Soggy Somerset

On Sunday 09/06, myself and Gareth once again drove down to Somerset for a catch up with our good old mate Dan Watson, for a day around the Somerset levels.

Having met up with Dan in Axebridge, we all hopped in his car and headed for the marshes. 

We began at a random bit of marsh habitat on the way to Catcott Lows. The site immediately produced a Great White Egret and vocal Cuckoo and Cetti's Warbler, among other things.



Then onto Catcott. A look from the hide produced a few Cattle Egrets, some 50+ Black-Tailed Godwits, as well as a couple of Hobby zooming about after insects.





On the drive out, 3 Cattle Egrets showed particularly well with several cattle quite close to the road.





On then to Shapwick Heath & Ham Wall for the rest of the day to have a mooch about for rare Herons and anything else of interest.

Before we'd even left the car park, one of the highlights of the day appeared with a Hummingbird Hawkmoth buzzing around the flowers by the little visitor hut and toilet block. Brilliant to watch and a fun challenge to photograph too!






We strolled on to the Shapwick Heath side - however just approaching Meare Heath, the heavens truly opened - in fact I don't think I've seen rain like it for years! It was proper mad! We broke into a light jog and made it to the nearby hide before we got too drenched.





A gap in the rain, allowed us to sneak on to the hide over looking Noah Lake. Here we had a good scan seeing a couple of Great White Egret, a flyover Hobby and a Cetti's Warbler going backwards and forwards between it's nearby nest.



The rain was getting a bit relentless and annoying by this point. It lightened a bit and so we decided to hot-foot back to the car and sit it out there for a bit, before having a look at Ham Wall. Thankfully it eventually abated and we headed off up the path for a look around the reserve.

A major surprise soon loomed into view as an unringed Crane appeared relatively low, slowly circling over the reedbeds, before slowly drifting off west. Some great views and soon the rain was forgotten!






A walk down towards the 2nd viewing platform and back produced brief views of a Bittern low over the reeds, as well as at least 4 booming regularly. One or two Bearded Tits could be heard and Dan and Gareth got brief views too. Other regular Ham Wall birds included Marsh Harrier, squealing Water Rail, Great White Egret, lots of Gadwall and a few Pochard.



Time had flashed by and before we knew it, it was time that we had better hit the road back home. So we dropped Dan back in Axbridge and hit the M5! A top catch-up despite the weather.

A day across the Solent

Last weekend, I'd penciled in a potential day trip to the Isle of Wight with my wife Em, both for a nice day out, but of course also with an ulterior motive, to see my first UK Glanville Fritillaries too - a species predominantly restricted to the sunnier climes of the IOW. 

The weather forecast though, suggested that plan wouldn't work. This weekend however, particularly Saturday (01/06) looked to be ideal, with calm and sunny weather predicted. So mid-week, ferry tickets were booked for 08:40am on Saturday, sailing from Lymington.

It was an early one to say the least, with a 2 hour drive ahead of us pre-ferry, but was well worth it, enabling us to be on the Isle of Wight by 09:30am!

As predicted, it was a glorious, mild and sunny day as the ferry set off on time - the 40 minute journey was over in a flash and also produced a couple of decent birds. This included a couple of fly-by Little Terns, Sandwich Terns, a few Eiders, Great Crested Grebes and vast colonies of Black-Headed Gulls - surprisingly though, I failed to clap eyes on a single Med Gull!



After arriving at Yarmouth on the other side, I negotiated a look for the Glanville's first - by 09:30am it was already plenty warm enough for butterflies to be moving and as time went on, they were going to be a nightmare to see stationary! Having read up on sites and asked about abit on Twitter, the Compton Bay area seemed the best bet and was only some 15 minutes away from Yarmouth. Ideal!

A nice rural drive was soon completed and we arrived at Afton Down Car Park, with great views along the SW coast of the island, with big white cliffs and large stretches of pristine chalk grassland habitat.





We took a stroll up the slopes above the car park. They were surprisingly lacking in numbers of butterflies - though I did find a very fresh male Adonis Blue posing nicely!





Just above the car park something interesting wizzed past me. I shot off after it and eventually it landed - my first Glanville Fritillary! What a pristine one it was too! In no time though, it was off and away and out of sight. Now to find one a little less energetic - if that was possible, seeing how hot it already was by mid-morning.



I walked back down to the car park, spying another brief Glanville, another Adonis Blue and my first Common Blue of the year too. Back in the car park, Em immediately pointed down to the vegetation close to my car and there, in all it's glory was a sunbathing Glanville Frit with wings wide open...wow. Thankfully I was able to carefully approach and get some photos I was really happy with, before just standing and admiring it for a while.









This south-facing, relatively sheltered area of vegetation was actually the place to be, with 3-4 Glanville Fritillaries holding territory here. There was a decent supporting cast too, including the odd Adonis Blue popping down from the slopes, several Small Blue (past their best), Dingy Skippers, Brown Argus, Small Heath, Common Blue and my first Meadow Brown & Large Skippers of the year too.









It was time for a change of scenery and so we drove a couple of miles along the coast road to Compton Beach, to soak up some rays and have a cheeky swim. While we were there, amazingly a Glanville Fritillary dropped down onto the beach and joined us for a bit of sunbathing, just a couple of feet away. Brilliant! Photo below taken with my iphone.





After grabbing some lunch, visiting Ventnor and the Garlic Farm during the afternoon, we popped in again to Afton Down for one more quick look, before getting the 18:05 ferry. It was a bit more breezy than earlier and so the majority of butterflies had gone to ground. It didn't take me long though, to find a Glanville Fritillary just above the car Park, which I enjoyed one last time for about 15 minutes, as it went from flower to flower.





The perfect way to end a brilliant day out in the sun! I think Glanvilles are quickly becoming my favourite Fritillary - beautiful little creatures!

The Wyre Forest

The Wyre Forest is somewhere I've had on my mind to visit for the last couple of years, simply because, it's less than an hour and a half away and particularly in May, offers the chance to see several fab woodland bird species on their breeding grounds - most of which are only occasionally encountered on passage in our area.

That, coupled with a seemingly thriving colony of Pearl-Bordered Fritillaries, meant that it was somewhere that had to be done!

So with the weather set to be sunny throughout Sunday 12/05, I decided to give the Wyre a go, joined by fellow birder Dylan, who luckily knew his way around from visiting the forest before.

We arrived around 10am and began walking along the old railway line, quickly encountering the brilliant shivering song of a male Wood Warbler, singing pretty much non-stop around his chosen territory. 



We wandered on, encountering our first Tree Pipit characteristically song-flighting and then foraging in some nearby leaf litter. A sun-lit bank further on, looked to be the place for the Pearl-Bordered Fritillaries and low and behold, we were soon seeing quite a few, already warmed up but the morning sun, busying about.











We carried on the planned circuit, heading back down along the Dowle's Brook. Before we did, we encountered a very timid and fresh Pearl-Bordered Fritillary, presumably having not long emerged. A proper treat!









The Dowles Brook area was certainly the most productive in terms of variety, with singing Redstart, plus more Wood Warblers, Tree Pipit, Cuckoo & a Marsh Tit.







The brook also produced several sightings of Dipper - this included a characterful juvenile bird, hiding away awaiting it's next feed. Both it and the adult had been rung.









We headed up a steep incline behind Knowles Mill, to a really nice bit of largely Oak woodland, adorned with lots of nestboxes. It was here, after a bit of searching, that we found the only Pied Flycatcher of the day - a singing male. It was fairly brief and not all that close, but still cracking to see! A Wood Warbler was singing it's little heart out here too, as was a beautiful male Redstart which, after a while, we realised was also 'toing and froing' from a nest hole up in a nearby Oak, together with a female too.

There was one last treat in store before we left, with two separate encounters with a day-flying Tawny Owl, providing amazing views as we just stood open-mouthed, as it flew past. It's pretty rare to see a sunlight Tawny (!), really allowing you to appreciate what a lovely rich colour they are!

It was then time to get back to the car, rest the legs and head for a home. A wicked day with some tip-top company!

The Rumper returns!

As the sightings of the Red-Rumped Swallow diminished to nothing, following the weekend, it appeared it had unsurprisingly moved on.

So on the wet and gloomy morning of Wednesday 08/05, it came as some surprise when scanning through a handful of hirundines on the western perimeter fence, there in all it's glory, was once again the Red-Rumped Swallow!!

It has since hung around and though brief, again appeared this evening for a 10 minute fly about, before floating off over it's favoured cattle field and out of sight. It has been a bloody treat to have such prolonged opportunities to enjoy such a rare on stunning bird on a daily basis, getting familiar with it's characteristics - I've become pretty adept with picking it out with the naked eye!





It's been a decent week overall and although missing out on any decent waders, Black Tern, Shelduck & today, a lovely male Whinchat were added to my patch yearlist today, taking it to 100 species at Grimbo for me so far in 2019. There were also a good helping of Swifts, a couple of Arctic Terns, Hobby and Yellow Wagtails among the highlights.