Miserable wet day, but at least that meant the roads were quiet. For the first hour not really able to open the hide windows in order to keep dry.

Conditions dropped down about 2500 House Martins and a few Swallows/Sand Martins. Just one Common Sandpiper, no raptors. Walter was loafing about on the north side with seven Little Egrets.

This large carp gad met its end and this gull was making a poor attempt at getting a meal; maybe if it washes up the local foxes may do better.

Not much on show with the (distant) Wood Sandpiper, above, the best, plus two Green Sandpipers and a Snipe. One Common Sandpiper on south scrape.
No passerines other than eight Yellow Wagtails over the centre, 80+ Swallows and just one Kestrel and three Buzzards.

No insects other than hawkers and darters.

For first time no parking available other than back up Cliff Road.

PB

First visit/duty for three weeks was another ever so slightly depressing grey, August day with virtually no passerines. At Westmead eighty or so distant Lapwings were flying high and nervous but I couldn't find an attendant Peregrine. Eighteen Snipe (10 and 8) were flushed, maybe just by the activities of three or four Kestrels.

Virtually silent through to Winpenny and just three very small, black bootlace-like Grass Snakes under refugia.

At the Hanger caught up with Alan(NZ), Pete and Anne plus a few visitors.
Single figures of Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Green Sandpiper and a dozen or so godwits. A large mixed feeding flock in the trees nearby but nothing of note in it.

At lunch a female Adder was in the tea terrace area just under the fence much to the chagrin of at least one of the three ladies who were sitting very close by.

The schlepp out to Hail's was fruitless as the wardens were dismantling fencing and everything had been flushed. A good few Ruddy Darters on Black Pond - would have been good for a blog photo but no camera.

Return to Westmead produced just a spring of Teal a dozen strong; the Little Grebe was hiding somewhere.

On the way home, amazingly, a female Volucella zonaria from the car on bramble just south of the Midhurst garage for just long enough to id and sex!!!

Needed to get out and about (as a 'head-straightening'  exercise!) and as usual TH is the easiest place. Generally quite busy with families on the reserve but little birdlife on the east side with just Kingfisher, two incessantly noisy stripey-headed GCG chicks (only quieting down when guzzling fish from mum or dad) and a Hobby. Four V.inanis were still quietly feeding along the boardwalk.

Sadly, just missed out on the last portion of Vegetable and Lentil Curry. Damn!

On the west side two Wood Sands, six Green Sands, two Common Sands, five Greenshanks, three Dunlins and seven Snipes. One of the Wood Sands gave very nice scope views and it was really very pleasant to sit quietly and scope three of the Greenshanks for quite a while.   A single Migrant Hawker was patrolling the path although I suspect most of the high and distant hawkers were this species.

Not too busy today at PHP, probably because of overcast weather and a cool breeze, enough to push down 200 House Martins, 50 Sand Martins and 20 Swifts. Four Grey Wagtails poking about and allowing close approach.

Still Chiffs, Reed Warblers and sylvias hidden away with a couple of Bullfinches.

The mint still held various Eristalis including intricaria and horticola plus several V.p (but no other Volucellas) and Dasysyrphus albiostratus.

A couple of Black-tailed Skimmers (males)were sheltering in the insect area.

No sign of yesterday's Black Tern flock off the Oysterbeds and no Ospreys as yet. Still a few unfledged Common Tern chicks on the raft and plenty of Curlew etc out on the mud.

Along the Billy just a few Whitethroats.

A good indication of how quickly insect numbers have dropped off a cliff is that on the usual park circuit I took four frames of this Figwort Sawfly and nothing else; normally I'd expect to rattle off 100+ frames per visit.

Just one V.z female on the west side, two Slow Worms and a Roe Deer. Just one each of Marsh Harrier, Sprawk and Kestrel. Various heards including Kingfisher, Water Rail, Cetti's, Greenshank.

A Kingfisher was perched up on its usual tree.

Near the bridge it was good to see both GCG chicks, well shy of fledging but too big to hitch a ride. Still a few unfledged Common Terns and probably 200 or so on the beach.

From South Hide another or the same Kingfisher, two Common Sandpipers and up to seven Snipe (presumably newly arrived). Couldn't find any limosas amongst the 100 or so godwits, but then again I didn't know what to look for.
Very few were juveniles.

The Sprawk reappeared and flushed many gulls and waders.

Same old same...

PHP heaving with mums, kids, dogs but despite plenty of boats out still one Great Crested Grebe - and a Cormorant busy fishing and dodging the boats and dogs. This heron was minding his own in the only quiet patch.

House Martins down to 25+ and a small (10) group of Swallows dropped in. Still lots of Chiffchaffs, some singing and plenty of tacking Sylvias, Blackcaps presumably. A Sparrowhawk sailed by across the lake, disappeared into trees and ten minutes later was up and circling before stooping out of the sun and down behind me, slightly tatty and reasonable size so I'm assuming an adult female. Nuthatches, Treecreepers and both woodpeckers audible.

Insect variety dropping off but still plenty of Volucellas on the mint especially once the sun had come round. Several Platycheirus rosarum were, strangely, new for the year.

At the park Southern Hawkers on the pond now joined by Common Darters; still Figwort Sawflies. Along the paths pretty little now but several V.z and V.i plus the odd Meliscaeva cinctella. Brimstones the commonest butterfly species.

Too crocked for much today; a Cetti's still calling and the soft 'hoo-eet'ing of a Willow Warbler plus at least one each of zonaria and inanis and a few Myathropa florea.

Cool school!!

Nice weather with the insect spot still nicely sheltered but gazillions of dog toting people and kids etc. Usual heard birds, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, GSW, Cola Tit - just 30+ House Martins high overhead - no swifts nor other hirundines. With so much boat and canoe activity nothing on the water.

Black-tailed Skimmers, Brown and Southern Hawkers plus a few blue damsels.

The conopids etc were in the same area but most of the umbellifer is gone over, - luckily, on the othe side of the path, loads of water mint with plenty of stuff, possibly up to 20 Volucellas plus a variety of other hovers the best being Xanthogramma pedisequum and Chrysotoxum bicinctum.

Just one Buzzard soaring up in the east.

After yesterday's desperately wet and windy weather today was a big turn round although the strong northerly kept things cool on the coast. The usual raptors, 90+ godwits, a noticeable increase in Teal, a Kingfisher and probably fifty or more distant mixed hirundines.

Later, in the park the umbellifers are now all over so hoverfly numbers have dropped off a cliff with the above two species being the best plus this single Phasia hemiptera. The V.inanis was in the same place as last week.

No Adders and no birds.

WWT - First visit for months

Absolutely birdless other than whining juvenile Buzzards, a couple of Sand Martins - apparently a pair bred in the wall and the hide (ironically!!) has been closed off to visitors since they arrived - rather negated the point of a hide with built in SM nest holes if it can't be used. Counterproductive springs to mind!!

Just a heard Cetti's and the odd Chiffchaff, Reed Warblers and four Bullfinches. Caught up with Terry, Claire, not Andy who sadly avoids the summer kids hols, Paul and a few other faces.

A V.z on Buddleia went up too high for Terry.

Two Water Voles were in the front pond.

Various

Not sure I can keep posting V.z pictures endlessly but this and the Speckled Wood were the only posers in a brief walk.

Earlier, unexpected stop at the park in the wet was just a coffee break although am hoping to explore the mass of Hemp Agrimony along the access road in the days ahead. Dried up enough to get in a circuit of the east side of PHP, chatted to the Raynors and saw three Great-crested Grebes, Heron, several Reed Warblers, presumably some second brood youngsters, and the usual martins and swifts. A few Willow Warblers were vocally obvious although not showing. Watched a Treecreeper and heard others plus vocal Nuthatch near the carpark.

Walter's been back for a few days now and today he was standing quietly in front of INH with his bling on show. Highlight today was a Hummingbird Hawkmoth on Purple Loosestrife in the pond albeit briefly.

A distant Hobby from IVS but pretty little else and sadly the Wasp Spiders in the meadow weren't on show. This Hornet was hunting amongst the heather.

A couple of Bank Voles nipped along the path and later a Long-tailed Fieldmouse was under a refugium.

On the north side two distant Ravens circling with two Buzzards, 2-3 Common Sandpipers and a Whimbrel.

Library and pond stroll

Still Holly  Blues, Red Admirals , Speckled Woods and today a fresh Comma; also a Blue-tailed Damselfly, potter wasps(Acistrocerus spp), a hawker which didn't stop (either Southern or Migrant) and a snatch of Cettis song plus a mixed LTT flock with some phylloscs thrown in. Now half a dozen V.z on Hemp Agrimony.

Also a large patch of fungi under one of the trees.

Park loop

The usual park loop was a bit of a slow hobble today; the near end of the bottom track had been 'tidied' which made access a little easier but ensured not too mch activity near the path. The shaded patches of Hemp Agrimony held three male Volucella inanis (new for this site I think) although little else of note and the brambles on the short slope to the bottom path had a nice C.bicinctum.

Near the very flattened molehill another Adder, also a female but much more ginger than earlier in the week - sadly it was too alert and was off into the grass. A couple of Phasia hemiptera males and the usual other hover suspects. This Common Darter was sheltering and the hotter areas still had a few Chalkhill Blues although not to much else.

Conops flavipes

Despite  very windy, overcast condition still a few insects in the usual sheltered patch and the small patches of now very colourful heather were well populated with grasshoppers, bees, Ectemnius etc. (The bee above is a Colletes, probably succinctus and the robberfly probably Machimus atricapillus). Some small and quiet grass movement was almost certainly an Adder.  Not many butterflies, a couple of Common Blues bring the best and a flushed Mother of Pearl. Hoverwise Eupeodes latifasciatus and Eristalis horticola were unexpected NfYs. The Bee wolf area was devoid of life.

Over the lake probably 300+ martins, single Swift but no swallows. The Reed Warblers were now down to just croaking calls rather than song, usual Heron and Grey Wag.