Friday 15 March 2024

Spring still struggling to arrive

 


Today, a few Andrena flavipes hunkered down out of the inconvenient southerly wind, were the only insects in a quick tour of the south facing hedge. Unsurprisingly, no Beeflies here yet.



And these, some of 300 or so Brent in the sanctuary, will only be here for a little while longer with so many being seen by coastal watchers steadfastly ploughing their way back east in recent days. 



 

















Wednesday into Thursday saw the moth trap out at home. The small single-bulbed Heath trap surrounded by so many street lights (kept on all night) ensured a pretty minimal catch. In fact the trap was empty!! But luckily the fence panels held an Early Grey, three Oak Beauty, Small Quaker, Common Plume and Diurnea fagella. The first three species were the first in seven(!!) years here as I haven't run the trap earlier than May in recent years, and the latter was NfG/T.


















Pulborough, Wednesday morning, started after the now rather too frequent Bacon Bap and coffee starter. The journey over and weather were a little better than the previous visit but still too cold and windy for 'mini-beasts'.

The Water Pipit was a little better and the Wigeon were out in numbers close in to the hide along with a single Oystercatcher (relatively unusual here). This Lapwing was paired up and mated in front of us; its other half was nest scraping. An earlier-present Spotted Redshank had gone to ground but a distant LRP, shadowing a nervous group of sixty Black'wits, was a nice addition to the the year - I'm guessing the first record of the year.

And this kite was cruising the south Brooks soon after a sub-adult male Marsh Harrier.

Finally, this Adder, male AA71 was in the usual spot and was the first sighting of him this spring.






















 
With a little more time than usual I chose to spend the afternoon at Arundel WWT where a single Marsh Harrier,  the male Peregrine and about fifteen Cattle Egrets were the best on offer. A few singing Chiffchaffs and the above flowers - Cuckooflower, Herb-Robert and Marsh Marigold - at least made in feel a little spring like. Sadly, I left it just a little too late to see the Great White Egret which left the reserve a few minutes before arriving at Scrape Hide. Like Pulborough earlier, the Snipe were very watchable as usual.

And or course this confiding male Mandarin brought a welcome splash of colour while checking out the barrel nest and rather vocal to boot.

Saturday 9 March 2024

And it's out with the macro lens!!








 










Andrena flavipes, Phaonia subventa, Pisaura mirabilis, Anthophora plumipes, Vespula vulgaris, Meliscaeva auricollis and Eupeodes spp.

Despite the cold wind the sun was heating up more sheltered areas which produced the above inverts plus a few Eristalis tenax, Syrphus spp, Bombus terrestris and honeybees especially near the tops of flowering blackthorn.

No birdlife to speak of and no further sightings of the colour-ringed gull.


Wednesday 6 March 2024

Not a site tick after all!!

 










A glorious sunny (but cold - ice on windscreen) start to the day and all was well until Chichester where the eastbound A27 was shut at Sainsburys due to flooding. Within minutes of starting the alternative route via Petworth the sun had gone and it was 'front-and-rear-foglight' weather. A coffee and a bacon bap from Maureen (just back after 8 months off ) gave the fog some time to disperse. Eventually the W4BLRs got a message from NB that the Water Pipit (above) was showing in front of West Mead so CL and I returned and found it being watched by NB, CH and Ron Bewley who provided the picture above. 

An eagle flew south along the river but little else of interest birdwise other than a few Lesser Redpolls and a briefly perched Sparrowhawk on the heathland. A couple of Cettis and a single Water Rail were heard below the hanger.

Later, after the sun had come out, Carey managed to find a Gorse Shieldbug (Piezodorus lituratus), a couple of Seven-spot Ladybirds and, best of all, the first Early Colletes bee of the year (Colletes cunicularius). The gorse flowers were being attended by honeybees, bumblebees and Eristalis hoverflies.

I'd assumed the Water Pipit was a welcome site-tick but a check through notes showed one here on the 2nd February thirteen years ago!!

A few days previously the ONLY colour-ringed Black-headed Gull I've ever seen on the pond got away before I could get any details, lured by people with birdseed on the far side. A Little Egret roosting with two Grey Herons was only the second in the last twelve months.

IC's video footage of lowland Gorillas and Shoebill was the highlight (almost) of Mondays visit to TH along with four harriers including the extravagantly displaying male and this Siskin below, one of 10-15 adjacent to the Meadow Hide junction.








Sunday 11 February 2024

Spring(ish)

Yesterday saw some year firsts with :-

First (local) singing Chiffchaff in the allotments 

First returning adult Lesser Black-backed Gull on the pond and

First butterfly of the year in the midday sunshine - unsurprisingly a Red Admiral

Adding to that today were three sunbathing Terrapins.

The local Shovelers are up to twenty and a Raven was over the A3 in the usual spot on the way to Pe'ef

The last Pulborough visit was dull as ditchwater with nothing better than six Fieldfare and a Marsh Harrier on a grey and uninspiring day with just a few Snowdrops and Primroses in flower.

A  coffee jaunt to GWH on the 3rd had the ubiquitous Buzzards and kites en route and on site where the remains of two Woodpigeons were presumably downed by Sparrowhawk, one of which was circling overhead a few minutes later. Mistle Thrushes sang and Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Nuthatch were very audible in the trees at the bottom. The Snowdrop display here was impressive and warranted a special 'Snowdrop Weekend' event yesterday and today.

Finally, on the 5th, three sleepy Spoonbills were on TH's south scrape with five Avocet and another couple of distant flyby Ravens but little else. Both here and Arundel are still getting occasional Bittern sightings but it seems as if Waxwings are determined to avoid the south-east of the county.












So far the return to mostly poor weather plus a degree of apathy has seen no year ticks yet in February. 

And urban Cormorant, Sparrowhawk and Grey Heron, below.






Monday 29 January 2024

Misty, moisty morning

An intended visit to the New Forest for Hawfinch, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Gos etc was scuppered upon getting out of bed to the sound of various foghorns and parting the curtains to see a very damp, grey and misty outlook.

Speed reductions on the M27 and the use of rear foglights by some meant a left turn and off to Titchfield and the coast where, surprisingly on arrival, the IOW wasn't hiding in the murk. A flat sea, little wind and decent visibility was ideal but sadly the sea was very quiet. Things brightened with this Goosander (below) in the harbour and at times on the south side 'snorkelling' in very shallow water amongst the tideline gulls and Turnstones. As the tide poured in it eventually departed to the west. 

These Sanderlings (below) were enjoying some quiet time on the shingle adjacent to Rainbow Bar - thankfully very quiet today for walkers, wind surfers and dogs and so very little disturbance.

A coffee and a chat with Mark plus a couple of other vols with the start of Med Gull calls in the background before driving around to Posbrook. A pale Buzzard rose up off of a Fox carcass just in front of the car and perched about seven feet up. Hopefully it will avoid any traffic collisions.

Unlike last week there were plenty of car parking spaces and heading off to a soundtrack of singing Song Thrushes, Robin's, Wrens and Great Tits felt very spring like as did the temperature (54 degrees on the car gauge).

Bumped into another two Mark's (MF  and M? from Sussex). Two of the Glossy Ibis were present amongst plenty of Wigeon and Pintail but no sign of last week's Ferruginous Duck. Finally a quick look behind the stables with MF failed to find the Water Pipit.













Friday 26 January 2024

The bees knees....

 












A slow crawl down to the castle through heavy morning traffic on a fine sunny morning found at least seven Purple Sandpipers on the rocks below the castle four hours after high tide. Watering eyes, a low sun, a dropping tide and distant birds made them tricky to pick up. And the supporting cast was limited to a west bound auk spp. Sixty or so Brent were on the common.

At home a Cetti's was between the road and the single gorse Bush which held a few small calliphiorid flies and three or more Honey Bees. A Little Egret was day-roosting near a Grey Heron, the first here for almost a year.

And the above was delivered by the usual postie just after lunch. Looks fab so far.

Wednesday 24 January 2024

A surprise sunny day

 























No Bitterns, harriers nor Cattle Egrets today, Wednesday at WWT.

Two Firecrests, a colour ringed Black-headed Gull (orange 207E) and the first hoverfly of the year, an Eristalis tenax were the best for the day and the Snipe were back in their corner adjacent to Ramsar Hide.

Above some 'feeder tits', a Blackbird and a Kingfisher distant and through the glass of the restaurant - a second bird was perched up on a wooden fence just outside the reserve when I left.

A good number of Greylags flushed into the reserve but again still didn't seem to contain the single White-front seen recently.

Nice to catch up briefly with SH and later an extended chat about 'all things eagle' with MJ.

EDIT The gull was ringed by TC at Farlington on one of the raised platforms at The Deeps  on 2/06/23 and this was the first sighting.