Spurn Bird Observatory

  Between Monday and Thursday, I spent a few days visiting Spurn to catch up with old friends. This time there was no mega that arrived simultaneously with me, but there were a few nice birds and a lot of nice insects. I spent most of my time checking the various ponds and waterways to tot up exactly how many dragonflies and damselflies there were on the wing.

  That said there were still a few birds around. A Great Egret was enjoying life on Canal Scrape before roosting at Pancho’s Pond at night. There were also a large number of terns around, mostly Little Tern and Sandwich Tern but also a pair of cracking Roseate Terns that were delightful to watch during one afternoon. The birding highlight though was finally adding Red-legged Partridge to my Spurn list. I had been checking the local fields from the vantage point of the observatory tower but had neither seen nor heard anything. Then one evening as we were ringing Swallows and Sand Martins in Sykes Field I heard the distinctive call of a single Red-legged Partridge in the fields on the far side of the road. I rushed across and spotted the bird making a break for it across the recently cut North Field. A long-awaited addition to my Spurn list finally falls.  

  On the insect front I managed to record up to 10 species of Odonata on each day, which will help greatly when it comes to writing the report this year. The highlight were the Small Red-eyed Damselflies. Initially we could only find them distantly on Canal Scrape, their usual hangout, but we then subsequently found them in Sykes Field and a single on Clubleys Scrape, both new sites for the species. Emerald Damselflies were also in good numbers, and among the throngs of Common Darter it was possible to find the occasional Ruddy. I also did a full area count of Emperor Dragonflies and managed to get 45 adults flying around, a new area record by more than 10 insects. 

-Great Egret

-Common Lizard

-Ruddy Darter

-Emperor Dragonfly

-Emerald Damselfly

-Small Red-eyed Damselfly

Species List:
Spurn Bird Observatory: Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, Common Shelduck, Mallard, Red-legged Partridge, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Common Swift, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Eurasian Oystercatcher, European Golden Plover, Eurasian Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Red Knot, Dunlin, Common Redshank, Little Gull, Black-headed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Roseate Tern, Common Tern, Little Tern, Sandwich Tern, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Great Egret, Little Egret, Eurasian Spoonbill, Western Marsh Harrier, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Magpie, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Sedge Warbler, Eurasian Reed Warbler, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Common House Martin, Common Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Song Thrush, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Northern Wheatear, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Western Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Eurasian Bullfinch, European Greenfinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Yellowhammer, Common Reed Bunting, Roe Deer, Brown Hare, Red Fox, Emerald Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue-tailed Damselfly, Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Emperor Dragonfly, Four-spot Chaser, Black-tailed Skimmer, Ruddy Darter, Common Darter,

Spurn Day 8

The nightshift wore on and no fox appeared. There was quite some disturbance at 3.00 but nothing could be found. The day broke to another glorious sunrise revealing those birds that had remained overnight; the usual cast of Grey Plover, Little Tern, Ringed Plover, Dunlin and Oystercatcher.

Walking back in the early hours, nearly at the warren, I spotted a Yellow Wagtail alight on the wires alongside the road. Sadly no camera so no pictures. But what was better than one Yellow Wagtail would be more than 1, and in the field below the original bird there were an additional 3 more birds. My lives total of Yellow Wagtails more than doubled in the space of a few seconds. The birds in the field were keeping a very low profile, though, and could only be seen when in flight. 

I made it to bed and awoke at 13.00 for an afternoons birding. Although previous days had been quite relaxed, today was different. I had received a tip off about a couple of reeling grasshopper warblers up at ‘Sammies Point’, which is just north of the triangle. That was todays plan of action.

On the way up to Sammies I encountered very little outside of the regulars, the highlight being Whimbrel on the mudflats. Sammies was very similar to Canalside but the fields are more crop than livestock based. There were also a few more trees, providing ample cover for frustrating grasshopper warblers.

It was the namesake of these warblers that were making the majority of the din on my arrival. There were loads of Grasshoppers singing from the grass. It took a while but I eventually tracked down a vocal Grasshopper Warbler, singing from a field below the bank. I snuck in trying to locate the bird while keeping a low profile. I did see a small brown bird fly between the bushes and the call followed it, so I am assuming that this was a Gropper but I deem the view untickable based on the evidence I had. Of course, it was also at this point that the bird shut up, and skulked away from the tree where it had been. Alas, he got away.

I decided to head to the corner of the field and await the bird singing again. No sooner did I arrive than did my fortunes change for the better. I immediately spotted a falcon flying above the trees, the antics of which instantly indicated hobby. I tried to get a good view through the bins but struggled due to the fact that all I saw was the silhouette. I then tried the camera, but I could not view the photos because of the light reflecting off the screen.  It was pretty clear though that despite the lack of evidence it was definitely a Hobby. I got to watch the bird swoop and dive for a good 5 mins before it headed off north away from the trees, a lovely sighting and a wonderful bird.

-Hobby

The Warbler was still not playing ball so I decided to continue walking up to see if I could find anything else. I could not with the exception of a few Little Gulls. Also, walking back to the gropper field I spotted the Hobby coming back towards me from a southern direction heading north. How and when it went back past me going south I do not know!

The gropper did not sing again until I decided to leave, as it usually the case. Despite attempts to track one down I failed to do so, though I did flush 2 brown birds which appeared to have fan tails, though a lack of evidence again prevents me from ticking it. I decided to call it a day when the bird called briefly from the far end of the field, obviously skulking away from me.

On the way back to the warren I decided to call in at Churchfields to see if there were any dragonflies about. I was in luck. There were not massive numbers like there had been before but there was more diversity, with Black-Tailed Skimmers, Emperors, Four Spot Chasers and Ruddy Darter all showing well.

There was also a fifth species that presented itself as a bit more of an enigma. It was clearly a hawker dragonfly of some description, but it was obviously a young individual. Because of its small size my first thoughts were that it might be a hairy dragonfly, but having looked it up I have refined my identification into a Common Hawker

--Two days later and I casually announced this find to Paul and a few others to shocks and gasps. Apparently common hawker has never been seen at Spurn before and as such the photo was brought up and the discussions began to run. After about 10 mins of deliberating it was decided that it is actually a Migrant Hawker, but a very early one. This does fit in with the small size of the dragonfly, and it being freshly emerged fits in with the lack of a number of features. Its only my second time seeing this species so in other circumstances it would be a reason to rejoice, but having made another mistake, and the fact that its not a first for spurn, it does not quite feel like that right now--

-Common Hawker Migrant Hawker

I mentioned the Ruddy Darters and there was a very showy male by the pond that allowed me to get excellent shots of this species which I do not see very frequently. The pale background of the photos really makes the red colour stand out.

-Ruddy Darter

I wandered back by the coast but there was nothing to see that way. I also made a short stop at Clubleys to see if there was anything there but there was not, so I made it back to the Warren in good time.

And so the nightshift came on again. But fortunately I was treated again, as on the way out of the warren I found a flock of maybe 10 Golden Plover along the edge of the Humber. About half of these were in Summer Plumage too, a feature I see a disappointing amount of given that they breed on the moors. There was also a Common Sandpiper in among them, another species that’s a little out of the ordinary here, but a familiarity of home.

Back on Beacon ponds and the wader roost was topped up nicely, with ample Grey Plover, Dunlin, Knot and Redshank in. There were 2 summer plumaged Grey Plovers, as well as plenty of Red Knot among the crowd. And it is with that view that the night drew in and the day finished…

The Daily Oystercatcher

I failed to find the chicks this evening but the light was very poor when I arrived. However, they were up at the crack of dawn this morning as my first glance through the morning crowd revealed both chicks feeding along the near shoreline. They have become far more independent, staying away from their parents and hunting for themselves which is obviously a positive sign. They are doing just fine!

Species List:

Beacon Ponds: Little Tern, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Yellow Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Linnet, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Grey Plover, Cormorant, Common Tern, Dunlin, Redshank,

Sammies Point: Mute Swan, Swallow, Swift, Redshank, Black-Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Whimbrel, Sand Martin, Little Egret, Feral Pigeon, Cormorant, Collard Dove, Oystercatcher, Linnet, Skylark, Sandwich Tern, Woodpigeon, Hobby, Shelduck, Magpie, Little Gull, Whitethroat, Yellow Wagtail, Emperor Dragonfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Meadow Brown, Large White, Small Skipper, Gatekeeper, Small Heath, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White, Small Copper, Common Blue, Red Admiral,

Churchfields: Ruddy Darter, Black-Tailed Skimmer, Four-Spot Chaser, Emperor Dragonfly, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Gatekeeper,

Beacon Ponds: Golden Plover, Common Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Redshank, Woodpigeon, Linnet, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Sandwich Tern, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Little Tern, Turnstone, Mallard, Mute Swan, Southern Hawker, Roe Deer,

Dorset Holiday-Day 13: Stowe NT

The weather had been pretty incredible all week, but now we had to go home in it, which was less than ideal. We picked our destination prior to our departure this time so we would not end up just doing the job lot in one go. Our destination was Stowe NT, which we had been to before, no we hadn't, Yes we had kind of place. We had been before-Described on this website as 'A random national trust place in the middle of nowhere after the most boring journey in history'. 

Our journey to Stowe was pretty uneventful except that traffic was horrendous and progress was slow, but we made it there for lunch. On the road we saw Common Buzzard, to be expected and also Red Kite, a new bird for the holiday.

The weather was still incredible when we got to Stowe but that meant plenty of insects. My mum and dad got a lift down on the golf cart minibus service, but I said I would walk down to make space on the bus for others. The way down went through some woods, where I saw Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper, 3 very familiar species over the holiday. On the bird front I spotted a Whitethroat singing in the bushes next to the field.

I made my way into the site. Apparently I should have been seen by the gate wardens who check your tickets, but I had no ticket and could not get in without my parents, who had already gone in. But nobody stopped me so I guess that all went well

I first went to the pond directly in front of me. A long lawn led down to it, and I was eager to see what I could find. No sooner did I arrived than did I find Black Tailed Skimmers, Azure Damselflies but also Red Eyed Damselflies, which made up for me missing them yesterday. I immediately took photos of them even though they were not in the best position due to my lack of photos from my previous encounters with them.

-Red Eyed Damselfly

There was one Broad Bodied Chaser among the Black Tailed Skimmers and it kept giving the latter a hard time flushing them from the perches on the waters edge. It only stopped a few times and then it chose perches which were not ideal for my camera.

-Broad Bodied Chaser

My attention was drawn back to the Red Eyed Damselflies, mainly because their eyes made them more striking that most damselflies. They kept perching but not where I really wanted them. One did perch on one of the emergent branches but it was still a little too far away for me to really get to grips with it.

-Red Eyed Damselfly

I mentioned the Black Tailed Skimmers, but they tended to perch on rocks and then not stay there very long, mainly due to the attentions of others of their species and the Broad Bodied Chaser. I did however find one or two who perched with the intention to stay perched so I could get a few photos.

-Black Tailed Skimmer

I left this section of the main lake and headed towards the smaller secondary lake than this main lake flowed into. The secondary lake was more wooded and there was less aquatic vegetation, especially water lilies. Where there was a break in the waterside trees there were a few Azure, Common Blue and more Red Eyed Damselfly, including a few in tandem.

-Red Eyed Damselfly

-Red Eyed Damselfly

I continued my walk and at the far end of the lake I saw a Great Crested Grebe which was quite close and started fishing. But when I looked at the photos afterwards I saw that it had not caught a fish but a crayfish, and quite a big one at that. 

-Great Crested Grebe

At this end of the lake the woods dissapeared and there were more damselflies, including red eyed in a position where I really get photos with all aspects. I took loads of photos but the light has restricted the impact of the eyes in the photos below.

-Red Eyed Damselfly

I continued round the far side of the lake where there was more woodland and here there were a few more birds, like Robin, Blackbird and a female Blackcap which flew across the path and into the trees between the path and the lake. There was also a Brown Hawker hunting this section of the grounds.

-Female Blackbird

Back out on the lake and it appeared that the grebe had followed me. I watched it as it seemed to be striking a threat pose, with its head close to the water, but after that it just sat up and then dived, so I don't really know why it had struck such a position.

-Great Crested Grebe

I found my parents at the top corner of the first main lake and there we watched some more Red Eyed Damselflies, including a pair in tandem.

-Red Eyed Damselfly

We were just setting off to leave and me and my dad spotted at the same time a Grass Snake swimming across the lake. It was a fair old size too but it was the yellow marks behind the head that really gave it away. It was only the 2nd of this species I have ever seen, so I was very excited. It was also the fifth reptile species of the holiday, when really I would have considered myself lucky to get one.

It swum off onto an island in the middle of the lake, swimming between the lily pads which looked rather striking.

-Grass Snake

I then followed my family as they made their way up through some of the smaller pools. Here there were still good numbers of Azure, Common Blue and Red Eyed Damselfly. I also spotted a Banded Demoiselle but it did not choose to land and so it did not take long for me to loose.

On the Dragonfly front there were a couple of female Ruddy Darters, due to the extensive black on the underside and black legs.

-Female Ruddy Darter

I then decided to go and finish my circuit round the main lake. The section I had not been to had good vegetation along the banks but no trees. This made it difficult to get to the waterside, but meant that there were good numbers of dragon and damselflies.

On the dragonfly front there were Four Spot Chaser, and Emperor Dragonfly, one of which took a Large White Butterfly from the air. There was also another of the small hawkers that I was sure were very late hairy dragonflies, but I needed one to land to take a photo so that I could confirm or dis confirm this theory.

It did not land and as such I had to try and take some sort of photo in the air. Below is my best effort, rubbish I know but the dragonfly would dissapear for a good 5 mins at a time and then re-appear at some random spot. I would say though that even though the photo is rubbish it seems to support the idea that it was a Hairy Dragonfly, so I will go with it.

-Hairy Dragonfly

I continued my circuit over the bridge, where there was a Black Tailed Skimmer on one of the posts. It was on the dark side of the post though so no great photos. On the far bank I spotted a Green Woodpecker and some crabby Canada Geese.

I made my way back to where I had started and there found my family again and also thought I saw a grass snake dissapear under the bank, but I could not re-locate it. On the bank the broad bodied chaser seemed to have left so the Black Tailed Skimmers had been left in peace so I took some photos of them perched on their rocks.

-Black Tailed Skimmer

After that my dad and I went for a wander along the bank of the lake and my dad spotted a Pike in the water. We headed off towards where the Canada geese had been but the only thing we saw this time was a juvenile Green Woodpecker chasing the adult bird around, not that we saw much of the adult bird but the juvenile seemed keen to give quite good views of itself.

-Green Woodpecker

And so that was that, the last wildlife act of our holiday down south. Its been a good holiday, but on the way home nothing happened, so here ends my narrative about it...

Dorset Holiday-Day 10: Higher Hyde Heath

So today was our last day in Dorset, we moved on to Fareham today so it was farewell to all the heathland. The day started well as I found more unusual moths on the toilet block. This time it was Pebble Hooktip, a first for me, and a Large Emerald. As usual, I hoped that this would be a good omen for the day

-Pebble Hooktip Moth

-Large Emerald Moth

Today my family was going to Bovington Tank Museum, while I wandered over to Higher Hyde Heath, the last reserve I had flagged up. It was some walk to get to the reserve from where I was dropped off since we could not really go up to the reserve to go back with the caravan on the back.

On the way there the heat really started and I considered giving up. I did see a few things on my walk Common Emerald Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly and Large Skipper. There were also some Large very orange fritilaries, none of which would land for a photo. The only other things I found were 6 Spot Burnet Moths, which had been in abundance through the whole holiday.

-Large Skipper

I turned down the road the reserve was meant to be on and there I found some drainage ditches along the side of the road. In these there were 2 Keeled Skimmers hunting, so I decided to take some photos since they decided to perch very conveniently. 

-Keeled Skimmer

And just up from the pool there was some ragwort, with some Cinnabar Moth Caterpillars on it, which were my first of the holiday.

-Cinnabar Moth Caterpillars

I was beginning to doubt if this reserve I was looking for actually existed, as all the entrances on my OS map seemed to have vanished or not existed. Even more worrying was the sound of gunshots that kept coming from where the reserve was meant to be.

My doubts were laid to rest when I found an entrance stile to the reserve, only on it there was a notice saying that the reserve was only open on Mondays, and the rest of the time it was owned by the shooting club. I diddnt really know what to make of this, but decided to plow on and see if the reserve section on the other side of the golf club road I had not yet reached was accessible.

At the stile though I noticed some bracken in front of me which had drawn the attention of some oddly flying insects which when they landed turned out to be rather striking beetles. A little bit of book looking in when I got back and it turns out that these are Strangalia Maculata. Whatever they are they are very striking.

-Strangalia Maculata

I continued to make my way down to the golf club road, and along the road I continued to encounter the large orange fritiliaries, but they continued to not land. 

I made my way along to the golf course road and there found that I could access the reserve, but that there was a lack of a definite footpath. I made my way across the heath away from the shooting club. I wont write it all down here as it turned out to be a pretty pointless section of walk. I flushed a few Common Lizards, but never long enough for a photo. I also flushed a Sika Deer, and on the dried up remains of ponds there were Black Tailed Skimmers, Keeled Skimmers and Common Blue Damselflies. The most notable part of this section was that I found a Brown Hawker hunting near the woods at the top, which was my first of the holiday and meant I reached my target of 20 dragonfly and damselfly species.

However, the lack of path turned into a problem as I kept falling into old stream beds which had become overgrown, and in the heat this was very annoying, so I only spent around an hour there before deciding to go back to the tank museum and endure what I would.

On my way back via the road though, I found the entrance to the reserve, which I passed before without noticing. Feeling very relieved I wandered down and was delighted to find that the reserve even had its own notice board, which had a map, which showed a much smaller reserve than my OS map had led me to believe, but it did have a hide. 

Therefore, since it was nearly lunch time that's the way I headed. My reserve walk started well as in a big tree above me after I had started I spotted a Nuthatch, my first of the holiday. The distance to the hide was short and so not a lot happened on the way. There was a Golden Ringed Dragonfly hunting the path on the way down but more significantly perhaps, there were some Ruddy Darters perched next to the path, a species I don't often see.

-Ruddy Darter

I settled down in the hide to have lunch. It looked out over a small pond where there were loads of dragonflies, but all too far away for identification. I had been in there about 10mins when I heard voices outside and two other people walked in. During the whole week these were the only people I had seen also birding. One was a fireman who was surveying the heaths due to the dry, hot weather and the obvious vulnerability of the heaths. The other was the reserve warden, so I asked him about the fritilaries. He said that they were likely to be Silver Washed Fritilaries since it was about the time for them to come out. He said that the best I had to see one landed would be down at the bottom in the woodland.

The fireman then commented on the heat and said that he was going outside to take some heat readings on the decking next to the hide. When he came back in he said that there was a large sand lizard sunning itself on the decking, so I went outside to see if I could see it. The warden said I should wait 5 mins if he was not there when I got out because he soon would return. I went out and spotted the lizard resting under the decking. I waited for some time without taking a picture but he did not seem keen to come out. I knelt down to look under since so far all I had got was an excellent view of a Sand Lizard's bum. I did see its face when I knelt down, but then he moved his head so I couldn't see it any more. Therefore, I took some snaps of what I could see, but the camera click disturbed it and he dissapeared under the decking. 

-Sand Lizard

After that I went down to where the warden had said I should go to see the fritilaries. I headed down that way-towards the ponds of the reserve which were under woods and so there was very little light there, but in the clearings he said they might be. He was right, but once more they were but they were reluctant to land and so I was unable to get some photos. However, they were not the only wildlife down that end of the reserve. I was walking through the woods when a dark darter sized dragonfly flew at me. It was the eyes that got me again and I knew instantly that it was a Downy Emerald but at the same time it vanished into the woods and I did not catch up with it again. I headed back up to the open space where the hide was to see if I could have any more fritilary luck up there. 

Once there I noticed that there were some metal plates laid down for reptiles, so I had a look. It was unfortunate that I could not flip the tins over as I had done before because of the growth over them. When I flipped the first one I found up there were two Slow Worms under it, but I could not flip up the tin and so I could not really get the photos I wanted. I made a fist of it though and got a few nice record shots.

-Slow Worm

I checked the other tins and doubled back on myself to find more. I found about 7, but only one other had anything under it, and that was also a Slow Worm. I did however, had the same problem as what I had done before with not being able to flip up the tin. 

-Slow Worm

Since I had moved back to where the hide was I was once more in the hunting region of the Golden Ringed Dragonfly and I saw it land on a random pillar in the middle of the road. Once more I found that it was to flighty for me to get close enough for a real photo, but I did get a site record shot.

-Golden Ringed Dragonfly

I headed off down the path that I had been going down where the tins had been and found myself in a large tarmaced space where birch trees and shrubs had pushed through the cracks in the tarmac, creating a very odd habitat. There were more tins here but none had anything under them. 

The area was odd, and there was plenty of Budlia, but no fritilaries. There was however an Emperor Dragonfly hunting the area and it was keen to land so I could actually take some emperor photos which did not involve it ovipositing.

-Emperor Dragonfly

I followed the path down from the tarmaced area and it led onto the proper heath. This section of the reserve did not really excel, as the only thing I saw was a Comma Butterfly, though it did perch rather conveniently 

-Comma Butterfly

The final section of the heath before I re-entered the proper reserve at the woodland bit was more boggy and here I found some Black Tailed Skimmers here, though that was about all. 

Back in the woodland area I had another quick look to see if there were any Silver Washed Fritilary, and was on my way back up when in a clearing I spotted one that was landing, though it was landing some way from the path. I spent around half an hour watching and trying to photograph this butterfly though my final efforts left a lot to be desired. 

They are an impressive butterfly and no mistake, the second largest wild butterfly I have ever seen after swallowtail. It flew quite close to me as well but never chose to land close, except on on occasion, where it landed on the top side of a leaf and I was on the bottom side of it...

-Silver Washed Fritilary

I would have liked to have stayed longer here, to see if the butterfly would land closer, but decided it was probably about the time I should be setting off back to the tank museum, since I had told my parents to give me half and hour and the actual walk too an hour and a half.

I left my final site in Dorset feeling very good, but it was not over yet as on the walk along the side of the road I spotted another Silver Washed Fritilary on a bramble bush by the side of the road, and this one was a bit more photogenic, though a a passing car disturbed it before I had really got going and so I only got a few photos. 

-Silver Washed Fritilary

I made my way to the tank museum absolutely exhausted. The only other thing I had seen on my walk were some Bonobos at the monkey world zoo.

The journey to the new campsite was very hot, but that's about all I can remember. The new campsite was one we have been to once before, and no need to be reminded of that since its the only time I have seen a nightjar. So even though we had only just arrived my dad and I set off to look for nightjars where we had seen it before. We had no luck and we only heard distant churring, but the warden has told us of a better site, so hopefully we will get them before the end.