Dorset Holiday Day 3

I aimed to keep up with my early starts for the duration of the holiday, so set my alarm for 5.30 in the morning with the aim of doing the moths on the toilet block followed by a visit to nearby Winfrith Heath, which has become something of a local patch for the holiday.

I did the quick moth round, but there was nothing really any different. Most of yesterday’s moths were still in the same location as they had been, and the number of new moths was low. The only real addition to the moth fauna of the holiday was a Dark Arches that was on the toilet block where the hawkmoth had been the day before.

Next I cycled on to the heath. It was a muggy morning but as the morning drew on the sun decided to make its first appearance of the holiday, and by the time I was heading back for breakfast it was a very pleasant and warm day.

This was reflected in the fact that a number of insect species were on the wing, despite the early time of day. I finally got my Odonata list out of the hangar with a good number of Banded Demoiselles that were associating with the bracken alongside the river. I was able to add to that a nice female Keeled Skimmer and brief views of a Golden-Ringed Dragonfly. 

-Banded Demoiselle

-Keeled Skimmer

-Painted Lady

 Despite the weather picking up, there were no reptiles on any of the open areas of ground, nor were there any on the corrugated iron sheets that had been put down. Fortunately the birds more than made up for this, as I got a bumper haul of species from the morning.

I got a few Siskins in flight from the nearby pine trees, and a Tree Pipit chilling on a small conifer in the middle of the heathland. The real stars of the day were the Dartford Warblers. I am accustom to seeing these birds flit in and around the gorse, so I felt my luck was in when I encountered 2 juveniles flitting along the fence line adjacent to the railway. I was pretty thrilled about that, but it got even better when I wandered round the main hillock on the heath, as round the far side there was a superb adult which was sitting out in the open only around 6 feet away. I got a few nice photos of the exceptional view I got of it. It was calling similar to a Whitethroat when in distress, so I decided that it was probably best to leave it, just in case it was upset. And then, on the bird front, if it could not get any better, I had a flock of around 7 flyover Crossbills, which was an unexpected bonus.

-Dartford Warbler

I arrived back at the caravan site for around 8.30 ready for breakfast and a full day out in what appeared to be the first nice day of the holiday. The consensus was that my family were heading to Portland Bill for a walk, so I decided to go down with them and have a look round the site which I had not looked at before.

We arrived at the Bill for around 10.30, upon which my family decided to go for a morning drink at the café. As a committed birdwatcher I decided to do my first independent Seawatching from the Bill, in the hope of getting a Balearic Shearwater and a few other coastal species.

I probably spent an hour watching the birds off the Bill. There were not masses of birds moving but there was decent quality. I felt I was tested but managed to do it reasonably well, and it was my first outing with the new scope in Seawatching.

There were a few Guillemots moving, blogging to and fro as well as plenty of Gannets of a number of different ages. The first real nice birds for the watch were 2 Pale phase and a Dark phase Arctic Skua that flew through relatively close in, and I got really nice views through the scope. They were a yeartick and my second yeartick was Shag, with a few of them in the area flying to and fro. At 11.10 I was treated to my target bird, when a mid-distance Balearic Shearwater flew past. It was banking in and out of the waves at it moved past but I was able to pick up the key features as it whizzed on by. Unknown to me at this point but there had been one ‘lingering’ all morning before, but to see it for myself was pretty special and I was chuffed to bits with that. I also had a Mediterranean Gull and 4 Common Scoter fly past. So overall it was an exceptional session. Also of note were 3 Rock Pipits that were blogging around the shore below me, a nice holiday tick. 

-Rock Pipit

At this point my family returned, explaining that they intended to go for a walk along the cliff up to a nearby cove for lunch. Since movement was slow and I had most of what I wanted I decided to go with them. The wind was still quite strong so there were not many insects on the wing along the coast. However there were a few more birds that were not seabirds around. The highlight of these was a pair of Raven feeding in a field, but there was also a very confiding Kestrel, perched on a fencepost just over 9 feet away.

-Kestrel

-Raven

As we walked along the coast we began to dip in and out of old limestone quarries where it was more sheltered. Here there were a few more butterflies on the wing, which finally meant my holiday butterfly list was getting somewhere. My dad pointed out a Marbled White, but soon these were everywhere, while there remained good numbers of Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper.

It started to get exciting when I spotted a Skipper roosting on the path. Sadly I had the wrong lens on and my attempts to get a photo were poor, but I head a sneaking suspicion that it might be a Lulworth Skipper, a Dorset specialty. Before I managed any decent record shots it took flight and I lost it, but I remained optimistic that the photos might show it was, when compared to a guide book back at the caravan.

I need not have worried, as further along the coast I found another skipper which was far more obliging, allowing me good views of all the features I needed, leaving me in little doubt that I had found a Lulworth Skipper. All doubts were finally laid to rest when I compared this individual to the book back home, showing beyond all doubt that I had my first butterfly lifer of the year. I had a strong feeling when I initially saw it that this was a Lulworth and so had taken plenty of photos for the record, but the initial shots also showed that the first skipper had been a Lulworth too. Both were females. What a super little thing.

-Lulworth Skipper

Buzzing from that I continued along my way. By now my parents had long gone due to my constantly being distracted. My brother came back though, saying he had found a lizard, so we headed up that way to see a stunning Common Lizard sunning itself under the wall alongside the road. I grabbed a few photos of this one, but it was the first of many along the coast route, though many were only fleeting glimpses. 

-Common Lizard

Butterfly numbers had picked up through the walk, and I was beginning to build up a decent species list. There were a few Lulworth Skippers around, as well as Small and Large Skippers to offer comparisons. A few blue butterflies also appeared, initially only Common but soon a few Chalk-Hill too, which are always a delight to see. The real bonus butterfly was a Grayling which I accidentally flushed, but was able to follow back to its landing point on the path to grab some photos. It’s an England tick for me, having only seen them previously in Scotland, and then a long time ago. Overall I was thrilled and it could not get much better.

-Grayling

-Chalk-hill Blue

Or that’s what I thought until after lunch when me and my brother began looking again. We had a while to wait while my dad fetched the car, so we had a look at the grassland on the Northern side of the cove in which we had eaten lunch in the hope of maybe finding an Adonis blue, the only other potential butterfly lifer. Sadly not, but I did get a superb alternative. 

I was just strolling through the grassland, my brother along the cliff-top when I spotted a large Yellow Butterfly flying over the shrubs. I had seen this only one time before but I knew immediately what it was; Clouded Yellow. I immediately began shouting and calling as I could not believe what I was seeing. We were able to follow its movement along the cliff as it rested on a number of flowers. Sadly it never rested wings open, which was disappointing, but I managed some nice shots of it perched up wings closed. If there was anything that could have been added to the day I had already had, this would have been. What a superb insect.

-Clouded Yellow

It had been thrilling to see that, and that’s an understatement. What an insect filled day. And it was not just the butterflies, as I was able to finally, finally see a live Cockchaffer beetle. My brother found it crawling on the floor, but it did not stick around long before flying off. There were not only Cockchaffer but also their green cousins in the form of Rose Chaffers, which were sitting in their usual position atop a large white flower.

-Cockchafer

-Rose Chafer

After that we had a quick look at Chesil Beach, but the weather had started to set in and there was nothing of any real note there. We ended the day back at the Caravan, where we stumbled across a Common Shrew that had come into the Awning. I managed to get it out when it ran into a food crate, but it was full of energy, as Shrews are. A final note is that out evening meal was interrupted rudely by a massive House Spider. What a superb day.

Species List:

Winfrith Heath: Linnet, Blackbird, Robin, Rook, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Tree Pipit, Chaffinch, Stonechat, Magpie, Cormorant, Siskin, Swift, Dartford Warbler, Great Tit, Willow Warbler, Crossbill, Skylark, Keeled Skimmer, Golden-Ringed Dragonfly, Banded Demoiselle, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Painted Lady, Large Skipper,

Portland Bill: Guillemot, Gannet, Arctic Skua, Shag, Herring Gull, Rock Pipit, Balearic Shearwater, Great Black-Backed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Cormorant, Common Scoter, Linnet, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Starling, Kestrel, Oystercatcher, Woodpigeon, Black-Headed Gull, Skylark, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Swallow, Common Buzzard, Common Lizard, Common Blue, Chalk-Hill Blue, Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Lulworth Skipper, Small Tortoiseshell, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Ringlet, Speckled Wood, Small Heath, Grayling, Large White, Clouded Yellow, 

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.