what kind it was. There were two of one kind and a Hairy dragonfly too. It was hard, the dragonfly's just wouldn't stay still, But then I got a real surprise. As I was watching the dragonfly's to see if they would land, a small dark matter began to move across the water. Or at least that's what I saw, but the ripple marks went quite some way back so after about 15 seconds of watching this matter curiously, I realised that this was a grass snake. I couldn't believe it. Its the first time I have ever seen a wild snake, although to be honest all I could see was its head!

-Grass snake swimmingBack to the dragonflys, as the grass snake had reached its destination at the far side of the pond. Eventually one stayed still for me to get a decent view of it. it was quite a way off but I managed to get a quick photo which proved that it was a four-spotted chaser.

-four spotted chaserToday was proving far more successful for dragonflies, but there were much fewer birds than yesterday. Aside from the usual sedge and reed warbler the only other birds, although this is an addition to yesterdays, was a kestrel plus the marsh harriers.
I decided to walk via the vegetation pools to the main reserve rather than the path and was rewarded with more views of a hairy dragonfly, although I didn't manage to get the camera in pin sharp focus, otherwise it would have been one of the best photos of them I have taken.

-Hairy Dragonflyback at the Oriole site there was only more disappointment to be found. However, the verges to the path were still providing a distraction, this time in the form of a large skipper, identification based on the faint spots on the wings.

-Large skipper

Once that had gone, there was still more, although certainly not a easy to identify. I found this wonderful lacewing perched on an overhanging blade of grass. what struck me was the bluey green tint to the wings and also the small black spots on the head. This lacewing is not in my dads insect book, so I can not say what kind it is, not that it matters, its just nice to see. There were quite a few of them fluttering about, so they were quite common down here, whitethroat food!

-Lacewing
Because the verges were proving such a success I decided to walk along the path where yesterday there were those wicked beetles, to see if i could find some more, or something else pretty cool. I managed to find this spider, which seems to be protecting her eggs under her. I have had a look in a quite vague wildlife book and it says that this spider is likely to be Nursery web spider, pisaura mirabilis which makes sense based on the behavior displayed here! It was quite big and the egg sack is almost the same size as the abdomen of the spider, so it makes you wonder how many eggs must be in the egg-sack.

-Nursery web spider
Further up the path I spotted a whitethroat, so far the bird of the day, perched really conveniently on a jutting out reed. It didn't stick around long, but the shot I got must be one of the most successful photos I have ever taken of a whitethroat!

-whitethroatAt the top of the path was the familiar stile that led onto the public footpath along the side of the river. I decided to go and have a look up on top, and maybe at the river for damselflys and waterbirds. But as soon as i got to the top of the path I spotted something else. It was a small butterfly but this one was brown as a pose to blue. I knew immediately, as soon as it landed that it was a brown argus, but even so I had a nagging doubt that it may just be an exceptionally brown female common blue.

It was really dainty, and although not as colourful as its blue relations, it was still really cool to see. Incidentally this is my first new butterfly for the holiday. I spent a while taking photos before I just sat and watched it as it fed on the Daisy's on the low grass that covered the path.

-Brown Argus
I took loads of photos for fear that something may go wrong if i only took a few! After it flew away I decided to take a look by the river, to see what was around. I found a banded demoiselle, which was nice and the first one I had found on the site.

On the way back to the oriole site, I spotted another nursery web spider, this one without a egg sack, and so showing how long its legs were i.e. quite long! It was hidden in a leaf. The fact that these spiders didn't seem to asociate with webs made me wonder how they hunt, maybe this one was ambushing something! so I took a few photos and then left, to avoid disturbing the spider.

-Nursery web spider
When i got back to the oriole site, it was about 4 o'clock which mean't that there was the evening light effect taking place. This truly would be the last chance i would get to try and see an oriole. But instead of an oriole I got good views of a cuckoo, finally an unusual bird for today! I got to see it cuckooing without even having to use my binoculars, which was kind of special because it might have been my final memory of the reserve. There were a few reed warblers that were quite angry about the cuckoo being so close to their nests.

-Cuckoo

In the scrub in front of me, before the poplar plantation I suddenly spotted a small brown bird. It was another whitethroat, once again quite close and so I once again took plenty of photos. Its curious because a few minuets before I had seen a whitethroat with a mouthful of caterpillars, and this one had no caterpillars in its mouth,. so I reasoned that there must be a nest somewhere nearby.

-whitethroat

As I was watching and waiting for a potential oriole, I found the scarce chaser again, and it landed for me to take a photo face on, but sadly they diddn't come out well, possibly because of the light fading.

Anyway, I got a text telling me to head back to the car, because it was time to go home. On the way back, I spotted a brown female common blue damselfly, which just adds to the bio-diversity of the place.

-Common blue damselfly

so, once more i have to say goodbye to this fabulouse nature reserve-I thouroughly recomend it to anyone going to the area! So this was the last full day in cambridgeshire, as tomorow we were going home. Its been a great holiday, it almost had asmany new species as norfolk last year, and norfolk is reknown for its wildlife, so that puts it in perspective!

and whats even better is that we saw the whole point of coming down-the stone curlew! thats the best bit, with their beady eyes and wierd personalities.