Jubilee Week

 I was really looking forward to the long Bank Holiday and was expecting to be busy every day, either in the garden or out birding, with perhaps a long day out.

Didn't quite work out like that, and I ended up with the entire week off. Mum had a fever, and then a bad fall on the Saturday, badly hurting her leg (the good one) and was no longer able to get up, let alone stand. So I phoned 999 and was told that an ambulance would be with us within 14 hours..... Not good to hear, and she was in great pain and getting very cold so I tried to move her and ended up in a lot of pain myself-Ive still got shoulder problems from my fall earlier this year and ended up straining my back and arms . Fortunately the ambulance arrived very quickly and after assessing her she spent the rest of the weekend resting. By the time a GP called to check up on Monday she was back on her feet albeit rather bruised and the fever had subsided.

I had a bit of a temperature and a cough as well-tested negative for Covid, and was extremely tired but put that down to stress and my Addisons. Wasn't able to do much for a few days but by Wednesday I was moving around and managed and hour or so in the garden. This was fortunate as there was a really big mega in the country.

The first twitchable Eleanora's Falcon had turned up in Kent and had been seen reliably near Sandwich from the Friday, so naturally I was expecting to be there over the weekend. I called Colin once Mum was settled and told him I couldn't make it so he went down on the Sunday and got decent views, and very close views of a female Red Footed Falcon (one of two on site). Luckily for me, having checked each day and seen hundreds of stunning images being posted, it was still present on Wednesday so I called Colin and he was up for a return visit Thursday.

A decent run with light traffic saw us arrive not long after 0800 and a half full car park. It was a bit of a long slow trudge up to the raised bank and I could see the crowd ahead of me with a blob in a hawthorn by the path. Showing well to put it mildly. After a while the Eleanora's took flight and went low below the bank where I lost it, and then it was found in another hawthorn even closer, having caught what appeared to be an emperor dragonfly. Cue the machine gun sounds of lots of cameras. After digesting the emperor it decided to fly again just as I was getting the camera set up for flight shots which was typical, so I decided to wander down the track, watched the hunting Hobbys (3) and a very distant very pale headed female Red Footed Falcon. Didn't see a Kestrel all day!

The slow amble back was productive. I had hoped to see some dragonflies, in the ditches but the only ones were distant, being pursued by falcons. Talking of which the Eleanora's was now hunting over one of the larger bodies of water, looking like a super sized and more robust Hobby. Very impressive when it was high overhead, with slower heavier wing beats. We did miss a Golden Oriole that was seen on a couple of occasions, and a Honey Buzzard was seen in the afternoon.

We left late morning and headed up to a secret site and another lifer. Colin and I had tried on a couple of occasions in recent years to locate Late Spider Orchids at one of their known Kent locations. Unfortunately despite directions and misunderstandings we never found the right location. Since then I had been given grid refs to two spots. Unfortunately the Folkstone site was raided a few weeks back and all the orchids were stolen so I was keeping my fingers crossed when we got to the finally reached our destination-not helped by trying to navigate with a mobile and very poor to non existent reception. It was a relief to walk up the steep slope and see the cages ahead of us, where we spent twenty minutes or so appreciating the massive variation in the flowers. 

I was really flagging by now but we decided to pay a visit to Park Gate Down, where we were able to see a few more orchids-Fragrant, Common Spotted, Twayblade, a few potential emergent Pyramidal, a couple of almost over Early Purples, lots of the sites speciality Monkey Orchid, and the very magnificent huge Lady all on its own in the middle of a meadow, plus several Greater Butterflies. All in all a fine end to the day out.

 

May

 Here is a summary of May's activities.

On the 1st, being a bank holiday weekend, Colin and I decided to avoid the coast, and. stay fairly local. As  with previous years we headed up to Paxton, but based on last years experience went directly to the northern section of Diddington pits. The pits themselves weren't particularly exciting though there were a few Common Terns and Sand Martins feeding overhead, along with a few Swallows. The Nightingales were not playing ball this year, and while we heard four, all were well hidden. We also only managed to hear one Grasshopper Warbler, but there were good numbers of Willow, Chiffchaff, Garden, Blackcap and both Whitethroats, and Reed and Sedge Warblers. No Cuckoo or Hobby though.

We then went up to Bluntisham's Berry Fen. The lay-by was pretty good with one Great White, Six Cattle and most of the twenty Little Egrets that we saw around the Fen. There were a few Grey Herons but not being a brilliant white they were a bit trickier to find. We had hoped to see the female Blue Winged Teal that had been present for some time but, if it was present it was well hidden. The drake Garganey it was associating with was a bit easier and showed quite well.

On the way back home, we called in at Hitchin Lavender where after some searching with Mike Illett the female Ring Ouzel was eventually located. There were also two Wheatear and decent numbers of Swallows.

Our next big trip out was to Hampshire with a variety of sites planned.

The New Forest was the first area. Our normal spots proved to be a bit problematic as the car parks were  closed for the summer, but I had a couple of other areas in mind that seemed worthwhile following some reading, and fortunately access wasn't a problem. 

Knightwood Oak is a section of mixed woodland and open areas. We parked in the Woosens car park, and I had expected to head north. The steep path down was very muddy with a lot of boggy areas at the bottom, so we headed south west instead, but still managed to find a very wet area to negotiate. A family of Stonechat in one of the open birch areas was nice, as was the singing Tree Pipit. We then found an area of mixed conifers and birch. Crests were present, and while most were Goldcrest, one Firecrest was also heard. At one point it was above my head in a birch but couldn't be seen let alone photographed, and we only got flight views as it headed away from us.

Further north at Bolderwood, a circuit north east of our car park was worthwhile. A female Redstart showed quite well by the car park. Further on, we encountered a rather deep stream to cross and then entered a conifer and clear-fell area. Here we found another Tree Pipit, and while Colin carried on I lingered for a while which was fortunate as I heard a singing Wood Warbler and then had close views of a male Crossbill gathering food in the pipit tree. After rejoining Colin there was another flyby Crossbill and a few Siskins before we reached the car.

Our final destination was Martin Down. Butterflies were abundant as expected with hoards of Small Blues everywhere and large numbers of Common Blues, some Adonis Blues and Dingy Skippers. Small Heath were everywhere, but Colin got the only brief glimpse of Marsh Fritillary. A few Greater Butterfly Orchids were seen at the south end of the dyke, but the Burnt orchids were rather poor this year.

Birds were as expected, lots of Skylark, Whitethroat and Yellowhammer. One very distant calling Cuckoo was my first of the year, but things like hirundines were virtually non existent. The avian highlight was actually back by the car while I was packing up and a Turtle Dove flew over at very close range. I haven't had such good views for a long time.