CATCHING UP WITH SOME WATER BIRDS

 With little likelihood of reaching my 'usual' butterfly yearly total of 47, ( I still have only 41, my most recent being a brown hairstreak at Otmoor) , I decided to pursue my birding target of 175. I've failed to reach it by one or two in the last two years but I was on 166 ( including my first chough when on holiday in Pembrokeshire) before I visited my sister last week. We made a trip to Frampton Marsh rspb which is very good for waders and often hosts some unusual species during peak migration times. We didn't arrive till mid- afternoon but with a fine evening ahead decided we'd stay until 6  - 6.30 p.m. and avoid the rush hour/bank holiday traffic which  held us up a bit on the outward journey. 

There were a lot of birds close  to the visitor centre window and I quickly picked out a bar headed goose (escapee?) amongst the greylag flock. We could also see several spoonbills and little egrets.  Out on the reserve there were the expected water birds, and from one of the paths I noticed a single swan. But its bill was yellow and I was able to add a whooper swan to my year list, a species I had missed in the new year. 

Further on, we could found a few yellow wagtails feeding on the mud, again, a pleasing tick for the year. Another birder with a 'scope also pointed out  a curlew sandpiper. 

After the visitor centre had closed we walked round the side and watched a few little ringed plover. 

whooper swan

cattle egrets and spoonbills ( and other species)

little ringed plover

Pleased my list was now increasing a bit, once back home, I decided to visit Slimbridge on my last free day of the school holidays. It was a warm day with variable amounts of sunshine - and although the Centre was busy with families, the hides were very quiet. In the Rushy someone quickly pointed out a greenshank which was calling from one of the islands. Other birds of note here included redshanks and spotted redshanks together with black tailed godwit (some still in breeding plumage) and a juvenile garganey. Birds of note seen from the other hides included a green sandpiper and a couple of snipe together with teal and mallards, also avocets and ruffs.

greenshank

snipe

green sandpiper

black tailed godwits

PERHAM DOWN BUTTERFLIES

I discovered the site at Warren Hill, Perham Down, near Andover  last year when I read that it supported a colony of silver spotted skippers. It is roughly an hour's trip away but nearer than my previous location of Aston Rowant. Having made a note on where to find  the silver spotted skippers  following last year's visit, I  headed straight up the main track and then turned off to a scrubby area to the left  to begin my search. These skippers are one of the later butterflies to emerge and consequently I tend to look for them at the start of August.

I had arrived  fairly early in the day - around 930, but already it was quite warm and I soon spotted my first butterflies.    At first I only saw meadow browns - plenty of them, together with a few gatekeepers and small heath butterflies, but then I noticed a smaller orangey brown butterfly fly at good speed and land on the path in front of me -  I had found my first silver spotted skipper of the year! I saw only a few more although a recent report had recorded about 25, however, I did not explore the whole of the site. 

A bit later on, I found another 'first for the year' - two chalkhill blue butterflies were fluttering about close to the ground, occasionally settling for a short time. I also found one female chalkhill blue and a common blue. 

It hasn't been a great year for butterflies, and I am  a few down on last year's total. I did, however, manage to find a purple hairstreak in my daughter's back garden last week. I shall hopefully look for brown hairstreaks next week, but it remains to be seen if I  see the migrants (clouded yellow and painted lady), sightings of which seem to be few and far between. I also wonder if the long tailed blue will be seen at all this year. 

male gatekeeper

male chalkhill blue

silver spotted skipper

view of warren hill

male chalkhill underwing

female chalkhill underwing

female chalkhill blue

common blue male

SANDPIPERS AT SLIMBRIDGE

 I hadn't any particular focus for my visit to Slimbridge this morning - the weather was forecast cloudy so was unsuitable for butterfly spotting, so I had decided to enjoy a morning bird watching at the WWT centre. Besides, you never know what might turn up.

I arrived just after opening time, and after having showed my membership card at the admissions desk, made my way to the hide which over looks 'The Rushy'. There was a lot of activity, mainly due to the large numbers of broods of young. Shelducks, tufted ducks, mallards all had varying sized broods of ducklings, whilst avocets had some quite small chicks, already fending for themselves in the shallow water sweeping their small bills from side to side, just like their parents. Black headed gulls had youngsters on the islands, and a pair of oyster catchers were busy searching for grubs  to feed to their chicks. Mute swans and Canada geese were    being followed around by their  half grown cygnets and goslings respectively.

 After spending some time watching and photographing the birds, I started to walk  along the Holden walkway which leads to the estuary tower and summer walkway. Approaching me was a group of wardens, who after greeting me, informed me that a Wood sandpiper, less common than the common and green sandpipers,  had just been found at the nearest hide. 

I entered where I found a couple of birders who pointed out the Wood sandpiper, feeding close to a green sandpiper on the opposite bank. It was making its way fairly quickly along the shore line, away from the hide, and was too far for photographs although it could be seen through binoculars reasonably well, once you had managed to locate it as it was quite camouflaged against the mud. Next  to the green sandpiper, its smaller size is apparent, with its white eye stripe. 

I watched for a while, then, as it seemed to going further and further away, decided to try the next hide, where I was informed, there had been some little ringed plovers,  a species I hadn't yet managed to see this year. Here again, I didn't spot them straightaway, but searching along the shore line with my binoculars managed to find two of them,  apparently there had been five earlier.  I decided to return to the hide I had been in earlier, to see if the Wood Sandpiper had come any nearer, and was pleased to find that it had returned and was now directly on the bank opposite the hide, still fairly distant but easier to see. It continued to move along the shoreline, passing a couple of green sandpipers along the way and as it passed out of sight I moved back to the next hide where viewing was better.  

As the morning progressed  the weather had brightened considerably and the clouds were broken in places to reveal some pleasant sunshine. Instead of continuing to to the Estuary tower, I decided to return to the Rushy Pen, where this time, I saw a common sandpiper which gave some nice views. A herring gull appeared from nowhere and made a dive for a couple moorhen chicks which were close in front of the hide, but was swiftly driven off by a flock of avocets, and thankfully didn't get its meal. It perched on a nearby roof occasionally flying down but repeatedly chased off by the vocal avocets and then disappeared over a hedge, unsuccessful at least this time. 

With time passing quickly, I made a brief visit to the Discovery hide before heading home, there were few young birds here, apparently the herring gulls had had many of them, including seven goslings belonging to an Egyptian goose. However there were still flocks of black headed gulls and black tailed godwits. 

So today I had  been 'at the right place at the right time'  and was able to add two more species to my year list.  

wood sandpiper (left) and green sandpiper

wood sandpiper

avocet and chick

avocet family

avocet chick which venture quite close to the hide

common sandpiper

female mallard and ducklings

greylag and mallard families

mute swan and cygnets

Canada goose family

juvenile Canada geese spreading their wings

moorhen and chick

juvenile coot

oyster catcher

oyster catcher chick, they were mostly out of sight behind the grass but earlier this one  had ventured in through the door into the hide then made a quick retreat

shelduck ducklings

little ringed plover

black headed gull chick

BERNWOOD FOREST

I haven't managed to see a purple emperor or purple hairstreak this year so headed over to Bernwood forest after I finished school at lunch time. It had been a mostly cloudy morning, but now the sun was appearing from time to time.

With no sightings in the car park, I made for the main track but sadly had no success here either. I did however, see many ringlets, together with large skippers, meadow browns. From time to time a white admiral would appear, also a few silver washed fritillaries.  In the field I found my first gatekeeper  of the year and a couple of marbled whites. 

Back near the carpark I did see a butterfly float across an area of blue sky above some tall trees, I thought it could have been a purple emperor but as I later found a white admiral lower down, I can't be sure. 

silver washed fritillary

ringlets

red admiral

comma 

very tatty white admiral