29th June - Titchfield Haven, Hampshire

With the weather being so hot over the last week I opted to take things easy at home rather than endure what was some searing record heat for June, what is our world coming too?

The heat broke over the weekend and it was much fresher this morning.  I decided to to go back to Titchfield Haven, there had been some interesting reports over the weekend, one of which was the emergence of some interesting Odonata.

On checking in at the new visitor centre I was informed of the possibility of a Sparrowhawk nest on the east side of the reserve, so I decided to start the visit there.  As I entered I passed the Broad-leaved Helleborine that is wrapped in a cage to protect it, however it couldn't protect it from the heat and it looked a little shrivelled.

As I walked along the boardwalk I noticed an bird perched in amongst the trees, a little closer and I could see it was a male Sparrowhawk.

It then flew off and despite me searching the area I couldn't find the nest, probably a good thing.

I turned off the boardwalk and headed towards the Meadow Hide.  A male Black-tailed Skimmer was settled on the boardwalk in the sunshine.

I spent some time in the Meadow Hide watching several Marsh Harriers distantly and a single Red Kite.  The adult male Sparrowhawk had flown from where I had seen it to some dead trees at the back of the meadow.

The Kestrels had three chicks and these had now fledged and were flying around the meadow.  They too were quite distant so I walked around to the Knight's Bank hide to get some better views.

Two of the juveniles were on the fence alongside the hide.  Then I noticed a Whitethroat getting agitated and watched as the male Kestrel dived into the middle of the bush with the Whitethroat calling and flying around the bush.  Almost immediately one of the juveniles flew to the top of the bush.  Finally the male came out, empty handed.

All three juveniles spent time practicing hovering and flying around the meadow.

They would rest on the fence by the gate and were attracting the attention of a family group of Magpies.

An opportunity for some nice flight shots as they flew around the hide.

THings quietened down so I decided to try my luck on the west side.  The path from the Knight's Bank is always a good spot for butterflies.  This morning there were quite a few Comma about.

While in the long grass there were Large Skipper.

And small skippers.

The bramble flowers an attraction for the larger butterflies such as this Red Admiral.

And what looks like a newly emerged Peacock.

Whilst it was a lot cooler the skies were blue with some lovely white clouds making a lovely scene around the harbour and the yachts.

My first stop was the Meon Shore hide and the number of Common TErn had increased, most of the Black-headed Gulls that remained had larger chicks now which wasn't an attraction to the gulls, but the Common Terns were still nesting.  This one on the small island in front of the hide.  Unfortunately I don't hold up much hope for them raising their chicks to fledging, this is a very open area with little cover, to easy for the Lesser Black-backed Gulls to take the chicks.

Around the scrape the Common Terns put on a show.

And it was nice to see several Sandwich Terns in amongst them.

I was keen to walk around to Darter's Dip so set off around the path.  Whilst not so good as the east side there were still some butterflies to be seen, this my first Gatekeeper of the year.

And another immaculate Peacock Butterfly settled in a leaf.

It was a good day for butterflies around the reserve, I counted twelve species, the others seen were Large and Small Whites, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Holly Blue and a Painted Lady.

On reaching the ponds I started to look for Damselflies.  I was looking for two special dragonflies, the first of which came to me almost immediately, the Willow Emerald.

This very dainty damselfly seems now to be colonising the reserve, being seen on both sides of the reserve.  IT has been around now for four years and is becoming a regular sighting of a damselfly that seems to be spreading well on the south coast.

Common Blue Damselflies could be seen coupled together and settled on the reeds and in this case the grasses.

On the main pond there were at least four Four-spot Chasers.

It is a rather dull dragonfly with distinctive dark spots on the wings.  Both sexes have brown eyes, thorax and abdomen, which is tapered and narrower than the Broad-bodied chaser.  The tail is black but has a "u" shape that blends to the black tip.

But the dragonfly I most wanted to see was the Norfolk Hawker.  This is another dragonfly that appears to be colonising the reserve, having been seen over the last two years, they must now have mated and mating couple have already been seen on the reserve this year.

As I stood watching the chasers a reddish brown dragonfly flew past me and settled on a reed stem to show off the green eyes of a Norfolk Hawker.

This has always been seen as a rare breeder away from the traditional sites in the east anglian fens, but they have started to appear further west and on the south coast.  Those breeding in the fens seem to like a good cover of the plant Water Soldier, onto which the eggs are laid, the emergence also takes place on these leaves.  But those appearing away from east anglian seem to be able be less dependent on Water Soldier, living in reed filled ponds similar to habitats on the continent.  This may mean that the south coast hawkers may have arrived from mainland Europe.  Just to muddy the water a little more there are some Water Soldier plants around the ponds at Titchfield!

Both sexes are similar with brown abdomens and a yellow triangle on the second segment, but it is the green eyes that stand out.  The males have yellow stripes on the thorax, these are less prominent in the female which suggests this one is a female.

The green yeats stand out and as it settled close to the bank I was able to focus closer on this amazing eye.

Dragonflies have the largest compound eyes of any insect; each containing up to 30,000 facets, and the eyes cover most of the insect’s head, resembling a motorcycle helmet. In contrast to a human eye, each facet within the compound eye points in a slightly different direction and perceives light emanating from only one particular direction in space, creating a mosaic of partially overlapping images.

This patterned concentration of opsin types, particularly those sensitive to blue and UV light, gives special advantages to hunting dragonflies. For example, it is thought that the sky appears to be very bright to a dragonfly, thereby providing a clear background against which small moving prey can be easily detected.

Another visual advantage of the multifaceted eye is a dragonfly’s acute sensitivity to movement, as anyone who has tried to catch one can tell you.  Dragonflies can see in all directions at the same time. This is a major advantage of the compound eye; you can wrap it around your head.  The spherical field of vision means that dragonflies are still watching you after they have flown by. However, the backward-looking part of the eye does have rather low resolution.

I was very keen to try and get some flight shots.  I walked around to a smaller pond where probably the same female was flying around, the water area being smaller it was easier to track the dragonfly and I was able to get these shots.  Even at one two thousand five hundreth of a second the wings still blur.

I left the hawker and went to the Pumfrett hide.  As I was settling in a Green Sandpiper flew across the north scrape and dropped on to the mud in front of the hide.  Unfortunately it was partially shielded by the reeds.

Green Sandpiper are one of the earliest returning waders, arriving in June from their breeding grounds.

It was then chased off by an Avocet, flying past showing off the white rump and tail feathers.

Across the two scrapes there must be well over a hundred Avocet, they are always a good photographic subject.

The shallow water providing some lovely reflections of the Avocet and the blue sky.

It is not unusual to see good numbers of Black-tailed Godwits around the scrapes and many were in their brick red breeding plumage.  What was a surprise was a single Bar-tailed Godwit.  It stayed at the back of the north scrape, not showing that well.

Another returning wader to the scrapes was the Redshank, three were present still showing the speckled breast of the breeding plumage.

My time was running out, so I made my way back to the car.  Walking around the sea wall the tide was high and there was a Great Crested Grebe close to the wall.  As I watched it I noticed  that when it turned away from the breeze, the wind would catch the crest and blow it up.  I waited and it did it again for me.

 

It was good to be back out after a short break and this had been a very productive visit.

19th June - Abbotts Wood, Alice Holt Forest, Hampshire

The forecast was for hot sunny weather today, so I decided to head back to Abbotts Wood, arriving this time a little earlier.  Too hot and the butterflies either dry up or just zip past and never stop, so hopefully I had got it right.

But before I got to Abbotts Wood there was a surprise for me as I started the car, on the wall in front of me a Small Tortoiseshell, a butterfly that is becoming quite scarce now

From the wall to one of our bushes.

The morning started well, but hit a snag as I came through Bentley.  An articulated truck with a container suddenly realised that it would not get under the railway bridge, so it had to reverse, which held the traffic up as it tried to do so.

Eventually made it to Abbotts Wood and headed off down the path, that is a bit of a struggle when coming back.

The Oak trees were looking wonderful in the morning sunshine.

At the bottom of the hill is a crossroads of footpaths with a Stone Roman urn close by.  Above are Oaks and below bramble that is a big attraction.

There were Meadow Browns and both Large and Small skippers on the bramble, but the stars were the larger butterflies, the Silver-washed Fritillary:

And a superb Red Admiral.

Walking on there was activity in the grass on either side of the path.  A Large Skipper delicately settled on a blade of grass.

Ad a Speckled Wood on a bracken frond.

As well as the grass alongside the path there were tall spindly thistles that were an attraction for the Silver-washed Fritillaries.

I reached the 'T' junction which has tall Oaks and a very tall Scots Pine.

The Broad-leaved Helleborine is on the edge of the path in the shaded area.

The area from which I took the photo above has quite a bit of bramble and consequently a few butterflies.  The pick of which were a couple of Painted Ladies

Love this one with the black background.

The Marbled White is not a butterfly you would expect to see in the forest, but this area is very open and there were at least three present, this one nectaring on a thistle head.

Several Small Skippers in the grass.

I walked to the next open area and the meeting of several footpaths.  This area is also well known for the Purple Emperors that can usually be seen oak edging around the tall trees and sometimes if you are lucky they will ground and show off that beautiful purple sheen.

A Large Skipper on the grasses was new, there were several Silver-washed Fritillaries and White Admiral about, but no sign of any Purple Emperors.

I tried the area further on down the path and came across a Firecrest singing in the lower branches.

Walking back to the open area I came across a female Beautiful Demoiselle, the sun light catching the metallic colour on the wings while there being a lovely black background.

Not just one but two, this time on a bracken frond.

Back at the open area there was a fallen Sallow tree.  A dragonfly settled on it and again there was a nice black background.  I wasn't sure what it was so tried the app and it announced a 97% probability that it was a Vagrant Darter a new dragonfly for me.

The Vagrant Darter is very similar to the Common Darter, but both sexes have a 'moustache' which gives it its European name of Moustached Darter.  There is a black line that extends down the sides of the fronds which gives the impression of a mexican moustache.

A rare migrant presumably from Eastern Europe.  This one being a female.

I walked back to the 'T' junction and on the way back had a very confiding White Admiral.

I went back to the open area where I always believe is the best place to see Purple Emperor.  As I turned up I was told there had been two males about, and it wasn't long before I saw both flying around at the top of the Oaks.  This was the are and if you look closely you will see one of the males on an oak leaf.

This is a better view.

I was reliably told that it was unusual at this time of year to see males establishing and protecting territory with a figure of eight flight around the oak and then battles with the other male.  This would mean that maybe these two emerged at least seven to ten days earlier.

There was a breeze so it was probably cooler at he top of the tree.

Some flight shots of the two males, mostly a record shot.

Flying back to the oak after yet another battle.

As we went past noon the Purple Emperor activity dried up, and my time in the car park was coming to an end, so I decided to walk back, happy with the Purple Emperor show, but would have always liked one to ground.

One butterfly has eluded me this week, the Ringlet.  I have seen them floating through the grasses, but never settling.  This one did though.

At the 'T' junction there were two Silver-washed Fritillaries mating, not something I have witnessed before.

So some a worthwhile visit, the Purple Emperors showing good enough to get a photograph.  There is though plenty of time over the next week to try and see if they will come down.