Stuart's Wildlife Diary: Autumn Ladies Tresses

Showing posts with label Autumn Ladies Tresses. Show all posts

Saturday, 1 September 2018

Silver-spotted Skipper at Fontmell Down

Thursday 30th August and I decided enough was enough and I should just bite the bullet and go for it and so I headed off to Fontmell Down in Dorset to look for silver-spotted skipper, something I have wanted to do for a few years now. The weather forecast wasn't particularly promising with sunny spells but increasing cloud and a maximum temperature of 19°c but off I headed anyway with a very early start (04:10 alarm call) to catch the 05:20 train from Plymouth. The train journey went smoothly to Gillingham followed by a bus ride to Shaftesbury and then a taxi ride to Compton Abbas Airfield and I arrived at Fontmell Down at around 9am to be greeted with some stunning scenery despite the cloudy skies and cool temperature.

Fontmell Down, Dorset

I wandered around to get my bearings and disturbed a few meadow browns and small heaths from the grass as I passed by despite the lack of sunshine and chilly air.

Small Heath

After about an hour the sun eventually began to shine weakly from behind the clouds and the temperature began to lift and a flash of electric blue near the path gave away the position of a stunning male Adonis blue trying to warm itself up on the tip of a stalk of grass.

Adonis Blue

The sun continued to break through the clouds and eventually it became sunny and warm and the insect activity really kicked off with butterflies, moths, grasshoppers, bees, hoverflies and flies flitting about all over the place making it difficult to keep track of things and focused.

Pyrausta despicata

Pyrausta purpuralis

Small copper, a brimstone, a clouded yellow, common blue, a large white, brown Argus, small white and what I think is a faded male chalkhill blue were also seen but there was no sign of any silver-spotted skippers.

Chalkhill Blue?

There were many Adonis blues flying about to keep me occupied though, there must have been well over a hundred flying around, and the males looked stunning in the sunshine especially when the light caught them at just the right angle and they became a dazzling electric blue.

Adonis Blue

Adonis Blue with Red Mite

Adonis Blue

Brown Argus

Adonis Blue

Brown Argus

I was beginning to resign myself to not seeing any silver-spotted skippers when a small butterfly dashed past in front of me and landed on a dandelion flower and on checking it out with my binoculars I was delighted to find it was indeed my target butterfly, a little worn but great to see. It flitted from dandelion to dandelion before dashing off out of sight and despite searching I never refound it but I was very pleased to have seen one and I even managed to get a few photos of it in the short time it was on view.

Silver-spotted Skipper

I managed a few bird sightings too with a flyover raven, 2 juvenile wheatear, a juvenile whinchat feeding from a barbed wire fence, a winter plumage male and at least 3 female/juvenile redstarts flitting about in the bushes with chiffchaffs, blackcaps and willow warblers, a male kestrel hovering overhead and nearly taking out a careless blackbird and a yellow wagtail heard calling overhead but unfortunately not seen.

Autumn ladies tresses were also in flower across the down, easily overlooked amongst the dry grass but easily seen once you got your eye in on them.

Autumn Ladies Tresses

The clouds began to roll back in as forecasted and by the time I left in the taxi at around 2pm for the journey back to Shaftesbury and onwards to Plymouth it had clouded over but I had had an amazing time and was very glad I had finally made the effort to visit the site - I will certainly visit again and hopefully will get better views of silver-spotted skippers next time.

Fontmell Down

Wednesday, 13 September 2017

Curlew Sandpiper, Bowling Green Marsh

Friday 8th September and with another day of grotty weather forecasted I decided to head off to Topsham for the morning hide tide wader roost at Bowling Green Marsh where I could at least sit in the bird hide out of the wind and rain. It was raining as I stepped off the train at Topsham at 9am but it stopped shortly after I arrived and it remained dry although mostly overcast for the rest of the day.

As I entered a packed hide I was met by Dave from Daves Diary who was pointing out a juvenile curlew sandpiper in amongst the waders close to the hide on the new scrapes - a very smart looking bird busily feeding with a few dunlin between the legs of sleeping curlews and redshanks.

Curlew, Redshank and Black Tailed Godwit

Curlew Sandpiper

I spent a while in the hide as the tide began dropping until the waders began to fly off to the River Clyst and amongst the curlew, redshank, black tailed godwit, greenshank, lapwing and dunlin were a green sandpiper, a female ruff, 2 whimbrel, a bar tailed godwit and a few ringed plover along with the curlew sandpiper. Eclipse plumaged ducks were dotted around the marsh - pintail, gadwall, mallard, teal, shoveler and wigeon - and a female marsh harrier showed very well quartering back and forth over the reeds at the back of the marsh. A few house martins, sand martins and swallows were buzzing over the water and a kingfisher resting on one of the islands was a nice surprise.

I wandered over to the River Clyst viewing platform to watch the waders feeding on the increasingly exposed mud and managed to find a curlew sandpiper amongst the dunlins, presumably the same bird seen earlier on the marsh. 2 kingfishers were fishing from the walls of Rivers Meet House but there was no sign of any ospreys.

Kingfisher

Greenshank

Curlew Sandpiper

Onwards to Dawlish Warren for a quick look around and from the dune ridge I scanned the estuary on a low tide where the only birds of note were a few common terns resting on the sand banks with Sandwich terns. Offshore there was a large mass of birds feeding offshore which seemed to consist of herring gulls and gannets with a few terns while on the sand banks were more roosting Sandwich terns with 2 very smart black terns, my first at Dawlish Warren.

Black Terns

Autumn ladies tresses were still in flower across the site and I also saw a few common darter, a few hawker dragonflies, a male common blue, meadow browns and gatekeepers before it was time to catch the train home just as the rain began to fall again.

Common Darter

Sand Wasp

Autumn Ladies Tresses

Tuesday 12th September and I headed down to Falmouth with work colleague Sue for a wildlife boat trip with Orca Safaris, something we have been wanting to do for some time. The weather was looking good for the trip and we headed off from Falmouth Docks out into the bay in grey skies and a gentle breeze. A few gannets and shags were soon found and 2 mute swans close to the beach were a surprise. Eventually we found a small pod of common dolphins much to Sue's delight and we had some great views as they swam around the boat before getting bored and moving away.

Common Dolphin

Gannet

Also seen were a few guillemot, plenty of gannets, shags and herring gulls, a first winter Mediterranean gull, a few cormorant, great black backed gulls and 3 Sandwich terns but we didn't go far enough offshore to find any interesting sea birds. And on the way back to shore we got involved with a lifeboat rescue of a yacht that had lost its steering - a very enjoyable trip.

Falmouth Lifeboat

Tuesday, 23 August 2016

Yellow Legged Gull!

Saturday August 20th and with a wet and windy day forecasted (unseasonably so) I headed off to Rame Head for a seawatch, something I haven't done before. It was cloudy and windy as I left Plymouth and true to form as I stepped off the bus at Whitsand Bay it absolutely chucked it down - typical. It quickly passed and I soon settled down between the rocks on the cliffs below the ruined chapel to scan the sea, sheltering from the occasional squally shower that rattled in on the breeze.

Rame Head

Amorique Ferry and The Great and Little Mewstones at Wembury

Amorique Close-up

A few gannets were passing by heading west, a variety of plumages from adult to juvenile with everything in between, and over the 3 and a half hours I was there watching there was a constant movement of them. Some of the immatures were quite oddly patterned which had my pulse racing at times. Manx shearwaters were also moving through west, probably an average of 5 a minute with the odd trickle and pulse at times, but in the final hours watch from 12:30 to 13:30 I only recorded 5 individuals. The only other birds of note were the occasional fulmar, oystercatcher and shag and great black backed, lesser black backed and herring gulls.

There was a report on Birdguides of 116 Balearic shearwaters passing by Rame Head from 06:30 to 14:30, I never saw any other birder there while I was present and other than a brief and distant view of a probable Balearic shearwater and a probable sooty shearwater I never saw anything unusual (some of the Manxies I saw close to shore did show some dark markings in their armpits but otherwise had very white underparts).

The highlight was a pod of common dolphins moving west off the headland, distant views and very unobtrusive as they moved by very quickly and out of sight. Their location was given away by a swirling group of gannets overhead but other than the occasional fin at the surface and occasional leap out of the waves I would have missed them. I counted 6 at the surface together but there were more present and it was quite exciting (and difficult) to track them across the Bay.

Sunday 21st August and I decided to head off to Dawlish Warren in the morning before the forecasted rain arrived in the afternoon. I caught the train to Dawlish and walked to the hide at Dawlish Warren to catch the high tide roost, noting an adult winter plumage Mediterranean gull amongst the gulls roosting along the beach along the way.

The island in front of the hide had roosting oystercatchers, carrion crows, Sandwich terns, herring gulls and great black backed gulls but not much else. Small waders started to fly into The Bight as the tide receded and scanning through them I managed to find myself a nice juvenile curlew sandpiper amongst the ringed plover, dunlin, sanderling and turnstone. It stayed asleep for most of the time with its head tucked under its wings but it stood noticeable taller than the nearby dunlin and had a lovely peachy pink flush across its breast. Eventually it woke up and flew nearer to me and started to feed amongst the salt marsh before flying off and out of sight but I had some very nice views in my scope.

Oystercatchers in front of the hide

Curlew Sandpiper (top right) with Ringed Plovers

Curlew Sandpiper (top right) with Dunlin and Ringed Plovers

Juvenile Ringed Plover

Adult Ringed Plover

Best of all was a surprise juvenile yellow legged gull right in front of the hide. I had been casually watching the juvenile herring gulls floating about and squabbling over scraps of wood and seaweed fished out of the water when I noticed a much paler and brighter looking bird amongst them. My first thought was that it was a juvenile great black backed gull but it was only slightly but noticeably larger than the herring gulls with a much heavier looking bill. Pale head, neck and breast, a slight dark smudge behind the eye, dark upperparts contrasting with the pale head and neck all noted before it flew up into the air showing a white rump and a black tail band and disappeared from sight! I was just about to call it out in the hide before it flew off and I really would have liked to have watched it properly for longer but as it flew off I felt a touch of shock at actually have found a yellow legged gull after all this time!

Heading back to the train station and I managed to find a gatekeeper, meadow browns, a green veined white, a large white, 2 male and a female common blue and a small copper along with a Pyrausta aurata, 6-spot burnets and 2 male yellow belles in the Greenland Lake area. Autumn ladies tresses were flowering and it was nice to see a pair of cirl buntings with 2 fledglings.