It has been two months since visiting the car park at Lower Pennington Lane and in that time there appear to have been some changes, not least, the area now officially confirmed as being the Lymington-Keyhaven Nature Reserve with a new posh sign by the entrance gate. The fencing around the car park has also been replaced and the car park extended, slightly.
I arrived just before 6:30, the sun having been up for just over an hour, there was just one other car in the car park while on the old tip and nearby Pennington Marsh the cattle grazed and wandered over to see what I was up to.
As I walked from the car park across the old tip in the direction of Fishtail Lagoon I was greeted by a Wren singing from the top of a gorse bush.
A little further calls from above alerted me to a group of five Greenshank heading north towards Efford Lake. By the time I had sorted the camera out the group had split up slightly with two breaking away to only leave three in the camera view.
I stopped to scan the back of Fishtail, the area was very dry and there was little about other than juvenile Pied Wagtail, looking left towards the main area of the lagoon a single juvenile Little Ringed Plover was probing the edge of the water and mud.
Up on the sea wall the tide was rising filling slightly Butts Bay, Walking towards Keyhaven there were nine Avocet on Fishtail, with at least four juvenile birds present. On the island in the lagoon it looked as if the Mute Swan nest had been abandoned with at least three eggs still present in the nest.
As single Avocet fed in the lagoon silhouetted by the rising sun and an excellent subject for a black and white photograph.
A little further along a Little Egret was fishing in the slightly deeper water.
Walking around to Keyhaven lagoon the water was looking a lovely deep blue and spread out around the lagoon were a total of 24 Little Egret.
I walked on to view the beach area where there was a gathering of terns, mostly Common and Sandwich Terns, but also a few Little Terns with them. Overhead a pair of Mediterranean Gulls called as they headed west towards the Keyhaven harbour.
As I scanned the terns I picked up an immature Peregrine, which flew past and then gathered speed before interacting with what appeared to be an adult bird further west.
Meadow Pipits were visible along the sea wall, mostly immature birds they were quite approachable when settled in the bushes.
Turning back towards Fishtail I noticed a bird on one of the fence posts close to the clump of hawthorn bushes. Unfortunately a runner ahead of me flushed the bird from the post asn it flew across the marsh I could see the white rump of a Wheatear and it settled on a grass patch. It was a juvenile bird but being distant this is just a record shot.Back on Fishtail there were two Little Ringed Plover feeding close to the path, both were immature birds but gave some of the best views I have had with this bird for some time.
Daintier than the Ringed plover, the adult Little Ringed Plover
has a black bill, pale, creamy-brown legs, and a bright yellow ring around the
eye. It is sandy-brown above and white below, with a black chest-band and black
bridle markings on the head. The juvenile bird lacks the bright yellow in the eye ring but it is clearly present. The bridle does not look as full as the adult and overall the plumage is duller.
Like other plovers, it forages for invertebrates and
crustaceans in a particular way: standing and watching, running forward,
pecking, then standing still again. It is a migrant species, arriving in this
country in mid-March and leaving again in July.
Little Ringed Plovers first nested in the UK in 1938 and
have successfully spread through England and Wales. This colonisation has been
attributed to an increase in their preferred gravelly habitats - man-made
flooded gravel pits, reservoirs and quarries have provided them with just the
right breeding grounds.
Walking to the other end of Fishtail there were a further six more Little Ringed Plovers, all immature birds, making a total of eight present.
I decided to walk all the way to Normandy Marsh. On Butts Lagoon there were 21 Dunlin and a group of Black-tailed Godwits that I couldn't count but were estimated at around 30 birds. The calls of Stonechat could be hard from the sea wall, these belonging mostly to juvenile birds, they could be seen on any prominent perch scouring the the ground for food while begging to adult bird with "clacking " calls. This individual perched nicely with the dark water of the lagoon as a background on Oxey Marsh
There was little else about as I walked past Oxey Marsh and through Moses Dock. On Eight Acre Lake there were two summer plumaged Little Grebe, with one hauled out of the water and sitting on one of the gravel islands.
At Normandy Marsh there was much more activity, waders were still scarce with a couple of Redshank and a family group of Oystercatchers, the main movement coming from the Common Terns and Little Terns on the islands in the middle of the marsh.
The birds would fly around and could be seen moving out into the open water of Oxey Bay to fish. Here a Common Tern
While I waited for the terns to move overhead I was taken to watch the Oystercatcher family. There were three immature birds, identified easily by the black tip to the bill and a brownish black plumage. The adults still having the all red bill and red eye ring. Every so often one of the young would chase the adult around as if to want to take any morsel of food the adult had found. In between the immatures were quite happy to feed on their own, but I suppose the adults do it better.
I counted 17 adult Little Terns on the islands but there were also immature birds that had successfully fledged, here a young bird showing the scaly plumage on the back and wing
The adults having that bright yellow bill, white forehead and bat like flapping style as they headed out to the open water.
There is something very smart about an adult Common Tern, lovely white plumage and a striking scarlet bill
A Little Egret then arrived and immediately became an unwanted visitor
The Common Terns were on to it immediately and dive bombed the unfortunate egret that was going about its business fishing alongside the island.
In the end the tern managed to chase the egret away from the island, the egret calling its disgust as the tern continued to harass it.
On the walk back to the car park there was little more of interest, many Curlew could be seen at the back of the lagoons but the closet I came to a wader was this Lapwing on Pennington Lagoon.
Before returning to the car I took a quick look at Efford Lake, the highlights being a lot of Coot and a couple of Great crested Grebes. Along the hedgerow were plenty of Gatekeeper, now out in good numbers and all over the bramble.
"Tack" calls from the bramble then revealed a young Whitethroat that proceeded to show very well.Next stop was to be the Hawkhill Inclosure car park, however I had wanted to visit around Crockford Bridge, but here both car parks were closed for some unknown reason. Leaving the car and walking alongside the Inclosure and the heath I noticed a dark yellow butterfly coming towards me. It was definitely a Clouded Yellow, but typical of the species it did not stop and flew past me. I turned and chased it but in true style it just kept going and going.
I was here to look for Grayling along the path but didn't find any at all, I just had to make do with this Small Copper sitting on a small sprig of Bell Heather.
It was a big hope that I could find Grayling here and it didn't work out, but I did have a back up, and set off to Browndown South where I felt more confident that I would be able to find a species I haven't seen for a while.
Walking on to the area I noticed a small clump of ragwort that had the familiar yellow and black caterpillars of the Cinnabar Moth.
I headed for the stunted Oaks and walked around them shaking the leaves. The sun was out now and the high clouds that kept it cool fading. I managed to flush out a Purple Hairstreak but it would only settle for a short while before moving on. It felt like a game of "ring a ring of Roses" as I chased the butterfly around the oak but in the end I decided enough was enough, I had seen them earlier in the summer and wanted to spend the time searching for the Grayling. As I turned to move away I disturbed a Red Admiral that flew around and settled on the pebbles.
I headed for the area in which I ave seen them before, a combination of pebbles, low bramble and heather. The Grayling sits still and you only see them as they fly up as you get close. They then will fly around but pretty much return to the same spot. As I made my way across the area that is exactly what happened, I flushed a Grayling, it flew around and then settled back from where it came.
The Grayling is one of our largest brown butterflies and a
master of disguise - its cryptic colouring helps to camouflage it against bare
earth and stones in its coastal habitats and on inland heathlands.
This butterfly, the largest of our 'browns', is a master of
disguise - although fairly conspicuous when in flight, it can mysteriously
disappear as soon as it lands, perfectly camouflaged against a background of
bare earth and stones, always resting with its wings closed. When it first
lands, and when disturbed, the butterfly will raise its forewings for a second
or so, revealing dark eye spots that stand out against a beautiful spectrum of
browns.
It also has a curious technique for regulating body
temperature by leaning its wings at different angles to the sun.
In flight this is a, large butterfly with a
looping and gliding flight, that is very distinctive and very different from any
other UK butterfly. During flight the
paler bands on the upper wings are visible. But it is on the ground where this butterfly is able to almost completely disappear
I chased the Grayling around for awhile hoping to try and get an open wing shot, but they were not playing the game. I counted at least 12 individuals in a small area so it would seem to be a good year for a butterfly I haven't seen for a few years, mainly due to the fact that they are normally to be on the wing when I am away on holiday.
Leaving the Grayling I made my way back to the car, I found a couple of Small Copper, and in the rough grass area an Essex Skipper but the picture was very blurred for some reason. I had one more site to visit, again in the hope of finding another butterfly year tick. I set off for Old Winchester Hill, with skies now turning blue. As I drove up the hill towards the car park I was concerned by the number of cars parked along the road side. But as I turned into the car park there was a space available. I am noticing in these strange days that many of these local beauty spots are being over run with visitors, some who appreciate the environment, and a lot who have no idea what to do.
From the car park I set out along the main path towards the fort. Almost immediately I came across a Chalkhill Blue the target butterfly here. As its name suggests, the Chalkhill Blue is found on chalk down
land, although limestone down land is also used. The adult butterfly is
most-often seen in bright sunshine, where the ground may appear to shimmer with
the activity of hundreds, if not thousands, of males searching for a mate just
a few inches above the ground. There were many about today, but as they have just started to emerge, not the hundreds that can be witnessed as the season progresses
The sexes are strongly dimorphic; the males being a pale sky
blue, and the females being a chocolate brown. The adults use a variety of
nectar sources, and the males will also visit, often in some numbers, moist
earth or animal droppings to gather salts and minerals.
The distribution of this butterfly follows the distribution
of Horseshoe Vetch which, in turn, follows the distribution of chalk and
limestone grassland. This species is therefore restricted to England, south
east of a line running from West Gloucestershire in the west and Cambridgeshire in
the east. This species is absent from most of central England, northern
England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.
Marbled Whites were also present in good numbers and Is stopped to try and photograph one as it settled on a scabius flower, but as I moved in my attention was taken away by something larger and brown hanging from a grass stem.
I could see immediately it was a moth and my first thought was Fox Moth, but then I noticed the white dot and thought Vapourer but it seemed a lot bigger than the Vapourers I had seen previously. So I took some photographs as it dangled from the stem.
When I got home I looked it up and realised that the dots were in the wrong place for Vapourer, checking through a book of day flying moths I realised it was an Oak Eggar.
The Oak Eggar, despite its name, does not feed on Oak, but
is so-called because the shape of its cocoon is acorn-like. The food plants are
mainly heather and bilberry, but also include bramble, Sallows, broom, sloe,
hawthorn and hazel.
The red-brown males fly during the day, especially in
sunshine, whereas the larger, paler females are nocturnal and can be attracted
to light.
Butterflies were everywhere along the main path, Small, Large and Green-veined Whites, Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers. On the bramble there were several Peacock and with one Peacock was a Small Tortoiseshell, the number of different butterfly species seen in the day was slowly heading towards the record day count I have managed.
On reaching the fort there were many Chalkhill Blues about, this one settling on the ground, but still not showing the lovely sky blue upper wing.
I walked down the slope scattering many more, but not finding any that would settle let alone show the upper wing! A small butterfly settled and did show its upper wing, a Brown Argus, another addition to the day list.
I made my way along the ditch or moat that runs along the bottom of the fort slopes. The grass here was long and had thistle, wild carrot and scabious growing, Marbled Whites wound their way through the grass stems and in one place I came across a pair mating, while other males were trying to get in on the act.
How many Marbled Whites? answer at the end of the post!
Another Brown Argus appeared.
And finally a couple of Chalkhill Blues settled on the wild carrot.
I was able to get in close for a head on view of this delightful blue butterfly
The Chalkhill was then joined by a Common Blue and you can see the difference in the blue.
A little further along I thought I had found a Painted lady but as I got closer I could see that the powerfully flying butterfly was in fact a Dark Green Fritillary, can you be disappointed with a Dark Green Fritillary?
I climbed the slope from the moat up to the fort where the view away to the south was as spectacular as ever.
Walking around the path at the top of the fort there were wild flowers everywhere and within the flowers many, many butterflies. Small and Large Whites, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers and Marbled Whites rose up out of the grass, it was a wonderful sight to see. The Marbled Whites are beginning to look a little worn.
Once again I thought I had found a Painted Lady and once again it turned out to be a very worn, pale and probably female Dark Green Fritillary.
On the path a Chalkhill Blue settled on the path in front of me and finally showed a little more of the lovely sky blue upper wing.
I then decided to take a path that leads around the slope of the hill and avoids the walk back along the main path. The slope reminded me of walking in the Alps around La Brigue in France, then we had walked a similar path and scattered butterflies as we did so. It was much the same here, Chalkhill Blues, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and several Brimstone seemed to everywhere.
And then another butterfly to add to the day list, a Comma.
Coming back to the main path the grasses hid many more flowers within them, like this ragwort.
On reaching the car park i couldn't resist this Comma settled on the bramble leaves with a lovely dark background once again.
Today had been about looking to get back to the birds, I love butterflies during the doldrum birding months of summer, but the birds are my main love. This morning there were some signs that things were changing, one or two migrants about but its early days. I managed 3 butterfly year ticks today, with the Grayling being seen for the first time in several years. In total I managed a butterfly day list of 25, and with a little more searching especially in the New Forest that could have been more, so all in all a successful day.
There were 5 Marbled Whites
