Shenstone News

Thursday 30th June 2011:

The original pair of Great Crested Grebe have hatched 2 chicks from their 2nd brood.  This takes the total number of Grebe chicks born at Captains Pool this year up to 8 (JK).

Saturday 2nd July 2011:

A Little Owl was present on Witch Lane this evening (TMH).

Monday 4th July 2011:

2 adult Common Tern were present at Captains Pool late afternoon (TS).

Friday 1st July 2011 - Oversley Wood (Warks)

Today I had what I can only describe as my best butterfly day in a long time.  Myself and TS had popped across the county boundary into Warwickshire to visit Oversley Wood near Alcester.  I visited here just under a year ago as it is one of the few places in the Midlands where Purple Emperor butterflies occur.  In total were recorded 16 species of butterfly on this visit.

A short way along the track from the car park we came across a stunning White-letter Hairstreak that although in pristine condition seemed to have very little energy left.  Also along this section we had our first White Admiral and first Silver Washed Fritillary of the visit.  The target species was Purple Emperor and we managed to see 3 chasing around the tops of the pines along the ridge.  One ♂ Purple Emperor kept returning to the same area to perch whilst waiting for a passing female to hijack. This allowed for some good scope views.  At times we were able to see the purple iridescence on the wings when they were blown by the breeze.

Other species recorded on the walk were Purple Hairstreak, Small Skipper, Essex Skipper, Large Skipper, Speckled Wood, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Large White, Small White, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma and Red Admiral.  The 3 Red Admirals we saw were all crisp individuals and most likely part of the large numbers of migrant Red Admirals that join the overwintering residents this time of year.  Talking of migrants, I also saw my first Silver Y moth of the year.

All in all it was an enjoyable day at an excellent area of woodland.  I'm looking forward to returning there in the future.

White-Letter  Hairstreak

Purple Hairstreak

Small Skipper

Silver-washed Fritillary

Purple Emperor 

Click on photo to enlarge

Thursday 30th June 2011 - Stone and Shenstone

My blog posts seem to be like buses at the mo...you wait ages for one and the two come at once.  Please check out the previous post.  Anyway, where was I...oh yes....

On the way to the patch today I popped to Stone church to see the Spotted Flycatcher that had been found the previous day by fellow Shenstone Birder and former vicar of said parish, John Cox.

It didn't take me long before I picked up the Spotted Flycatcher perched on a twiggy branch at the top of a tree. The bird returned to this perch periodically allowing me to take a few photos & a bit of video footage.  A lovely little individual which ironically is located less than 50 metres from the northern edge of my patch.  I will have to keep checking back to see if it moves onto there at some point (fingers crossed!).   Also of note at stone Churchyard were 2 Song Thrushes and 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers.  A Lapwing was on the ploughed field just down the road (again not on patch!)

From Stone church I travelled all of the 5 minutes down the road to Butts Lane to do my usual butterfly walk.  Today's highlight was seeing all three of the patch skipper species:  Large, Small and Essex Skipper.  There were many Ringlets and Small Whites on the wing, with smaller numbers of Meadow Brown seen.  There were also 2 Small Tortoiseshells and a Comma present.

Essex Skipper

Large Skipper

Small White

Spotted Flycatcher

Wednesday 29th June 2011 - Wyre Forest

After I had finished my mornings voluntary work at Forest Dog Rescue, I decided to pop to the rocket test facility in the Wyre Forest to undertake a butterfly walk.  It turned out to be a very productive walk (and not just for butterflies).

On the walk along the rides I saw my first Painted Lady of the year.  I also recorded single Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and a lovely Silver-washed Fritillary.  Ringlets were the most abundant species of butterfly with numbers over 100+.  They were followed by Meadow Browns of which I counted c.20.  Interestingly enough I only had 2 Speckled Wood during the walk.

One of the highlights of today's walk was seeing a party of 5 Common Crossbills that flew over calling, heading towards Button Oak.  I also heard a single Wood Warbler singing and a Tree Pipit during the walk.

It wasn't just birds and butterflies that I encountered whilst here.  Along one ride was a stunning Fox padding around with his Rufus coat looking rather resplendent in the sunlight.  If that wasn't enough In the wooded area on the way back to the car park I had 4 stag Fallow Deer sat under a tree in the shade.  What a great couple of hours spent in the forest.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Monday 27th June 2011 - Upton Warren NR

Today, I popped 10 miles or so down the road to Upton Warren nature reserve with TS to hopefully see White-letter Hairstreak. In total we saw 3 of these tricky little Hairstreaks in the tops of the Willows by the River Salwarpe. Also of interest was a Scarlet Tiger Moth that was in front of the West Hide at the Moors Pool and 2 male Black-tailed Skimmers were chasing here.  A Marbled White was in the clearing at the Education Reserve. 

I haven't bothered putting up any photos of the White-letter Hairstreaks as the ones I took were too poor to use as even a record shot...ah well.