Local bug hunt

After yesterday's Whiskered Tern excitement today was a much more mundane affair. Like many days it started with another bit of playing and anecdotes from Leland Sklar on youtube followed by a particularly lazy morning and another session on the 1000 pc insect jigsaw.

Again too hot to warrant going too far afield so just a local leg stretch with pretty much no birdlife and not too many insects although Swollen-thighed Beetles are now common and plenty of the parasitic ichneumon Amblyteles armatorius were on the wing; first conopid of the year was Sicus ferrugineus, soldier fly Chloromyia formosa and hoverfly Syritta pipiens.

EDIT. Judging by call sounds, the Great Spotted Woodpecker seen last week was almost certainly attending a nest today in the same area it flew into last time.

Hants and UK Tick!

I'm not a hot weather fan and, whilst the continuing warm and dry conditions have made it mentally easier to cope with COVID, I'm pining for a break and especially some rain and so yesterday was supposed to be a day in trying to make progress with a difficult b*****d jigsaw I've had lying around for a couple of years; a Xmas present from K and G.

This plan was scuppered by a Whatsapp message from AR having just found a Whiskered Tern at Posbrook. Despite being a potential UK and Hants tick I didn't react until MF's messages saying it was offshore in a tern feeding flock.

So, over to Hill Head where eight or so birders were uncertain as to where the bird was - but luckily it didn't take too long for me to pick it up with its different flight and feeding technique. Numbers of birders and 'members of the public' increased and social distancing went out the window so I watched from the car although even here people still walked up and passed behind just inches away; I should have parked the car to block the access behind as other do!!

The bird flew over reception and into the Haven where it perched up on various posts, although pushed off a few times by BHGs and Common Terns.
A tatty Red Kite went eastwards over the reserve but nothing else of note.
Photos below all from the roadside fencing looking into the bay and whilst standing here my first dragonfly of the year zipped over, too quick for an ID but looked most likely to be Hairy.

PS The tern made forays up to Posbrook and back during the day, so proving elusive for some; with good weather will it stay into tomorrow?

PPS A quick scan through notes shows in excess of 225 Whiskered Tern records in France, Spain, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, Lesbos, Gambia, Kenya and China

(Whiskered Tern, handheld with converter and on North Scrape
Redshank
Cormorant only just in frame with 'too much lens'
Grey Heron, inbound and with small eel)

What day is it?? No idea!!

So, above are Oystercatcher and Common Tern, first BHG chicks, Common Tern with a snack, four of sixteen Turnstones and three Black'wits.

Another brief jaunt to Hill Head where a very low tide and no wind ensured no wind surfers but still plenty of camper vans parked up. God, what I'd give for a coffee and cooked brekkie!! Offshore a male Common Scoter was preening and a Gannet was diving very distantly off the Isle of Wight. Within the reserve just the above stuff, a few Reed Warblers and Linnets but with no wind the Swifts from the previous visit had moved away.

The BHGs, Common Terns and Oystercatchers were kept on their guard by a prowling, predatory Lesser Black.

Chatted to Tony and home by 10:00 am.

Honestly, running out of lockdown steam..

An uneventful few days being mostly too hot and crowded for my taste.
Yesterday's 'highlight' was a first post-lockdown visit to a major supermarket which actually wasn't too painful! An overflying Med Gull was the only bird en route.

The pond's singing Reed Warbler has been silent for the last three days so probably moved on. The Canada Geese had just two young.

Wednesday saw lots of Peregrine activity with both birds very noisy and making low passes over the nearby houses. The female put on a nice high speed stoop but came up empty handed while the male soared up and was harassed by a Herring Gull. Later, both were cruising around to the front of the house and later still both were flying in to roost at 20:30 looking very bright and well lit by the low sunlight.

Today, a brief visit to Hill Head in very windy conditions saw the beach car parking being rapidly swamped by wind- and kite-surfers. Caught up with MF at the viewpoint adding Avocet to LDlist along with plenty of Common Terns and Swifts but no sign of Marsh Harriers. An adult Gannet heading east was the best bird; back home before 10:00am.  A Peregrine slipped over whilst lunching in the lounge.

On and off patch

A couple of quiet days with little of note although a Great Spotted Woodpecker undulating across the field and disappearing over the road was a nice lockdown addition and only the second in two years. Additional freedoms mean there are now lots of people out sunbathing, standing around in groups blocking paths and pavements and pavement cyclists who seem happy to virtually rub shoulders with people they are passing. Soon it will be safer to drive out for a walk than stay local.

The/a Peg was so high as to be virtually invisible over the garden late morning and far too high to bother the local gulls and crows.

Below  - Large Red Damselfly, Xanthogramma pedisequum(agg) and the second of the two-in-a-box jigsaw.

Sunday saw a brief, early morning off-LDpatch outing on very quiet roads to the New Forest which yielded some species not seen since before lockdown such as Rook, Jay, Skylark, Woodlark (h/o), Stonechat, Stock Dove, Chaffinch and new-for-year a Cuckoo sat up well for long scope views. And, best of all, a Honey-buzzard. That was really unexpected, especially prior to 9am, and my first for nearly six years!! Two hugely distant dots might have been Gos but could equally have been bumblebees 200yds away!! And what was probably a Hawfinch flew through the scope and vanished behind trees in the blink of an eye. Five to ten Common Buzzards, three Swallows and a few Mistle Thrushes were the only noteworthy birds. On the way back, a raptor gliding away north of the motorway was probably a Red Kite. By now the local cycle track/pavement was absolutely jammed with people.

Day 53

A socially distanced family get-together in the garden saw the/a Peregrine overhead which was on the church at first light and over the pond mid morning; a Swift was low overhead also.

On a short walk my first Early Bumblebee and a few workers of either Buff or White-tailed Bumblebee.

Along the now well-mown field and on the leeward side of the trees and hedges two Swallows were putting on a show of aerobatic excellence which even a few of the dog walkers noticed and commented on. The need for mowing under the current circumstances I get however the painting of white lines on the grass by a hi-viz council worker did seem less than essential especially as no-one plays sport in that field!

Micromoth Hedya pruniana (below) sat for a photo as did this Dock Bug but the sawfly  Macrophya spp (possibly annulata/blanda) was a little distant.

The usual songsters are still providing a pleasant soundscape (including Chiffchaff above) and a pair of Robins were taking advantage of the mown areas for foraging for their young. The Swallow above was the best I could do with 60mm macro on the lumix.

And at home this kept us busy for a couple of days😊

Fifty up...

Lockdown reaches day fifty but as of tomorrow some (potentially ill-advised??) freedoms to move a little wider afield; I'm not sure I'm ready for that as there seems no let up in infections nor deaths. Outings to Farlington seem the best bet (paths wide enough to social distance and no 'contact points') whilst all the traditional hide-based sites will remain closed. If driving seems OK then maybe the chance for a late-in-the-spring Gos watch in the New Forest.

Today I caught up with a few Blue-tailed Damselflies, same as two days ago but this time with a camera in hand. A Large Red Damselfly, usually the first odonata of the year, was present and took off to catch an insect but vanished before I could press the shutter. Searching the usual sunny spots showed a continuingly worrying lack of Bombus (only two species and few individuals) and not a lot else but this Epistrophe hoverfly (below) turned out to be melanostoma thanks to FB expertise and a new species for me. The Swans seem to have kept all eight cygnets so far but only two Coot chicks seem to have survived so far.

No aerialists at all today and Sunday's kite-fest from east Sussex to Cornwall (306 passed Marazion!!) failed to produce a single bird here.

On the bright side, just as I thought it was getting too late in the spring, a Reed Warbler started singing a few yards away from the larger of the two very small patches of reed, climbed up into view and chased a second bird off. Fingers crossed one or both might pair up.

No sign of any Peregrine activity between dawn and dusk for a few days now so presumably moved on elsewhere for roosting. And the Peregrines at Chichester hatched out the expected brood of four all out two days at least before my guesstimate of yesterday!

Oh, and part of the next few days entertainment from Amazon below with some new music for the first time in ages, Miranda Lambert's Wild Card.

VE75

Today marks 75th anniversary of VE today and has created the first Bank Holiday Friday in May. I'm guessing any celebrations will be pretty muted today under the circumstances. It also seems likely, but unsurprising, that lockdown will continue into another three week block although everyone is expecting some minor changes. One local cafe has already opened for takeaways with 'one in one out'. Lets hope people can refrain from 'pushing the boundaries'. Hopefully Amazon will be winging three jigsaws to us in the next 10 days plus a CD, the first I've bought this year; I do miss the closure of record stores more than any other shops.

The last week has been pretty poor despite mostly decent, dry weather. Insect numbers and variety have been deteriorating with only the tachinid Phania funesta of interest. Locally, daily sightings of BL67 and two days with overflying Swifts have been about it birdwise. Highlight was a long chat with MW about all things Portsea including Burrfield's gulls and the poor rate and variety of moth catches!

One extended walk to the harbour over high tide only produced two raucous Sandwich Terns and far too many cyclists on the roads, pavements, cycle path and footpaths. Their social distancing was minimal!

A return home via the stables and allotments added little other than Blackcaps, Whitethroats etc.

I think the 'extended patch' totals of warblers are (singing birds only):-
Blackcap 12-15
Whitethroat 12-15
Reed Warbler 7-10
Sedge Warbler 1
Lesser Whitethroat 1
Cetti's Warbler 8-10
(The only singing Willow Warbler moved on as they always do).

Yesterday saw a basic grounding in ladybird ID via a webinar although so far finding even the common seven spot (below) hasn't been easy!

Just for a bit of colour was this roadside Salsify, a Lackey moth caterpillar and a female Eupeodes luniger.

Postscript
A late afternoon exercise produced little other than a couple each of Andrena labiata and Merodon equestris  which were on buttercups and a single, very high and distant Buzzard which was out to the west. Unsurprisingly, bird song was minimal.

White rabbits, white rabbits...

So another month starts with the old 'white rabbits' mantra to bring good luck!! With no real structure to days it's hard to keep track of the weeks and months as they slip by and the endless repetition on TV and elsewhere plus pretty much no news other than COVID adds to the feeling of treading water.
Life revolves around 'the walk', 'the queue', 'the shop' but luckily birding and general wildlife watching in conjunction with webcams, local and national reporting and recording schemes, Chris Packham's daily morning show and so on keeps interest up even in this relatively spartan area for wildlife. Having an all engrossing hobby is a godsend especially at the moment.

A mixed bag of entertainment coming up this month with old 'live' Pink Floyd concerts, Richard Thompson doing a live RAH home concert and a ladybird ID webinar.

Locally, the female Peregrine  seems to have lost interest in perching/roosting on the church but Black 67 is present everyday. Yesterday he was hunkered down out of the wind and appeared to be feeding. Elsewhere, in Chichester, the female still has 10 days or so of incubation before hatching - guesstimate of 12th. One of the Coot broods is down from five to three and the other from five to two, however the single Moorhen is well on its way to fledging.

The highlight of the morning was this just emerged Angle Shades moth in the garden and on the 'short version' walk these; female Platycheirus albamanus, Hawthorn Shieldbug  ( Acanthosoma haemorroidale), a Xysticus crab spider  and the less-than-welcome Alder Leaf Beetle.