Second half of July

Local

All three Reed Warblers stopped singing two weeks ago so presumably all departed and no obvious sign of successful breeding. Young, unfledged Moorhens are still surviving.

On a couple of days single Swallows increased to five, ten and more, twittering away and hunting at ground level but no sound of Swifts here in the last week. 

On the 29th a very noisy female Tufted Duck with three tiny young was 'alarming' to a fox with its head under the wire just feet away - the dopey Mallards all swam nearer for a closer look!!

One or two calling Willow Warblers were hiding in thick scrub.

The Essex Skippers are all 'done and dusted' leaving just a few very tatty Meadow Browns, a few whites and still plenty of Gatekeepers- it seems to have been a good year for them. Singles of Small Copper, Holly Blue and this Painted Lady, below.

Three species of Grasshopper within a few yards namely, Lesser Marsh, Field and Meadow.

The only dragonfly left to appear here is Migrant Hawker which I'm sure will pop up in the next week or two. The small pond has Southern Hawker and a few paired, ovipositing Common Darters. One or two blue damselflies here might be Common rather than Azure based on last year but I'll need to take bins or a bigger camera lens to check.

Astata Boops appeared on the pond's fence and more recently both Volucella inanis and Volucella zonaria are to be seen on Hemp Agrimony and Eristalinus sepulchralis has been on umbellifers on a couple of occasions. 

The Ragwort, splendidly covered in a variety of inverts two weeks ago, has now gone to seed and 'butterfly alley' is feeling empty until next spring. A few soldier beetles and Eriothrix rufomaculata are all that's left. Unlike elsewhere, where umbellifers are very numerous and productive there's little left here with any nectar value.

Moth trapping has been slow and either TOO hot or not worth doing with overnight wind and rain but Toadlax Brocade and a new micro, Duponchelia fovealis plus a few Jersey Tigers make it worthwhile.

Chichester Community Orchard

The first Common Damselfly and Volucella inanis of the year.

Titchfield Haven

Flight only views of Norfolk Hawker was the only notable sighting from the reserve.

Two Green Sandpipers, one Common and two returning Turnstones were the best of the waders but singles of Arctic and Roseate Tern were too elusive for those of us on site.

Pulborough

A virtually blank visit, mostly a catch-up with PW, but also handicapped by no water on the south brooks and disturbance on the north brooks; passerines now almost totally silent. Roe Deer the only thing in my notes.

Iping Common

Late breakfast plus a couple of purchases at Aylings prior to a short walk out along the top path. Four singing Yellowhammers, two perched up nicely, were the only birds and not a single Silver-studded Blue.

The scrub around the carpark produced the most insects with Nyctia halterata the best.

Too hot and dry.... for me!

Local stuff.

First Essex Skippers, Black-tailed Skimmer and Common Darter of the year plus this beetle confirmed as Paropisterna selmani (Tasmanian Eucalyptus Beetle).

GWH Plant Fair  (14th June)

Little on offer today, just this Cheilosia illustrata and a few Common Spotted and Pyramidal Orchids.

Iping Common (13th June)

Thyridanthrax fenestratus. Plenty of these in company of Ammophila sand wasps - possibly pubescens

A bee casualty of Cerceris rybiensis and one of many (hundreds) Silver-studded Blues, predominantly males.

Nice to hear Tree Pipits, Woodlarks, Yellowhammers and Dartford Warblers with great views of one male of the latter which came in close and perched up. A single Spotted Flycatcher was my best bird of the morning; sad how they've declined so far.

Lunch at Aylings and back out for another hour on the common where it was now too hot to enjoy. Distant kites, buzzards and Swallows were it on the 'aerialist' front.

Local bugs

 

(Chichester BPGx3, Eristalinus sepulchralis, Heteromyza spp, maybe commixta or rotundicornis, Treble Lines, Oligia app, Hydropsyche spp, Cantharis rustica, Nematoda nitidula, Closterotomus trivialis, Epistrophe diaphana)

Long awaited tick

Up early(ish) to check the moth trap and a decent amount of noisy Med Gulls overhead enjoying invisible inverts.

A few moths were on the fence and I popped off a few pictures before dealing with the electrics. Having hoped for this day for some years I was really chuffed to find the first moth on the top-most eggbox was a pristine Striped Hawkmoth!! Not just a first for the garden or trap but a full blown lifer!! This more than made up for a small amount of the usual suspects. Much later in the day, having been out and about, I doubled checked my camera before clearing the card only to find the first picture of the day was another lifer, albeit the far less spectacular and commoner Buttoned Snout.

Social media has had plenty of Striped Hawkmoth pictures in recent days but the rural farwest or Portland Bill seems a much better bet than a strip of concrete in urban Portsmouth.

Took advantage of the last day on my GWH membership and was pleased to bump into CP who showed me some really nice photos of recent moths there including Shears, a species I've never seen.

A stroll around the grounds in very fine weather wasn't exactly heaving with bugs but at least provided some new-for-years; Meadow Brown, Small Heath, Chrysotoxum cautum, Chrysotoxum bicinctum, Yellow Shell, Painted Lady and lots of White Helleborine.

Birds were typically thin with just a few Swifts, displaying Buzzards and two, heard-only Firecrests. 

P.S. A Rusty Dot Pearl in the trap was another potential immigrant.

Post-chore walk

All three Reed Warblers still singing strongly but invisible since they arrived. The swans have managed to keep their last cygnet.... so far.

A Swallow zipped over- I'm guessing if it's a local breeder then it must be on the golf course, allotments or stables.

A soaring Sparrowhawk was the first for a while but no clues as where it might be nesting.

Unphotographed inverts included Broad-bodied Chaser and what was probably a Black-tailed Skimmer, Nettle-tap Moth, yet more Fairy-ring Longhorns, Salticus scenicus and a few hovers.

Below Broad Centurion, Amblyteles armatorius, Swollen-thighed Beetle, spiderlings, Osmia caerulescens, Lackey Moth caterpillars and Megachile spp.

Just random local stuff

The weather has deteriorated over the past few days and today, Tuesday, looks to be a write-off.  The WSBW get-together at Farlington was wisely cancelled. 

Just a few localminverts below.

(Xysticus spp spider, Harlequin Ladybird, Pseudovadonia livida, Holly Blue, Eumerus spp, Macrophya rufipes, Waved Umber)

Local today

Awake at 4am as usual and rather wished I'd put the moth trap out as tonight has a decent amount of rain in the forecast. At first light Med Gulls were heading overhead calling and a hour or two later a fox was in and out of the gardens.

A local walk found three Reed Warblers singing with the assumed departed bird adjacent to the library singing strongly again.  The swans are now down to a single cygnet and on the island four tea-plate sized terrapins were basking.

Last week Yellow-legged Mining Bees were still excavating in the compacted soil in the six-a-side goal mouths with their parasite Nomada fucata in attendance; today just the N.fucata was seen. 

The Water Mint in the pond is coming along but just one male Broad-bodied Chaser hunkering down out of the breeze and no other Odonata. Numerous Swollen-thighed Beetles and a few Broad Centurions plus a single Eristalinus sepulchralis were the only obvious insects mostly on Ox-eyes.

A single Agapeta hamana, my first this year was seen.

No photos.