1st & 8th July 2013 - Shenstone

Right time to get past my "bloggers block" and write another post....

Monday 1st July:
I decided to pay an evening visit to the patch today in the hope of hearing a Quail singing from one of the cereal fields.  Its been 2 years since the last Quail at Shenstone so I was hoping that this year would see the return of this migrant gamebird.  Alas, I didn't hear one at all but the evening was pleasant all the same.

Along Heath Lane Corn Buntings, Yellowhammers, Common Whitethroats, Linnets and Dunnocks were perched up singing in the evening sun.  It made me realize just how special summer evenings can be on the patch.

Common Whitethroat

Monday 8th July:
Today I decided to concentrate on the Stanklyn Lane area of the patch and check out the set-aside in the pylon field.  I started off by walking across the gallops field, which much to my dismay the grass had been cut in the area where a number of pairs of Skylark nest...usually they do not do this here until late summer!  I really hope none were still nesting.  In fact the RSPB's guidance to farmers is to "leave the annual cut as late as possible, and not before August to prolong the nesting season"

Anyway, my mood began to improve on reaching the pylon field and seeing the set-aside in all its glory.  The Greater Knapweed and Ox-eye Daisies looked particularly splendid.  As you would expect the area was positively chuffing with bees, butterflies and moths but the undoubted highlight came in the form of a ♀ Black-tailed Skimmer dragonfly, which is a new species for me on the patch.

Also present were good numbers of Meadow Brown & Ringlet butterflies and Six-spot Burnet moths.  Both a single Small Skipper and single Small Tortoiseshell were also noted.  Somewhat worryingly there wasn't any sign of Common Blue butterfly!

I then headed across to Butts Lane where the young Swallows had now fledged and 6 of them could be seen perching up on the telephone wires.  It's always uplifting seeing successful breeding so I finished the visit a happier man.

Black-tailed Skimmer (♀)















Small Tortoiseshell

Small Skipper

Six-spot Burnet

Swallow (juvenile)

Hildditch Days....part one

As some of you may or may not be aware I have been having on going problems with an knee injury which has had a big impact on the amount of on/off patch walks I have been able to undertake over the past few months.  That said the 'invert' season is now in full flow and I have spent a far amount of time monitoring/recording them at a site near Hartlebury where not great deal of distance needs to be walked and to be honest I have enjoyed the change of scene.

Hillditch Pool is a narrow almost river like pool that is bordered by Phragmites (Common Reed to you and I) and has areas that are covered with Lily Pads.  The site is owned by Worcestershire County Council and is in close proximity to Hartlebury Common. A public footpath runs along the side of the pool making it ideal for viewing dragonflies and damselflies. 

Hillditch is a site that I have visited on/off for a few years now and on one visit last year I discovered some freshly emerged Scarce Chasers.  Through out the season myself and others including Mike Averill (the county dragonfly recorder) monitored them and observed mating activity.  So it remained to be seen if  they were to be present/emerge in 2013.  I am happy to say that they did and the first newly emerged ones were recorded on 10th June by both Mike A (http://dragonfliesofworcestershire.weebly.com/) and fellow wildlife blogger Mark P (http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.co.uk/)

Anyway,  enough of the back story & on with the post....

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6th May 2013:
A single teneral Large Red Damselfly was recorded at Hillditch today.  Also of interest was a Slow Worm basking on the track near the top pool.  A Common Frog was also present at the pool's edge.

Common Frog (Rana temporaria)

19th May 2013:
Things were generally quite at Hillditch on this visit and the only Odonata recorded were small numbers of Large Red Damselflies.  Also of interest was a cracking little metallic looking  micro moth called Micropterix calthella. 

Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula)

Micropterix calthella

25th May 2013:
On today's visit it was noticeable that there had been quite an increase in the number of Large Red Damselflies at the site.  Small numbers of teneral Azure Damselflies were also present.  The day's highlight though was seeing a young Pike, of about 6 inches in length,  basking between the lily pads.  Also of interest today was a single 14-spot Ladybird and a number of Bloody-nosed Beetle Larvae. Butterflies were in good numbers with 1 ♂ Brimstone, 1 Large White, 1 ♂ Orange Tip, 2 Peacocks, 3 Small Tortoiseshell noted

♀ Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella)

Pike (Esox lucius)

Bloody-nosed Beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa) larva

8th June 2013:
Numbers of damselflies present have now increased significantly at Hillditch with Banded Demoiselle, Beautiful Demoiselle and Red-eyed Damselfly now on the wing.  There was no sign of any 'true dragonflies' however. 

Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens)

Male

Female












Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas)

To be continued.....

Tuesday 18th June 2013 - Shenstone

Today I decided to take advantage of the rare bit of warm weather and pay a long overdue visit to the patch to check out which invertebrates were around.

I started off by walking across the Gallops Field which at this time was left fallow. Unfortunately it has been mown since and I dread to think what the impact has been on the nesting Skylarks there!

The gallops was fairly productive with 3 Small Copper butterflies and a ♀/imm. Black-tailed Skimmer dragonfly noted.  The later species was most likely from the nearby, privately owned, Stanklyn Pool.  There had also been an emergence of Garden Chafer beetles which were seemingly everywhere!

Next stop was the set-aside in the Pylon Field.  Here the Oxeye Daisies were in full bloom and looking rather resplendent.  Small numbers of the Greater Knapweed were just coming into bloom.  As always, this wildflower rich strip of vegetation was a haven for invertebrates with the following day-flying moths recorded:  2 Burnet Companion, 1 Cinnabar, 3 Silver Y and 5 Timothy Tortrix.  A Large White butterfly was seen feeding on the Oxeye Daisies.

I then decided to walk down to Captains Pool and along the footpath leading there I noted a Tree Bumblebee feeding on the Cow Parsley flowers.  On the pool itself the 2 juvenile Great Crested Grebes are developing well and looking in fine fettle.  At the edge of the pool, small numbers of Azure damselfly were present and along the dam an ♀ Blackcap was seen occasionally flycatching and a single Cinnabar moth was also noted. Another Tree Bumblebee was noted feeding on the flowers of Comfrey along the dam.

From the dam I headed over to Tony's Café for some refreshments before me and the old chuffer headed over to Butts Lane to check the set-aside.  Here we noted a number of day-flying moths including 2 Cinnabar, 1 Mother Shipton, 1 Small Yellow Underwing, 4 Silver Y, 3 Timothy Tortrix and a Yellow Shell. 

The find of the day was made by Tony when he picked up on a fresh looking Brown Argus butterfly feeding on the flowers of White Clover near the drainage pond.  This is the first sighting of this species on the patch for 2013 so it was great to see that they are still present.

Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas)

Garden Chafers (Phyllopertha horticola)

Burnet Companion (Euclidia glyphica)

Cinnabar Moth (Tyria jacobaeae)

Timothy Tortrix (Aphelia paleana)

 













Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum)

Great Crested Grebe - adult and juvenile

Monday 10th June 2013 - Prestbury Hill (Gloucs)

Today I ventured down to Prestbury Hill near Cheltenham to visit the excellent butterfly Conservation reserves there.  Once more I was in the company of Tony S, although I really do think I should get carers allowance for looking after him!  (or perhaps it's the other way round!).  Anyway I digress, on with the post.

TS and I had previously visited Prestbury Hill some 3 weeks before looking for it's specialty, the Duke of Burgundy butterfly.  Unfortunately on that visit to the hill's Bill Smyllie Reserve the weather forecast didn't hold true, the wind got up and it started to drizzle...needless to say we didn't see a single butterfly. The weather for the return trip was looking much more promising.

Not long after arriving on the Bill Smyllie Reserve we bumped into a voluntary warden who told us that the best place to look for them was in the so called 'Happy Valley'.  He went on to explain that he was going into the valley to look for Duke of Burgundy eggs, so we tagged along. 

On the way into the valley I found 2 Small Blue butterflies, a lifer for me.  This diminutive blue is the UK's smallest butterfly and these 2 were very fresh looking showing a good dusting of blue on their upper wings.  Shortly afterwards the warden called us to point out 3 Duke of Burgundy eggs that he had found on the underside of a Cowslip leaf (the favoured food plant of their larvae).  We continued up through the valley but didn't manage to connect with of the butterflies. 

On the way back towards the car (where a sarnie and a drink was waiting) we noted a couple of moths including a Small Yellow Underwing and a Brimstone moth. 

After lunch the sun was trying to burn through the cloud and the temperature had raised noticeably.  We decided to undertake another walk through the valley and it proved to be a good decision.  Where we had encountered the 2 Small Blue butterflies earlier there were now 7 Small Blues fluttering about.  Better still we connected with the 1st of 4 Duke of Burgundy a bit further up the valley.  Result! my 2nd lifer of the day.  Normally the DOB's flight period should be over by now but due to the cold wet Spring they had been late emerging, giving a later window of opportunity.

Other butterflies of note today included 18 freshly emerged Small Heaths, 1 Peacock and 3 Speckled Wood. Moths species noted included 1 Burnett Companian, 1 Narrow-bordered 5-spot Burnett, many Common Heath and many Silver-ground Carpet.

All in all it proved a successful and enjoyable trip out,  although I really should start thinking about checking in on the local patch soon.

Small Blue

Duke of Burgundy

Small Heath

Silver-ground Carpet

Small Yellow Underwing

Thursday 6th June - Wyre Forest (Shropshire)

I have decided to dust of the cogs again, give them a squirt of WD40 and get the blog posts rolling again....enjoy!

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This afternoon Tony and I decided to make the most of the warm weather and pay a visit to the Postensplain area of the Wyre to catch up with the Fritillary butterflies.  This turned out to be a good move as we saw good numbers of both Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary during the visit.  The other notable butterfly species encountered was Dingy Skipper.

The walk was also productive of the day-flying moth front with many Speckled Yellow encountered, as well as 2 Burnett Companion, 1 Mother Shipton and 1 Common Heath.  Three Brown Silver-line moths were also noted.  These night-flying moths are easily disturbed in the daytime and these individuals were put up whilst walking through the bracken.

Other interesting invertebrates recorded were a single ♀ Broad-bodied Chaser dragonfly, 3 Green Tiger Beetles and an Ashy Mining Bee.

One of the highlights of the visit for me was seeing a ♂ Great Spotted Woodpecker visiting a nest hole with mouthfuls of food.  Every time the adult left the nest there was the constant chatter of the juveniles calling...a really great sound, superb!

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Broad-bodied Chaser (♀)