Well, that's it for June..

Despite being housebound, there is still some wildlife with Meadow Brown, a few Marmalade flies and the usual non-stop black-and-yellow parasitic wasps.
A fresh new Comma was happy settling on the outside of the conservatory whilst a Large Skipper was happy to come inside; hopefully it had the sense to exit rather than hunker down and get fried. Finally, flying but not birds, represented by two passes of the Red Arrows (4,1,4) presumably lining up for Goodwood Festival of Speed.

TH

With tomorrow being 30 of 30DWiJ, and being a stay at home day for chores etc, a few hours at Titchfield today was the last option for the month.

Highlight by far was the sight of two very fresh juvenile Marsh Harriers in company of the adult female so first ever breeding on site. The two Common Tern chicks are growing but a nearby BHG chick was less lucky being gulped down by a LBbG. The Oystercatcher also has one chick but again looks vulnerable. Similar numbers of Avocet and mixed plumage BTGs, some very bright and smart. Offshore Mark pointed out two young Eiders which gradually slipped west.

Cheilosia illustrata

Ruddy Darter

Meliscaeva auricollis

A couple of Green Sandpipers were presumably newly returned non breeders.
A couple of LRP, although apparently more earlier, and some juveniles, so presumably local breeders, a few Redshanks chasing crows so hopefully youngsters out there somewhere. Two broods of Lapwings, a three and a four.

Two very distant kites, a handful of Buzzards and a Kestrel and just one hear Nightingale. Probably 30 or so Swifts. Highlight was a Barn Owl drifting in front of the hide, the first I've seen in a while.

Insect wise pretty poor with just lots of soldier beetles and Cheilosia illustrata on umbellifers.

Two hawks

Another fresh Privet Hawkmoth plus this Elephant, a few NfYs including Phoenix, plus lots of small bits and bobs flying off the box and nearby walls. Not really in the mood to track down all the small stuff. Later checking, showed Small Emerald and the micro Pammene fasciana were both NfG.

After a trip to town, a couple of distant Buzzards, one heard-only Firecrest and a couple of Emperors (the female egg-laying) in company of many Azure, one or two Blue-tailed plus a nice male Banded Demoiselle. No camera, bins nor suitable weather so just a few obvious butterflies.

Several NfYs but not as many specimens as hoped for. Still, the Poplar Hawkmoth was new for the garden.

Chrysotoxum bicinctum (top) was NfY and other which disappered rapidly looke like cautum. A few butterflies but none of the Marbled Whites and Small/Essex skippers wanted to pose - this Large Skipper was more obliging.

Some plants were empty of insects and some far less so with several Ectemnius spp and this small month whose names currently escapes me.

Birdwise a single Swallow, so presumably some local breeding activity.
A brief shot of Crossbill 'chipping' got  the pulse racing until it turned into a Song Thrush but 10/10 for mimicry!!

Chi and Oysterbeds

So, first visit to Chichester to see the young Peregrines flying, thwarted by their laziness and grey clouds mostly, making photography a bit of a waste.

Later at Hayling first views of the tidal tern raft which seems to be very popular.
Lots of wind-blown Meadow Browns and Marbled Whites all blowing away in the breeze or clinging on for dear life. First for year Small/Essex Skipper wasn't hanging about either. Sadly, but not surprisingly, I couldn't find any Eristalinus aeneus, a coastal loving hoverfly.

D22 Back to some sort of normality at last

Well, the weather broke a little overnight and there was a short sharp rainfall with some very distant thunder this morning. Sadly, the wind had picked up and it was mostly overcast so still pretty pants for wildlife watching, and if anything, far fewer obvious insects than in the hot spell, although this Volucella zonaria was a pleasing first for year. Earlier, just the young male Marsh Harrier and single Buzzard and Sprawk plus a few Swifts and Swallows  - if only Barra's White-throated Needletail (or indeed another one) would settle down somewhere in the south for a couple of days. What a twitch that would be!!

Pretty much no other hovers etc and only 4Spot Chasers although there were plenty of these Meadow Browns sheltering low in the grass and a couple of Silver-washed Fritilliaries.  A small Grass Snake slipped across the path adjacent to the first pond.

On the west side a couple of Redshank, 60+ failed/non-breeding Avocets and slightly more B-tGs. These two Common Ternlets need to get streetwise or else they won't last long with ever-patrolling LB-bGs.

D21 Time to pray to the rain gods!!

A nice coffee in the shade with a very welcome breeze was spoilt by typically selfish dog walkers ( 8 or 9 pooches between the three of them) with dogs running into restaurant, serving area and kitchen on multiple occassions plus the usual yapping and subsequent shouting ; ignorant f@@@@ers!!.

Still, away from that some interest despite the heat including this V. bombylans on the shaded top path and later a fair few Marmalade flies, Platycheirus spp, Meliscaeva auricollis etc, Figwort sawflies and Emperor Dragonfly on the pond and this, as yet unidentified longhorn (Stenurella melanura maybe).

On the butterfly front plenty of Meadow Browns now supplemented by similar numbers of Ringlets, several Red Admirals, Small Torts and some obvious Large Whites. Strangely,no skippers and fewer Marbled Whites but one or two of the hoped for Silver-washed Fritillaries. First flushes of Pyramidal Orchids at various points around the site (and also at Hazleton roundabout despite the recent council/HA strimming) and lots of very atttractive Viper's Bugloss laden with bees.

Day 20, Please, some respite

I don't know about others but I find this heatwave particularly debilitating and clearly most wildlife hides itself away. Shame, I've not been able to run the moth trap for a while; probably missed a few NfYs this last week.
Soon after first light a lot of noise in the garden turned out to be two foxes chasing each other around before departing under the back gate - no idea how they can get through such a small gap!! Probably the last 30DWiJ mammal.

30DWiJ - 19 and if only that was the temperature

A walk (well hobble) around PHP produced the usual songsters, just a single Great-crested Grebe and probably 25 House Martins and 10 Swifts. About 10 Med Gulls either came into the lake for a wash and brush up, departed to the south or silently soared high over head. The insect ' hot spot' was devoid of anything but a single conopid Sicus ferrugineus, Meadow Browns, the odd longhorn beetles and bees; not a hover to be seen. The lake and the path had loads of male Black-tailed Skimmers, probably in excess of 50 but just Azure Damsels in addition.

Later at QECP, renewing parking permit, a few hovers including Volucella pellucens and Bacchia elongata, two tachinids Gymnosoma rotundatum and Zophomyia temula, two Buzzards thermalling over the road and one Firecrest. Most notable were plenty of newly emerged Marbled Whites and two fresh Small Torts plus more Meadow Browns the latter looking determinedly for shade.

Scorchio II

Another too-hot day after a hot, sleepless night with ubiquitous Med Gull calls from bed a few hours after dawn. Brief Fathers day outing to TH with just noisy Oyks and a few Common Terns going out to feed in the Solent. Obviously too hot for local Buzzards and roadside Kestrels although several Swallows were perched up on roadside wires towards Posbrooke. I'm guessing any plants attractive to hovers will presumably nectar-dry in this heat, although still a few Sphaerophoria in the garden
including a pair mating on the wing. Hopefully, more positive outings in the week ahead as temperatures slip back to something more bearable!

Opened the windows after dawn to the sound of Blackbirds first, then chittering House Sparrows; a Med Gull also called.

Not WiJ today

Too much pain and discomfort to get out today but its a shame how few Mallard, Moorhen and Coot seem to raise young here compared to 'the old days'.
Tufted Ducks seem to have given up entirely and there's been no sound of Reed Warblers for a while. Maybe the sheer number of big gulls, semi-resident Heron and cat and Fox make it virtually impossible to raise young.

Still black and yellow...but some orange and black!

At Petersfield lots of black and yellow parasitic wasps (maybe Amblyteles armatorius) in the grass plus an Ectemnius spp, along with Syrphus spp and the usual, hovers, but now worn V bombylans and M equestris. The V pellucens were all much fresher. Highlight was a first for me.. a Villa spp of Beefly (maybe cingulata, maybe not!) here below. A long and very pleasant chat with a local gent taking his morning constitutional whilst watching a number of all three species of hirundines, probably 50 in total plus Swifts and four or more Black-tailed Skimmers landing on the shingle path. A single Med Gull flopped into the pond for just a second before heading off and maybe ten more astonishingly high almost invisible against a bright blue sky. Four or more Reed Warblers and a family of Blackcaps by the carpark.

 A Red Kite was over the field prior to the A3 Buriton junction.

Earlier at home Beautiful Hooktip and Hummingbird Hawkmoth were both NfG as was a subsequently identified micro taking the garden list up to 178.

More black and yellow

First up a calling cuckoo, although somebody else had multiple birds. A glimpse of a Nightingale and three loud and close but invisible calling birds.

The Egyptian Geese still have four young and a couple of Redshank were still out towards the river. A couple of Avocet were new in and a single tatty Red Kite attracted irate crows. This Small Tortoiseshell was the first I've seen in a while and in Fattengates raised pond (actually pretty ugly with no vegetation) large numbers of these Notonecta spp (Backswimmers).

On the heathland a glimpse of one of the Spotted Flycatchers but sadly little in last weeks insect hotspot other than this Rutpela maculata, the other common yellow and black Longhorn Beetle. Big increase in Large Skippers and Black-tailed Skimmers plus a few Common Darters (above).

Nice to catch up with Mike Snelling for the first time this year but precious few other visitors.

A quick cuppa and walk at QE on the way back produced three singing Firecrests and a Buzzard, male and female Emperor on the pond plus one or two Figwort Sawflies (above).

Generally very poor for hoverflies this week; maybe its too hot!

Later at Creech Wood with HIWWT and John Goodspeed, two singing Firecrests in the car park, one Nightjar seen and probably a different bird churring, two Tawny Owls, one Roe Deer and a couple of small bats.

Back to summer..

Unsurprisingly the weekend's male Ruff  and Amy's Marsh Warbler from yesterday were long gone. One calling cuckoo and a second dull bird, presumably a female briefly perched up were the best; one possibly two Marsh Harriers plus single Sparrowhawk. Oystercatcher and Common Tern pairs still on eggs ant Meon Shore hide. No other notable birds and the warmer, less windy weather in conjunction with strimmed pathside vegetation and gone-over umbellifers meant the hover numbers were hugely down since last visit.

A few Emperors, with just this one perched distantly, plenty of Four-spots and the first Black-tailed Skimmer of the year. This Four Banded Longhorn Beetle above (Leptura quadrifasciata) was the best looking insect.

A nil day

Just a few female Sphaerophoria in the garden and on the pond 75+ summering Canada Geese, presumably non- or post-breeding and settled in for moult. Some were so short of flight feathers I wonder how they got here!! And a single roosting Cormorant.

Home only

A nice day for twitching a Red-footed Falcon or Elegant Tern maybe? Or maybe not. So just a quiet local day with numerous Ladybird larvae, Thick-legged Flower-beetles and few hovers. Several Comma and Holly Blue but nothing very photogenic. Over the field a hawking Swallow which presumably has a nest in a local outbuilding and in a sun-dappled 'alcove' near the centre three Volucella pellucens and glimpse of a hawker type dragonfly; can't believe it was Hairy at this site. Just Blackcap (2) and Chiffchaff singing and a fishing Grey Heron.

Eristalis tenax

Home

Cool and overcast last night so few moths (11!!), one of two Willow Beauty being very fresh, a Green Pug and this (below) an Oligia (Minor spp). A female Eupeodes luniger was buzzing around in the early morning sunshine.

Later at Blashford two basking Grass Snakes, one silt pond and one Ivy South.
On the way back to the car an overflying Buzzard drew attention to this much higher Hobby (below) and a Kingfisher zipped over the path. On the north side probably 100 Swift and a few dozen Hirundines and three Lapwing chicks from two broods plus a single Oystercatcher chick. Strangest sight was a fledged but still young Jay which landed on the shoreline but then flew over the water, landed and proceeded to drown!!

The moth trap had been emptied of the little it contained with just Clouded Border and Bloodvein remaining. Spent lunch with Jacqui and Jim and then headed back home

Should have checked the blog entry as there were two species of soldierfly on the HWD yesterday apparently.