10 Aug 22 - A Brownsea Silver-washed Fritillary

One of the highlights of my regular volunteering Wednesday on Brownsea was this Silver-washed Fritillary around the DWT villa garden which I found as myself & the other volunteers were about to head back for the boat off the island.

Silver-washed Fritillary: Unfortunately, it was a bit worn, but still nice to see given it's only the second one I've seen on Brownsea this Summer

14 Jul 18 - A Local Hairstreak

For the last few years I've planned to look for a local speciality: White-letter Hairstreak. Numbers of this easily overlooked Butterfly crashed in the 1970s & early 1980s when Dutch Elm disease swept through the UK & wiped out most of the UK's Elm trees within a decade. I've been aware of a local site for a few years, but I have never managed to find a combination of suitable weather & my availability at weekends within the flying period. My friend who discovered this site has generally only seen them flying high around the Elms & has only seen one low down nectaring, so this has been another factor in the priority to have a look. Having been unable to get out for the last few days to the site, this morning was another hot, still day & so I suggested to mate, Peter Moore that we gave it a look. Peter picked me up late morning & a few minutes later we were leaving the parked car. There was a bit of a hike along footpaths before getting to the actual site. Once there we spread out to check a large patch of Thistles where they had been seen before. No joy in the patch of Thistles I started checking, but a whistle from Peter suggested a more positive outcome where he was. I swiftly walked over, but I didn't really need to hurry as it was still nectaring when we left about an hour later. Given there are well known sites in Dorset, this site will remain as a vague Swanage site, although Peter & I will forward details of the sighting to the county recorder. Having had problems with collectors at Map Butterflies site, then I won't be broadcasting specific, but not well known, sites of other locally rare Butterflies.

White-letter Hairstreak: Initial views

White-letter Hairstreak: Good mystery photo

White-letter Hairstreak

White-letter Hairstreak: It spent a fair bit of time upside down to frustrate the photographers. It worked as I went looking for another, but failed to find one

White-letter Hairstreak

White-letter Hairstreak

White-letter Hairstreak: I'm assuming with this body shape that this is a female

There was a good selection of other Butterflies present. In total I saw thirteen species there. A Holly Blue in my garden was a fourteenth species for the day.

Small Copper

Brown Argus

Peacock

Painted Lady: It was good to see such a pristine individual

Silver-washed Fritillary

One of the problems I though of as I was walking to the site was how to identify an Elm tree. Given their relatively scarcity then it was a tree I wasn't familiar with. Fortunately, Peter knew. He said they had a distinctive asynchronous leaf shape.

The distinctive asynchronous Elm Leaf shape

Not bad for an hour of looking for local Butterflies.

2 July 17 - Summer Doldrums

Since the late spring, the local Birding has been very quiet, apart from the excitement over the Elegant Tern. I've been cracking on with dull jobs around the house & garden, especially gardening. With the prospect of another day of gardening this weekend, I decided it was about time to head out to look for White Admirals locally. Soon after moving to Dorset, I started a ten miles from the house list. Not because it was another list to keep, but primarily as it would encourage me to spend more time Birding & looking at wildlife on my doorstep. White Admirals are one of few Butterflies that occurs locally that I've not managed to see. The easiest place to see them is on Brownsea, but usually summer apathy has meant I've not got around to going over to Brownsea at the right time of year.

Silver-washed Fritillary: A pity about the knackered forewing

Silver-washed Fritillary: Hopefully this will help maintain the next generation

A recent tweet indicated that a White Admiral had been recently seen on the nature trail at Littlesea. So with the prospect of them flying on the Studland patch, the gardening plans were shelved. Not knowing exactly where to look meant I was going to have to walk around & around hoping to bump into one. After 90 minutes of searching, I hadn't found any, although I had seen a number of Silver-washed Fritillaries, Commas, Ringlets, Speckled Woods, Meadow Browns, Red Admirals & Large Skippers.

Comma: There were quite a few flying, but all looked a bit beyond their best. Whereas, the ones I've seen in my garden this weekend, look a lot fresher

Comma: Showing how it got its name

Then I bumped into three other locals who had seen a White Admiral earlier that afternoon, as well as, a more showy individual elsewhere on the nature trail about a week ago. I was invited to tag along with them to check out the site of the showy individual, but after 20 minutes of looking, it was a no show. Back to Plan B to return to the site of their earlier sighting this afternoon, while they headed off to check out another historical location. No sooner than I had arrived at their site, which I had briefly looked at earlier that afternoon, then one flew down & started nectaring. It didn't stay long, but was good to finally see one locally. I was joined by the others after about ten minutes. Over the next hour or so, we all had repeated sightings of at least three White Admirals coming down to nectar for a few minutes, before disappearing back into the trees.

White Admiral: Finally on the patch list

White Admiral: This one stayed around long enough to try with the SX60

14 Sep 15 - August Was A Great Month For The Studland Ballard Patch

I've managed to get out on most days in August, apart from the first few weekdays. The month got off to a good start with a party of 24 Crossbills watched flying across Brands Bay (from Littlesea) & continuing over Goathorn on 1 Aug. They were my first of the year for the Studland/Ballard patch. Hopefully, I will see more over South Haven as we get into the Vis Mig season in October & early November.

South Haven: Proof I've been getting out early on the patch: the sun rising over Christchurch. South Haven (17 Aug 15)

I've made a lot of early morning visits South Haven this Autumn in the hope of an interesting Wader, such as a Little Ringed Plover or Little Stint. The site has occasion early morning Autumn records of these species, but I've had no success so far. However, I have managed to see a general selection of commoner migrant Passerines, along with some better migrants. The first highlight at South Haven was on 7 Aug, when Graham Armstrong found a Pied Flycatcher while we were chatting & watching the edge of the bushes by the South Haven pool.

Pied Flycatcher: This Pied Flycatcher stayed around for two days at South Haven (7 Aug 15)

The following morning saw me catching up with the first of a number of August Sedge Warblers at South Haven. Unlike Reed Warblers, they do not breed at Studland. But I typically expect to see them on a few occasions, mainly during the Autumn migration. More suprisingly was hearing a calling Water Rail. This was presumably a migrant, as I haven't heard any others calling since late Winter. Another patch Year Tick was a Green Sandpiper flying over South Haven on 9 Aug. This was the first of three that I bumped into on the patch (11 Aug Brands Bay & 25 Aug South Haven). Green Sandpipers are probably just about annual on the Studland patch, but my serious patch watching over the last eight years has only produced a single in Aug 10 & three sightings involving two individuals in Aug 11. Perhaps this is a good year for Green Sandpipers. Sadly, despite the big Wood Sandpiper invasion along the South Coast this Autumn, I haven't been lucky to bump into any Wood Sandpipers. But will as many historical records of Wood Sandpipers as Melodious Warblers on the patch, then it isn't too surprising that nobody has seen or heard a Wood Sandpiper at Studland this Autumn. It remains a patch tick for myself & the two other most regular Studland Birders.The next highlight was a major rarity for the Studland/Ballard patch: a Melodious Warbler on 11 Aug. There are only a handful of records for Poole Harbour and only one (Aug 01 at Swineham) has been seen away from the Studland/Ballard patch. This was the second or third individual of the Autumn for the UK (there was another seen in Cornwall on the same date).

Melodious Warbler: A record shot from Steve Morrison (who has allowed me to publish the photo on the Blog & who retains copyright). South Haven (11 Aug 15)

I spent time watching Brands Bay on nearly ever visit to the Studland/Ballard patch during August, as well as, looking for early morning Waders on visits to South Haven. Waders numbers for the patch increased steadily during the first half of August, with increases in Curlews, Black-tailed Godwits (up to 225), Redshanks (up to 70) & Dunlin (up to 70). Sightings of Ringed Plovers were regular throughout the month, but hitting double figures was a good day. However, Brands Bay had an exception total of 63 roosting & feeding on Redhorn Quay in steady rain on 24 Aug. This smashed my previous best Brands Bay total for Ringed Plover of 24 & is potentially a new Brands Bay maximum Autumn total. It also showed how much better Redhorn Quay could be for attracting Waders, if access to dog walkers, fishermen & walkers was restricted. On that day, I had nine species of Waders (Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Curlew, Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwit, Greenshank, Redshank, Dunlin & Turnstone) feeding on the sand & muddy edge of Redhorn Quay on the high tide.

Whimbrel: Their favourite food seems to be small green Crabs around the edges of Brands Bay (2 Aug 15)

There were smaller numbers of Whimbrel (max 11 on 6 Aug), Bar-tailed Godwits (up to 7 still around until the last week of the month), Greenshanks (up to 3), Sanderling (up to 8 at South Haven), the first Knots of the Autumn (max 5 on 29 Aug). Common Sandpipers (max 7 on 15 Aug). Numbers of Common Sandpipers were higher than I've encountered in recent years, but not as good as historical records). But the best Wader has to be a Ruff which was roosting on the marsh on 18 Aug: this was only my second sighting for the patch.

Turnstone: Up to three were around the patch during the month, but individuals were only seen every few days. South Haven (21 Aug 15)

I was also keeping an eye on Terns throughout the month, which produced a couple of good Terns. The first was an Arctic Tern I found feeding in Brands Bay on 14 Aug. This was followed by a couple of Black Terns that Graham Armstrong found at South Haven the following day. I would expect to see Arctic Terns on one or two occasions most years, but Black Terns are a lot scarcer & aren't annually seen on the patch: so that that was a bonus species for the patch Year List.

Old Harry: I never tire of finding another angle or lighting for a photo of Old Harry (18 Aug 15)

Light to moderate Southerly winds on 20 Aug & regular Dorset sightings of Balearic Shearwaters at other coastal watch points, gave me the incentive to try some seawatching. I decided to try my luck from the high dune at Pilot's Point at South Haven, after the usual early morning Wader walk. I was surprised to find a Balearic Shearwater just off the end of the Pilot's Point breakwater on the first scan of Studland Bay: although it quickly disappeared off towards Old Harry. The following morning, I tried another seawatch from Pilot's Point with Graham Armstrong & we were rewarded with a couple of more distant Balearic Shearwaters heading East & a dark phase Arctic Skua which came into the immediate bay around the Harbour mouth. It circled, before flying high & passed over Sandbanks & into Poole Harbour. Both the Balearic Shearwater & the Arctic Skua were expected species for the Year List, but usually I end up having to carry out a lot more seawatching to see them. So it was great to have an easy time with these two species.

Littlesea in early morning light: from the high hide. I tried a Vis Mig watch on 28 Aug, but found it was too noisy as the sound of the passing cars was audible for a long time. There was little movement that morning with two Yellow Wagtails heading towards Greenlands Farm as the highlight (28 Aug 15)

Early morning mist over Greenlands Farm from the Littlesea high hide: (28 Aug 15)

I finally saw my first Osprey for the patch on 21 Aug, albeit that sighting was of an individual far up in the harbour. But it was only a few days later that I saw my first individual appeared in Brands Bay. Up to three Ospreys seem to be frequenting Brands Bay, although they are also spending time in the Middlebere and Rempstone Forest areas as well. There are two adults which often seem to follow each other around, as well as a juvenile bird. Whether they are related isn't clear, but they do seem to interact with each other. Unfortunately, I've not managed to get as good photos of the Ospreys in Brands Bay as I managed last year, but I have managed to get record shots of one of the adults & the juvenile.

Osprey: Adult. Brands Bay (10 Sep 15)

Osprey: Juvenile. Brands Bay (6 Sep 15)

The next species for the patch Year List was a couple of Tree Pipit records (28 Aug Greenlands Farm & 30 Aug South Haven). The last day of Birding on the patch was the August Fun Bird Race on 30 Aug. One of the other teams found a Wryneck on Greenlands farm in the fields by The Rare Gate. The main rule of the Fun Bird Race is teams pass news of good Birds around during the day, to give other teams the chance to see them. Unfortunately, it had disappeared by the time Peter Moore & I arrived. But fortunately, I managed to relocate it when we looked again as we were leaving Greenlands & it stayed on view long enough for Peter to photograph it & for me to get one of the other teams onto it. Only my second Wryneck for the patch & a species I hadn't expected to see. They occur every few years somewhere on the patch, but there is so much habitat at Studland, they are normally difficult to relocate.

I haven't worked out the exact number of species seen on the patch in August, but it will be over 100 for the month, which just goes to show how good the patch is. The Wryneck was species number 168 for the patch Year List. This is only eight species behind my best patch Year List of 176 species in 2009. At the end of August 2009 I was on 167 species. Hopefully, I will see another twelve species this year & hit my target of 180 species for the Studland/Ballard patch. It hasn't been hard to see Butterflies in the last few months, for my other challenge of seeing at least one Butterfly in each month on the patch.

Silver-washed Fritillary: Male. My first for the patch. Glebelands estate (16 Aug 15)

I was pleased to find three new locations for one of my favourite Orchids: Autumn Lady's Tresses. In addition to Greenlands Farm, Graham Armstrong located a spike at South Haven & I found spikes at Old Harry & on Ballard Down to the East of the Glebelands estate.

Autumn Lady's Tresses: South Haven (21 Aug 15)

16 Aug 15 - Just Like Buses

I have Birded the Studland/Ballard patch for quite a few Autumns now & I have never seen a Fritillary within the patch. So I was quite surprised to find this Silver-washed Fritillary feeding on Buddleia as I walked through the Glebelands estate on Ballard Down. Even more surprising was to see it then chase off a second tatty individual. I must have been past this patch of Buddleia on a number of occasions in August over the years.

Silver-washed Fritillary: Glebelands estate

Having walked all over Old Harry & the top of Ballard Down, my next stop was the Greenlands Farm area. I was even more surprised when I saw another Silver-washed Fritillary here. This was quickly followed by another two individuals. This was a corner of Greenlands Farm where I have spent even more time Birding in August. So by the end of the morning, I had seen five Silver-washed Fritillaries at two widely separately parts of the Studland/Ballard Down patch. Asking around, it turns out that local Birder, Graham Armstong, had seen them at Greenlands Farm in the past. However, the Glebelands site doesn't appear to be have been known about. It just goes to show that no matter how well you think you know your local patch, you can always be surprised.

Silver-washed Fritillary: Glebelands estate

I was also pleased to see this Wall at Greenlands Farm, which is an uncommon species which I've bumped into at a number of locations within the Studland/Ballard Down patch: but never in numbers.

Wall: Greenlands Farm

29 Jun 15 - Turkey - A Morning At Akseki

Our first stop was another visit to the Olive groves where we had seen the Eastern Bonelli's Warblers on the previous afternoon. Here, we saw a Middle Spotted Woodpecker that had eluded us on the previous afternoon. However, it wouldn't perform for the camera. A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was equally unobliging.

Bush Cricket sp.: This looks similar to a pale Roesel's Bush Cricket, but I can't figure out the exact species

Having seen the Middle Spotted Woodpecker, we were soon moving onto the forests above Akseki town to look for Kruper's Nuthatch. It didn't take long to find them. They were fairly common in the area as we saw at least five in the one place we stopped.

The forest at Akseki

The forest was extensive

Looking for the Kruper's Nuthatch

Kruper's Nuthatch: They occur in the Pine, Cedar & Juniper forests of Turkey and the Caucasus mountains

Kruper's Nuthatch

Kruper's Nuthatch: They are a small and lovely Nuthatch

Southern White Admiral: This is a common species across most of southern Europe, Turkey, the Caucasus, Lebanon, Iraq & Iran

Silver-washed Fritillary: This is a common species that occurs across Europe as far North as Southern Scandinavia, as well, as Turkey, the Caucasus & Ukraine

Silver-washed Fritillary

There was a Laughing Dove in Akseki town as we returned for a late breakfast and to collect our bags from the hotel.

Laughing Dove: This is the nominate senegalensis subspecies which occurs from some of the Greek islands, to Turkey, Israel, West Arabia, Socotra & Sub-Saharan Africa

Our next destination was Sugla Lake, which was a ninety minute drive from Akseki. In the end, it look a lot longer as we saw a Black Stork fly low over a rocky gorge, before landing on its nest on one of the cliffs. Obviously, we all wanted to stop.

Black Stork: Our first sighting was this individual flying low over the road toward the cliffs

Black Stork: It landed on the next on a rocky cliff on the other side of the valley

The Black Stork nest was on a flat area to the left of the large dark cave

Black Stork: There were three large chicks in the nest

Black Stork watching the world go by from its nest

Black Stork: The other adult flew in

Black Stork: One of the adults departed and provided opportunities for photos as it circled low over the road as it gained height

Black Stork

Black Stork

Black Stork

After a half hour, we decided to carry onto Sugla Lake. I will cover the rest of the day in the next Blog Post.