You can hear them singing from within the middle of the reeds or bush, but rarely get to see them so clear in the open, it was areal treat to watch this bird sing the full repertoire, then burst into the sky, parachute down and start all over again.
We walked on scanning the sky and tree tops probably more in hope than expectation, crossing from the canal to the path to the screens there were more Sedge Warblers, this one probably agitated due to a nest close by.
At the gate a Green-veined White was nectaring on the bramble flowers that were now in full sunshine.
On both sides of the path the reeds were blowing well in the strong wind, and in places there were many grass stems that were moving delicately in the wind, contrasting against the black background. This called again for a study in black and white.
At the viewing screens it was the usual scene, Mallard, Greylag Geese, one or two Gadwall, Coot and a Tufted duck with a single duckling. Above House Martins swooped down over the water, while a Cetti's Warble hammered out its song from the bushes close by.
Ian picked up a male Marsh Harrier over the reeds a the back of the open water and a woodpigeon created a mild panic as it tried to look like a Hobby as it leaned into the wind on a dead tree. We turned back and retraced the walk to the main path. At the gate by the canal path a male Blackcap sang while the female was taking blackberries from the bramble along the base of a hawthorn bush.
The Sedge Warbler was still singing when we reached the viewing area, so stopped for some more photograph opportunities.
Its song is a noisy, rambling warble compared to the more rhythmic song of the reed warbler, interspersed with squeaks and whistles. A great mimic, the male sedge warbler introduces random phrases into its repertoire, never singing the same song twice; he attracts more mates the more phrases his song has. At this time of year this bird was either missing out or just trying to start all over again
Once again it was a general feeling of disappointment at visiting Fishlake, for some it produces fly overs and great experiences, for us it is extremely frustrating, no Osprey, no Hobby. I suppose we could have stayed but with only limited opportunity to get out during the week we wanted to move on. It was then with unmentionable frustration that we found out later that 30 minutes after we left the Osprey turned up over the meadows to the north of the reserve.
We were off again to search for that other frustrating species, the Purple Emperor. This time we were going to try a new spot, somewhere we hadn't visited before, West Wood which is part of Farley Mount Country Park just outside Winchester. The route took us along country lanes of which a feature was the number of white butterflies around the bramble bushes by the side of the road.
After a false start we parked and headed through a small meadow alongside the car park. The meadow was full of low bramble, pyramidal orchids and meadowsweet. There were plenty of Small White butterflies.
This visit was all about the butterflies and there were many about, Dark Green Fritillaries buzzed around the meadow, not stopping and both Large and Small Whites flew along the rides on either side of us. Red Admiral were also about. Our first Silver-washed Fritillary was settled in a bramble.
Red Admiral were to be a feature of the day with so many passing us or being disturbed from the main paths such as this one.
We turned off the main path and headed down a ride where were reliably informed was a good spot for Purple Emperor. There certainly was a lot of oak and sallow trees and scanning the oak I managed to pick up a Purple Hairstreak buzzing around the leaves. Lower dow there were more Silver-washed Fritillaries to keep our focus.
And my first Gatekeeper of the year.
Both skippers were also about, this one the Small Skipper.
While the slightly larger Large Skipper posed head on.
One of the most numerous was the Ringlet. They could be seen dancing among the grass stems with their bobbing flight so reminiscent of a fairy or woodland nymph. Some though were settled with wings open to take in the radiation while the clouds obscured the sun.
Our search for the elusive Purple Emperor was once again proving to be fruitless, both Ian and I have limited patience in these matters, we gave it our best but after so much leaf gazing we decided to head to another "favourite spot".
This spot was a clearing where four paths met, on either side tall oaks with sallow below and beneath them flowering bramble and a buddleia, which was an amazing attraction to a lot of butterflies. Peacocks at first but they then disappeared to be replaced by what we though at first was another Silver-washed but was in fact a female Dark Green Fritillary.
As well as the bramble there were flowering thistles that were as much an attraction as the bramble and buddleia. A Large Skipper.
While here a Small Skipper
And several Large White, which are not always the easiest to catch up with
As well as the muted green backgrounds there was also the opportunity for the lovely black backgrounds that show off the oranges of the fritillaries and this Comma.
At this time of year it is all about the butterflies, and unfortunately here in the United Kingdom we have a limited number of species so we have to make do with enjoying the ones we have which does mean repetition over the weeks of mid summer, the larger species of the fritillaries and and the admirals and hopefully emperor turning up in these blogs over several weeks. This means there is little else to say about them other than where they were as I have already described anything of interest and probably do this year after year!
Tis year though has been good for Dark Green Fritillaries, and this species was probably the unexpected species to be found here today..It like the buddleia.
Here showing the lovely green wash on the under wing that gives the butterfly its name
Here on the more expected thistle flowers
The Silver-washed too, are hard to resist, their time is limited so you need to make the most of them.
Another butterfly that I have seen a lot of this year has been the Small Tortoiseshell. Did the mild winter mean that more were able to over winter successfully or were numbers boosted by a good late autumn. Hard to say but there have been plenty about this year and it was no surprise to find one today.
The whole area was alive with many butterflies, I don't recall having seen so many in one spot here in the UK, it was like an area in the Dolomites we came across when visiting there a few years ago.
Here a different view of a Red Admiral.
We decided to walk a loop and took a wooded path that came out onto a wider ride lined with tall thistles, which again was full of butterflies. Another Gatekeeper.
As its English names suggest, the Gatekeeper (also known as the Hedge Brown) is often encountered where clumps of flowers grow in gateways and along hedgerows and field edges. It is often seen together with the Meadow Brown and Ringlet, from which it is easily distinguished when basking or nectaring with open wings.
The colour and patterning of the wings are very variable and about a dozen aberrations have been named. Favourite nectar sources include Wild Marjoram, Common Fleabane, ragworts, and Bramble.
Close to the Gatekeeper was this Ladybird and I couldn't resist the scene.
Tall thistles were on either side of the ride but it was those on the southern side that were of interest, they had the sun behind them and this provided some interesting opportunity to take advantage of the light. This male Brimstone looking almost transparent.
The grasses providing another black and white opportunity, almost stencil like.
The path took us back to the first Purple Emperor sight and this time we has a bit of luck, a male quartering between the oaks and conifers high up, but then disappeared and was not to be seen again. As we waited there was again something to keep us occupied. A Longhorn Beetle.
Marbled Whites.
A Green-veined White
Once again we gave up and headed back to the cars for a drink, on the way we stopped for another Dark Green Fritillary
A Beautiful Demoiselle, miles away from any fast flowing water.
And finally another Comma with the perfect background
On the way back we also were treated to the love dance of the Silver-washed Fritillaries which involves the male looping over the females as they all fly along, the male at one point having to fly backwards, graceful and beautiful to watch.
After a drink we headed back to try once more, we may not stay in one place for too long but we will give it a good go as long as we are moving. A Hornet was hunting by darting into the flower heads in hope of disturbing something.
We returned to the spot where we saw the only Purple Emperor earlier, but had to make do with this Small Skipper
We gave up again and walked the ride with the thistles had had another Brimstone
And a Large White
Rather than turn off we continued down the ride and were rewarded with a sighting of a GardenTiger, a day flying moth that in flight shows off the red lower wings to electrifying effect. Unfortunately settled it didn't show the red wings.
The final butterfly of the day was this Small Skipper showing off the length of its proboscis
Another great butterfly day with 21 species seen, but it always feels we have missed something when once again the Purple Emperor experience did not come to fruition, flying around is OK and shows off the powerful flying ability of the butterfly, but the time is right for a grounded experience and it looks like it is not going to be this year again. We also missed the Osprey....again!
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