MARSH FRITILLARIES AT MORGANS HILL

I paid a short afternoon visit to Morgan's hill today to see some Marsh Fritillaries which were not out at my last visit. After the cloudy morning the sun had appeared and it was a fine afternoon, despite the continual NE wind which we are experiencing at the moment. 

Having visited the reserve numerous times, I knew the sheltered areas where I would be likely to find these butterflies and took  the track in that direction,  passing through a gate to enter the reserve.  Almost immediately I noticed a lightish brown butterfly flying quickly past, which did not settle. I first took it to be the marsh fritillary but after seeing a third one, which did stop for a moment, I realised that these were not marsh fritillaries but Wall browns being blown along by the brisk wind. 

I continued across the slope, which was quite windy. to reach a sheltered area. Here I soon found the butterflies I was looking for - there were good numbers of them though I thought they appeared slightly worn.  Other butterflies in this sunny spot included common blue, dingy skipper, grizzled skipper and brown argus. Also I saw a couple of brimstones and large whites, a small heath and my first large skipper of the year. Someone told me they'd seen a duke of burgundy earlier but I didn't see it myself. 

wall brown

small heath

path down to the butterflies

brown argus

grizzled skipper

dingy skipper

marsh fritillary

view from the reserve

large skipper

SLIMBRIDGE AND THE FOREST OF DEAN

I originally planned to drive down to Somerset today to search for small pearl bordered fritillaries but decided against it as I was feeling rather tired from the recent trips I've made, so instead, I opted for a slightly nearer destination of the Forest of Dean. I missed out on the pied flycatchers back in April but decided to have another attempt and maybe even find a spotted flycatcher too!

I therefore didn't leave until 8 o'clock and had a good run so was at Nagshead RSPB by 9.15. It was quite chilly and cloudy so I needed my sweatshirt and coat, especially as the hide I wanted to visit faced into the wind. 

A couple of people were already in the hide and said they'd not been there long but had already seen a male pied flycatcher.  In a few minutes I saw another bird,  on a post 30 metres or so in front of the hide, which they assumed was the female, but on a closer look, I realised that it was actually a spotted flycatcher!  

We did see the female pied flycatcher  too, and had some exceptionally close encounters with the male pied. In fact there was quite a bit of flycatcher action over the time we were there; we also saw nuthatch, treecreeper and the usual woodland birds. Eventually we saw a redstart on a tree in the distant pond. 

After leaving Nagshead, I stopped off at Cannop ponds at a place where I had been told I could see a dipper. I did see it in a distance, but it quickly disappeared. Instead I found a pair of mandarin ducks on the path ahead, although they quickly found their way back to the water and swam off. 

I'd been regularly reading reports of a black winged stilt at Slimbridge and today I noted that it had been seen from the Discovery hide at South lake and the Rushy Hide. I decided that it might be worth taking a detour and popping into Slimbridge for a couple of hours to see if I could find it, especially now the sun had come out and it was warming up. 

When I got there, I found it was busy with half term families visiting, although I knew it would be probably be peaceful in the hides. I went to straight to South Lake, but was told that it had been flushed with other birds when a red kite went over head and hadn't been relocated. I was advised to try the Rushy hide instead, but although I looked, I couldn't see it.  There were plenty of avocets there, and the long staying male garganey was a bit closer than on my previous visit. I walked up to some of the other hides in the vicinity but decided it might be worth waiting at the Rushy hide to see if it  turned up, or indeed anything else!

After a while some staff members came in and they said that although someone had spent 2 hours looking, the stilt hadn't been found. It seemed as if my visit was in vain. Then  a couple of visitors came in and I asked them about the stilt. They had seen it about midday, they said but more importantly they had just spoken to someone who had just seen it in front of the Hogarth hide (  a hide that looks over another area of South lake).

I thought I might have one last try, so made my way over there. The hide was empty apart from a family who didn't really look like birdwatchers, so I assumed it wouldn't be there. But looking out, there it was directly in view from the hide! The family didn't stay long so I was left alone in the hide. 

I managed one photo before the bird suddenly took off and flew round and landed at a distance on an island to the left. Maybe it was about to return to the other end of the lake. But after a minute or so, up it went, and flew round a bit and then came back to where I could see it even better than before! It spent the next 20 minutes or so having a good preen and wash, and I took plenty of photos before my battery ran out! It was time to go!

pied flycatcher m

pied flycatcher f

pied flycatcher m

pied flycatcher m

redstart m

spotted flycatcher

spotted flycatcher

mandarins

Cannop ponds

garganey

view from Rushy hide

view from another hide

DORSET TRIP - DAY 2

 After spending the night in a Premier Inn, I headed out early to a viewpoint at Ham Commom not far from where I had stayed. This overlooked part of Poole harbour and was a nice way to spend an hour or so. There is a small area of heathland which is apparently home to some dartford warblers but I only saw a whitethroat there which evidently had young in one of the gorse bushes as it kept returning to it. 

My main aim today was to go butterfly spotting. Glanville fritillaries had been recorded at a  place called  Fontmell Downs although I was unsure exactly where  to look. I found a NT reserve on the map which had a car park in that area so headed there. It was only a small car park and I was surprised to see it was almost full, but then realised it was obviously popular with dog walkers! Although it wasn't quite ten o'clock, which is early for butterflies, I went through a gate onto the hill side and followed a path along the fence line.  It was quite breezy and chilly despite the sunshine and not really butterfly weather, but I did see and hear some linnets and corn buntings, the latter being new for the year.

Looking across the valley I realised that  the opposite side looked more sheltered and perhaps more like butterfly territory but I couldn't see how to get across to it as it was fenced off. 

 Then I noticed there was another track leading down hill from the car park which looked as if it might be in the right direction. I followed it and part way down the hill, found an opening in the hedge with a stile leading on to a hillside of wild flowers and bushes which had a NT sign saying Compton Down, one of the areas mentioned on the Dorset Butterfly sightings list.

 Feeling a bit more hopeful, I entered this part of the reserve and it wasn't long before I noticed Adonis and common blue butterflies, (both new for the year) as well as dingy and grizzled skippers. A slightly larger butterfly flew past and settled on the path ahead of me - a wall brown, another first for the year.  These were the only species I found here, so after wandering around the hillside I once more returned to the car. I decided to have an early lunch. While doing so, I became aware of a family consulting a phone and discussing what part of the reserve they should head for. I asked for their advice and they told me they were going to follow another path in the opposite direction alongside the hedgerow next to the road  (which I hadn't noticed belonged to the Dorset wildlife trust) which they thought would lead to the main part of  Fontmell Down. With still time to spare before heading back home, I decided to follow the same path after I'd finished my lunch which I did. It came out on  another part of the hillside and I started to explore  then asked a couple of ladies who were on the reserve whether they had found any Glanville fritillaries. No, they said,   but they had seen them on a sheltered bank further down the original path beyond the stile I'd climbed over to go on to Compton Down! 

It was getting warmer now so I decided to have one more attempt at finding these fritillaries.  I eventually reached the spot they'd suggested and found someone else there with a camera - looking at some Glanville fritillaries!  There was a bank of flowers, which was also attracting Adonis, common and small blue butterflies. We also found brimstone and an orange tip so it was obviously a good spot!  All in all  we found about four or five fritillaries, sometimes they flew up and over the hedge on the opposite side to the bank; one or two seemed a bit tatty but I managed to take a few photos before returning to my car and finally making my way back home after a enjoyable sunny couple of days in Dorset.

view point at Ham Common

common whitethroat

viewpoint (osprey is a carving)

corn bunting

view from hillside

linnet

adonis blue

wall butterfly

female adonis blue

 

stonechat f

stonechat m

Glanville fritillary

small blue

Glanville fritillary

track leading to where I found the fritllaries