Dorset Holiday-Day 12: Fort Nelson Royal Armouries, Arundel WWT

Another scorching day and my family decided to take us to Arundel WWT, but only after we had been to Fort Nelson Royal Armouries. When we got there I found that there was a nature reserve across the road, though it was little more than a field so I went to have a look while my family spent the morning at the armouries.

The field had a lot of butterflies but the were all the same species, though they were in excess. These included things like Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Large and Small White, But there were other species which were a bit more unusual, not least Marbled White and Small Skipper.

-Small Skipper

-Marbled White

Walking through the field I also found some none butterfly wildlife, though there was a lot less of this unless you counted the 6 Spot Burnet Moths which were once more very common.

-6 Spot Burnet Moth

While I was walking around there was a curious song coming from the grass and I eventually tracked it down to a very menacing cricket species, which Google informs me is a Roesel's Bush-Cricket, not that I regularly record cricket species, but it certainly struck me because of the striking yellow lines behind its head.

-Roesel's Bush-Cricket

On the bird front it was very quiet, with the exception of a couple of Magpies and on the way out I stumbled across a family of Willow Warblers. They were very flighty and I did not get exceptional views of them.

-Willow Warbler

I went to the museum cafe because my mum said that there we were going to have a coffee. While we were there my mum told me about all the butterflies that were on the wildflowers growing inside the museum. There was nothing that I hadn't seen, until during our coffee my dad spotted a Pill Millipede descending the wall of the museum, which is not a bug I can regularly see.

-Pill Millipede 

The journey to Arundel was none exciting except that there was a fire on the road which blocked everything up and restricted out speed at reaching the site. 

I have always wanted to go to Arundel, and when I arrived my first impressions were good, as on the first pond prior to entry there were Broad Bodied Chasers and Black Tailed Skimmers hunting it. The entry was good and we learnt that there were boat trips running, so we decided to go for one of those first before we had lunch and set off round the reserve.

The boat trip was very enjoyable and relaxing. I spotted some baby Tufted Ducks, as well as large families of Canada and Graylag Geese. On the mammal front we were delighted to see a Water Vole swim across the channel, though the delight would wear off as we walked round the reserve. On the Dragonfly front there were Black Tailed Skimmers, and there was another which I reckon was a hairy dragonfly but I did not get a good enough view. The only thing that would put me off that i.d. is that it is very late in their flight season, but apart from that, it ticked all the boxes. On the damselfly front there were Azure and Common Blue but also Red Eyed, but since we were on a boat I was unable to get any photos. For that reason my only photo of that species is from Norfolk 2 years ago.

We had lunch in the wildlife garden but did not really see anything.There was a school trip lunching next to us and that could be partly to blame. After lunch the trip headed off towards the lapwing hide, so we decided to  go to that hide later and instead go to the 'Sir Peter Scott centenary sand martin hide'. On the way, there were some Egyptian Geese on the path.

-Egyptian Geese

The hide was OK in terms of birdlife. There were Moorhens and Canada Geese feeding directly in front of the hide, as well as Mallards, Tufted Duck and Shelduck. There were also a pair of Common Terns on a raft in front of the hide, which were showing nesting behavior but no sign of chicks, despite what the sightings board said. They were quite close though, and they obviously were not too bothered by people who I imagine were often noisy which could have disturbed them from their nest.

-Common Tern

After we had finished in that hide we went back to the two hides we had meant to go to, Ramsar hide first, where there was nothing much except a female Mandarin. The second hide was the Lapwing hide, and it lived up to its name since the only bird in there besides Mallards was indeed a Lapwing.

After those two disappointments we headed to Scrape hide which was the best hide on the reserve, but that really did not say much. There was a good number of species, including Mallard, Shelduck, Tufted duck but also a few Gadwall sheltering from the heat under a tall tree. At the far end of the pond there was a Grey Heron hunting but it was some way away. There were also quite a few dragonflies around, but the only ones close enough to identify were Four Spot Chasers and Black Tailed Skimmer.

-Gadwall

-Grey Heron

We were watching the far dragonflies to see what they were, when a small mass began swimming across the lake. My initial thought was grass snake, and why not. But no, it turned out when I looked at it through my camera that it was another Water Vole, though to be honest I would rather that it was a grass snake.

-Water Vole

After we had finished at Scrape hide we moved on to Reedbed hide. Here there was very little, but there was a very cute family of four well grown Moorhen chicks. The adult bird then mounted a small platform in front of the hide, being very bold and then started looking in, even though we were only about 2 feet away.

-Moorhen

It was the best view of a moorhen I had ever had. After we had finished in Reedbed hide we moved on to the reedbed walk. About half way through the reedbed walk we sat down and were soon surrounded by a small gathering of Moorhens and Mallards, so my dad fished out the crumbs from lunch and started to feed them from our hands. The moorhen though decided that it would rather have my flesh than bread crumbs. 

After that we moved on and were just watching some more moorhens when I noticed that the reeds next to us were moving of their own accord. So I had a peek in and spotted another Water Vole there happily chomping away even though we were only about a meter away. Now the appeal of water voles at this site was beginning to diminish. On the boat, our pilot had told us that the reserve was in a big fence so that no water vole predators could get in with the exception of birds, but it also restricted the voles moving out. So effectively, it was like a big water vole zoo, but you don't really think of it until we start to see them as tame as this.

-Water Vole

We finished the reedbed walk and headed to the waterfalls enclosure. Here there was the only Blue Duck outside of New Zealand and that was quite exciting. After a few mins of watching it though you began to feel sorry for it, alone with only a farm duck for company. It was exciting to see because it is such a rare duck but for the above reason it seemed a bit bitter sweet.

-Blue Duck

We finished by walking back through the pet wildfowl zone and we got to see some large groups of rare wildfowl of the world, as you would expect from a WWT place. Once more though as we were walking over the white faced whistling duck boardwalk, a Water Vole appeared and started swimming across the pond, even though we were almost directly above it.

-Water Vole

I thought the reserve was a big disappointment really, I had expected a bit more. My dad summed it up quite well-Its a great place if you want to see Moorhens, but otherwise. We headed back to the caravan site, but the wildlife did not stop there, oh no.

That evening once more we set off to look for nightjars to see how many we would get. We had to wait a little longer than the night before and for a few minuets we were wondering if they would even turn up tonight when we were suddenly surrounded by churring and we saw one flying right towards us. We soon had 3 Nightjars flying all around us, and once more quite close. This time I had brought the tripod to try and get some photos of when the birds were landed. However, it did not really work as the camera still vibrated while on the tripod. Still I got more amazing views of these bizarre birds.

-Nightjar

So ends our last full day on holiday, alas that there 13 days have flown by so quick. Hopefully, on the way home we will go out on a high.

Isle of wight day 5-freshwater and Ventnor

Today my family were headed off towards freshwater, so i decided to tag along and visit Afton marshes while they were canoeing. The website said that there were lots of dragonflies at Afton marsh as well as water voles. I know which out of those two I believe more!
The weather was decent, but as I walked through the first half of the reserve (the path doesn't actually go through the reserve in this bit) I didn't see anything, except a couple of gatekeepers and a red admiral, so I was pretty disappointed.
However in the other half of the reserve the path went through the reserve a lot more which meant it went close to the pool where I suspected most of the dragonflies would be. I was disappointed that as soon as I entered I found myself enclosed by woodland, this was not on the map.
A jay alighted on an overhanging branch which cheered me up. There was a river going alongside the path, but there were no plants in it due to the shade presented by the trees growing either side.

-Jay
I was bitterly disappointed as I finished the circuit around the reserve, as there were only a few spots where the sun actually broke through the trees. I couldn't even see the pool that was supposed to be there, but I decided to take a another walk around, to see if i could lift the disappointment.
Luckily there was a lift for the disappointment as i casually walked around for the second time I heard a rustling by my feet. I stepped back to find about 50cm away was a water vole on the waters edge.
I was surprised to say the least, normally water vole records relate to one occurrence used to draw tourists in, but it appeared that this site did actually have them, well it did and they were quite bold it appeared.
I tried to get a few photos but sadly there was a lot of vegetation in the way. It went about 20 seconds later, obviously not trusting this still feature that kept making ominous clicking noises (the camera)

-water vole

A bit further on, the place that looked best for dragonflies, an open area with a very small water body i found my first butterfly for the day. My first one this year, but sadly not a new tick. The last time I was on the isle of wight the only butterfly I remember seeing was a holly blue, so it would have been a shame to not have seen one on my return to the island.

As it happened that was not going to be the case as I managed to find one in that area, feeding peacefully as i got some photos for the records.

Holly blues are possibly the easiest to I.D because they have blue outsides as well as insides, and they have limited outside patterning, which is why they are some of my favourite butterflies.

-Holly Blue
Just a bit further on I spotted something else worth watching, an adorable family of baby wrens. I guessed they had just fledged because they still had very obvious gapes and were still being attended to by an adult. They were very cute, as all baby birds are

-Baby Wrens

It was still a bit of a disappointment but the many wonderful things I had seen made me feel better, there were other things around too including unusual bees and lots of speckled woods.

-Unusual Bee

-Speckled wood
I left Afton marshes feeling good, especially about the water vole and headed back to the car. We were at a loss as to what to do for the afternoon, so we decided to go to Carisbrook priory. There wasn't much there but in the garden i spotted a green woodpecker whizz past and also there was a chalk-hill blue in a patch of long grass.

After tea we decided to go to Ventnor to try and track down some crickets. Last time we were here we kept hearing loud crickets and then one night we found one, an absolute monster, a great green bush cricket, but back then I had no camera and so was unable to get a photo. This time i intended to get it right and get a photo.

The problem with these crickets is that they sound close, but are actually about 10m away in the opposite direction. My Brother and I walked along the bank of the cliff listening, and searching with the flashlight. We walked the whole length of the car park at the east end, where they are best found, without any luck, but they continued to sing at us. As we were walking back i spotted an ominous green shape reflecting from some distant light perched on a dock.

I took a quick photo and then checked it, to find out that it was what I had hoped it would be.

-Preliminary record shot of great green bush cricket
My Brother and I climbed up To get better photos, but sadly the steepness of the cliff made it difficult to get decent shots, so we decided to bring it down to where it would be easier. We took it to some plants on the car park, and once we finished with it took it back.

It was a very impressive specimen, the best I have ever seen, and very co-operative too, so I managed to get some degree of reasonable photos, showing off the bright colours and all the other features that make this species so special.

-Great green bush cricket

so it was a great green end to a decent day!

derbyshire holiday ;day 4 (wednesday)

can you beleive it, its still raining!!!!
the campsite was deserted (all wildlife found the rain too much)
hoever some carful watching produced:
a nuthatch
dabchick
robin
heron
and good old limpy, the green phesant
we decided to go for a miserable and wet woodland walk, a walk which has, in the past, had beauties like slow worm and really tame dippers. however all we saw today:
dipper (whizz past me)
fish
woodpigeon
magpie
great tit
my mum lost here temper, i got lost. it was all a huge fail. however my dad took us out for tea at thew local pub becuase we had been so brave.
before that me and my dad went for a wlak in chatsworth grounds.
a good view of a song thrush
a buzzard
a long tailed tit
three races of pheasnt-ring-necked, non-ringed and a caucasian/green pheasnt (not limpy!!) plus a coal tit
after that splendid meal at the pub we went back to the campsite. we put out plenty of peanuts and then me and my dad went to go and see if we could see a water vole, (my dad has never seen one) we watched from the bridge but then i went to the place where i had originally seen it. sure enough i spotted it and watched as it entered some branches. i called my dad over to have a look. as we watched though i noticed a small brown mass on the bank, the cheeky monkey had got out of the water and on the bank without me noticing!!!!. we texted my mum and brother and so we watched it. as we headed back we spotted another on the bank. further up. they are as common as rats once you know what to look for.

after that me and my dad went to go and wait for the badger. it started toi rain. it got colder and colder until after an hour my dad said, "i have had enough, i'm going in" thus i sat and waited alone in the cold and wet. my dad should not have gone. another fifteen minuets and out he came, munching on penuts. i texted my mum and family and they came. itried some pictures but the light was too low. so my dad went for a torch. however when he came back the badger had already gone. my parents left me and my brother (i still wnated a photo) and went back. i told my brother how the badger only ever comes out when your just giving in. after another half an hour i said tomy brother "i have had enough, i can not be bothered" right on que the striped face re-appeared and started rummaging in the flower bed. my brother held the torch whilst i took loads of pictures. the best ones are displayed below but for the overall experience-i was about 20cm away from a wild badger!!!!!

derbyshire holiday ;day 2 (monday)

it rained!!
it rained all Day!!
i was hoping to go for a walk early this morning but
a.) it rained
b.) it diddnt stop raining
nevertheless the birdfeeder we bought in bakewell yesterday seemed to be attracting lots of attention, especially from the two local nuthatches. it was swell to see them so close.
on thw way to the toilet to brush my teeth a spotted this caucasian or green pheasant behind a caravan. i instantly dashed for the camera (a camera is not normally what i take to the toilet) and snapped these pictures. as it waddled off i noticed it had a limp, thus i christened him "limpy"

due to the weather issue we went to a tram museaum today. i cant say that looking at trams was exciting but the tram rides up and down the hill were fun

the evening!!

the evening was the best bit of the day. at around 6.30 after dinner the weather abated. my family were being boring and reading in the caravan so i decided to go for a walk. i went to the caravan site entrance to look for the water vole, just to confirm my sighting. just as arrived i looked up the little tributary that joins the river derwent. i spotted a large mass swimming across the river but it dissapeared quickly. i was then convinced that it was just a rat that liked swimming. i walked around and waited for around an hour whilst it grew steadily darker. it failed to come back out. then, just as i was leaving, a small brown mass came swimming towards me. at such close quaters i could easily see that it was a water vole. it swam under the bridge i was on and then went under a ledge just on the other side of the bridge. i waited for a while for its return but it soon got too dark. cold, wet, fed up yet enjoye and exhilarated i turned around to go home. i turned to facethe courtyard. i could not beleive what i was watching, as a scruffy male badge trotted eagerly towards the flowerbed a meter away from me. it began foraging, completely obliviouse to my presance. eventually it came too close and so it smelt me out. it trotted about 2 yards before it stopped and began forragingi tried to sneak past it to get the camera but i got tooclose and it bolted. i got a torcha dn my family and camera to retuen and search for it. sadly we could not find it again. we found where it had come from and so tommorow i will put out some peanuts. we will get him!!!