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.