May 16th At last!! A twitch.

I was just  planning for a non-birding day when a glance at my phone saw that MF (who else?) had found a Hudsonian Godwit at Titchfield on the scrapes. Moments later I was in the car heading over and arriving and parking on Cliff Road where I met up with DW. We collected tickets from the temporary office and strode rather purposefully (!!) to MSH. I was surprised on arrival to find the hide empty but the godwit flock was wheeling  around and picking-up the distinctive underwing colour of the Hud'wit took just a few seconds. Unsurprisingly, others started to arrive but the bird soon flipped over into North Scrape so we all decamped to the next hide where MR was policing entries. Needless to say quite a few were ticketless but paid up. The hide was crammed and after a while I went back to MSH which was still quiet. The godwit flock popped back into South Scrape where the bird came closer and was in much better light.

Elsewhere three Spoonbils were on the ffying pan before I got there and again after I'd left. Not sure if they'd gone in between times or else were sleeping and invisible behind the now very high vegetation.

This small  Southern Marsh Orchid was my first of the year.

Two Male Eiders were close inshore with this one polishing off a crab were nice to watch.

NB Depending on source the Hud'wit appears to be the eighth for UK and needless to say a first for the reserve and county. For me my only sighting was of a single bird  in 1982 at some pools near Point Pelee in Canada with AH and KT.

Hud'wit in flight above courtesy Mark Francis

(Eider with crab, Southern Marsh Orchid, Broad-bodied Chaser, paired and egg-laying Azure and Large Red Damselflies)

May moths

It's never been worthwhile putting the trap out for the first few months of the year and even the back end of April/start to May is usually unproductive here. 

So 40 moths of eleven species over three nights was hardly surprising, the nights being typically clear.

Blair's Mocha (3) was the best looking moth and Bloxworth Snout was added with all previous five individuals here in March, June, August,  September, October - and now May.

Surprisingly, this morning's White-shouldered House Moth was only the fourth.

A Nematopogon swammardamella hitched a ride from Queen Elizabeth Country Park back to Pompey and was a lifer!!

Hopefully it won't be long before emptying the trap has a background soundscape of screaming Swifts.

And, rookie mistake, I didn't note the plant these Yponomeuta spp Ermines were on -  despite returning the next day and not being able to relocate them.

And there was April ..... gone!!

Sustainability- 30th April

Local and moths - 29th April

Titchfield Haven - 24th April

 

Gilbert White  - 17th April

Titchfield Haven - 16th April

Local - and a site tick!  - 14th April

Last week of March.... and a start to April

Which bird will appear in an April Fools this time around? And the answer was none, at least in any of my social media 'stuff'.

April 3rd Lakeside

A brief coffee stop here in cold and grey conditions produced little but it was a nice surprise to find two Great Crested Grebes with two young on one parent's back. A little too far off for my short lens.

This singing male Reed Bunting was nice, quite close, but just too high.

April 2nd Blashford

The day got off to a poor start as it was impossible to park at the usual roadside site in the north of the forest; a deep drainage trench had been dug from the main road through to the carpark. And it was too cold in the strong north-easterly to walk back to the viewpoint.

On to Blashford where there was some shelter but yesterday's Little Gulls had, unsurprisingly, departed. Three LRPs were mostly distant but very active and noisy at times and a year tick. Four Black-necked Grebes were nice and almost in summer plumage - good through the scope but too far for pictures. Two Swallows were NfY in amongst the 35+ Sand Martin's.

Insect wise a male Orange Tip sparring with a Brimstone and later a Speckled Wood were nice but the days total of about 15/7 was disappointing. Last year's Early Colletes seemed absent but the Andrena vaga site was being assessed by George Else and others including Chris G, someone I've not bumped into in years. 

March 27th Arundel WWT

Very sunny but still too cold for much

 

March 15th

Another bright, clear but wintery day was good for a few garden chores after which today's  'treat' was lunch at SC and, as always, very nice it was too.

Despite the sun it was too cold for an insect hunt but 20+ Redwings moving between trees and calling before heading off site was nice: for me, at least, it's been a poor winter for Redwings and Fieldfares. No calling Firecrests nor Marsh Tits today.

Back home with just a very low-level Buzzard over the main road.

And the next day, Sunday, my first Small Tortoiseshell and this, my first, Beefly irecorded for Bee-fly Watch.

Second week of March