MORE BUTTERFLIES

Green hairstreaks and Duke of Burgundy butterflies have already been seen around the UK so I thought I'd go and find some for myself. With sunny spells forecast, coupled with rising temperatures and less wind, I headed over to Rodborough Common, which is where I have seen both these species before and isn't too far from home ( about 40 mins). 


At the usual spot, I could see someone already looking, and on making enquiries, I discovered he'd already seen one of each of these species in the past 10 minutes although they had disappeared for the time being. He'd also seen Dingy skippers. The first butterfly I saw, though,  was a male Orange tip, followed by a speckled wood.  Then a couple of smaller brown butterfies appeared... a dingy skipper and a small heath ( both first of the year for me). We waited for a while and then saw two small heaths, which were then joined by another darker brown butterfly, which turned out to be.. a Duke of Burgundy.  It settled briefly a couple of times, down among the vegetation before disappearing once more. Hopefully it would return, I thought.  Whilst waiting, I  spotted a green hairstreak, but it didn't stop for long. 

After engaging in conversation for a while, my companion left, and I waitied around alone, in case I had any more sightings.  Sure enough the Duke of Burgundy re-appeared, this time happy to stay in one spot for long enough to photograph before moving to different places in the vicinity. 

I then decided to hunt for green hairstreaks, so walked towards an area of the common where there were more bushes; gorse, bramble and hawthorn, which I thought a more likely habitat.  I was right, as I soon found a green hairstreak, although it had an obvious piece missing from the edge of one of its wings.  I managed a few record photos, but then a few yards further on, I found a prisitine individual flying around and eventually it posed beautifully on a leaf for me. 

Dingy skipper

Duke of Burgundy

green hairstreak

small heath

REDSTARTS IN THE FOREST

With another week of the school holidays remaining I decided to visit the Forest of Dean to look for migrant redstarts and pied flycatchers which have recently been reported there. I'd wanted to do this last year but never found an opportunity.  
 I was a bit dubious about the weather for today as it was originally forecast cloudy and quite windy but this morning the forecast had improved with some sun predicted and milder  temperatures than of late. There was still a bit of a breeze but I reckoned it would be less noticeable amongst the trees which would offer some protection. 

I left home at  8.15 am, expecting to be held up at the Air Balloon roundabout, but in the event there were no queues at all and I was at Nagshead RSPB reserve by 9.20 am  There were only a few cars in the car park, and after taking the path down to the lower hide, I found it was empty. 
 The hide overlooks a couple of ponds in a cleared area of the woodland and I waited for ten minutes or so, looking closely at every bird movement but it was mostly great tits and blue tits. Whilst I sat there, there was a splash as a male mandarin arrived in the larger pond, swam around a bit, then proceeded to go to sleep under a overhanging bush.   A stock dove arrived and perched on a nearby tree and a willow warbler flitted around a low bush at the smaller pond taking an occasional drink. Three jays were also in the area. Then  I spotted a different bird flitting to and fro from a holly bush to a leafless bush on an island in the pond... taking a closer look through my binoculars, I could make out a beautiful male redstart!  It was quite active as it visited various bushes around the pond,  and  occasionally joined by a female, buff in colour but with the same unmistakeable red tail Admittedly it was at a distance but nevertheless it was enjoyable to watch. As I left the hide, there were a number of other birders making their way down to the hide but as  the redstart  had seemed to  have become less active and  consequently less easy to spot,  I was pleased I had got there early.

Disappointingly there seemed no pied flycatchers around while I was at the reserve, and no one else I spoke to had seen any either despite reports of four indivduals at the end of last week. I decided to leave the hide and have my picnic lunch after which I walked both the short and long trails at the reserve to see what could be found. The usual woodland birds were present, including nuthatch, tree creeper, coal tits, long tailed tits, blackcaps, chiff chaff and willow warbler.  An unexpected sighting was a lone redwing! 

After spending four hours at the reserve I headed for home, having added three more year ticks.

path to the lower hide

the lower hide over looking the ponds

mandarin 

stock dove

willow warbler

dunnock

redstart

                                            

jay

redstart

the long trail

FARMOOR WAGTAILS

On the way home  from Cambridgeshire on Saturday morning, I  decided to stop off at Farmoor Reservoir to look for yellow wagtails and little gulls, both recently recorded there. It was sunny but  with a cool breeze as  I crossed the causeway but having not seen either species  I  walked down towards the Pinkhill hide. Looking right along the path, I noticed a group of half a dozen birders with lenses trained on a spot the otherside of a gate. Apparenlty a little bunting had been spotted 20 minutes earlier but although I waited a while it didn't reappear. 

I crossed back along the causeway to see if the yellow wagtails had returned (they had been seen there earlier) and found two bright yellow males which were obligingly close. After spending some time photographing them I spoke to someone who pointed out  a little gull, very distant across the other side of the reservoir, but obviously smaller than the other gulls flying alongside it. 

RSPB TITCHWELL MARSH

As is usual during my Easter school holidays, I paid a visit to my sister in Cambridgeshire where we made the most of the fine weather to go on a few birding trips. 

Our initial trip was a local one to Godmanchester Nature reserve, where we were surprised to log over 30 species. It was a gorgeous day and we both enjoyed the walk through wooded areas, round a lake and alongside a stream. Plenty of  birdsong included willow warbler, blackcaps and chiff chaffs. My first swallow of the year was also seen. On the butterfly front I recorded my first green-veined white of the year.


The following day  I  had a couple of hours to myself on another warm and sunny afternoon so I opted to visit another local reserve, RSPB Needingworth. Again lots of chiff chaffs and blackcaps, both green and greater spotted woodpeckers seen and 7 species of butterfly including a first small white butterfly of the year. 

small white

speckled wood

comma

view from bridleway

peacock

coot and young

chiff chaff

Our main trip of the week was to a rather chilly RSPB Titchwell Marsh. Having stopped to catch sight of some fulmars at Old Hunstanton cliff top, we arrived at Titchwell Marsh at around 9.45.am. It was sunny but with a breeze from the North East so we were glad of our warm jackets and woolly hats! 

We followed the paths through the reserve towards the beach,calling in at the various hides en route and added several new species of the year to our lists. Our total of approx 50 species included a flock of brent geese, two marsh harriers, sandwich terns and eventually some bearded tits. At the beach it was a bit too chilly to wander far but we did enjoy the antics of some oyster catchers on the sand. 
We also had close views of a muntjac deer which continued to graze, only a few metres from us, obviously well used to humans. Towards the end of our visit, we came across a  family of greylags, reminding me that that the breeding season has really begun. 

brent geese

brent geese flying and grazing

..and paddling

brent geese

sandwich terns

avocet

hide

little grebe

little ringed plover

oyster catchers on the beach

beach at Titchwell

greylag family

muntjac

Our final stopping point was at Roydon Common; although we didn't spot any Ring Ouzels, it was nice to see a stonechat perched high on a gorse bush.

All in all a busy but enjoyable few days birding, adding several new species to my year list