Day Out in Norfolk

After the troubles yesterday I was glad to get out today with Colin. With the first hints of autumnal drift migrants appearing on the east coast we decided to go up to Norfolk and see what happens.
A fairly uneventful drive saw us get to Titchwell at 0930, and surprisingly a fairly empty car park. Plenty of Chiffs and Blackcaps calling as we unpacked and walked through the wood to the centre. Had a chat with the guys working there but there was no real news on what was about-Ray was out but had not reported back. One thing we were promised was Spotted Redshank, impossible to miss they said-and bet us we would not fail. They refused to pay up when we got back.
The large pool on the Thornham side has been drained for months now, despite the vast expanse of mud there were no waders on it. However the fresh marsh was full of them. Plenty of Avocets of course, some Black Tailed Godwits, Lapwing, Golden Plover and Redshank, hoards of Ruff and Dunlin (all sizes and bill lengths), a few Ringed Plover and Snipe and brief views of a Common Sandpiper. A few Swifts and Swallows went through, and there seemed to be a lot of Wagtails flying around-mainly Pied but two adult and two juvenile Yellow Wagtails was  nice to see.
Lots more waders on the beach, Bar Tailed Godwits, Curlew, Sanderling etc as well as a sleeping Common Scoter. The sea was a bit quiet despite the north westerly breeze and clear air. Gannets feeding well offshore, a few Sandwich and Common Terns, and not for the first time a Marsh harrier (juvenile) about half a mile out heading west. Not sure why they fly offshore and this one came unstuck off Holme when it was attacked by an Arctic Skua.
On the way back we stopped off at Parrinder Hide for a bit to scan the fresh marsh from a different angle. A sleeping Spoonbill is not unexpected at this time of year. Eventually I picked up a Wood Sandpiper. Hard to see as it remained close to the bank and out of view of most of the hide.
Pleased to see large numbers of Wall Browns on the way back now it had really warmed up. Used to be a regular garden visitor before they became extinct in Herts, now very much a coastal species for me.

After lunch we went to Burnham Overy where the Icterine Warbler was still being reported. Unfortunately Whinchat and Pied Flycatcher had apparently gone. It was a long walk out to the boardwalk in the hot sun, enlivened by more Wall Browns, and a  few Common Blues and Gatekeepers. Fennel seemed to be abundant on the banks but the blue of Larkspur was a surprise-I don't remember seeing it here before.
The Icterine put on a good show now and again, sometimes going missing for a bit. Not much else in the bushes, just a few Linnets and a juvenile Whitethroat. There were a few Grayling in the dunes here as well.

Amwell Waderfest

Having had some work done to the car earlier this week, and with a day off I went to Amwell this morning. Yesterday, in the rain, two Little Stints had been seen, but there was no sign this morning, however Turnstone had appeared.
When I go there it was dull damp and murky, with rather poor visibility and there was no sign of any waders apart from the usual Lapwing. A few Common Terns were still around, with one young bird on the raft still to fledge. A few hirundines were feeding low over the water, and three Swifts went through.
When Ron arrived, the Turnstone popped out from nowhere and dropped onto Terry's Island, but I missed it. Two suspected Common Sandpipers were glimpsed largely hidden by the purple Loosestrife and they eventually were confirmed when they emerged. The Turnstone finally flew off the island and dropped down in front of the view point where it was lost to view for some time.
Ron mentioned that the two Stints were still present and had been seen earlier by Phil. Took a long time as they were very elusive and hard to see on the mud-sometimes only movement gave them away. Ron had to go to work but Bill and Ade arrived, had excellent views of the Turnstone and got to see the Stints after I left.
I was intending to visit Sarah and Ed, but discovered that the car was still playing up, taking ages to start so it went straight back to the garage. Obviously the work they did based on the computer diagnostics had not been all that effective.

A rather poor iPhone digiscoped image of one of the Stints.

Redstart at Aston End

The car has been playing up over the last few weeks, with starting problems, usually after I have been out. Most of the time it is ok but on a couple of occasions it has really let me down and I have been stuck for a long time before it eventually gets going-then its perfect for maybe a week or two. Cant really trust it so I have only gone out when I really have to-hence no visits to Amwell or Deadman's Hill for some time.
With Colin otherwise engaged this weekend and being stuck locally I went over to Aston End this morning. As the birding was expected to be quiet I only took my short lenses for insects and landscapes. As it turned out I did not find anything inspirational and the butterflies etc were in rather short supply.
The walk through the plantation and down through Aston End did not produce anything apart from a few cheeps and tweets from young tits, crests and Robins. I stopped off near the water tower to admire the view, and the young Whitethroats and tried to puzzle out a call. Must have been the heat but it eventually dawned on me that there was a Bullfinch in the hedge-a female when it finally flew out.
The walk up to the Walkern-Watton road was uneventful with a few Gatekeepers and Whites being the only butterflies seen. I often stop off at the logs blocking the field entrances as they host an interesting collection of fungi.

Walking down to the river I was thinking as I usually do at this time of year about the less usual migrants I have found here-Redstarts being seen every two to three years (not bad considering I only walk round here once or twice a month), the occasional Wheatear and Spotted Flycatcher. Its been many years since a Turtle Dove was seen but I live in hope.
I got to the paddocks by the model aircraft club and noticed a bird flit out from the barbed wire-a female Redstart! It spent a lot of time hidden in a large Hawthorn, which also held a juvenile Bullfinch, three Lesser Whitethroats and a young Green Woodpecker. Overhead several Swallows were feeding. This little section of the river always seems to produce good birds, unfortunately the local Little Owls were not seen again, hopefully they are still around.
There were very few thistles on the way up to Chells Manor, so butterflies were less numerous than my last walk, though there were several Common Blues, a species that seems to be doing poorly at the moment. One fresh Brimstone on the  burdocks was photogenic.

Back home in the garden, I have had several peacocks today, plus Gatekeeper, Speckled Wood and Holly Blue. Also a few Large and Small Whites now that the Nasturtiums have got going.

Black Darter and Purple Emperor

After a few weeks break I arranged to go down to Surrey?Hampshire with  Colin today. The forecast of warm sunshine suggested that it would be worth visiting Thursley Common for the dragonflies.
We arrived at 0930 to find that it was a bit on the cool side with thin hazy cloud. A quick scan of the Moat pond revealed absolutely nothing apart from a moulting flock of Mallards, and a few calling tits crests and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. A few insects were active as we headed off to the south and we thought we saw one or two Black Darters along the sandy track but failed to pin them down. About the only things on the boardwalk were lizards, including many young ones. In the pines around Shrike Hill we heard a Redstart calling but the heath was pretty empty bird wise apart from a flock of Linnets and two hunting Hobbys.

The lack of activity was frustrating and we met a number of others in the same boat but around 1030 things started to improve with two Small Red damselflies, several Emeralds and the first of many Azure and Common Blue damsels. Larger species eventually came out, lots of Four Spotted Chasers, several Keeled Skimmers, an Emperor and a Southern Hawker. Probably saw Broad Bodied Chasers too, but the views were fleeting. Eventually darters were seen, Common being, well, common and a very nice male Black Darter posed very well.

Back near the car park a few butterflies were seen, mainly Gatekeepers and Graylings.

Although it was getting a bit late in the season, Purple Emperors are still being reported-a couple have been seen at Broxbourne recently and odd ones seem to be popping up in various places. Alice Holt was not far away and has had a very good reputation in the past so we went there after lunch. Straits Enclosure has been one of the best parts of the wood but we were concerned on meeting a local couple to find out that forestry work had cleared much of the favoured area and they had not seen an Emperor  for some time.. Silver Washed Fritillaries were seen frequently, along with Gatekeeper Purple Hairstreak and a fresh Brimstone. A family party of Spotted Flycatchers was a big bonus.
Shortly after we got to the look out tower, I noticed a butterfly flying inside a big Sallow. Initially I suspected a White Admiral but as it emerged it was clearly a big butterfly and once settled we could see it was a female Purple Emperor. As it was spending much of the time inside the Sallows flitting from branch to branch we assumed it was egg laying.

We were going to try for more butterflies on the Surrey heaths but cloud was gradually building up, as was the traffic around the M25 so we called it a day.

Butterflies

We had a lot of fun in Stevenage Thursday night/Friday morning with a fairly short thunderstorm and heavy rain. I had a lie in as usual and the local radio was reporting serious flooding in the Roebuck area and elsewhere with a van stuck under the railway bridge on Old Knebworth Lane. Judging by some of the containers in the garden we had about an inch of rain and it did not seem to be all that bad driving into work, with just a few puddles and standing water  in some of the underpasses, so it did seem to be rather localised and some areas got off lightly. Having got into work quite late I missed the mopping up operation-apparently water was bubbling up from under the floor (well Stevenage is built on springs) and rain had brought down part of the ceiling in one of the areas round the back. Heard that the van was removed from the bridge around noon, and less than an hour later some dick in another van ignored the warning signs and guess what happened next.

Saturday morning was spent at Amwell. Its been a few weeks since I have been down and I was not expecting much. Apparently there is a Black Bellied whistling Duck around-its rather quiet otherwise with moulting ducks some Lapwings and a few juvenile gulls around. William was the only one present when I got there and we spent most of the morning bug hunting.
According to Barry Small Red Eyed Damselflies are on Tumbling Bay, but we only managed to locate a couple of Red yes, Common Blues and Blue Tails. The only large dragonfly was a Black Tailed Skimmer though on our return we saw a number of Emperors. The Norfolk Hawker has not been reported for a few days now but may still be around though its getting a bit late for them. The Hollycross area was full of blue damselflies in the grass, with a couple of Emperors and Brown Hawkers. Meadow Browns and Skippers were abundant with reasonable numbers of all three whites, a Marbled White and my first Small Copper of the year. We had a quick search for Scarce Chaser and Willow Emeralds but I suspect we are too late for the former and too early for the latter.

Today I went for a walk around Aston End and along the Beane. We had some light rain overnight and it was a bit windy at times but it eventually warmed up and butterflies came out.
Rather pleased with the number of Greenfinches, Yellowhammers and Linnets seen and heard as they do seem to be increasing. However there was no sign of any Corn Buntings-last years birds presumably a one off.
Huge numbers of Large Whites everywhere, and Meadow Browns were just about as abundant as were Skippers once I had reached some Thistle patches. Smaller numbers but still several tens of Small Whites, Green Veined Whites and Gatekeepers, with ten plus Comma, Small Tortoiseshell and Ringlets. Two Marbled Whites were a bit of a disappointment as was the  one Common Blue but two Brown Argus was a bonus-another species I have hardly seen this year. The wind made photography a bit of a gamble and mostly it was landscapes but I got a couple of butterflies.

Hertford Heath Emeralds

One of the things I had intended to do yesterday was visit Hertford Heath, as a number of Scarce Emerald Damselflies had been present-Hertfordshire's first since the late 50's. As Colin wasn't to bothered about a long trip out today he popped over and took me down.
Even at 0900 it was getting rather hot and it was not long before butterflies and dragonflies were being seen. We found a small marshy pool on the west side that still held some water, and we spent a bit of time here. Ruddy Darters seemed to be the most abundant species here, outnumbering the Common Darters with lots of Azure Damsels, a few Large Reds, one Blue Tail, two Emperors and a Black Tailed Skimmer. i and a bit of a problem with the Emeralds Damselflies here, with two or three males seen and a brief view of a large robust female. Colin's best photo showed an Emerald Damselfly, but the few decent shots I got here were of a Scarce Emerald.
Few birds noted, as it is a quiet time of year but a Nuthatch was vocal and six Siskins flew over.
W carried on into Balls Wood targeting butterflies. We already had large numbers of Large and Small Skippers (only checked a few to confirm Essex Skippers), Ringlets, Meadow Browns, some Large Small and Green Veined Whites, Commas, Small Tortoiseshells and a single Holly Blue. A walk around the northern part of the wood produced more of the same, plus one Purple Hairstreak, a few Silver Washed Fritillaries and two White Admirals.
We returned to the heath and spent some time on the old brick ponds. These seemed to be the Emerald stronghold as they were everywhere. Here there were plenty of Emeralds and one pair of Scarce Emeralds posed for us. I cannot say for certain how many Scarce Emeralds were on the reserve but six males and three females is a conservative minimum.

Friday Off

Took the day off today. Had lots of plans with visits to several sites, but woke up with a headache and  a bad stomach so just went out for a couple of hours.
As seems to be usual these days, Harriers have been reported between Baldock and Royston intermittently this Summer. One eventually got pinned down-a ringtail Montagues near wallington at the old Quail site and has appeared on and off in the area all week. To add to the fun, a male Hen Harrier has been seen on a couple of occasions. Neither has been seen since Wednesday, but in this vast area birds have a habit of vanishing for long periods.
I got there just after 0900, with only a couple of dog walkers for company, but eventually Tony Wileman, one of the Tring birders and a few others appeared (one had spent eight hours earlier in the week without a view). Probably half a dozen Corn Buntings were singing as I arrived, along with large numbers of Skylarks, and on the way up I had encountered lots of Linnets and Yellowhammers as well, so small birds seem to be doing well up here.
First decent sighting was the Battle of Britain flight heading down to London-five Spitfires and a Hurricane flew over around 0930. Next decent sighting, and a bit of an odd one were two Sand Martins heading west.
I stuck it out until noon, as did Tony, but although we had plenty of Red Kites, Buzzards and Kestrels there were not sign of any other birds of prey, however in the heat haze anything more than half a mile away would be largely unidentifiable blobs. The guy who had the eight hour wait had been round the other usual spots-Deadmans Hill, Coombe Road etc and had not seen anything of note.
Be interesting to see if any further repots crop up from the regulars, or if the birds get refound, perhaps at Therfield or maybe the Ashwell area -lots of good habitat to lose a harrier in in the remoter parts of Herts and neighbouring counties.