Soil Hill; Isolation week 5

The continued hot dry spell finally ended this week with cloud cover and colder weather appearing from Monday onwards. Although the composition of species remained similar throughout the week, there were a few standout species.

25 April
Visit from 07.45. Total 38 species observed
Fairly steady day in sunny conditions that we have got used to. Regular assortment of established migrants present while two Fieldfare also flew overhead, probably the last of the year.
Just one Wheatear today but an extremely confiding individual that I was able to get some nice shots of.

-Northern Wheatear

26 April
Visit from 09.45. Total 36 species observed
With rain finally forecast in the afternoon I decided to delay my walk until after it had passed. However, once I awoke it was clear that there was no longer any rain due. So I made my way up the hill late morning. Was good to see Nigel up there as well.
Few birds around. At least 4 Wheatears, one of which looked good for Greenland but sadly I lost it very quickly and could not refind it. A pair Stonechat were also nice and there were two Sand Martins buzzing around overhead.
A decent return for a delayed start

-Linnet

-Stonechat

-Sand Martin

27 April
Visit from 07.00. Total 41 species observed
It started overcast but soon cleared into a the standard sunny affair that we have got used to over the last few weeks.
A few bits of note. Up to six Wheatears dotted around the hill, three at the bottom and three at the top. Stonechat still in place as well along with the usual assortment of species. Surprisingly a Barn Owl was putting on something of a show early morning, possibly due to the dull conditions, and a Grey Wagtail flew overhead, my first on patch this year.

-Barn Owl

28 April
Visit from 07.30. Total 37 species observed
Overcast weather took hold today, with a cold wind and occasional spots of rain.
The colder conditions meant a positive change for birds of the hill but a lot of the local birds were much less active.
A male Cuckoo was on the Ned Hill Track. I manouvered myself into a position to get some record shots only for two deer to charge through the undergrowth and flush it out of sight onto the summit. On the top I refound the bird, only for the exact same thing to happen! This time though it took off and flew right over the hill and out of sight. Despite being only the second time I have seen this species here it was really quite frustrating.
Frustration continued when what I'm sure was Yellow Wagtail called overhead. Sadly I couldn't pick up the bird and the calls drifted north. Were it at Spurn it would have been easy, but since this is Soil Hill I had too much doubt to be 100% sure.
Fortunately the morning was rescued in some style once back at the top. A small flock of birds was travelling distantly over the moors, but through bins there was little that could be made out on them, although I thought they could be waders. I tried to grab some shots but as the camera zoomed in I lost them leaving me with only a couple of photos at range. Assuming it would forever remain a mystery, I quickly checked what photos I had and was stunned to see glorious white wing bars and trailing legs. Black-tailed Godwits. The birds of the spring so far, absolutely buzzing.

-Black-tailed Godwit

29 April

Visit from 08.00. Total 37 species observed.

Fairly grey and uneventful morning. Birds of note restricted to a single male Wheatear and the male Stonechat still present. Colder conditions had quietened a few of the established migrants as well, with only 4 Willow Warblers singing today.

30 April

Visit from 09.00. Total 37 species observed. 

Slightly delayed start I was hoping to visit once the band of rain had passed through. Sadly the band of rain was delayed and I decided to make my visit during the morning as usual. Once again very little to report. Up to two Wheatear at the bottom of the North Slope. Slight increase in Pied Wagtails on the Taylor Lane manure heaps, probably due to the recent rainfall.

01 May

Visit from 07.00. Total 43 species observed

Despite the high species total there were few standout species. The best of it was a flyover Raven but there was also a Wheatear and a Goldcrest.

Species List:

Soil Hill: Canada Goose, Mallard, Red-legged Partridge, Common Pheasant, Rock Dove, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Cuckoo, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Northern Lapwing, Eurasian Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Common Snipe, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Western Barn Owl, Little Owl, European Green Woodpecker, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Jay, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Northern Raven, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Common Grasshopper Warbler, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Willow Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Goldcrest, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Common Blackbird, Fieldfare, European Robin, European Stonechat, Northern Wheatear, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Common Chaffinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Common Reed Bunting, Roe Deer, Rabbit, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Orange Tip,

Spurn Day 11

So today started with a bang. Quite literally, by 1.30 in the morning the sky was flashing due to an incredible thunderstorm. There were lightning flashes at least every 10 seconds, natures very own light show. It was certainly the most spectacular night so far, that’s for certain.

Morning came very quiet, with most things probably put down by the storm. No fox again, so I’m obviously doing my job right as it’s not posed a problem for me yet. I did not stay long after daybreak as I also had the day-shift to deal with, so needed to get back and get some rest. As a result what little was still around was not studied vigorously.

As I said, I returned for the dayshift at around half 1, immediately having to start asking people to move, such is the joys of the dayshift. It does mean though that I can see the birds I’m meant to be monitoring. On the Little Tern front I counted 9 juveniles along the shore but the haze was making it difficult and there could have been more. I failed to see the oystercatchers, but the heat had probably put them down, and one adult bird was resting on one of the crab pots, so the chicks might have been there. 2 Little Egrets flew over at one point, and I found one fishing while checking for some other birds. There were good numbers of        Dunlin along the shoreline, at least 1000, but certainly more.  The real highlight from this afternoon was that the first of the Avocet chicks hatched. I was sat trying to count terns through the haze when I spotted an Avocet swimming behind with a tiny chick swimming behind. They reached the shore but out of view and I failed to re-find them before the fret set in.

I called it quits early as a result of the fret, as I could hardly see most of the terns. After dinner I decided to go for a walk around the Warren to see what was about. The highlight was a singing Dunnock, my first for the sight, but it did not stay around for a picture. As a result, in order to find something to photograph, I photographed a lovely male linnet that was singing atop some gorse.

-Linnet

So, on the bird front it was a quiet day again, but the weather made for some excitement, as it often does in this country. So here is today’s brief species list and even briefer daily oystercatcher…

The Daily Oystercatcher

As I mentioned in the main post I failed to see the chicks today, but I was so rough this morning and this afternoon it was so hot its hardly a surprise. I did see a few oyks having a scrap though, not either of the families but four adults, which made for entertaining viewing. With my 5.00 start tomorrow I will hopefully be able to track them down again, and hopefully grab some pictures.

Species List:

Beacon Pools: Little Tern, Avocet, Knot, Ringed Plover, Cormorant, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Dunlin, Sandwich Tern, Arctic Tern, Little Egret, Lesser Black-Backed Gull,

Warren Walk: Dunnock, Linnet, Swallow, Woodpigeon, Common Gull, Sandwich Tern, Whimbrel, Dunlin, Black-Headed Gull, Shelduck, Grey Seal, 

Garden

I have only been back a day and already stuff is returning to the garden, this time in the form of a female linnet that alighted on the bird feeding station for a few mins. I was upstairs at the time so rushed downstairs where my dad was torturing the piano to find that the bird had gone, I wonder why. Either way they are obviously around and they will get the 500 mm treatment before I go back, make no mistake...

Orgreave Again

The situation is getting quite desperate now, as in I am only 10 birds off my 100 before the end of march. With this in mind I decided to not type up today's notes and go back to Orgreave since I could do it on one bus journey.

I arrived at the site early afternoon, about half 1, and immediately began my hunt. The birds were pretty similar to last time, with the addition of redshank to the list. That was until half way round the western side I heard, and then followed until they landed, a flock of Linnets, my first of the year and reducing the required to 9 species. I was able to get reasonable views but they were not the finest linnets I have ever seen. They were a flock of 5 birds, but I only got bins on 2, a female and a male. Below is photographed the male, the female was partially behind the mound of earth

-Linnet

I continued round, and got some good views of goosander resting on the bank, along with gadwall, tufted duck and lapwings, making for a good day list. I then finally found the bird I was looking for; Wheatear. I spotted one a way off up the road and tried to get close but could not. That one then became 2, and soon they were everywhere, including one which was quite close and allowed me to get some pretty decent shots, at least that I am happy with. They are such stunning birds I was very excited to finally see one this year.

-Wheatear

I wandered up a ditch to try and get jack snipe, but failed and the then wandered back down by the river, but that was very quiet, only a long-tailed tit to show for it. 

I made my way back round to the first pool and found 3 Little Ringed Plovers, which was nice. I was pretty happy to see them again, as it seems to me that I hardly ever get good views of this species, and yet here is a site that seems to have them abundance. I did not manage any great photos, just more record shots.

-Little Ringed Plover

There were also plenty of Passerines around the lakes, mainly skylarks and Meadow Pipits, but there was also a bird that would have pushed the wheatears close for most stunning bird of the day in the form of a stunning male reed bunting. It really was a looker, truly fantastic. I was well impressed with the site again.

-Reed Bunting

So at the close of play I had spent a lovely afternoon birding and reduced the gap between my total and 100 by 2, meaning that in 7 days I am going to require 8 birds! Possible? Hopefully... 

Soil Hell

Since it was a nice warm day with little breeze I decided to wander up to soil hell again to see if there would be anything. On the way up, via the fields I found 3 small coppers, which I would have thought would have been quite late in the season, though the number suggested not.

-Small Copper

There was more on the bird front today as well. On the way up by after the fields there was a large flock of Goldfinch feeding on thistles by the roadside, and with them there were a pair of linnets, which is a bird that the hill has been lacking recently. Other species included good numbers of Skylark, a few meadow pipits, 3 woodpigeons, a few carrion crows and a kestrel hunting.

-Linnet

Once more the hill excelled on the dragonfly front, so long as there are dragonflies there, it will excell in that department. There were only 2 individuals up there today, but both were different species: Common Darter and Black Darter, both males. The common darter was much more flighty than the black darter but I managed to get a record shot for the hill.

-Common Darter Male

It took me some time to pin down the black darter but once I found where it was staying still then I was able to get some photos of it. At first I went for the stealth approach, but soon it did not seem too fussed about me being there and I could approach it with ease.

-Male Black Darter

So another productive couple of hours on the hill...

Soil Hill

This was my first visit to soil hill since my exams finished. On the way up I had to go through some fields deep in grass and flowers and on one of the flowers there was a rather splendid small copper.

-Small Copper 

The hill itself was still quite lifeless, more than I expected. The only birds I actually got good views of were the skylarks of which there were quite a few, some still singing, others skulking around the various piles of debris.

Other birds were limited to flybys, such as a male reed bunting, male linnet and small groups of meadow pipits. I managed to track down one landed meadow pipit but I quickly lost it in the grasses. There were a few groups of starlings flying overhead a well as some crows but that was the extent of the bird life.

On the way back down I flushed a linnet pair from the side of the road. After much tracking I eventually found the male of the pair perched in a tree, which allowed me to take of a photo of a bird from my trip 

-Male Linnet 

Dumfries and Galloway Day 3

 Day 3 was warm and sunny, but blustery, and so we decided to go the mull of Galloway. Once we had gone in, I headed straight to a watch point on the moors to do a bit of seawatching. Sadly, without binoculars, this proved difficult, though there were a handful of birds on the tops, such as meadow pipits and linnets

-Linnet
It was only really the large birds flying over the sea that I could identify with ease, such as the flocks of gannets, or the fulmars that were sat on the sea. Regular large flocks of gannets wandered past my watch point, some flying quite high.












-Gannets
But again, it was the birds on the moors that were the easiest to watch. I was joined by a couple of Wheatear that did come quite close, not that the photos show it, as they hunted for insects on the ridges.

-Female Wheatear  

-Male Wheatear
The watch point idea had worked well for the birds on the cliff tops but sadly had not worked as well for the birds on the sea. There had been fulmars and gannets, but sadly not much else. The only exception was a pair of guillemot that I managed to spot in the bad swell a long way off.

-Guillemots 
I decided to give up on the watch point and go for a walk around the cliffs, to see if there were any more cliff top birds or seabirds. I had a look at the foghorn, but all that there was were a flock of sheltering pigeons, and I did not stay long as the wind was horrendous.
  I wandered around the cliff with not much joy, but I did find another large caterpillar of the same species which was nice. I moved it off the path to prevent people treading on it before I started taking photos of it.

-Caterpillar
After we had finished at the mull we headed back to the caravan site. My family decided to have a brew before we went swimming, so I decided to go and see if I could photograph pied wagtails as we had seen quite a few as we were driving in.
  Sadly, they were very flighty once you were out of the car, and I diddnt really manage to get any really good photos like I had wanted.

-Pied Wagtail 
Somehow in my quest for pied wagtails I ended up on the beach, and from the beach I spotted some gannets diving quite close to shore, which was pretty cool to see. They were difficult to photograph,so in the end I just gave up and watched them instead.

-Gannets
On the way back to the caravan, I spotted yet more flighty pied wagtails that did not contribute much to my wagtail-o-folio!

-Pied wagtail
However, upon arriving back at the caravan, I found a small group of house sparrows dust bathing in a small pit opposite our awning. I have struggled in the past to get photos of this behavior, so being able to here was a nice surprise.

-House Sparrows Dust Bathing

Inter-Revision Break on Soil Hill

In the baking heat, I decided it was about time I did something other than revise. I decided upon a trip to soil hill, since it wasnt windy, rainy or cold, so it would be a bearable walk to see what was there. I knew that I diddnt have time to go to the pools due to the fact that I needed to get back to keep on working. So off I set.

  On the way up, I walked through our growing flock of starlings. There are probably about 200 adults and 300 juveniles in this flock, and its amazing to see the starling juveniles being fed by the adults really close too, as well as watch the juveniles learn their trade as a starling.

-Juvenile Starling 
Actually on the hill, there were some people from the national grid doing some work on the telegraph poles in the feild at the enterance to the site.
  Actually on the site, there were not too many birds, and not surprise really becuase it was exceptionally hot. So I imagine that they were all resting in the shade somewhere. However, one bird not hiding away were the lapwings, 3 in total, who were busy flying around and displaying. They were great to watch and they came quite close at some times.

-Lapwing
I went up to the top to see if there were any waders on the scarpes, instead I was rewarded by a male wheatear that flew past me. I followed it to one of the walls surrounding the site. I tried to get closer to it, and doing so flushed some unknown partridges. However, the wheatearwas canny and diddnt let me get too close. Instead I opted for a different tactic, to go around the bird and try and get closer from there. It worked as the bird flew down from the wall to nearer to where I was positioned. It still wasnt overly close, but did allow me to get some resonable shots as it strutted its stuff.

-Male Wheatear
Moving furthur across the hill, I spotted a curlew perched on the far side of the top, which is a species I don't think I have ever seen landed at this site before. Unfortunatly it was very flighty, I was still a good 100 meters away from it when it went up and headed off towards the moors.

-Curlew
I headed across to where the curlew had been, to have a look at what was on the main pool of water in the track dividing the hill. There were no waders, but there was a stunning male linnet that stuck around, after the rest of the flock moved to the other side of the pool. My dad says that the linnets we have in our garden have been around recently, but I havent seen them, making this the first linnet of the year.

-Linnet
Moved around the back of the hill on the eastern side to see if there any partridges in the grass thats been planted there. Unfortunatly not, only there were a few skylarks singing around, which was the best on this side of the hill.
  As I readided to leave, one of the lapwings cameand started circling above me really close. I took a few quick photos but realised that i must have upset it, so made a swift get-away to prevent upsetting it furthur.

-Lapwing
So overall a great revision break, but I had to get back to get my nose back to the grindstone

Isle of wight Day 9-Return to Headon Warren and bus mahem

It was hot when we woke up, not a cloud in the sky, ironic that it should be our last day. My family said that they were going to the needles, so I said that I would go to Headon Warren, a site nearby that is famed for having dartford warblers, although the last time we came to the IOW we came here and didn't hear a trace of them. Only that supposed smudge that i didn't get a decent view of, but certainly had traits.
The site is very pleasant, and as I walked up to it there was a constant clicking in the background. At first i was unsure what it was, but it soon became clear that the it was actually the seed pods from the gorse busting in the heat. When you arrive here you notice that the gorse is covered in funnel shaped spiders webs, but the spiders are really hard to view, although the webs are pretty special.
And as you would expect, there are your usual asseblement of heathland birds, first one being a whitethroat that was feeding on the path in front of me, although they were rather flighty so i was unable to get any better shots that those below.

-Whitethroat (dunno where it actually is, but its there)
the whitethroats aside the first 10 mins had me walking around the site, without many birds happening, only the usual assortment of butterflies-gatekeeper, large white and meadow brown. I came to the edge of the reserve where it drops off into forest and then into the sea, And it was here I spotted a sparrowhawk circling towards me, get ever closer, without seeming to bother with me.

-Sparrowhawk

The next bird i saw was nothing of a heathland bird, I guess this jay came from the adjoining woods, probably flushed by the sparrowhawk.

-Jay (shot blurred by heat haze)

the next bird was a heathland bird, and one that I had seen a few times already this holiday, but they were more numerous here. there was a flock of about 5 that alighted on a small tree near to me, but once more my photos were badly affected by the heat haze.

-Linnet pair
The bird that followed them was alone male yellowhammer, another bird i had become familiar with over the 9 days here. This one was more wary than the singing male at brook and so kept its distance from me, it didn't sing at all, which was a bit disappointing.

-Yellowhammer
I came round to the far side of the bronze age burial mound where there was less gorse and slightly more bracken, with still no sign of a dartford warbler. I then spotted a more interesting butterfly, although it was clear that i was actually too late for glanville fritillaries the sight of a brown butterfly clearly not a wall brown still made me a bit more excited, although once more it was a dark-green fritilary which is always nice.

-Dark Green Fritillary
I came round the reserve a few more times, before I finally had a break through, I heard a funny noise and saw a bird skulk away into a gorse bush, I had to wait a while but eventually it came out and began to move, proving that it was Dartford warbler. I was pretty pleased at finally seeing one, now the task of getting a photo-this was the tricky bit!! As it moved silently through the brambles I tried to follow its every move, but sadly it managed to evade me on all fronts as it skulked away. eventually it moved so far away i would have to try and get closer.

It was probably the cries of pain that scared it away as the brambles got the better of me, but once i made it to a reasonable view of where it had been I was not surprised to find that I had lost it. still a great record, but a rubbish view! now to explain the photos...

-Dartford Warbler tail ^ Between the white bramble flowers

-Dartford warbler ^ Primaires and Rump, above out of focus leaves

-Full view of dartford warbler ^on lower gorse white branch

-Dunno about this one-check the same as last time

Spent the rest of the morning watching a very hyperactive moth that refused to land at the far end of the reserve. My mum and dad said they would pick me up in 10mins so I headed towards the entrance.

At the entrance i spotted one of the spiders in the mouth of its funnel web, so i was able to get a few shots of its behind, although I have no idea what they are...

-Some Kind of funnel web spider

My family picked me up and we had lunch at yarmouth, where I would get a bus to newtown estuary, the only main nature reserve on the island, where apparently there were white letter hairstreaks and silver washed fritillaries.

I knew that getting there would be tight as i didn't really know where it was, and the walk to it could be of some distance. But it all went wrong. The bus stop I wanted was near a small village, so I was looking for a clump of houses, but actually the village was off the main road so I would know when I passed it. I realised when I got to carisbrook near the capital that I was seriously lost. and bus tickets were no longer free to add to my problems. I got off in carisbrook and had a look at the bus times heading in the opposite direction, Great I had just missed one, to kill time I decided to walk to the next stop, and surprise surprise the bus I had "just missed" drove past me half way between two stops, 7 minuets late.

After half an hour of waiting a bus turned up that was convenient for me and this time I knew where I was going because i had been bothered to get the map out. About an hour and a half later I turned up at newtown estuary, much later than I wanted. If there were any butterflies I'm sure they must have gone to bed.

As soon as I entered the reserve I saw some birds, which overall has been something amiss this holiday-these were redshanks and oystercatchers. as well as a curlew. I walked into the small town of newtown and as i did so scouted the wild flower rich meadows for a rare butterfly or two. I spotted a marbled white resting and gathered that my hunch had been right and that the butterflies would probably be asleep.

-Marbled white
I made it all the way through the town and onto the saltmarsh part of the reserve. In doing so I passed more fields where there was activity from the usual butterflies that have been seen all across the holiday. On the saltmarsh there were reasonable numbers of distant little egret's fishing but sadly the hide was locked so I did most of my watching from the boardwalk to the boat house.

-Little Egret

On the far side of the boardwalk I spotted a small passerine which turned out to be a linnet

-Linnet
From this vantage point you can easily see the common and sandwhich tern colony, which is the most advertised fact about this place, through my bins i could see a lot of activity but sadly they were too far away for a real photo.

Nearer where a flock of canada geese on the estuary mud, and even closer too was a flock of black-headed gulls, but disappointingly there were no med gulls in tow with that flock. This site has the second highest med gull count anywhere on the island. only bembridge harbour has more, where we saw them last time, only there are rather a lot more-220 there and about 20 here, so my chances were slim.

A flyover curlew gave me an opportunity to record in photo this species at the site.

-Curlew
I returned to the meadow and began to look for butterflies in the hope of finding what I had been looking for, I did find a lone marbled white that was still out and about.

-Marbled White
Other butterflies were about including small heath, the first time i had seen one during the holiday.

-Small Heath

As I walked back, I passed a plant that appeared to have a robin's pin cushion on it, I think that's what it is anyway, but either way it is a pretty spectacular growth.

-Robins pin cushion
I reached the entrance where I was getting picked up from and there i waited. As I waited i scoured the tall grass for resting butterflies or dragonflies and was delighted to find a sleeping common blue and also a sleeping small heath.

-Common Blue

-Small Heath

the light was pretty poor when my mum and dad picked me up, but despite the set back on the buses i had seen plenty of birds, although there was alack of med gulls.

this was my last outing on the Isle of wight and it had been a good one, just like the holiday had been a good one, and I had seen lots of really nice things, its just a pity it had to end.