A FEW HOURS AT FARMOOR RESERVOIR

I spent a pleasant few hours at Farmoor Reservoir today, my main purpose being to see a little stint that has been reported recently. Although I regularly have them on my year list, Farmoor reservoir can provide an opportunity to see these tiny waders at very close quarters. 

The first bird I noticed along the causeway was actually a juvenile common tern, its plumage being much colourful than that of the adults.  It was sitting near the shore line and after a short while flew off, only to be replaced minutes later by the arrival of two waders - the little stint and a juvenile little ringed plover! I watched them both,  the little ringed plover mostly by the water whilst the little stint preferred running along the mossy edge higher up. The little stint was well camouflaged against the  dry vegetation and when standing still was hard to spot. At such close quarters I could appreciate just how small the little stint actually is, the distinguishing V pattern on its back  showing well.

I continued my walk along the causeway, noting a yellow legged gull for my year list, then walked down to the nature reserves which lie along the River Thames. From the PInkhill hide there were  a dozen little egrets, two common sandpipers, and an occasional sighting of a swimming grass snake. 

                                                     juvenile common tern

common sandpiper

little egrets

juvenile little ringed plover

little stint

CIRL BUNTING AT LABRADOR BAY

I decided to break my journey to Cornwall by visiting the rspb site at Labrador Bay in Devon, as not only is this just over half way but it is also a good location to spot cirl buntings, which only are found in this part of the UK. It was a twenty minute detour through Teignmouth to get to the car park overlooking the bay which looks spectacular in the sunshine ( though it was damp and cloudy today) and  from where you can take a path along the coastal fields where cirl buntings are known to breed.

I couldn't remember what cirl buntings sounded like so  I checked my Merlin app  and straightaway it came up with cirl buntings. So I knew I must be in the right place!

In the field just below the car park, are a number of bramble bushes  scattered amongst the grass and it was from these, that the calls seemed to come, although I couldn't see any birds at first.  Then I noticed a silhouette in the distance which turned out to be the bird I sought though it  soon  flew off.  

I  waited but could not see any others, I followed the footpath into another field, but I couldn't hear or see any cirl buntings here so decided to return to my original spot and wait. Calls were still coming and I then noticed another bird on a thorny twig but this was different, it looked a juvenile but what sort? I didn't need to wait long before its parent turned up, fed it and flew off again - another cirl bunting , but I was too slow for a photo!  I decided to wait and see if the parent returned, it was positioned nicely against the sky so I was hopeful I could get a shot of the parent and juvenile. However, the young bird obviously decided it needed to be less conspicious so hopped down into the brambles. When the parent bird returned they both disappeared into the bush. 

However, the parent  then reappeared and perched on top of the same bush, and waited almost motionless for what seemed like ages.  I  was still  standing at a distance, possibly camouflaged by the hedge behind me,  but decided I may be able to edge closer by sitting down and carefully and slowly sliding down the hill. By doing this, I managed to get up to within a few metres   without disturbing it although it did mean I was looking up at it now against the sky and it became slightly obscured by leaves. 

Eventually  the cirl bunting decided to leave and so did I, as it was time to continue my journey. It had been a nice encounter though. 

CLOUD AND SUNSHINE AT LETCOMBE REGIS

 Clouded yellow butterflies are  a summer migrant, often seen at the end of the season and into October, but they don't always arrive in large numbers, in fact last summer they were few and far between and I didn't record any sightings myself. 

So with a few reports  now coming in I thought I'd follow up any local sightings. Several days ago  in a set aside field just outside Letcombe Regis, three or four Clouded yellow butterflies were seen so today I decided to drive over there, a thirty minute trip, to see if I could find them. I wasn't really expecting success as they had not been reported in the mean time, but it was worth a  try anyway in the hope that one or two were still there. The weather was a mix of sun and cloud and quite windy so I hoped for the best. 

After looking on Google maps I realised that I could park fairly close to a footpath that crossed the field and then walk down the field edges so that is what I did. Scanning the field and edges I saw several small whites and a common blue  but as I walked downhill I suddenly noticed a small yellow triangle ahead down on the grass. Could it be? 

Getting my camera out and stepping closer I realised I had found my target species, which then flew up.. and landed on a scabious flower just close by. And that is where it stayed  more or less for the next 40 minutes, occasionally taking off and then returning. I decided to sit down on the grass with my camera and just snap away. The wind was actually quite gusty which may be why it didn't fly anywhere else - most of the time  it clung onto the same flower, moving around as it nectared, and  quite undisturbed by me sitting only a few feet away. 

No one else showed up so I had the field to myself, It was the only one I saw, but it is a large field and, happily for me,  in the windy conditions it just happened to stop where I was. The upper wings of the Clouded Yellows are a bright gold colour but can only be seen when they fly  as they rest with wings closed and underneath they are much paler. A flight photo I managed to get showed it was a female. 

View from the top of the hill. The butterflies were in the field edges on the left.

I didn't realise I had captured this one! The yellow spots within the dark edges indicate this is a female

                                                                          small whites

SILVER SPOTTED SKIPPER

Today I went to look for my probable last new  butterfly species for the year, the silver spotted skipper, at Warren Hill, not far from Tidworth. This species is one of the last to emerge and is so called due to the  white spots which show on its underwings. It is hard to see and photograph with its fast low flight over short turf and is restricted to chalk downland in southern England. On arrival I  made for the area where I've seen  them before and spoke to someone who was photographing Chalkhill butterflies found on the same site. He told me that he'd seen up to a dozen on an area of short turf nearby. I looked and found one fairly quickly, just by noticing the movement of a flower head as the skipper had landed on it. I only found three or four and then they all seemed to disappear. There were dozens of Chalkhill blues sunning themselves with open wings and I came across a mating pair too. 

With some time to spare I next visited  nearby reserve at Boscombe Down West to see what could be found along the embankment there: I saw several common blues, small whites, the usual meadow browns and gatekeepers, and one wall butterfly which did not stop. Rspb reserve Winterbourne Downs is also only a few minutes away so I popped over there too, the normal late summer species were seen on the grassland, and the buddleias held  some red admirals, brimstone, large whites, and a hummingbird hawk moth. I had a look through the viewing screen for stone curlews but needed a telescope really to see anything. 

chalkhill blue underwing

chalkhill blue m

the area at Warren Hill

silver spotted skipper, white spots on underwing and orange on upper wing

 

small white

red admiral

meadow brown

large white

Bosombe Down West

common blues

comma

BROWN HAIRSTREAKS

As the butterfly season starts drawing to a close, I made my annual visit to rspb Otmoor to look for  Brown hairstreaks which are regularly seen  along the 'Roman Road', close to the car park. These are bigger than the other hairstreaks and the female, in particular, has a bright  orange colour to its underwings. As with many butterflies this year, they have been emerging several weeks early and I'd seen reports of several  at Otmoor. Brown hairstreaks are one of the last butterflies to emerge and I often make this one of my  targets for the start of the school summer holidays. 

With a mix of cloud and sun forecast, I  arrived at the reserve car park around 11.30 am and was  pleased to find it only half full so after displaying my membership card in the window I took the short walk out of the car park to the entry point of the Roman road.  This is  a sheltered grassy path  bordered by a variety of hedgerow plants and trees, including ash and oaks and is attractive to a variety of butterfly species.  I stopped by a large area of bramble where a variety of butterflies could be seen, including, gatekeepers, speckled wood, comma, meadow brown red admiral, even a common blue.  I was surprised that no one else was there to start with though fairly soon I was joined by a fellow butterfly enthusiast who said he had walked the length of the path but hadn't found any hairstreaks. We did see a few   butterflies flying about around the tops of the ash trees but were hoping some would come down to nectar on the brambles or thistles. However after being informed by another visitor that he'd found a female on brambles some distance along the bridleway which joins at right angles to our current path we both decided to walk in that direction and see what could be seen. I waited a while before following my recent acquaintance and then met him returning without success. However whilst walking back to our original location,  I was scanning the hedgerows and  spotted a brown hairstreak conveniently settled on a thistle at eye level !  It even opened its wings slightly, confirming it was a male. as there was no orange on the upper wings. 

It remained in the same place for a while before eventually flying off. Back on the original grass track, I then spotted another male. We eventually found a third, rather tatty specimen, which spent some time on the ground, even fully opening its wings,  but sadly no females this time. 

gatekeeper

large white

brown hairstreak

'Roman road' where butterflies can be seen

open wings of male brown hairstreak

comma

green veined white