Spring(ish)

Today's bright sunny conditions, little wind and low to mid fifties temperature brought out the first signs of spring - not Brimstone nor other butterflies and not hovers nor bumblebees - but local terrapins, both quite small individuals and the first sunbathing of the year. The local gulls have been noisily chasing two or three Buzzards off to the east. And the first Lesser Black-backed Gull of the year perched up - a fine smart adult.

The local group of Collared Doves has increased to thirteen.

A brief pre-lunch drive produced just single Red Kite and a couple of Buzzards plus plenty of typical birdsong at SC.

A brief look at QECP on Monday after chores failed to find Firecrest and Marsh Tit but a Treecreeper was obliging; winter thrushes and finches were limited to one each of Siskin and Redwing both heard-onlys.

Two week update

 

A visit to Pulborough saw one of the Amberley eagles perched up all morning and later this Brown Hairstreak was reasonably close but impossible to get the camera to lock onto in such a thick vegetation, but still nice to see. A calling Firecrest or two came through with a tit flock as we watched the hairstreak.

Moth wise the dropping overnight temperatures plus some wind and rain have reduced both numbers and variety but this Plumed Fanfoot was nice to get - according to MW's 2021 moth report only two records for Hants that year, one in each vice county.

Nutmeg and Dark Sword Grass were both new for the garden and this Angle Shades was the first and I'm  guessing the last for 2022. And this Willow Beauty was one of two of the freshest I've seen for a while. 

AT Titchfield little changes although tern numbers have now dropped massively. Very few waders on the scrapes and very little in the way of passerine migrants, for me just two Whinchat, one Spotted Flycatcher and a single Wheatear. Up to 30 or more Yellow Wagtails have been mostly distant or calling flyovers. Various Spoonbills and Glossy Ibises have commuted between here and Hook with two of the former  typically sleeping on the South Scrape (below) whilst the singleton was actively fishing in the river.

Nearer home the odd Swallow, overflying Buzzard and a return for half a dozen Tufted Ducks plus nine Shovelers; a Grey Wagtail has been around the drier edges recently although driven off by 'uppity' Robin's.

This Eupeodes latifasciatus was written off a a Syrphus spp until I downloaded the image and was strangely new for year!!

Local stuff

Bird wise local interest was the usual, but very close, Grey Heron sadly only catching a tiddler rather than than something more impressive. A Cetti's  has called a few times and a Grey Wagtail was minding its business along the exposed shoreline until flushed by two Magpies - this was my first here since last autumn's little flurry of records. 

Nothing better than Volucella inanis and plenty of Myathropa florea the latter favouring the small patches of  Fleabane. A few Holly Blues and the odd hawker dragonfly, either Southern or Migrant. 

The solitary wasp Astata boops has sat up on the wooden fence rail on several occasions, a species I'm only used to seeing on sandy heath areas like Petersfield or Pulborough.

Most interest, in small doses, has come from overnight moth traps with a small but good run of Garden and Jersey Tigers plus firsts of Poplar Hawkmoth, Small Square Spot,  Tawny Speckled Pug, Cochylis molliculana, Enarmonia forsana and notable records of White Point, Small Dusty Wave, Pebble Hooktip and Pyrausta despicata.

Titchfield

Recent visits have been hard work with highlights being Black Tern, five or more Little Terns including young being fed by adults, and Roseate Tern, all found by MF and who was as usual happy to share views through his scope or provide directions. The Roseate was particularly tough being in amongst a couple of hundred Common Terns and mixed gulls on the beach with strong overhead light. Periodic, but thankfully minor disturbances caused the flock to lift up but quickly resettle on the shore. 

Wader-wise just Green and Common Sandpipers, LRPs including juveniles, three Dunlin and one or two Snipe all on south scrape with no access to North Scrape nor Eleven Acres.

The east side produced a probable Willow Emerald which helicoptered up over the trees, a brief Ruddy Darter and a Purple Hairstreak in the tallest Oak. Beneath that the Marsh Thistles are providing plenty of sustenance for bees and the Angelica, Hemp Agrimony and Fleabane etc home for a few Leptura quadrifasciata, both large Volucellas and a few other diptera etc.

There seem to have been good numbers of Willow Warblers hu-weeting, mostly invisible but several lemon yellow youngsters showing well and even a few late singers. Acrocephalus warblers have been evident and apparently the ringers have caught a number of Grasshopper Warblers on site. I guess it'll be the 2022 Bird Report before we know how many and whether any Aquatics dropped into their nets.

(Black Tern, Dunlin, South Scrape, Avocet, Common Tern and Common Terns in a sea of moulted feathers, Roseate Tern courtesy MF)

More moths

After Selborne and a decent(ish) catch at home on the hottest day, the number and variety of moths has fallen off a cliff.

New moths recently were Gold Spot,  Early Thorn, Canary-shouldered Thorn, Four-spotted Footman and White Point. Seldom caught moths included Lychnis, Cabbage Moth and a second Cream-bordered Green Pea.

Most days have seen one to five Jersey Tigers, one or two Garden Tiger and a few more Tree Lichen Beauty.

Elsewhere the only 'kicked up' moths away from home have been Dingy Footman and a Silver Y.

Pulborough and WWT

First visit to Pulborough in a while targetted the Yellow Loosestrife Bees found by Carey on the appropriate plant and in a place of public access unlike the previous ones; this time it was the school dipping pond.  With so little of the plant I wasnt hopeful but lo and behold the first two insects seen were the bees in question but with no macro lens pictures were pretty terrible. In the same ditch were these Small Red-eyed Damselflies, three species of hawker and this hoverfly - Anasimyia contracta.

This Hobby was bookending its forays over the north Brooks with rest-ups on the the old Peregrine tree. 

A second visit a fortnight later in cooler and greyer conditions produced the first Spotted Flycatcher of the year on a tall dead tree but sadly no Whinchats, Redstarts nor anything better.

The south Brooks are now bone dry and the two previous days of rain and thunder had made no difference. The north Brooks were still hosting two Hobbies, one at least an adult, plus Greenshank, five Green Sandpipers and a Wood Sandpiper which proved too elusive for me. 

(Above mentioned species and the new, tidy, but very empty cafe)

WWT on Monday 8th was a fine day for insects and a first for me - both red-eyed species of damselfly on the same lily pad. A little earlier two Red-eyed were on the raised dipping pond. Good numbers of three hawkers, Common Darters and Black-tailed Skimmers around the site plus a bonus in the form of a couple of Brown Argus, first for the year and I'm pretty sure first ever within the fence line. The Kingfishers were obliging just outside the nest hole but the poor glass covered in spiders webs, dust and detritus plus being hugely back lit made for less than stellar photos. 

About twenty Cattle Egrets were on site and two juvenile Peregrines were raucous all morning but never close enough for a picture.

A revisit on the 17th saw lots of Kingfisher action, cleaner hide windows but no opportunities for pictures; rather typically I chose to visit the wrong hide first!!

This Tawny Owl was being scolded by a host of small birds and was too well covered by leaves but still nice to see one, a species I rarely encounter these days.

A twitch

 A Whiskered Tern at Titchfield Haven in May of 2020 was the only twitch that year under COVID restrictions and, at the time, was my first Hampshire and UK tick since the previous autumn's Eastern Olivaceous Warbler at Farlington.

News broke of another Whiskered Tern,  this time at Fishlake Meadows, and I took until its third day before I drove over for a peek.  It's only a 35-40 minutes drive and there was surprisingly little traffic on the motorway. The advised parking in a residential street was plentiful and just a few yards walk to one of two 'viewpoints'. I was expecting some sort of panoramic view from a mound but found two small areas, each large enough for only 6-7 people and, being last to arrive, found myself standing on a dirt slope and holding onto branches in order to remain upright! Luckily the guy next to me shared his scope and good but distant views were in the bag almost immediately.

A brief walk along the canal produced decent views of a slightly scruffy Sparrowhawk but little else. A local lady out with her infant daughter chatted and told me a bit about the reserve and the surrounding housing development.

Returning for seconds of the tern,  this time at the other viewpoint, I bumped into Mark (Titchfield and PB) and we chatted along with with a few other people for a while as the tern was perched up on a dead tree and pretty inactive for a long time. The supporting cast were plenty of adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Greylags,  Grey Herons, a single Great White Egret (although two were seen earlier) and a few Great Crested Grebes including one pair with a mid-sized youngster. Sadly no Osprey today. 

And back home in time for lunch.