Migration in Action!

Went out for a walk yesterday - the worst weather of the week!   However, the recent change in weather patterns brought several delights including huge flocks of migrating Chaffinch - all males either adult or first winter birds.

There was one particularly large flock just outside Sevenoaks Wildfowl Reserve - feeding in a field where horses were kept.   There were obviously rich pickings as over 100 individuals were flying from the ground to trees nearby every time they were disturbed by the horses, only to return to the ground as soon as they felt safe again.

Grey Wagtail

The male Chaffinches often migrate through or to the south-east of England from Scandinavia - the females prefer to move further west and are often found in similarly large flocks in the south-west of England and Ireland.

With large numbers migrating south into the UK, our population can double during the winter.   The males tend to migrate nearer to their breeding areas, believed to be so that they will arrive on territory in top condition (rather than tired from a longer journey).   The females have longer to migrate back to territory in the spring arriving once the male has secured the position - hence their longer migration.

See more information courtesy of the BTO here

At Bough Beech I also saw my first Redwing and Fieldfare of the winter - with around 50 Redwing (thanks to Sally for spotting them fly in) and one pair of Fieldfare (Malcolm's find).   Despite there being many birds busily feeding on the berries nearby, not one photograph was possible!   There was a grainy shot of a lovely Grey Wagtail though.

Fourteen Snipe dropped in and spooked Lapwing and Greylag - presumably they mistook them for a bird of prey.

Cormorant, Greylag, Lapwing & Teal

Another delight was a surprising number of Goldcrest - they have been reported widely in the last week or so, and for once we actually caught up with them in pairs on several occasions.   As usual at this time of year, there were Long-tailed Tit everywhere - contact calls echoed around us all day. Brilliant!

To round off the day, we had great sightings of two Kingfisher on several occasions - they appeared to be patrolling the edge of a lake.   Still no photos though!

Birds on a Wire

Watching the migrants gathering on wires at Sheppey . . . . . mainly linnet, but with some goldfinch joining in the fun.

Goldfinch on the top wire

Further on there were several stonechat, probably a family group.

Other autumn signs were galls on poplar trees.
These spiralled lumps along the leaf petioles, create a red spiral shaped lump and the leaf then sticks out of the end of the gall.  These are usually caused by an aphid, probably Pemphigus spyrothecae, although the name p. protospirae is also referred.

Poplar spiral galls

There were also many wild flowers going to seed, which will provide great food for migrants as they pass through on their long journey south.

Here's to a great autumn.

Great Green Bush-Cricket

A couple of weeks ago we found this female Great Green Bush-cricket Tettigonia viridissima at Sandwich Bay observatory.

I have been lucky enough to have seen several individuals in the last few weeks - mainly due to the searching skills of Malcolm & Sally.   

Female Great green Bush-cricket

This individual, however, was not hard to see as she was in the middle of the path and just waiting to be stepped on!   We watched for several minutes - as the camera came in closer, so she became more fascinated and actually walked towards it - maybe the reflection was interesting her.

However, after a while we moved on to to some bird watching.

Some while later we returned and much to our amazement she was now further into the side of the path, but was firmly planted with her ovipositor pushed into the ground.

As we got nearer, it was clear that she was laying eggs deep into a crack between broken concrete.   Every so often she almost retracted the ovipositor, changed the angle then pushed it deep into the ground again and started to flex her abdomen.   We watched as she did this several times.

We eventually left her to her work, marvelling at our luck in finding such a great event.

To see the walk click here

To see the egg laying click here

Spotted Flycatcher

Spent a delightful half and hour or so watching this Spotted Flycatcher as it preened, oblivious of our presence.   After some time sorting out the feathers, it flew out, caught a tasty morsel and came back to the same perch.

Marvellous!

Wallasea Island

A few shots from Wallasea Island, Essex.   A new RSPB Reserve which is being developed to encourage greater areas of salt marsh, and providing encroachment areas for a rising sea level.

Wallasea Island mud flats

With a low tide there was not too much to see along the mud flats beyond the sea wall.

Reserve under development

Inside the sea wall the RSPB are developing a new Reserve with scrapes and plenty of mud!

Weasel

This weasel appeared to be chasing a whinchat - we didn't see the whinchat after it had flown off - presumably keeping out of our way as well as that of the weasel.

Small heath

Several small heath butterflies were around, surprising me at first as they were so small.

We saw some we missed some

Quite an encouraging list from so new a reserve - bearing in mind the number of canada geese present, there is some real potential here for wintering geese and wildfowl.

We had over 25 yellow wagtails - none were close enough for my camera skills sadly.   Huge flocks of linnet and goldfinch, whimbrel, kestrel, grey heron, several little egret and mute swan.

In addition swallow were flying inside the sea wall feeding just below us, giving great views.

REGUA at the Bird Fair

After a hectic three days at the Bird Fair, I was looking forward to a relaxing couple of days.  However, the Bird Fair Blues hit hard and I seemed to spend much of my time drifting through other peoples' posts about the BF.   So here's my review and thanks.

It was a brilliant Fair with lots of enthusiastic people visiting the REGUA stand where my fellow volunteers and I discuss paradise every day with anyone silly enough to hesitate as they passed by.

The calm before the storm!

Usually we have a mix of visitors to the stand, some who have already visited, others who are planning to go and a few who haven't got a clue what the project is all about.   this year it felt as if pretty much everyone knew of the project and more people than ever before we either planning a trip or had already booked.   There was a really positive feeling about the whole event.

With two new books published recently; Birds of the Serra dos Orgaõs and Dragonflies and Damselflies of the Serra dos Orgaõs, interest in REGUA publications was high, and we sold out of the Bird books on Saturday, but took orders to be fulfilled when more supplies are available.

We also had the Michael Palin narrated film on hand - watching Verity White's fantastic film of my favourite place did not help the emotion stay in check.

In addition to the usual team of Rachel, Lee, Alan and myself, we had the excellent support of Ken and Andrew - which allowed us a break or two.

So, all in all a great time was had by all.    Thanks to everyone who stopped to talk, you make it all worthwhile.

It will be REGUA's 10th anniversary at the Bird Fair next year, so we have some planning to do!

A two Hawkmoth Day!

Two Hummingbird Hawkmoth at Dungeness today.  Always a special sighting, although Whinchat, Wheatear, Wood Sandpiper, Clouded Yellow and Migrant Hawker were more highlights.  

See the Hummingbird Hawkmoth here

A Pine Hawkmoth from the trap at the Obs, was a first for me too.

Pine Hawkmoth

Reculver

There's nothing quite like a day at the seaside - especially when there are grey skies and showers, but with some positive thinking and a cup of tea in a nearby café anything can be achieved.

. . . . . . or so we hoped . . . . . .

but with a strong breeze coming in off the sea and a high tide, it was not going to be an easy day to find birds - or anything else for that matter!

Reculver Beach

Around Reculver Towers is the spot for Black Redstart, but with lots of holiday visitors, many with dogs, even the feral pigeons were moving away so it wasn't going to show off.

Eventually I found it on the concrete breakwater below the Towers, flitting around and being blown by the wind.   Sally and I had good views, if a little quick, before we called the others.   Unfortunately, it flew off west and despite our best endeavours we could not find it again.

Along the promenade, did catch up with Turnstone, Ringed Plover and a possible Sanderling on the beach just before a roaming dog put them up.

Inland, there were eight Little Egret roosting on the leeward side of a tree - again, they were disturbed by a passing walker.

Looking back to the Towers in the distance

As avian delights were not going to be too obtainable today, we moved to insects and plants.   This was helped by Malcolm's cap blowing off and requiring a rather long detour to retrieve it from below the seawall.

Fleabane was flowering well, and knapweeds and thistles were providing vital food for many insects.  These were enjoying the shelter inside the seawall.   Stonecrop had flowered and made a great architectural study.

What was really interesting were the number of snails we found.  Although some of the shells were empty, the majority had pale inhabitants, many of them clustered around the base of wild carrot.   It was quite a feat not to step on them, the crunch of broken snail shells is not something I like, and luckily the few I did not miss were empty, but I did look as if I was doing some strange dance on occasions.

Apples and sloes were fruiting well, and thoughts turned to apple and blackberry crumble, and lunch!
Not before we noticed a few insects - which are becoming a new interest for me, but I have only managed one identification:

Hoverfly - Syrphus ribseii?

After lunch we set of for Grove Ferry, and the viewpoint from where there were some very distant Black-tailed Godwit, and a sandpiper that may have been the Wood Sandpiper reported.   It was too far for me to be happy, just a 'peep with long-ish legs!   Ringed Plover a little nearer was far less of a challenge.

From the David Feast Hide there were varied ducks in eclipse, but we managed to work out Mallard, Teal, Gadwall, Pochard and Shoveler.
They look so different out of their full plumage.

Blue Butterflies

Blue butterflies are so confusing, but here some to ponder over:

Firstly, I think this is Common Blue, and note how think the wings are - you can see the underwing markings through it.










Next comes, I think, Brown Argus

Thirdly, I think, Chalk Hill Blue

But I am open to persuasion otherwise!

Lullingstone & Fackenden Down

Nice walk this week with Banded Demoiselle - always good to see - with over a dozen males and at least two females.   Adding to the day was an Odonata tick for me; White-legged Damselfly.  Rubbish photos which will end up in the bin, but it was good to find.   Several males and a female.

Banded Demoiselle

After lots of coastal sites recently, was good to see some different flora species - Dark Mullein, Dwarf Thistle and I love scabious, so seeing fields with lots of wild flower species including many scabious was a delight.

Birds took a bit of a back seat on this walk, although a young Robin was great to see and Treecreeper was found by the visitor centre, feeding on a tree trunk completely oblivious to the crowd gathering below.

Dark Mullein & insect (id required)

A group of House Martins fed over the fields, chattering as they went, and there were a few Swallow higher up.

Several insect photographs will just be adding to my ever-expanding collection of "id required"s

Happiness is a day in Derbyshire!

Last weekend saw the second Hen Harrier Day (HHD) take place.   Although there were several events around the Country, as last year I was drawn back to my home county of Derbyshire, this time to the Goyt Valley near Buxton.

Derbyshire hills, with vegetation burned off

Saturday evening was spent listening to Mark Avery, Mike Clarke (CEO RSPB), Finlay Wilde (brilliant young conservationist), Jeremy Deller (Conceptual artist) and Chris Packham (amongst others).   Speaking of the reasons why it is so important for our natural heritage to be restored and preserved, and how the blanket monoculture of grouse shooting is changing our landscape, each speaker brought a different perspective.

Mike Clarke talked of his early birding days in Kent, seeing hen harriers at Cliffe Pools and Capel Fleet Viewpoint - both places I regularly visit and where I have had the pleasure and delight of seeing the same species in the past - my last being a male at Capel Fleet three years ago.      

Finlay showed a "mash-up" - a film showing how he (and his Dad) built the large scale props for this year's HHD - a huge poison bottle, model rifle, gin trap and shooting butt - which was used as the lectern.    He brought great news - Ecotricity are going to sponsor some radio transmitters on hen harriers, adding to those already sponsored by LUSH (producers of some of the best smelling cosmetics ever).   You can purchase a Hen Harrier Bath Bomb in support (while stocks last!).

Jo Smith and team

Chris Packham rounded off the evening with a great speech, factual, emotional, passionate and considered - brilliant as always!

After an overload of emotion, it was time for us all to prepare ourselves for an outing in the Derbyshire hills - not before we had availed ourselves of a Famous Grouse, enjoyed in the foyer of the Palace Hotel!

Driving to this year's venue, huge expanses of moorland stretched in every direction, some covered in bracken and heather, others sadly burned as part of the "land management".   Travelling towards the Goyt Valley, brought back memories of family walks as a child, being dragged along by my parents, mum pointing out plants and insects, dad striding ahead and me moody that I couldn't stay at home with my friends!   How pleased I am that I had those walks now, although rather distant memories, so much of what I learned in those early years came back to me.

Mark Avery sorting out the seating arrangements (Lol)

A short walk from the Car Park to the meeting point could have taken around 10-15 minutes, an hour and a half later we had just arrived, with a few minutes to spare.   The journey was slow and thoroughly enjoyable - taking photographs of all sorts of things that I will probably never be able to fully identify.   People were offering advice and suggestions along the way - from "you'll never get there if you keep taking photos" to "thats Tachina grosso" - happy days, lots of lovely people willing to share.

The meeting itself was great, lots of supportive people who want to bring our uplands and moors back to a thriving biodiverse environment which has room for wildlife as well as people, and with that change from monoculture grouse production where all predators are culled to ensure that the maximum income comes from grouse shooting (particularly driven grouse shooting) will come a return of the Hen Harrier and other top end predators including buzzard, fox, stoat, weasel - even hare are being killed.

Chris Packham listens to Mark Avery

Great speeches from Mark Avery, Charlie Moores (BAWC), Jeff Knott (RSPB),  Jo Smith (Derbyshire Wildlife Trust), and Chris Packham.   A passion for wildlife ran through all their presentations, a desire to change our denudation of habitat and biodiversity back to a thriving community, and most of all a wish to make the area where we met into a safe place where hen harriers and other birds of prey would be breeding and thriving.  

Buoyed up by the stirring talk and the huge crowd it was soon, reluctantly time to leave and our walk back to the car park probably took even longer than before.   Again, helpful locals gave ID - Antler moth and Dark-green Fritillary to name but two.   Bilberry was fruiting well, harebells dipped their heads in the sunlight, ragwort, foxgloves and heather were all flowering well.   On the avian front a stonechat family kept in close contact with each other - the juvenile looking well fed and content, and just to add to our delight, as we neared the end of the walk, a peregrine soared overhead - hopefully one day we will see more than one bird of prey in a day walking in Derbyshire!

Thanks to everyone who organised and attended, and Pete for his entertaining company and whiskey!

More photos of the day can be seen here

Oare

Always a joy to visit - and the nearest I would come to having a "patch" if not exactly 'local' - Oare today was a delight!

Oare Marshes

Beautiful weather, a large group of keen folk, and the prospect of some interesting migrant waders to look for - what could be better?   Well finding those migrants for a start, but you can't have everything in life, so we were just delighted with what we DID see.

Thanks to the generosity of spirit of other birders there we managed to catch up with Spotted Redshank, Curlew Sandpiper, Knot and Little Stint.  The several hundred waders enjoying the safety of the flood including Dunlin, Redshank and Black-tailed Godwit, in all their myriad shades of orangey-red, were a spectacle.

With a list of over 50 species, including Yellow Wagtail, Bearded Tit, Whimbrel, Common Tern, Sedge and Reed Warbler we did not have chance to relax!

"David Bowie" Bee

Added to this avian mix were some rather interesting iridescent beetles, an orange-headed "David Bowie" style Bee and several ladybirds to identify.   One we did manage to name was Adonis Ladybird, also Drinker Moth Caterpillar.

With flying ants providing excellent feeding the sky was at times full of Swallow and the occasional House Martin.

Waders

Least Lettuce

Least Lettuce Lactuca saligna, is an intriguing plant, thought to be extinct in about half of its known sites by 1930.   Native to the UK, but introduced throughout the world, there are reports of its presence in the USA, Australia, and many other regions of the world.

However, it loves the sandy shingle and old sea walls with sparse vegetation.   It used to be on the banks and rivers of East Anglia and occasionally on paths and cliffs in Essex.   It was known to have survived in East Anglia until 1953.

Least Lettuce Plant

The Sussex population was dramatically reduced by the inundation of sea water in the 1990's, but the Essex population continued to thrive.   It seemed to benefit from cattle grazing.

In Kent it was re-found on the Isle of Grain in 1999, and there is a site on the Isle of Sheppey which has been know to hold around 1000 plants.

So with this in mind, we had to go and try to find them!

Sadly, the site has had the 'benefit' of some sluice upgrading which appears to have covered the majority of the site in concrete.   However we did find at least 80 plants holding on, and hopefully they will spread again if left undisturbed.

A plant which is easy to overlook, even when you know it is present - as can be seen from the rather poor photos!

Red Kite

Yesterday at Shellness, we had the delight of watching a Red Kite hanging in the air over the marshes.   It was quartering over the ditches and rough ground and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying riding the breeze.

Red Kite

I think this is only the second Red Kite I've seen in Kent, so a nice one to start our walk with.

The Spider and the Fly (well Wasp actually)

At Samphire Hoe a couple of weeks ago, one of the group spotted a spider and insect crawling along the sea wall.

Spider-hunting Wasp and Prey

Once I got the photo on the laptop, I realised that the insect was actually pulling the spider along, and after a conversation with the ever-knowledgable Malcolm,  we are now a step nearer to an ID.   The spider looks like an Orb-web, possibly Garden spider, and the insect is a Spider-hunting Wasp Pompilidae - no idea of which though!

Any suggestions welcome

I'm Back!

After a long break from the blog, I have been inspired by my travels recently to start again . . . .
let's hope you can cope with the excitement!

Too Busy to Blog!

It's true, I'm having too good a time to Blog, but there are a new batch of photos on my Flickr feed if you fancy trying to identify some beasties for me.

Normal service will be resumed at some stage in the future, but no promises . . . .

Rainham Marshes an Arachnophobe's Nightmare!

Last Sunday I joined my local RSPB Group's walk at Rainham Marshes in Essex.   The weather was cloudy but warm, and the car park was busy with cars, but interestingly it wasn't that busy inside the reserve.   On our way through the visitor centre we delivered the latest batch of used stamps for the Save the Albatross Fund.   Don't forget to save your used stamps and hand them in at your local Reserve or Group.

Chicory

We were soon off to find some birds and on the pools ahead were little egret, wigeon and a large group of greylag geese.   Rooks and crows were studied as there had been reports of a couple of ravens on the reserve in the previous few days, but they eluded us on this occasion.   From the scrub behind us a Cetti's warbler treated us to its full song, a real delight after a few months absence.

Along the edge of the path we noted the bright blue of chicory flowers, which then prompted some of the group to reminisce about Camp Coffee.   Happily, before my time!  

Meanwhile back with the avian specialists we were adding moorhen, magpie, teal and chiffchaff (another species starting to exercise its vocal chords again).   In the old Cordite Store we found more chiffchaff and a great spotted woodpecker, which gave us the opportunity to set up the telescope and get great views.   Some noted long-tailed tits here, whilst others watched low swooping swallows and sand martins.   Migrant hawker dragonflies were out in numbers, enjoying the warm weather and the shelter of the paths.

The distinctive sound of ring-necked parakeet rang out and we did see a pair of them on several occasions throughout the day.   Blue tit, crow and cormorant were our next sightings as we continued along the boardwalk.

Striped Snail

Some of us had already made the acquaintance of  our next challenge - to spot a barn owl in its nest box.   In the spring before the trees were in leaf, friends and I struggled to locate the box, but finally found it and the distinctive head of its occupant just peeking out!   At this time of year it was even harder with the heavily laden boughs drooping across the box, but with some helpful fellow bird watchers who had a telescope trained on the spot, everyone finally had a view.    Marsh frog were calling intermittently and were found dotted around the reserve in the ditches and quieter pools.   As we moved along the path we also found three spider species; a superb wasp spider, several garden spiders and a rather smart individual with white "eyes" on the back - good spot Sally - which goes by the scientific name of Araneus quadratus or four spot orb weaver.

Araneus quadratus

Several grey heron were spotted around the reserve, some obviously juveniles with their plumage still developing.   Mallard, little grebe, a couple of pochard, lapwing, gadwall and snipe were soon found by Ian and seen in the telescope.   Shoveler, shelduck, coot and mute swan completed our selection of water birds, whilst hobby and kestrel gave us some interesting identification issues.

Just as Sally commented on the lack of gulls, several of the black-headed variety landed at the far side of the pool in front of us - how often does Sally do that?!   Around the reed beds we finally caught up with a very smart reed bunting in beautiful chestnut plumage which contrasted against the pale reed stalks but matched the reed mace heads giving it surprisingly good camouflage.

We also found a sedge warbler in the same area where the protection of the reeds around a small pool provided a great habitat for them to feed up safely.   Goldfinch were heard around the second half of our walk and up to 35 were seen in one flock.

Wasp Spider

After lunch - where we found a couple of chiffchaff feeding in a hawthorn nearby - several of us stayed on to wander along the sea wall and look for roosting birds along the side of the river, it being high tide.   Lesser and greater black-backed, herring and more black-headed gulls were seen along with several mallard.   Back at the centre collared dove, large numbers of house sparrow and starling were feeding.

Sheppey Part II

After the previous trip to Sheppey my next outing was to Leysdown and Shellness.   The tide was fully in, so no shore watching, but a close view of Sandwich Tern and a delightful Wheatear more than made up for it, along with several Large White and Common Blue butterflies.

At Shellness the nudist beach car park was full, as were the dunes!   A bright sunny day had brought out the sunbathers.   The birdwatchers were fewer, with only three cars in the end car park, we only saw two other folk on our walk.

Sea Campion

We moved towards the blockhouse for the usual high tide roost beyond the old 'Little Tern beach'   Sadly it is a long time since the terns nested here, but the ropes and signs remain in the hope of their return, and in the meantime the area offers a small element of protection for huge numbers of Oystercatcher and Ringed Plover.   I would add that a full fence would be more effective than a string of rope, as a large dog ran around in the area whilst we were there, with no intervention from the owner.   Luckily on this occasion it did not get as far as the roosting birds, but it would have caused mayhem in a breeding colony.

Migration was well underway with more Wheatear, Linnet, Meadow Pipit, overe 30 Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Turnstone, Redshank, Swallow and a family of Yellow Wagtail found.   Added to our avian sightings were butterflies, including: a fantastic male Clouded Yellow, Small Heath, Small White, Common Blue and Green-veined White.

old Little Tern Colony site

Not wishing to bring such a lovely day to an early close, we decided to stop off at Capel Fleet Viewpoint on the way home.   Malcolm did ask at one stage "why do we only go there in the winter?"   We soon found out!   It is a winter speciality, we only managed six cygnets, Crow, Woodpigeon and the jewel of five Kestrels in the air at once.

Onward to Harty Ferry, and here we found Robin, Blackbird, Linnet, Little Egret, Buzzard, Redshank, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Herring Gull, Ringed Plover, Magpie, Goldfinch, more Kestrel, Pied Wagtail feeding young, Jackdaw, Marsh Harrier and Grey Heron.

We also added Common Darter, Meadow Brown and Migrant Hawker to our day list.

Scrummy Damsons

On the way off the island we caught up with several groups of Red-legged Partridge, presumably they had recently been released for a shoot.

We found a few damson trees in one of the hedgerows, and tried a couple - scrummy, if a little under-ripe

Why the Post block?

So where have I been for the last few weeks?

Firstly, getting over the dreaded lurgy - it took seven weeks to clear up and then after feeling better for about three days, I have another sore throat - so this may only be a short revival!

Secondly, very busy - lots of projects on, all coming to a head at the same time - nothing new there then!

Finally, socialising - finally managed to catch up with lots of my friends who I haven't had the opportunity to see for ages - you know who you are and I had a great time, thanks. Hugs to you all

The projects are very interesting.   Some friends are setting up an investigation at the Natural History Museum in London, to find herbarium sheets from Robert Pocock's original herbarium from the 1800's.   Very exciting, we get to trawl through hundreds of sheets from many botanists through the centuries looking for any specimens that were collected by Robert Pocock, who lived in North Kent in the 1800's and collected and exchanged botany samples with his contemporaries.   The aim is to re-create the herbarium, and bring this important botanist back into the public eye with talks and exhibitions in the area.   Funded by the Lottery Heritage Fund and aided by Kent Wildlife Trust, this is going to be a very interesting few months.

The second project is a little nearer to my heart, and will give me the opportunity to help REGUA, my 'local patch' in the Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil, with their communications and publicity - once again we have some support, this time from the World Land Trust-US.   The project already has strong links with the UK arm of the World Land Trust and this is an exciting extension of that connection.

Watch this space . . . . .

(next blog a bit more down to earth - Sheppey Update!)