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.

Black Hairstreaks

Following the very successful Norfolk Hawker sightings at Amwell, I had high hopes for Sunday. We had pretty much decided to go down to the Oxford area and search for Black Hairstreaks. I had heard that there were large numbers at Bernwood Meadows about ten days earlier, with many reports coming in from the usual sites. The forecast seemed reasonable, with bright spells and maybe a shower around mid-day.
When Colin arrived it was very cloudy and looked like rain was on the way so we thought that it would be best to do a bit of birding at RSPB Otmoor, and visit the butterfly sites later in the day when it conditions should have been better. We hit rain on the M40 and it continued for several hours, not good. As Otmoor is one of the more regular sites these days for Turtle Doves it was pretty much the target species and although I had a very brief sighting while getting ready in the car park we failed to locate any in the rather damp depressing conditions. Lots of warblers singing-Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Willow, Sedge and Reed, plus Reed Buntings and various finches. Seems to be a good place for Bullfinch as I saw several here.
We headed off to the main hide, getting rather wet in the process and waited out the rain. Buntings and Linnets were feeding on the track outside, and a nice but rather damp Bullfinch posed in a bush.

After a while we returned to the car to try and dry out, having not really seen much at all. Looking at the rain radar it was clear that it would continue for some time so we went to Warburg to see some of the orchids.
The main rides are looking superb, with carpets of Pyramidal and Common Spotted Orchids contrasting with the yellows of trefoils, Agrimony, buttercups and St Johns Wort, and the whites of umbellifers. Took some time but eventually around 15 Greater Butterfly Orchids were found. Marbled Whites, Ringlets were abundant in the more open rides.

 No Helleborines, Birds Nests or Lesser Butterflies were seen, presumably that had gone over or got eaten. However after a very long search I managed to see a single Fly Orchid in the garden, having walked past the big yellow stick marking it several times.
As it was warming up, we returned to Otmoor,  as one of the wardens had told us that the roman road was a good spot for Black Hairstreaks with ten the previous weekend. Luckily it had dried out a bit by the time we got back and was pleased to hear several Turtle Doves purring around the car park. Rinlets and Meadow Browns were out, along with many damselflies and by the time we got to the big  Ash tree where the Brown Hairstreak was seen last year we had found a couple of small butterflies flitting around high in the trees. Eventually one came down and I got pretty good views, but getting images was a lot harder, and it did not help that a second Hairstreak was also present, leading to regular fights. In total I think we had three individuals, and eventually had long sustained views. The conclusion  we have come to is that Otmoor with the bonus of good birding (and maybe Bramton Wood near Peterborough) is a lot better for us than the traditional site of Whitecross Green which has always been very frustrating and difficult to work.

Norfolk Hawker at Amwell

Had a cryptic tweet from Darren Bast yesterday-two new dragonflies for Herts. Further information eventually emerged that another Scarce Chaser had been seen at Amwell, and a Norfolk Hawker, both at Tumbling Bay on Thursday. I couldn't get down in the evening but Barry had seen two oviposting with a third also present. More info here http://www.hnhs.org/view_news.php?id=106
The weather today was pretty good, though rather more cloud than I would have liked. Surprised to be on my own when I got there around 0930. After 45 minutes, all I managed to see were a few Emperors, plus the usual Azures, Common Blues and Red Eyes and a very fresh Common Darter,  plus a pair of Bullfinch so I went over to Hollycross. Here I met a local couple who had been here a while. We picked up a few Four Spots, Black tail Skimmer and Blue Tails as well as the species mentioned earlier. A few Meadow Browns, Small Whites and a Red Admiral were the only butterflies seen.
After a while we went back to Tumbling Bay where Beachy had staked out a spot, Ade and Tony Hukin arrived shortly after. There was a lot more activity, with many more Emperors, including one or two ovipositing. Four Spots were very active, and these caused a bit of confusion when Ade picked up one of the Norfolk Hawkers over the reeds. Probably two were present, but very mobile and although we got good views they were very brief, according to Ade they were following the same pattern as Friday flying predominantly along the narrow section of water just above the level of the reeds. They proved to be a bit elusive and hard to keep track of, and the only sustained views I got were of one hawking over the far western corner until it was driven off by an Emperor and a Four Spot. To add to the confusion Beachy and Ade picked up another hawker over the buddlejas-this turned out to be a Brown Hawker.
Tony Hukin found another very fresh Common Darter-with all the rare dragonflies turning up I was checking each one just in case one was a  Red Veined. Still need that for my Herts list. My first Comma for June did not stop unfortunately.
Around mid day, the cloud was building up so we all decided to call it a day, though Tony was intending to return if conditions improved.

Amwell Dragonflies

We decided not to travel yesterday, birding is a bit quiet, and the weather did not look good for butterflies etc so I spent a few hours at Amwell.
Arrived at the same time as Tony Hukin-he had been to see the Cretzschmar's Bunting on Bardsey along with Dave Beer so I got the full report on the trip. As I had not been down for a few weeks, and had not seen him for a month I had a long discussion with Phil about last week's Hampshire twitch twitch and other recent good birds. He went down for the Wheatear with William, and also picked up the Whimbrel. As with our experience, it seemed that there was some confusion at Pagham, with the Whimbrel being claimed to be on view in several places at once, though they did eventually have much better views than we did, with the bird feeding in front of them.
Wish the birding at Amwell was as good, but at this time of year with breeding in full swing, lots of birds are hidden away and silent. Huge numbers of Canada Geese at the moment, and the Black Headed Gulls have plenty of chicks. About the only birds in the reeds are the Reed Warblers which seem pretty active feeding their young-one or two were on view in one of the smaller sallows. About the best sight was the pair of Oystercatchers with one fledged chick on view.
I went down to Hollycross with Tony, Trevor et al. We were not really expecting to see a great deal as there was a lot of clouds, and a fairly brisk north-westerly. However we did manage to see a lot of damselflies-Azure, Common Blue, Blue Tailed and Red Eyed, several Four Spotted Chasers and Hairy's, and two Black Tailed Skimmers. Meadow Browns are out, and there were singles of  Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell and Common Blue, along with many day flying moths.

The Aviva Women's Tour 2015 Stage 4

Took a day off birding yesterday as the Aviva Women's Tour would effectively seal off most of North Herts during the day. As it turned out, unlike most major events e.g. last year's Tour de France, the road closures were rolling as the stages were somewhat smaller and with a smaller peleton and entourage. The stage set off from Waltham Cross and finished in Stevenage High Street, taking in some of the areas I know very well-Hoddesdon, Hertford, Cold Christmas, Furneaux Pelham, Barkway, Royston, Therfield Heath and the small villages running south from there into Stevenage. A challenging course with a very technical finish as it came in down Rectory Lane, past Alleyn's School, up Walkern road where the flamme rouge was sited, behind the High Street and then a very tight turn at the church to finish outside what used to be the Cromwell Hotel (can never remember it's current name).
Looking at the Stevenage section of the route I had considered a coupe of spots around Vardon Road and particularly the junction of Grace Way and Almond Hill-I thought that would be an excellent spot for photography with a very tight turn following a short straight, so I left at 1130 giving myself plenty  of time to get there and see what it was like on the day. The drizzle started after about twenty minutes, and I did not fancy hanging around Grace Way for an hour as there was no-one else around apart from an event car and a few signs. So I went into the Old Town thinking I might find a suitable spot. Walkern road looked good with the last k flamme rouge set up and I did consider setting up here but carried on to see what the High Street was like.
Amazing to see the transformation with the finish line gantry, the commentary boxes, presentation stage and all the other paraphernalia opposite. I took shelter under one of the cherry trees and decided to phone Sarah about my change of plans. A bit difficult with the load pa system blaring away but we managed to speak, but I had to stop briefly as the legendary dutch cyclist Marrianne Vos swerved past me on the pavement. I think she had just completed the course ahead of the race (she wasn't participating this year, and has been doing the commentary). Can't think of any other type of sporting event where major stars turning up in the crowd is not unusual. She later posed for photos with some of the fans.
I made my way to the finish line, and realised that there was a clear spot by the barrier right on the line. The gantry and it's support was in the way, but I had a pretty clear view of the road and all of the finish line so I stopped there and waited for the peleton to arrive. The commentary was pretty good over the pa, and knowing the roads in the area well I could visualise the race as it approached. After the last 'mountain' climb at Therfield Heath, the rain stared, leading to a few breaks and by the time they had got past Walkern and into Stevenage there were two riders with a small lead, but that did not last and they were all pretty much together as they approached the Old Town. However, the tight turns, wet roads meant that the last 2km was very challenging.
Where we were we were still relying on the commentary but the as they reached the turn into Walkern Road the blue lights of the Police bikes could be seen, followed by glimpses of helmets. All of a sudden they were coming up the high street and it was a case of standing on the barrier, firing the camera and trying to make sense of the finish as the first three crossed the line followed by several groups and stragglers  over the next five minutes or so. Did not expect there to be such a spread and I think everyone was expecting a bunch sprint, but obviously the weather conditions took their toll.
About twenty minutes after the finish, we had the presentation, but due to the crowds it was a case of holding the camera above my head and firing blindly.
In the end I was glad I went to the High Street, despite the rain it was a great to be at such a big atmospheric event.