East Anglia - Undisclosed Location

I spent the week doing fieldwork at an undisclosed location in the South-East, but there was too much to enjoy to not post a few photos and some short context. The birding was excellent, with Hobbies, Red Kites and Buzzards soaring everywhere, and on one occasion a Honey Buzzard flew over, which is a solid British tick for me. Wetland areas were lively with Little Egrets and even Glossy Ibis, while the woodlands had a singing Firecrest in addition to commoner species such as Marsh Tit and Lesser Whitethroat.

The insects were the real stars, and I had a lot of fun looking at Odonata whilst out in the field. It took a few days but I finally connected with a Norfolk Hawker, and from then on they were extremely abundant, often perching in very conspicuous locations. Variable Damselfly was also common here, mixed in with the abundant Azure Damselflies and Large Red Damselflies.

-Glossy Ibis

-Honey Buzzard

-Firecrest

-Variable Damselfly

-Broad-bodied Chaser

-Norfolk Hawker

Species List:
Undisclosed Location: Greylag Goose, Barnacle Goose, Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Common Shelduck, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Common Cuckoo, Common Swift, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Pied Avocet, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Northern Lapwing, Common Ringed Plover, Black-tailed Godwit, Common Redshank, Black-legged Kittiwake, Black-headed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, Northern Fulmar, Great Cormorant, Eurasian Bittern, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Glossy Ibis, European Honey Buzzard, Western Marsh Harrier, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Red Kite, Common Buzzard, Great Spotted Woodpecker, European Green Woodpecker, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Hobby, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Sedge Warbler, Eurasian Reed Warbler, Common Grasshopper Warbler, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Common House Martin, Common Chiffchaff, Cetti's Warbler, Eurasian Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Goldcrest, Common Firecrest, Eurasian Treecreeper, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Mistle Thrush, Common Blackbird, European Robin, European Stonechat, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Western Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Common Chaffinch, European Greenfinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Common Reed Bunting, Muntjac Deer, Red Fox, European Rabbit, Banded Demoiselle, Large Red Damselfly, Common Blue-tailed Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Variable Damselfly, Broad-bodied Chaser, Hairy Damselfly, Norfolk Hawker,

RSPB Frampton Marsh

   On my way to Spurn for the weekend I made the long detour to Frampton Marsh in Lincs to see a friend who was also visiting. I visited the reserve once before, but it now it was autumn which gave the place a different feel. There were good numbers of returning waders around, including brick red Bar-tailed Godwits and Red Knots, as well as dapper Spotted Redshanks and Turnstones. On the reserve island there were 10 Spoonbills, and an immature Little Gull drifted past. In the end we managed a whopping 79 species, which was not bad for a mid-summers day.

  During the afternoon we went out searching for Turtle Doves, but sadly none had arrived this year. Instead we found a Variable Damselfly, a species I don’t see much of up north and was apparently the first ever for the reserve. The icing on the cake for a brilliant days birding. 

-Variable Damselfly

Species List:
RSPB Frampton Marsh: Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Common Shelduck, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Eurasian Wigeon, Mallard, Eurasian Teal, Common Pochard, Tufted Duck, Common Pheasant, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Rock Dove, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Common Swift, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Pied Avocet, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Grey Plover, Northern Lapwing, Common Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Eurasian Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Ruff, Dunlin, Green Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Common Greenshank, Black-headed Gull, Little Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Tern, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Eurasian Spoonbill, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Eurasian Hobby, Peregrine Falcon, Eurasian Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Sedge Warbler, Eurasian Reed Warbler, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Common House Martin, Eurasian Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Song Thrush, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Western Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Common Chaffinch, European Greenfinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Corn Bunting, Common Reed Bunting, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Variable Damselfly, Common Blue-tailed Damselfly, Emperor Dragonfly, Four-spot Chaser, Black-tailed Skimmer,

Dorset Holiday Day 4

I allowed myself something of a lie in this morning, getting out of bed at 7.00. It is perhaps because of this that there were fewer moths again, many having already moved on. However, a few nice specimens were still around. A Buff-Tip had reappeared, but was near the roof of the building, while photographable moths included a nice Dark Arches and a male Four Spot Footman.

 -Four Spot Footman

-Dark Arches

 My family were heading into Wareham for the morning, so I decided to hitch a lift and go to one of the heathlands over that way. I eventually decided to go for Morden Bog, site of the 2014 ST Eagle. The weather was reasonably nice and so I hoped I might get decent views of Woodlark.

As soon as I was there I could tell this was a quality site. Just in from the road and there was a largish pool adjacent to the path, so I headed over that way to have a look for some dragon and damselflies. It was not particularly sunny but was pleasantly warm, so there were a few of them about. The main species present were Common Emerald, Common Blue and Small Red. The latter species is one I do not encounter very often so I was pretty pleased to see more of them. On a scarcer note I was able to add a solitary Variable Damselfly to the list.

-Emerald Damselfly

-Variable Damselfly

 On the dragonfly front there was significantly fewer individuals present but still a good number of species, overall higher than the number of damselflies. Around the pond there was the main Emperor hunting, then a number of Common Darter and Black-Tailed Skimmer along the fringes. I also had a Black Darter but only the one. Then in the wood itself I had a very distant Common Hawker

-Black Darter

 The pond also had a number of other goodies. There were a few notable butterflies around, including my first Silver-Studded Blues of the holiday, and a Grayling on the path. The weather probably played a part in the overall lack of butterfly species but there were still a few around. On the path I had a smashing Green Tiger Beetle running around, and in the pond itself I was thrilled to spot a Grass Snakes head bobbing around. I spotted it the same moment it spotted me, and it then quickly dived. I had to wait about a minute before I spotted it again but I was able to grab a few photos.

-Silver Studded Blue

-Grass Snake

 Birds were sparse around the pool but there were a few more as I moved around the heathland. I headed up towards the main pool where I was surprised to see a few birders around. I asked one about woodlark and he said that he had not seen any, and that at this time of year they were very hard to find. He did mention hobby though, which I failed to see (Probably due to the weather) and Dartford Warbler, which I did see.

-Dartford Warbler

 I had stupidly left my binoculars at home, and so was pretty much birding blind. That being said, I got a very good haul for the day. I heard multiple Crossbill flocks before I actually spotted 2 individuals flying overhead. Sadly without bins I was unable to really appreciate them, but through what photos I have you can see the bill extension. I also had multiple Stonechats, some of which were very vocal, as well as a solitary Tree Pipit. Siskins and Yellowhammers were also in abundance and were often very vocal themselves.

-Crossbill

 My favourite record from the site was one that was completely unexpected for me and a real bonus species for the holiday. As I was heading along the track I could see a depression in the vegetation which indicated a pool, which could mean dragonflies. I meandered over to have a quick check and was stopped dead in my tracks by the sight that greeted me. There, at the back of the pool, right out in the open, was a Water Rail. I could not believe what I was seeing. It had not seen me yet but was definitely on the move, so I only had a little time for photos. It moved behind a clump of vegetation and as I moved round to see it again it spotted me and bolted. So sadly I only have a couple of very poor shots, but they say more than I ever could.

-Water Rail

By one in the afternoon I decided to call it quits, largely helped by the fact that my parents were passing on their way back from Wareham, but the key factor was that I could not work around not having my bins. It was doing my head in and had put a real downer on the morning.

For the afternoon I decided to stay local. I headed to the local heath, but this time to the slightly further Winfrith Heath as opposed to my usual site of Tadnoll Heath. Winfrith was quite disappointing in all honesty, with only a handful of insects around, and most of those seemed to have a taste for my flesh. A few none savage insects included a Common Hawker hunting along the path, and a Green Tiger Beetle doing the same.

-Green Tiger Beetle

 I decided to call in at Tadnoll on the way back just to have a quick check of the corrugated iron tins for reptiles. So far it had been a pretty poor deal for reptiles but that all changed when I had a look then. I lifted up the first tin and was thrilled to see both a superb Grass Snake and a female Smooth Snake. The Grass Snake scarpered all too quickly for my liking but the Smooth Snake just sat there settled, allowing me to take plenty of photos and have a fantastic view of it. I was buzzing, and it got even better when I flipped another tin to see a male Smooth Snake under there. Sadly it too cleared off pretty quick, but I did get a couple of shots of that.

-Female Smooth Snake

-Male Smooth Snake

 Because of the success I had there, I decided to stick around and keep birding on the site. There were ample dragonflies within in the heather and plenty of butterflies on the brambles; Comma, Peacock and Red Admiral. There were also plenty of dragonflies and I was chuffed when I found a Golden-Ringed Dragonfly on the floor. I managed a few shots before it decided to move off…

-Golden Ringed Dragonfly

 Walking along the central dirt track I was given another fantastic boost for the day when I happened to flush four birds from the track. I knew exactly what these were, but when I set eyes on them on the deck for the first time I was taken aback and began to doubt myself as I could not clearly make out the features that made them Woodlark. This was probably due to the distance away that they were but fortunately, all doubts were laid to rest when they flushed again, and for the first time I heard them call. Distinct Woodlark call! That was all the proof I needed. They loitered around the path for a bit but despite seeing where they landed I could not pick them up on the deck, and my views remained only flushed views.

-Woodlark

 Now knowing they were still present I decided to put down some seed to see if I could attract them in. In the evening my parents mentioned that they wanted to have a look at the site, so put down some seed along the side of the path. Along the evening walk we flushed the four Woodlark again, but they returned to the heather and not the path, so I could not really pursue them. Still, having seen them again, I do have hope that I might see them on the deck properly at some point.

We had a look at the tins again in the evening, and were rewarded with the Grass Snake again, but once again it cleared off pretty quick. However, we had a fantastic encounter with a Slow Worm along the path. It was very docile, probably as a result of the cooler evening, but it did allow me to grab plenty of photos of it. It was lovely and bronze, the best I have ever seen. It was a lovely end to the day.

-Slow Worm

Species List:

Crossways Caravan Site: Treecreeper, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Woodpigeon, Nuthatch,

Morden Bog: Yellowhammer, Jay, Green Woodpecker, Stonechat, Robin, Woodpigeon, Greenfinch, Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Mistle Thrush, Siskin, Great-Spotted Woodpecker, Water Rail, Crossbill, Dartford Warbler, Tree Pipit, Bullfinch, Grass Snake, Common Toad, Black-Tailed Skimmer, Keeled Skimmer, Common Hawker, Emperor Dragonfly, Common Darter, Black Darter, Small Red Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Variable Damselfly, Common Emerald Damselfly, Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Small Heath, Gatekeeper, Grayling, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Marbled White, Silver Studded Blue,

Tadnoll and Winfrith Heath: Willow Warbler, Long-Tailed Tit, Magpie, Chaffinch, Yellowhammer, Grey Heron, Linnet, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Common Buzzard, Song Thrush, Great-Spotted Woodpecker, Bullfinch, Woodlark, Stonechat, Mute Swan, Green Woodpecker, Grass Snake, Smooth Snake, Slow Worm, Four-Spot Chaser, Black-Tailed Skimmer, Keeled Skimmer, Common Hawker, Golden-Ringed Dragonfly, Common Darter, Common Blue Damselfly, Common Emerald Damselfly, Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Small Heath, Gatekeeper, Grayling, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Marbled White, Silver Studded Blue, Red Admiral, Comma, Peacock, Small White, Large White,

Angelsey day 5

Day five started overcast and so we decided to go for a walk in the local town, and then head to a nature reserve just up from the town. The nature reserve was called "the dingle" and was a woodland walk alongside a river. There was not too much wildlife, though there was a bit in the river in the form of fish. Eventually though we came out at an open field filled with long grass and reeds and it was here that the wildlife started to appear. The first thing I saw was a willow warbler hiding in the reeds.

-Willow Warbler
At the top of the hill in the which the field was in I could see something moving around but was way to far away to tell what they were, warbler unknown! I decided to go up and have a look. On the way up, a buzzard flew overhead.

-Common Buzzard
When I reached the top I struggled to find the warblers again, but when I did it turned out that they were whitethroats, so another species to add to my holiday list





















-Common Whitethroat
On the way back down the hill to the path I began to see more things, including this assassin bug that was also trying to hide behind the plant that it was on.

-Common Green Caspid

and despite there not being any suitable water I also found a common blue damselfly, perched on the grass.

-Common Blue Damselfly
On the way back through the woods there were a few more birds, including a baby robin, mallards, blackbirds and a jay.











-Jay
That afternoon, because the weather had brightened up we decided to go and look at Malltraeth marsh, which I had read on the internet had a good population of the rare damselflies, and because he weather was good I was optimistic.
  We decided to go round the back, through the woods first and then come back through the marsh. In the woods we saw speckled wood butterfly and large red damselfly.
  As we entered the marsh and we began to be bombarded by biting horseflies. There were two types, the cleg flies and the "green eyed ones"...












-Green eyed horseflies
We persevered on, beyond the flies, not that they left us alone. We walked along the back of the marsh before going up a woodland path to get to the marsh. Up the woodland path we saw quite a few dragon and damselflies, including common darter and common blue tailed damselflies.

-Common Darter

-Common Blue Tailed Damselfly

-Common Blue Damselfly
when we got out of the wooded bit and onto the marsh we were bombarded by biting flies. And we also ended up lost. There was a river at the top of the marsh, and the main path was on the other side of it, but there was no bridge, and the path diddnt seem to be anywhere. we walked through the fields downstream knowing that we would eventually find a bridge, and if not head back.
  the edge of each field had a drainage ditch and it was here that there were loads of damselflies. The first damselfly that I found that was more interesting was this azure.

-Azure Damselfly
The problem with the ditches was that they were heavily infested with flies, and in order to see the damselflies you had to endure the flies. But it turned out to be worth because in one of the ditches I found angelseys poster damselfly species, not southern, but variable. I have only ever seen this species once before so I was choughed to have seen more, especially since this time I actually know what I am looking for.

-Variable Damselfly
Buoyed by seeing an unusual damselfly we continued to walk through the fields until we could see the bridge at the end of one of fields. Walking through that field next to the river I spotted this female common emerald damselfly.

-Common Emerald Damselfly
Looking down from where I was watching the damselfly, my dad pointed out this unusual shield bug on a buttercup leaf. I have never seen anything like, though it is quite similar to a pied shield bug, I have no idea what species it is.

-Shield Bug Sp. 
this field was teeming with wildlife. Strolling on, I flushed a carpet moth. I recognized it as a shaded broad bar, having seen the species before at EGP

-Shaded broad bar
But it was not the only moth in this field, as we found a vetch plant covered in six-spotted burnet moths

-Six Spot Burnet Moths
at the far side of the field there was some yellow hay rattle, and perched on one of them I spotted a four spot chaser, which was nice to see. I tried to get closer to it, but it was quite flighty, and regularly left its perch.

-Four Spot Chaser
We crossed over the bridge onto the pathway on the side of the river. This path was hard standing, and so was easier to walk on, and there were also less flies around, so I could roll my sleeves up again.
  The vegetation between the path and the river was pretty well grown and as many of the plants were in flower there were quite a few butterflies around, including this small tortoiseshell.

-Small Tortoiseshell 
But it was not just insects that were catching my attention, there were a few birds around too, the most interesting of these was a sedge warbler that stuck its head up from the reeds for a few brief moments, but it was certainly one of the more unusual birds seen on the holiday.

-Sedge Warbler
but once more my attention was drawn to the insects when this scorpion fly landed on a reed near me. A species I have never managed to photograph, and This photo hardly does it justice as you can't see the tail.

-Scorpion fly
on the path further up there were some holes in the path, insect burrows. We watched them for a bit, and then one of the inhabitants began to make its way out. It was a digger wasp of some kind, but it was lovely to see.

-Digger Wasp
walking across the path in front of us was a black spiky caterpillar, probably a peacock caterpillar, so we moved it off the path, in case he was run over by a cyclist.

-Peacock caterpillar
and then, next to the water further up, near the bridge that would take us back over and back to the car I spotted another variable damselfly. This one was perched on a plant rooted to the land rather than the water, and so was more accessible to take photos of, greatly adding to my collection of photos of the species for today.

-Variable Damselfly
back on the other side of the river, it was one straight path back to the car with no southern damselfly. But I was not bothered, as I had seen plenty of other lovely things. On the way back to the car I spotted this six spotted burnet moth on a thistle.

-Six spot Burnet Moth
and just before we got into the car park my dad spotted this cluster of small tortoiseshell caterpillars devouring a nettle next to a drainage ditch.













-Small tortoiseshell caterpillars