The Butterfly bug is back!

Sunday (22/05) had the potential to be seriously awesome, with a day purely dedicated to butterflying in the Cotswolds on the agenda. It was just me for a change, but nice in a way, allowing me to wander about at my own pace.

The plan was to visit a few sites along the 'butterfly super highway' that is the A419 between Cirencester & Stroud. The weather looked mixed, however patches of sun were predicted so I set off pretty hopeful of a good day.

First up was Cirencester Park Woods, a beautiful natural-looking wood, full of life. Here I hoped to find what is now a rare thing for me, a butterfly lifer...the Pearl-Bordered Fritillary.

Having heard an unexpected singing Firecrest, I wandered towards the specific area where the fritillaries were to be found. I initially began scouring slightly the wrong place, however soon found the habitat I was looking for. With the sun popping in and out of cloud, conditions were pretty good. Having walked around for a little while, I had no luck until BOOM, a bright orange butterfly flew up from in front of me before landing again in the grass..Pearl Bordered Fritillary!

It soon zipped off, however over the next half hour or so, I managed to find several, including a couple of cracking looking fresh specimens and a seriously tatty one, with a monstrous chunk missing from it's wing!

Having enjoyed them for some time and feeling suitably chuffed, I decided to leave with plenty of things still to see.

Strawberry Banks was next, to see one of, if not my favourite butterfly, the Marsh Fritillary. There's just something really exciting and special about going to Strawberry Banks to see them and it's now a firm fixture in late May for me.
Having wound my way along the tiny, narrow lanes towards the site, I arrived in pretty gloomy skies. Thankfully, despite the increasingly dark conditions, I did manage to find a few showy Marsh Frits basking for any ounce of warmth.

There were several Lesser Butterfly Orchids towards the top of the bank. While not completely out, they were beginning to look smart.

The typically unreliable BBC weather app had forecast just cloud for much of the afternoon, however the heavens then well and truly opened with heavy rain setting in for sometime. I lingered for a bit, but soon decided to try somewhere new with the place now seriously wet and far from butterfly-friendly! It was a shame, but I was glad to catch some Marshies at least.

So on I went to my last site, Rodborough Common on the edge of Stroud. I love Rodborough, with massive areas of flower-rich common and a great variety of unusual butterflies too. Thankfully, on arrival the sun was attempting to break through and so I headed straight for the south slopes, a particularly good area.

It wasn't long before I found the first of my targets with not one, but two Duke of Burgundy basking on a couple of small oak saplings at the base of the slope, almost in exactly the same spot I had one last year!

Close by, sat in front of me was a basking Small Blue, a butterfly I was hoping to see and very glad I did as it's been a couple of years since I saw one well. There were, in fact several in this general area and a bit higher up the bank too.

While photographing a Small Blue my eye was distracted by a remarkably bright blue butterfly zooming past me. There was only one thing that could be...Adonis Blue,. It eventually landed for a rest and after a little bit of a wait, spread it's wings to reveal that amazing colour. It was really 'fresh out of the box' too; a real looker!

Before I left for home, there were still a couple more surprises in store! I had one more look for Dukes and was surprised to find a mating pair sat up on one of the small saplings at the base of the bank...what a treat!

The final surprise was in fact an orchid. While having one last look along the bank, I came across a beautiful looking thing with a number of white flowers which I immediately presumed to be some kind of helleborine. I called a couple over who were also looking for butterflies. We were all stumped as to what it was. Then out of nowhere another couple appeared. As if by magic, this guy did know his orchids and started to get mega excited! He swiftly ID'd it as a Sword-Leaved (or Narrow-Leaved) Helleborine, a really rare species in Gloucestershire. He was ecstatic as it was his first ever one and a plant he'd be wanting to see for years! He was a lovely guy and it was dead cool to make his day like that.

It transpires that a small handful of Sword-Leaved Helleborines are known about on Rodborough Common so I hadn't found a first for the site or anything, but it was still an awesome thing to come across all the same and certainly didn't take the gloss of seeing it in any shape or form.

Well, my first visit to Rodborough last year was good, but wow this year really was brilliant! So despite the weather it proved to be the perfect day really, seeing everything I'd hoped to see and more! More than making up for the soaking feet I'd now got from walking through wet grassland all day!!

Turtle power!

Sunday (15/05) was a busy day! It all started with myself and Gareth carrying out the next instalment of our Upper Cherwell Valley breeding birds survey. This was from the spectacularly unsociable time of 5am but, once I was up and about, it was great, especially as it was a clear, still morning.

It was pleasing to hear that the Gropper from earlier in the week was still reeling away. Warblers were, as a whole were in pretty decent numbers, with 9 species between us. Sedge Warblers & Whitethroat were particularly numerous and was nice to hear several Reed Warbler on Gareth's section, a bird never in big numbers here. There was little else of note other than the usual handful of Yellow Wags around the Borrow Pit.

We finished about half 9 and with the sun still shining, it was time to have a look for some butterflies for pretty much the first time this year. I was keen to see some Green Hairstreaks and so I headed a short way along the M40 to Ardley Quarry, a short way into Oxon. Now I've tried seeing hairstreaks here before and always failed. However I knew they were in there somewhere!

Thankfully, I was in luck! After a short while of snooping around, I came across a pair of Green Hairstreaks chasing each other around a hazel bush. Eventually, after what seemed like an age, they landed and showed very nicely indeed! I ended up finding another 1-2 elsewhere too after that, however they failed to settle for long. 

Ardley is a lovely little site and is also very good for Grizzled Skippers. On this occasion numbers were certainly in double figures, possibly as many as 15.

Also seen were 2-3 Holly Blue, my first Small Copper of 2016, as well as a handful of more common species.

After quite a while spent wandering round, the clouds slowly blotted out the sun and so I decided to leave for Otmoor, a cracking place to visit at this time of year.

I didn't look all around the reserve as I normally would, with the 5am start slowly catching up with me! Instead, I had a walk along the bridleway which to be fair, proved perfectly worthwhile. Almost immediately, I caught sight of a Turtle Dove in flight and I was soon hearing it purring away in the nearby hedgerow. It then relocated to a telegraph pole and later nearby wires where it contently sat purring away giving some lovely views. So pleasing to see them again this year. I have to say I would rather find my own somewhere closer to home but sadly struggling to make that happen!

  
















Along with the Turtle Dove soundtrack, was the awesome sight of a scattering of hunting Hobby! Numbers were very decent indeed and a scan overhead and out over Greenaways, revealed at least 15! They were a pleasure to watch, swooping after insects either high up or low over a nearby dyke.

Having had my falcon fix, it was time to leave for home. Before I did, it was cool to hear not one, but TWO Turtle Dove purring close to the car park. A purrrrrrfect way to end a great day in the sun!

Early May patching

The first 2-3 weeks of May has produced some decent patch birding at Grimsbury, with a couple of nice patch ticks keeping me interested!

The two stars of the show have been singles of both Turnstone and Sanderling on consecutive days (10/05 & 11/05). Turnstone is apparently almost annual here however Sanderling is an absolute mega for the site. Both were seen during what was excellent late spring passage conditions, with a strongish E / NE wind, with plenty of cloud & rain. It could be argued we were a bit unlucky not to have had a little more, however shouldn't complain!

Other recent highlights for me have included a single Arctic Tern singing Grasshopper Warbler between the res and the M40, a couple of Dunlin, regular LRPs a Channel Wagtail & several regularly approachable Yellow Wagtail by the Borrow Pit.

With us now on the verge of the summer doldrums, will there but one last goodie before we can start dreaming about autumn!?

Summer Leys Spoonies & Norfolk wader fest

Well, 07/05 & 08/05 proved to be an eventful weekend! It all started with an early morning visit to Summer Leys on Saturday (07/05) before cricket. I left a little later than I intended, however I drove along the A43 with high hopes of seeing or finding something good, with good birds scattered across the country. I then see twitter pop up on my phone on the dashboard...4 Spoonbill, Summer Leys!! Ahhhhh man!

I navigated past Northampton pretty quickly and zoomed up the A45 towards Wellingborough. I parked up at Summer Leys, got out the car and went to open the boot. I then looked round to see the unmistakable sight of 4 big white Spoonbills fly over the main lake and away towards the west. It was disappointing that I hadn't got to enjoy better views, but overall I have to count myself lucky that I saw them at all.

Anyways, there was still a nice enough supporting cast to keep me interested. The wader bay area of the reserve held a group of 3 Grey Plover, with one bird in particular looking absolutely fantastic in immaculate summer plumage. Round Island held 3 Ruff, including a single male, while the scrape held a smart Wood Sandpiper. A couple of Ringed Plover and 2-3 LRP were also in the vicinity.

The next day, (Sunday 08/05) myself & Dan Watson decided a trip to the coast was in order, with promising weather/winds on the cards. We decided on Norfolk and so set off early-ish, together with Tim Marlow, also joining us for the day.

We headed straight for the road past Choseley Drying Barns, an area that pretty much every year, attracts a sizable gathering of Dotterel. This year was no exception.

It was a scorching day and to be honest, we were expecting wobbly views of them through the heat haze, several hundred metres away, in the middle of a stubble field. We were then pleasantly surprised to see them immediately, some 25 metres or so from the road! We stayed here for a good little while, enjoying some of the best views you're likely to get of the species, away from their mountainous breeding grounds.

    
With a strong-ish south easterly, we were hopeful of finding our own birds, so we next tried a couple of slightly less well-watched sites. First was Hardley Flood, just east of Stiffkey. This is always worth a look and in the past has produced some good birds. Today there was little to shout about with best being a few Avocets, a Common Sand & a Cuckoo.

We next had a look at nearby Stiffkey Fen, a new site for me and one I liked the look of. The place was alive with the sound of Reed Warblers, a Cetti's Warbler, loads of Avocets present on the fen, along with another Common Sand and a few Black Tailed Godwit.

Out on the saltmarsh & estuary, there were plenty of other waders too including 2 Whimbrel, several Grey Plover, Barwits, plenty of Oystercatcher & some Ringed Plovers. A couple of Spoonbill then flew past and landed somewhere out on the saltmarsh to feed. Walking back to the car also produced lovely views of a fresh-looking Holly Blue.

Cley appeared to have a great selection of waders on offer so we moved on to there, meeting up with our friends Kieran & Leila in the process.

Pat's Pool provided lovely views of a female Black-Winged Stilt that had been present a couple of days. Great to catch one of these again.

Also here was a welcome, if rather distant Temminck's Stint, as well as a couple of Curlew Sandpiper (one of Pat's Pool & one on Simmond's scrape). Several Ruff were strutting their stuff with a few stonking looking males, a Greenshank, a Barwit and a Sanderling amongst the Dunlin were present too.

A walk around to Arnold's marsh saw more of the same, plus a super smart brick-red Knot & a couple of Turnstone, plus a spectacular display from a couple of boxing Hares!

We completed our day at Kelling Water Meadows, just down the road. It was pretty quiet here to be honest, however did see my first Spotted Flycatcher of the year, as well as a single male Yellow Wag. This concluded a pretty decent day, with very good company to boot!

Bank Holiday

Oh my word, I am behind on the blog! It always happens at this time of year when there's so much to see and do. Anyways, I'm going to be making a big effort to get myself all up to date ready for my trip to Poland in 10 days (!) very exciting!

So....I had Saturday (30/04) morning spare before playing cricket in Northampton during the afternoon. With the sun shining, I couldn't resist going back for seconds on the Lesser Spots on the edge of town.

The male again didn't disappoint and showed very, very well again, regular coming back to drum on the very same branch as the previous week. He was calling a lot more this time which was nice.

I still had an hour to kill. I fancied trying somewhere different from the 'mainstream' Summer Leys, however I didn't have much time, so I crumbled and headed there. To be fair, it has been turning up plenty of stuff this spring. I decided to have a look from along Mary's lane for the recently reported Whinchat. It was pleasing to hear there were in fact now TWO there which was cool and after a bit of a wait, both male & female were in view distantly along the big wire fence that encircles Pete Wilde's lake.

Probably more exciting for me though, was an 'Hepatic' brown phase Cuckoo further along the same fence line, together with another standard form Cuckoo. Brown phases are a pretty rare sight and in fact only my second ever. Distance and heat haze meant that photos weren't even remotely possible!

The Sunday & Monday were largely spent catching up with family & friends, however Em & I did head out for a walk around Bernwood Meadows, the other side of Bicester on Sunday (01/05) afternoon. The place was well worth a visit for the spectacular display of Green-Winged Orchids and after failing to get over there last year, I was pleased to get my fill of what was a new Orchid for me.

The display was still a good week or two off it's peak, however there were still lots of plants to enjoy. Also here were my first Garden Warbler of the year, a couple of Lesser Whitethroat & a Common Lizard.