Monday 13th June 2011 - Wyre Forest

Today it was time for a change of scene so I visited another of my favourite local places, the Wyre Forest.  Its now getting to that time of year where less songbirds are singing and the leaf cover is that dense that it is quite hard to pick birds up that are in the canopy. 

Walking along Dowles Brook there was a Dipper and 4+ Grey Wagtails.  A Wood Warbler was heard singing and 2 ♂ Blackcaps were showing well.  Along this stretch were good numbers of juvenile Blue Tits & Great Tits (mmm Raptor fodder!).  A juvenile Coal Tit and a juvenile Robin were also seen.

The target species today was Small Pearl-borderded Fritillary and in the meadow along Dowles  I saw at least 8 of them. An added bonus was a mass emergence of Chimney Sweeper moths with a 100+ present at this location. A couple of Six Spot Burnett Moths were also seen.

On the walk back along the dis-used railway there was (surprisingly) a Tree Pipit still singing.  A Garden Warbler was showing well at Lodge Hill bridge and 2 Slow Worms were also seen on the Gorse covered embankment during the walk back.

Chimney Sweeper

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary (♀)

Slow Worm

Sunday 12th June (evening) - Shenstone

I had been out and about listening for non-existent Quails this evening and on my way home I decided to cut through Shenstone to see if I could perhaps see the Little Owl again.  It was a no show but as I was driving past Stanklyn Wood (at approx. 9:50pm) a Tawny Owl flew across in front of me and perched for a few minutes in a tree at the roadside...what a result.  It is only the second Tawny that I've managed to see on the patch so needless to say I went home a happy man.

I've got no record photos of this particular Tawny Owl to post on the blog...so here is one I prepared earlier!

Tawny Owl

Friday 10th June 2011 - Shenstone

I only had time for a quick insect walk at the patch today, so with TS in tow it was off to Butts Lane first.
On first inspection things were fairly quiet with not many butterflies on the wing but by the time we completed our walk we had recorded 2 Meadow Browns, 4 Large Skippers, 1 Small Tortoiseshell, 1 ♀ Common Blue and 2 Small Whites.  The only day-flying moths of note were 2 Cinnabar Moths.

A ♀ Broad-bodied Chaser dragonfly was seen along Butts Lane, as were 4 Blue-tailed Damselflies (including one ♀ of the form rufescens).  Also of inerest was a Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) and a Scorpian Fly (Panorpa communis) that was seen feeding on the remains of a Garden Chafer.

From Butts lane we popped to Heath Lane where a number of 2-Spot Ladybirds and Harlequin Ladybirds were seen.  There were also good numbers of 7-Spot Ladybird Larvae present.  An Orange Tip butterfly larvae was also seen.

Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens)

Scorpian Fly (Panorpa communis)

Garden Chafer

Blue-tailed Damselfly (♂)

Blue-tailed Damselfly - ♀ form rufescens

7-spot Ladybird Larvae

Meadow Brown (♂)


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

And finally...an arty shot of a 

♀ Common Blue taking flight

The Butterfly Gallery has been updated.

Just a quick note to let you know that the butterfly gallery has now been updated. New to the gallery are additional Large Skipper and Small Tortoiseshell photos.  Photos of butterfly larvae have been added where available.

The Butterfly Gallery can be viewed by clicking the below link:

http://shenstonebirder.blogspot.com/p/butterfly-gallery.html

Wed 8th June 2011 - Shenstone

I decided to prioritise my visit to Shenstone today on the Witch Lane area.  My thoughts being that with the large cereal fields here it is probably the most likely area of the patch for Quail.  It is also quite a high point with good panoramas giving views to the Clee Hills, the Malvern Hills, Abberley Hill, and the Clent Hills. It is an ideal place to watch for raptors and being the birding optimist I am I was hoping for a Hobby or perhaps a Red Kite.  I didn't get any of the above but I did pick up something far better....I will get onto that in a minute.

I spent about 1 1/2 hours scanning and listening along Witch Lane when suddenly I picked up a fem/imm. Marsh Harrier flying South over the large cereal field opposite.  How do I know it was a Marsh Harrier you may ask...well the the lovely creamy/buff coloured head was a bit of a give away.  The bird also had an all dark chocolate brown coloured body and fairly long tail.  I couldn't determine whether this bird was a female or immature as, at this distance it was difficult to discern if the leading edge of the birds wings were noticeably lighter.  I was absolutely chuffed with this sighting as it is a patch lifer for me! 

This is the 3rd Marsh Harrier recorded on the patch with a male being seen on 11th October 2010 over Stanklyn Lane (TMH & AW) and a fem/imm. on 27th April 2011 (MS).  It is possible that this bird is a failed breeder or may even be summering somewhere in North Worcestershire as Marsh Harriers are now increasingly moving into arable areas and nesting in Maize and Rape fields.  Who knows but I'm glad I was there at that time to pick it up.

Also along Witch Lane were large numbers of Swifts (c.80) and on the nettles along the lane there had been a mass hatching of Peacock butterfly larvae (there were literally hundereds of them). Ive taken a short video showing them on just one nettle and there were about 6 more nettles here that were like this.  Also seen in this area was a Small Tortoiseshell and a Small White.

On the way back I stopped of at Heath Lane paddock where along the verge there was an Orange Tip larvae and good numbers of 2-spot, 7-spot and (unfortunately) Harlequin Ladybirds.

Small Tortoiseshell:

Orange Tip larvae:

Peacock Larvae: