GREY PHALAROPE AT FARMOOR

 It has been several years since I saw a grey phalarope, so I paid a short visit to Farmoor Reservoir this afternoon after one of these arctic breeding waders had been reported there a couple of days ago. Thankfully it was still there when I drove there straight from work. It was rather dreary weather, but I was glad of a short break from the light rain which had been prevalent most of the morning.  

The bird had moved to the far end of the causeway, which required a shorter walk than to where it had been first found and was easy to spot only a few feet from the sloping concrete edge of the reservoir basin  at the side of the causeway. Normally this would have given exceptionally close views, but with the water levels extremely low, there was a distance of ten metres  or so between me and the phalarope which was feeding regularly from side to side on insects on or just below the surface as it was buffeted around by the waves that rolled against the shoreline. 

Grey phalaropes are often very confiding birds and this one seemed undisturbed by the small group of birders that had come to watch it. I joined them for fifteen minutes or so, took a few photos before the rain started again, then returned to the car. 

MANX SHEARWATER AT FARMOOR

 A manx shearwater found its way to Farmoor Reservor today and was reported late morning, so as I was looking for somewhere to go, I headed straight over there. It was cited as being at the north of F1, the smaller of the two bodies of water. As I walked along the footpath which runs round the reservoir,  I picked up a  year tick in the form of a yellow legged gull on a small building which jutted out into the water  As I neared the small  group of birders already gathered there I scanned the water but couldn't see any bird, but then realised it was  only a few metres from shore rather than the distant shape I had pessimistically expected!  I stopped to watch the shearwater being taken for a ride over the waves, mostly facing the wind which was away from where we were standing. A couple of times it gave a bit of a wing flap, but there was a limit to the variation in photos one could take of this somewhat monochrome bird on a grey body of water!  How it got there and how long it will stay, is anyone's guess! It didn't seem to doing much, so inwardly I queried its state of health. (Later I read that it had been taken into care about half an hour after I'd left, so perhaps it was a sick bird).

After around twenty minutes, I called it a day, it was quite cool and windy, so I was glad it was  only a short walk back to the car. 

BUTTERFLY BONANZA AT SOMERFORD COMMON

 Usually, when I have a free Saturday I use the opportunity to drive a bit further afield to see birds or butterflies. However with no additional butterfly species still to  find, and no bird rarities that I wished to travel a distance to see, I decided to follow up a local sighting record for a range of butterflies at Somerford Common, especially as a dozen or more clouded yellows had been noted, including two 'helice' forms of the latter.   

As the temperature began to rise mid morning I drove over to this reserve owned by  Forestry England and joined a couple of cars in the small carpark. The area consists of mainly oak and beech woodland criss-crossed by a number of paths and is known for its butterflies and birds although I admit I rarely visit as often as I could.

The path from the carpark leads uphill along a deeply rutted track which can often become very muddy. However, after a dry summer, this was hard baked with cracks in it. As the track meets a crossroads of paths, I started to see butterflies, firstly a common blue and a small white, followed by a clouded yellow. Taking the path straight ahead I found another clouded yellow, together with brown argus ( fresh) some whites, comma and brimstone. At one place I could see four clouded yellows in close proximity, each nectarring on the plentiful scabious flower heads. 

I spent the next hour or so, exploring different paths; clouded  yellows ( 12)  were the easiest to find, owing to their bright golden yellow colouring but I also found painted lady (3), comma (3)  red admiral (1) brimstone (1) small copper (1), speckled wood (2)  brown argus (8) common blue (4) green veined white (2) small white (2) large white (2) . (Numbers in brackets are minimum seen).  After taking many photos, especially of clouded yellows, I decided to stay a little longer to  look out for a  'helice' form of the clouded yellow which I had never seen before but had been recorded here.  This is a rarer paler version of the female butterfly which sometimes occurs.  I was therefore pleasantly surprised when one did appear,  which was interesting to compare with the usual form; as both colour versions flew together, the 'whiter' form was clear to see, but impossible to photograph in flight!

clouded yellows ( females)

clouded yellow

'helice' female form

brown argus

green veined white

comma

common blue

two migrants plus a small white

speckled wood

small white

small copper

painted lady

large white

IT'S STILL HERE!

 The long tailed shrike has now remained at Eastleach Downs for almost two months, and has been presenting closer and better views as it appears to grow more confident with birders around it. With the bird being so close to home, and even closer to my workplace, it has been easy to drive over to see it, and I've now visited the site six times, each time hoping for improved photos but at the same time enjoying the presence of this remarkable bird, as it allows people to get within 20 feet, and also flying down to the ground in front of photographers at a lesser distance than even that. The shrike has moved further away from the county border, and has settled on the Gloucestershire side, even sitting in the hedge right close to the road rather than half way along the footpath. One wonders just how much longer it will stay, perhaps it will wait until the weather has a definite colder feel to it. Meanwhile we can just stand back and admire its beautiful plumage, now it has come to the end of its moult.  A  selection of the (far too many) photos I took yesterday are below.

LONG TAILED BLUES AT PORTSDOWN HILL

My best butterfly year is continuing as I added another rare species to my year list today. Long tailed blues are relatively scarce migrants which turn up from time to time along the south coast of the UK and occasionally further inland.  I saw my first one several years back when there were records coming in from Lancing Ring  near Worthing. However on that occasion I never managed any really close shots, or butterflies with closed wings, showing their unmistakeable wavy underwing pattern. 

Portsdown Hill is a much closer location to me, and is described in the Hants and IOW Butterfly walk book, so I was able to find it fairly easily, although when I arrived at the carpark ate 9.30 am I was  somewhat surprised to see it almost full. Surely these cars didn't just belong to butterfly enthusiasts? I would expect birders to arrive early, but butterflies often fly later in the day.  As the carpark had fine views of  Portsmouth harbour and the Isle of Wight, it would perhaps be a  good stop off point for  people wanting a  break or  to make a phone call etc..  

Anyway, after securing a place to park, I had my coffee and then got out to explore. There was a path leading to some wild flower areas directly west of the car park, so I took a quick walk to see what I could find, however, this didn't fit with the description of a bench at the east of the reserve. Then after  bumping into someone else who hadn't visited before, ( and I discovered actually read some of  my blogs!),  we decided that the location we needed was across the road where a number of paths criss-crossed a  gently sloping chalk hillside. Once across the busy road, a gap in the hedge provided access to the area we wanted to reach, and led down to a path. We headed east and found a basic bench around which the grass  had been trampled down,  a clear sign that we were close to  our target butterfly!  Some white butterflies were flying about, and some common blues landed on vegetation, and I saw a butterfly which settled briefly on a leaf which I was pretty sure was a long tailed blue though it soon flew off. A couple of people  with cameras passed by and directed us to another area a little further along  where a path led up behind some wild flowers  then back  down again to the main  path. They'd seen a couple of LTBs and went back and pointed one out. In fact over the next    half hour or so, there were two LTBs, interacting with each other in the air, before occasionally settling on a piece of vegetation near enough to photograph them,  Their fast. zig zag flight made it difficult to follow them . Although rather tatty and faded, one did still have its 'tails' and it was possible to get a decent photo or two.  On the paths lower down the slopes I  saw several chalk hill blues, common blues, and a clouded yellow, also  meadow browns and small heaths.

I think I need to keep an eye on the  sightings page to see if any butterflies of this rare species emerge later in  September or October and make another trip if time permits.  

THE EASTLEACH SHRIKE AGAIN

I paid my  third (and final?) visit to  Eastleach Downs yesterday to see the Long Tailed shrike which has been resident there for the past month. I gather that it has been  undergoing a moult which would explain its long stay, it certainly hasn't been short of food, with plenty of grasshoppers and the occasional small rodent amongst its food. Over the past couple of weeks it has been perched frequently along a fence line and on long stemmed grasses only 20 feet from the path, returning to roost in a bramble bush adjacent to the path. I'd seen many reports of how well it had been showing,  accompanied by some excellent close photos, so with a few free hours I drove the  twenty minutes from home over to the field car park before walking the quarter mile or so to the footpath which passes alongside the shrike's favourite locations. 

There was only a handful of cars in the carpark and about 8 - 10 people with cameras waiting for the shrike to make an appearance after having disappeared for the past half hour. I was assured it would return, and it wasn't long before it did. The bird perched along the wire fence, watching the dried grass below it for anything it could feed on. Occasionally it would  drop down then appear further along, sometimes on the wire, or a post, or on some tall plants. It wasn't always easy to get a clear sighting   through the long grass but when you did, it gave great views as  perched almost still for several minutes before moving along to its next look out point. 

Several visitors had travelled south from places such as Manchester and Birmingham to see it, and a few mentioned that they'd even  been up to Scotland to see the one which was seen a few weeks before, but had only seen a small shape through a 'scope of binoculars. Certainly that was my experience on my first visit, but since then it has provided closer and closer views. I wonder how much longer it will stay, it has certainly given many birders a lot of pleasure to see a Long Tailed shrike at such close proximity.