7th August - Old Winchester Hill and Farlington Marshes, Hampshire

The weekend was a wash out with high winds and heavy rain on Saturday and showers through the afternoon on the Sunday.  But these days inclement weather is not the frustration it used to be, so Monday morning I was up and heading to Old Winchester Hill, at first through a thick mist but as I headed up the road towards the reserve car park the skies cleared and the sun was out, looking out across the valley the mist hung along the river.

There was some activity in the bushes around the car park, a Blackcap's "tack" alarm call could be heard and where the sun was catching the hawthorn bushes a pair of Marsh Tits were preening.

Over the years I have seen reports of migrants arriving in the bushes here at the hill both in autumn and spring, but I have never been able to witness it.  Unable to go out during the week and a weekend visit seemed a waste of some of the better sites, I have never been able to witness it.

Today was perfect, the conditions were those you get once a significant front has passed, almost autumnal you could see for miles.  The sun was just beginning to climb enough in the sky to illuminate the tops of the bushes and the paths.

What wind there was came from the north west, ideal conditions for migrants to drop in.  As I left the car park I could see clearly the hill fort in the distance.

As I walked along the top path I could hear the calls of Willow Warblers.  I stopped to watch one zipping about amongst the fennel picking off spiders and insects, calling all the time.  Most of the top path was still in the shade, but as I reached the turn where the main path leads to the Hill Fort, the bushes were in the shade and there was plenty of activity.

A Blackcap sitting in a warm spot and preening.

A family party of Long-tailed Tits moving through the bushes, stopping every so often to preen in the sunshine.

It seemed that there were Willow Warblers everywhere, moving through the bushes, fly catching and dropping to drink from the puddles on the path.

Walking along the path in amongst the yew and hawthorn I counted at least 38 Willow Warblers, clearly autumn migration has started.

There were good numbers of Blackcaps too, I counted 15.

Various ages of Whitethroat too, in total 12, but these may also include resident birds that have nested here.

Taking in the morning sunshine.

A juvenile bird in amongst the yew.

These had definitely been resident here this summer.  There were four juveniles being fed by the adults.

The adult with a juvenile.

Three of the four juveniles.

A surprise was a Garden Warbler, apparently a rare bird here on the downs.

I also had a Tree Pipit on the fence but the light was so poor there was not a photo good enough to even be a record shot.

With the sun warming things up the butterflies were emerging and of course there were Red Admirals.

The views all around were also quite spectacular, both in colour and in black and white.

On reaching the Hill Fort I decided to go against tradition and instead of following the walk clockwise around the wall I headed anti clockwise.  A Yellowhammer was calling from the top of a bush.  It had a cricket in its bill, a sizeable meal for its young hidden away somewhere close.  I was able to position myself so I could achieve a dark background to help contrast the bird.

The good numbers of warblers about had me hoping I would also find some other migrants.  As I approached the group of Ash trees I saw a Spotted Flycatcher at the top of a branch.  This seems to be a regular spot for these birds at this time of year.

There were in fact two birds present and as they moved about they became at eye level which allowed me to pick the background I wanted.  In this case a buffy brown background.

Here in amongst the ash.

The two birds together.

With a dark background.

At the top of the Ash.

One then flew off, heading over the fort, shortly after the other bird went after it, they joined up and circled around before heading off south across the fort and in the direction of the Isle of Wight.

The slope on the north side of the fort was covered in wild flowers, daisies, scabious, knapweed, ragwort and wild carrot.

And with the wild flowers and the sun came the butterflies.

A Common Blue.

A Six Spot Burnet on Scabious

On a report of Wheatear I headed across the top of the fort, something I have not done before, passing the three tumuli and catching a glimpse of the Wheatear as they flew past me.  I came back once again along the south slope of the fort and was pleased to find this female Marbled White.

And then the blue butterfly that is abundant at this time of year on the chalk downs, the Chalk Hill Blue.

Over the past few years I have always come across this butterfly at the end of its flight season and they always look a little worn and washed out.  Today they were looking splendid.

I had also hoped for a Dark-green Fritillary and one appeared in the grasses, but it was showing a lot of wear and tear.

A surprise was a Holly Blue in and around the scrub on the slope.  This one was a female

The view from the Hill Fort looking south, emphasising the clear skies

I decided to cross the centre of the fort to look for the Wheatear once again.  Scanning across the area I found one sitting on the trig point.

I edged closer.

It then flew to the bushes.

And then flew off and out of sight.

So it was back to the butterflies.  I headed down the slope with clouds of butterflies around me, mostly Chalk Hill Blues there were also gatekeepers, Small and Large Whites and by now there were Brimstones emerging.

 A Large White.

Some of the many Chalk Hill Blues.

A female Chalk Hill Blue.

The view from the bottom of the south slope.

Heading back up the slope to the fort I came across this pair of Chalk Hills mating.

A black and white view looking south.

I headed around the fort in a clockwise direction once again.  A view of the flowers in the moat.

Another Six Spot Burnet on a scabious flower head.

Another Large White.

Looking east from the end of the fort towards Beacon Hill.

The shadows cast by the many bushes on the slopes of the reserve.  I was about to traverse the slope and then head down into the copse at the bottom

A mating pair of Gatekeeper.

A black and white view of Beacon Hill.

The path that traverses the slope was almost all in the shade and there were very few butterflies, but as I came to the end the sun was back and there was a lot of activity with Red Admirals and Peacocks.

I headed down the slope and was amazed at the density of wild flowers and with them the number of butterflies.

A Brown Argus zipped past me and settled in the grass, this took the days total to 15 species.

A little further on a very welcome but worn Painted Lady, it now stood at 16 species

At the gate to enter the copse another welcome sight was a Silver-washed Fritillary, again slightly worn but I was now on 17 species.

A Speckled Wood in the dappled light areas of the copse took me to 18 species.  There were also quite a few Brimstone about, nectaring on the thistles.

A little further into the wood I could hear Wrens making a lot of noise, they were alarm calls and there was clearly a family group that was concerned about something close by.  I saw movement, a long body and quickly moved to get a clearer view when this head popped up from underneath the fallen tree branches.

I carefully edged a little closer and thankfully the little weasel didn't move but just appeared to look at me.

A very cute looking animal but don't forget this is a ferocious killer and can tackle animals the same and bigger than itself, no wonder the Wrens were concerned.

The last clear view I had of a weasel was in the Grand Teton in USA, so I was really pleased with tis little portfolio.

Coming out of the wood another Brown Argus.

While three Ravens "kronked" overhead.

A nice close up of a Six Spot Burnet on Hemp Acrimony.

And at the bottom of the slope a Small Heath.

I spent some time looking for Silver-spotted Skipper a specialty of the area.  But I couldn't find any at all in all the usual spots, it may be a little early for them here, Old Winchester Hill seems to have them emerging later thn some of the other recognised sites.

The Small Heath had taken me to 19 species for the day and back at the car park a Comma on bramble made it 20.  After lunch I decided to head off to Farlington Marshes where there had been some early migrant waders.

First stop was at the lake where an adult Curlew Sandpiper had been reported.  The tide was low but there were a few waders feeding but not the one I had hoped for.  Some of the Black-tailed Godwits were showing some of their reddish brown summer plumage.

With it being low tide I was banking on the sandpiper returning as the tide rose, so I decided to walk around to the deeps where two Little Stint had been reported that morning.

Across the marsh there were large flocks of Starlings and they would gather on the ground before exploding all as one into the air with a whirr of wings and squeaks from the birds themselves.

Arriving at the Deeps a birder informed me had just been watching the Little Stints, but had just lost them as he attempted to take a photograph.  Searching the pools there was no sign of them and all I had for compensation was this Little Ringed Plover.

The birder had moved on but he came back to tell me he had just seen them on one of the pools more in the centre of the marsh.  I walked back with him, scanned the pool but they were gone once again.

I decided to wait to see if they did return.  Out in the harbour there were a pair of Peregrine sitting on the mud of one of the islands.  Either both juvenile birds of adult and youngster, they took part in a little sparring before settling down on to the mud once again.

By now I had given up on the Little Stints and set off to go back to the lake.  A very tatty Painted Lady flew past me and as I crossed the marsh alongside the stream a flock of 19 Greenshank flew over heading for the Lake.

At the lake I settled down out of the breeze on the bank and scanned the waders present.  With the tide now well up there was a lot more activity.  The abundant waders are the Redshank and Black-tailed Godwits, but in amongst them were the Greenshank seen earlier and several Dunlin.  It took a while but I finally managed to pin the Curlew Sandpiper down

Whilst it did not have the brick red summer plumage it still had the pinkish tinge on the head and neck and supercillium stood out very clearly.  At least I had managed one of the target year ticks.

I could have walked back to the Deeps but decided I had had enough and set off back to the car park, feeling quite weary from all the walking.  It had been a wonderful morning up on the downs with the Warblers first and then the butterflies.  The afternoon in contrast had been a bit of a let down, but it was good to get Curlew Sandpiper early in the season