11th July - Browndown South and Titchfield Haven, Hampshire

The heatwave continues although today was to be a little cooler with a north east breeze.  However if you are on the south coast the chances are the breeze isn't getting through so it was another hot one.  I met Ian just outside Browndown South.  It has been open through July so far so we decided to start earl in our search for what I consider to be the county's strangest butterfly.

Walking along the main path it was already hot, as I parked the car said twenty five degrees, but with the conditions there were few butterflies about.  Mostly whites there was also a few Small Copper.

We headed for the stunted oaks in the middle of the reserve, which entailed walking through shingle which seemed to make it hotter.  It didn't take long to find our quarry, the Grayling.

Widespread on the coast of Britain and Ireland and on heathland in southern Britain, the Grayling’s cryptic colouring provides it with excellent camouflage, making it difficult to see when at rest on bare ground, tree trunks, or stones. The wings are kept closed when not in flight and the forewings are usually tucked behind the hind wings, concealing the eyespots and making the butterfly appear smaller. 

In flight this is a distinctive, large butterfly has a looping and gliding flight, during which the paler bands on the upper wings are visible.

While at rest the 'eye' is hidden, but watching them today I noticed the the 'eye' is exposed just before it springs into the air.

The stunted oaks on Browndown are usually a good place to find Purple Hairstreak at eye level.  We shook several branches as we walked around them today and flushed a couple, but were not able to find them.  Ironically as we walked the main path I saw one settle in one of the 'normal' oaks by the side of the path.

Birdlife around the rserve was limited, a juvenile Whitethroat, smart looking Linnet but in the sun and a family group of Green Woodpeckers that avoided the camera very well.

From Browndown we went to Titchfield Haven.  The breeze was much more prevalent here and in the Meon Shore hide it was wonderfully cool with the window blowing into the hide through the windows.  Unfortunately the birds were not so good.  The Common Tern still sits on the eggs, but the island is now part of the shore as a lot more of the scrape is just dried mud.  If we don't get some substantial rain any autumn waders are going to be so far away from the hide.

Very good numbers of Black-tailed Godwits around the scrape and a single Common Sandpiper.  Avocet numbers were well down and of course there were plenty of Black-headed Gulls and Common Terns.

Plenty of Black-tailed Skimmers at the new pond along with a couple of Four-spot chasers.  At Darter's Dip there were now four Small Red-eyed Damselflies.  Their positioning on the pond weed no different to the last two visits.  Close by was this Blue-tailed Damselfly.

From the Pumfrett Hide the north scrape was looking even drier and with the height of the reeds it is not possible to see all the scrape, so you wonder what is tucked away out of sight.

This sandpiper posed some questions, we initially thought it might be Green due to the lack of white reaching under the shoulder.

But a closer look revealed it was hiding the white and was in fact a Common Sandpiper.

Both scrapes were disturbed twice, one by a Spitfire and one by a Sparrowhawk.  A single Mediterranean Gull was on the sand bar on the south scrape and there were two Sandwich Terns amongst the Common.

After an early lunch we walked around to the east side and down to the Knight's Bank hide.  There had been a report of a Cattle Egret, but it must have been hiding in the long grass.  The Kestrel family were present along the fence and around the telegraph wires.

It was now far to hot for both nature and me so it was an early end to the day.  Must be the least photographs I have ever taken for a Saturday out.

9th July - Old Winchester Hill, Hampshire

Another hot day and I wasn't intending to stay out too long, but I wanted to see if Old Winchester Hill had the same concentrations of butterflies that were present at Martin Down last Saturday.

With the temperature touching twenty five degrees as I pulled into the car park it was clearly going to be a warm one.  I set of along the top oath and coming out of the clump of hawthorn quickly found a Six spot Burnet on the Field Scabious amongst the grasses.

Marbled White were everywhere, maybe not like the concentrations seen at Martin, but an impressive sight nonetheless.  This male settled on a thistle flower in the grass.

An Essex Skipper on the flowering thyme.

Plenty of yellow grass on the top path under a azure blue sky.

I walked close to the brambles where alot of flowers were now gone over.  But where there were flowers there were butterflies, Meadow Brown and a single Comma and plenty of Gatekeeper.  In amongst them were Red Admiral, Peacock and several Painted Lady.

Skippers were busy amongst the grass, several Large Skipper and this Small Skipper.  I was to see a lot of these as I walked through the grass.

The Rosebay Willow-herb putting on a show.

The number of Small Copper at Martin were a surprise and there were at least five here at Old Winchester Hill today.

Rather than walk around the slope U stayed on the path to the fort.  This Small Tortoiseshell flew past me and then settled in the vegetation by the side of the path.

This Blackbird was either anting of sunbathing.  I hadn't realised I had caught a Meadow Brown flying past.

I walked up to the fort and then took the footpath down the south slope.

A small Heath close to the side of the path.

We had seen Chalkhill Blues at Martin on the weekend so I was hopeful there would be some here today.  As I walked down the slope they started to appear, pale blue butterflies flying very close to the ground.  They were also not stopping and I feared I wasn't going to get some shots, but then I found this two resting.

Then on cue the top blue opened its wings to show the lovely pale blue and brown colouring.

The top butterfly flew off leaving the other to continue to pose nicely.

In total there were thirty seven Chalkhills on the slope and having been satisfied with the shots I turned and walked back up the slope.  It was this walk that convinced me not to tackle the longer slopes back to the car park.  I struggled and was very pleased to reach the fort and the cooling breeze.

AS I walked around the moat a Dark-green Fritillary settled on the knapweed showing off the green wash on the underside that gives it the name.

Walking around the moat there were more skippers, Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns.  Brimstones were also appearing, they always seem to be the last to emerge on a day.

As was the case at Martin on Saturday the distant fields looked wonderful in the summer sunshine, the crops bleached a lovely colour.

Even though I wasn't going to walk down and the hills I did walk back along the slope.  The sides of the area were covered with yarrow and hemp acrimony.

Another Painted Lady attracted to the hemp acrimony.

Back on the top path it was pretty much of the same, Meadow Brown, Marbled White and Gatekeepers amongst the grass and on the bushes.  Wild flowers everywhere.

I walked to the gate that leads down the slope from the car park.  Looking down these Field Scabious had the perfect dark background.

It was now getting close to 11:00am and it was very warm.  I had been here two hours and managed to see 24 species, the same as the weekend at Martin.  But there were two species here, not seen at Martin.

6th July - Titchfield Haven, Hampshire

Some interesting reports of waders over the weekend at Titchfield so I decided to go back and see if they were still around.  After checking in I walked around the sea wall.  The tide was out and the rocks were showing and these created rock pools that the Common Terns were fishing in.

 I went to the Meon Shore hide once more and in front of the hide on the small island the Common Tern was still on the nest as was a Black-headed Gull, but there was a very young Black-headed Gull chick that was out in the open and very much in danger of being picked off by a Lesser Black-backed Gull.

One of the Black-headed Gulls had taken one of the perches close by and was constantly calling.

A Common Tern was flying around the scrape with a fish.

Usually the terns bring the fish in for partner or young, but in this case it started to swallow the fish itself.

And eventually swallowed it.

The Spotted Redshank, one of the waders seen yesterday was still on the south scrape tucked away on the right hand side, feeding in the deeper water.

There were also three Common Sandpipers, but they stayed resolutely by the causeway too far away from the hide.

Some more antics from the Common Terns, this time one flies in to the small island in front of the hide and immediately started calling.

Then making its way to the nest area still calling and eventually they change over brooding duties and I was able to see two eggs.  I still do not hold out much hope for the chicks if they hatch.

Settled down for the duty.

I walked around to the Pumfrett Hide, but stopped at the new pond that is now visible after the clearance work last winter.  There were Black-tailed Skimmers and in the reeds I found a Southern Hawker.

At Darter's Dip, the Small Red-eyed Damselfly was still present sitting once again on the pond weed.

From the hide you could just about see two Little Ringed Plover through the heat haze on the mud at the northern end of the scrape, there was a slo a Common Sandpiper catching flies on the edge of the water.  On the posts on the south scrape a Sandwich Tern was amongst the Common Terns.  Two House Martins were also collecting mud on the south scrape.

The heat haze was a big problem for photography so I went back to the pools to see if I could find the Norfolk Hawker, and it wasn't hard to find, and it soon settled on the reeds.

Once again a close up of the lovely green head.

And the perfect pose on a reed stem.

I walked back to the Meon Shore and it was now very hot.  I stopped at the new pond and watched the Southern Hawker chasing the Black-tailed Skimmers.  At one point the hawker pushed the skimmer into the water and seemed to be trying to push it under, but the skimmer got away.

Finally the Southern Hawker settled on one of the perches.

Back in the hide little had changed and like the Pumfrett the heat haze was a challenge.  Of interest was this Sandwich Tern that came a little closer.

A Common Tern was buzzing the Sandwich Tern, hence the posture, it didn't want to give up its perch.

Finally it left the post and headed out to sea.

It was a short visit, curtailed mostly by the heat and the heat haze.