Look Russ, no rings!!....

An uneventful trip to Pulborough on a glorious day which descended into heavy mist at the bottom of the A29 but recovered an hour or so later.

As the mist cleared two or three Stonechats popped up on fence posts, a good few Skylarks were flying around calling and a eventually a distant Peregrine set off on a chase. Two or three Clouded Yellows were bumbling around and another was later along Adder Alley; also Red Admirals, Common Blues, Small Copper, Speckled Woods and a Brimstone.
As per yesterday, lots of Hornets presumably licking up honeydew.

Ten or more Snipes and a couple more Stonechats was about it for the north brooks.

Over lunch a nicely-lit Red Kite drifted over Upperton's Field.

At Arundel, just a brief distant Kingfisher, a drake Mandarin and less than 30 Med Gulls including this Hungarian bird and a juvenile with an unreadable metal ring. Many washing and bathing birds performed this 'dangling leg' shake to remove water which was useful in establishing no colour rings present as they flew by.

Various, including Med Gull info..

Collected a few bits and bobs and ended up at PHP where, for the first time since Spring, no sight/sound of Chiffies nor martins; in fact mostly birdless barring a calling Firecrest in the Ivy patch and a Red Kite in from the north.
Pretty noisy today, mostly down to a continuously circling police helicopter trying to locate a dementia patient in the area helped by a few bike officers.

Sadly, no Yellow-brows although, with birds on Hayling and at Titchfield today, hopefully one will pop up somewhere this month. Insect wise lots of Hornets at the 'alley' heading determinedly right to left either from or to a nest; earlier one was buzzing around the car at Hazleton lights. A fresh looking Comma was on Water Mint near the car park and the heat encouraged a few Migrant Hawkers up. No Ivy Bees today.

Subsequently, a brief binocular-only visit to Farlington in gorgeous weather, and at high tide, was very pleasant with the lake being full of birds, mostly Dunlin, Black'wit, Redshank and Grey Plover but also a few Knot,  four Bar'wit, twenty or so Ringed Plovers, three Snipe and a Curlew. Amongst fifteen Pintail were a couple of males still well short of winter plumage. A Water Rail was just below the viewpoint in deep shade, a couple of Beardies pinged in the distance and a Kingfisher called from behind whilst dashing across the harbour towards the dock.

The point field was home to a big bonfire with three Kestrels in attendance and two others distantly off the reserve. A final flurry of raptors, with a Sparrowhawk flushing things on a run through the RA and lastly a distant inbound Osprey which circled a few times before heading towards North Binness.

PS
Got home to an email from Camille regarding last weeks 'new' Med Gull at Arundel:-

White 3157 right Bruxelles E946506 >3CY 12/05/2018 Total, Antwerpen, Antwerpen, BELGIUM 51,15N 4,19E Pauwels, André

White 3157 n 20/05/2018 Total, Antwerpen, Antwerpen, BELGIUM  51,15N 4,19E Flamant, Renaud

White 3157 c 22/06/2018 Sint-Amands, Antwerpen, BELGIUM  51,03N 4,13E Pauwels, André

White 3157 v 03/10/2018 WWT Arundel, West Sussex, GB  50,52N 0,33W Tofts, Russell

Another Nimitz in the bay...

An unplanned non-wildlife visit to Petersfield, then QE and return home before deciding it was too nice to stay in, so off to Titchfield where the Nimitz class USS Harry  Truman was anchored in the same spot in Stoke's Bay as last year's sister ship the USS George W Bush; and much the same size and aircraft carrying capability.

On a smaller scale, the above yacht does seem to be a favourite for high-tide roosting Turnstones. From the viewpoint it was nice to see this female Volucella zonaria, the first in ages, pottering around amongst the bees, including a few Honey Bees and terrestris or lucorum agg. A couple each of  Water Rail and Cetti's were heard but sadly no time for checking out the chalet area for Amy's Black Redstart.

TH

Another day of alternating weather, today being stunningly blue and very warm but the early mist ensured that the Fawley Chimney was floating in mid air with a foghorn sounding from nearby. The Dartford Warbler was still by the west entrance in association with a Stonechat and a Rock Pipit was on the beach.

Yet more Ivy Bees sharing food with wasps and the odd Red Admiral, a number of which were inbound over the Solent.

On the east side just two Ravens in the meadow

Returning to the car and scoping westwards produced a 1cy Little Gull off Brownwich amongst BHGs.

A Buzzard drifted high over the house heading inland over a cuppa mid-afternoon

At Chichester, over coffee and sausage roll, this Kestrel popped in and perched at the end of the garden where it looked down at me and guffawed at my lack of lens!! With just a 'nifty fifty', no chance of a portrait. Must be nice to know that it's the one time of year when it's safe from marauding, territorial Peregrines!

Picked up a new top, the book above and a few bits. Too grey and overcast on the return journey for any 'roadside hawks'.

Multitude of Meds...

A slightly circuitous route to PB via Bosham took a few minutes under an hour today. South Brooks still bone dry and just a single kite and 3+ Stonechats. A Clouded Yellow bumbled through, first for the year and Ann saw two more later. Some Ivy Bees were noisy at the back of the hide. Red Admiral, Speckled Woods and Common Blues were the only other butterflies. The North Brooks were more productive with a smart and quite close juvenile Marsh Harrier, circling up and being joined by a second bird plus another kite. A few Snipe and a dozen or so Wigeon. Hornets were particularly obvious and active today at the top of the zigzag. Today was the first day this autumn without a single hirundine.

Afternoon at WWT produced the usual fare although ground work ensured Kingfishers were kept away from the photo perch. At least 120 Med Gulls were bathing but only two birds out of water showed rings, one white and one green, the usual Belgian and French colours. The latter was already known to Martin Daniels from previous postings; I think the white one was a new visitor.

PS Earlier the moth trap was damp with dew and had just a handful of moths, mostly 'blunderwings' but first one out was a Bloxworth Snout, a lifer plus, obviously, NfG/T. But still no Lunar Underwings, sallows, Black Rustic or quakers. Maybe one or two more sessions before the month is out!!

Bridgeless..

Adult (left) and juv Goshawks

Ferruginous Duck

An uneventful journey to Blashford with the first bridge removal work complete on the motorway so no holdups; not so lucky for west bound drivers with a three car pile-up adjacent to Burley services, all write-offs I would think and tailed back to beyond Ringwood.

Blue skies, chilly breeze and pretty much nothing on the south side although somebody had a Bittern - new in or the one from a couple of weeks back??

Initially on Ibsley Water, nothing special with just 125 or so Grey Herons and one GWE; a single Swallow was the only hirundine all day. Despite plenty of people looking no sign of yesterday's Garganey nor Grey Phalarope. However, the returning Ferruginous Duck was around the 'twigs'  for its 10th or 11th winter; it seems to arrive here for a few days before decamping to the inaccessible Kingfisher Lake, so good to catch it here.

The Wood Sandpiper popped up distantly  and joined up with one or possibly two Green Sandpipers, disappeared and then proceeded to perform a nice walk-by in front of the hide in perfect light; probably the best and closest view of the species in many years.

Returning through the forest to avoid any potential delays with the A31 chaos prompted a brief, late lunchtime raptor watch and which, surprisingly, produced two Goshawks within 10 minutes. An adult and a juvenile rose up from the trees and sparred away playfully, getting higher and higher with lots of stoops and talon flashing before gliding away eastwards. Just five Buzzards and a single Raven which would have gone unrecorded but for a typical call as it passed behind me.