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FRIENDS
OF EMSWORTH WILDLIFE
This
is a community web site dedicated to the observation,
recording and protection of the wildlife of the
Emsworth area
Please send your
observations and photos to Brian Fellows . . .
brianfellows at tiscali.co.uk
WILDLIFE
DIARY June 16-30 2010
Wildlife
photo gallery - 2010
. .
. EXTERNAL
LINK .
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DIARY ARCHIVES
February,
2010 . . .
March
1-15, 2010 . . .
March
16-31, 2010 . . .
April
1-15, 2010 . . .
April
16-30, 2010
May
1-15, 2010 . . .
May
16-31, 2010 . .
June
1-16, 2010
Wildlife
News Summaries .
. . Fortnightly summaries of the local wildlife
news
RALPH
HOLLINS NEWS - Ralph is not at present able to keep his
web site up-dated. So, for the time being, I am including
any observations that Ralph sends me on this web site.
. . .
WEDNESDAY
JUNE 30
FLOWERING
PLANTS
Bridge
Road Wayside
Newly flowering on the
wayside were Black Knapweed, Yarrow, Bristly Ox-tongue,
Spear Thistle and Vervain, with Wild Carrot, Great
Willowherb and Common Fleabane in bud. This takes the
number of plants on the site for 2010 to 114, There are
still a few more to find from last year, though 29 new
plants have been added this year. The grand total for the
site over the last two years is 127.
Peter
Pond
There are masses of Crow
Garlic bulbils on the east side of Peter Pond, far more
than I recall ever having seen before.
Brook
Meadow
Great Willowherb is now
flowering well on the meadow along with the first of the
Meadowsweet.
RALPH
HOLLINS NEWS
This morning I happened
to be in the Palmer's Rd carpark near the bottle bank and
took a look at Brook Meadow from the nearby Water Vole
board - a little upstream the Typha (Reedmace) flowers
were striking with the cylinders that are usually just
brown being apparently covered with tiny yellow flowers
(these should only appear on the narrower upper section
of the flower head, I think). I was not close enough to
see well but you might like to take a look.
This afternoon I came
home via the South Moors and found Knotted Hedge Parsley
flowering by Southmoor Lane (with Large Flowered Evening
Primroses and Tufted Vetch plus the Hawkweed Oxtongue
which I see you found at the Oysterbeds).
In Langstone village area
I found my first Enchanters Nightshade and Musk Mallow
while back in Havant the Danewort is now in
flower.
On Langstone Mill Pond it
seemed that most of the young Egrets have departed and I
noticed the Swan pair with no cygnets - have they failed
this year?
GODWIT
NEWS
Jason
Crook
The first of the
returning Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits are appearing at
Farlington Marshes now. Last Friday evening (25 June)
there were 57 Godwits on the reserve, mostly
first-summer-types but including 11 in full summer
plumage. These included one colour-ringed bird - L+YL.
Pete
Potts
For info, our godwit team
are off to Iceland on Thursday for almost 3 weeks of
godwit colour-ring reading and chick/adult ringing to our
usual study sites - we have a team of 11 from 3 countries
so we hope to ring many chicks - the first with white
flags will be coming your way in late august/sept with
luck. Initial reports from Iceland are of an abnormally
dry summer in the north west and large post breeding
flocks for the last week or so one of 850 on a hay field
so it looks like they may have had a poor breeding season
but as ever difficult to tell.
NEWS
FROM LANGSTONE HARBOUR
Chris
Cockburn
Baker's
Island:
The limited times
available and prevailing weather conditions for
monitoring the breeding colonies from the viewpoint on
the intertidal shingle ridge mean that it is very
difficult to give exact numbers, but barring disasters,
2010 could be an exceptionally good year for the
Little Terns. Observations today suggested that a
minimum of 7 youngsters are 'fledged' (seen practising
their fishing skills), at least 33 large chicks are
capable of flying and at least 5 smaller chicks are being
well fed. At least 5 'nests' still have sitting birds. It
is highly likely that not all of the chicks and sitting
birds were seen today - the rapid growth of annual
vegetation is not helpful!
One common tern chick is
growing fast and at least three common tern nests are
active (re-nesters from South Binness Island)
The black-headed gulls
have at least 17 'fledged' young and it will soon become
difficult to determine if some of them are refugees from
South Binness Island.
Only two oystercatchers
chicks and four ringed plover chicks were seen
today.
Successful breeding for
all of the species seems to increase in relation to the
distance from the southern end of the island's 'beach',
suggesting a correlation with the presence of the
summering roosting and foraging large gulls (great
black-backed and herring gulls). There is a pair of adult
Med gulls with a 'territory' on the island - at times,
one of the birds will appear to be 'sitting', but they
are probably a pair that failed on South Binness and will
not attempt re-nesting; however, based on observations in
2009, such birds are not averse to predating small
chicks!
South Binness
Island
t looks like being
a bumper year for black-headed gull
productivity - approximately 1100 'fledged'
youngsters were counted today (only c400 yesterday!) and
there are a lot more to come!
The Med gulls nest a
little later than the black-headed, so only a very few
fledgers were counted today, but there are many large
chicks.
There are many large
Sandwich tern chicks (none fledged yet) and they are now
mostly spread out along the eastern beach of the island
having moved from their densely populated nesting
areas.
Common terns present a
mystery - only one pair is still nesting on the eastern
and southern beach areas; the previous nesting pairs have
all failed, presumably at the egg stage (but possibly at
the just hatched stage). Only two medium sized chicks
have been seen on the NW beach area, where c20 common
terns appear to have re-nested.
At least two little terns
are still sitting in the NW area, but one pair has failed
and another pair might have produced a single chick
(accurate observations from the boat have been very
difficult).
There are only one or two
oystercatcher and ringed plover chicks - all in the NW
area.
Round Nap
Island
At least 40 black-headed
gull fledgers were seen today, but only two medium sized
common tern chicks.
The immediate thoughts
about the failing common terns is that there is a food
shortage or fox predation is occurring; however, given
the numbers of gull chicks etc, targeted fox predation
seems unlikely! None of the other terns seem to have a
problem with finding food and common terns have been
frequently observed carrying suitable fish prey.
Therefore, it is possible that black-headed gulls and/or
Med gulls are the cause.
Other sightings: Shelduck
broods (7 ducklings from Long Island and 10 ducklings
from Baker's Island) Two dark-bellied Brent Geese on S
Binness and 26+ flightless, moulting Canada geese
clumping around the islands (even through the little tern
colony!). One female red-breasted merganser. Male and
female peregrines taking gull chicks (ditto great
black-backed gulls!) Common Blue butterfly seen on Long
Island! Sea Lavender is now coming into bloom.
TUESDAY
JUNE 29
HAYLING
OYSTERBEDS
I really enjoyed my
regular Tuesday morning wardening session at the
Oysterbeds. The weather was mercifully cool and cloudy
with a fresh breeze, there was plenty of birds to see, a
few butterflies and lots of newly flowering plants. I
chatted to a few birdwatchers, encouraging them to enjoy
the great gull/tern show.
View
from the south bund showing the south island with Common
Terns and Black-headed Gulls
Birds
The islands in the lagoon
were simply teeming with Black-headed Gull and Common
Tern chicks. Most of the Gull chicks now have their
characteristic gingery plumage and many are flying.
We shall soon be seeing them over in Emsworth, where
people will be scratching their heads as to what that
bird is.
Black-headed
Gull chicks have their gingery plumage
As for the Common Tern
chicks, they are simply sweet. However, as Jason
relates in his blog, Mediterranean Gulls have been
predating the smaller tern chicks. Fortunately, most of
the tern chicks on the island are now too large for Med
Gulls to take, but there are several new broods of small
chicks which are vulnerable. Hopefully this Med Gull will
go away before it has more impact on the breeding
productivity of the terns this summer.
The Oystercatcher
family with a single youngster was on the south
island, while two more Oystercatchers were still sitting
on nests on the north island near markers M and S. Jason
is hopeful they will produce some young fairly soon.
There was no sign of anything on the new shingle island
apart from the Little Tern decoys and a few Black-headed
Gulls.
For Jason's blog with
some gruesome images go to . . . http://langstoneharbourwildlife.blogspot.com/2010/06/tuesday-29-june-spending-time-watching.html
Of other birds in the
vicinity, 13 Shelduck were on the northern Oysterbeds and
a Buzzard was perched in the tall trees to the east of
the Hayling Billy Line. No threat to the terns I assume?
Insects
It was good to see
Marbled Whites on the wing for the first time. I
counted 10 in all, five of them along the north path and
the rest along the Hayling Billy Line. None rested long
enough for a decent photo. The only other butterflies
seen during the morning were several Meadow Browns, one
Small Heath and one Large White. What has happened to
them all? Wiped out in the cold winter?
The
first of the 'rugby-shirted' Cinnabar caterpillars
were on the Common Ragwort.
Plants
I always enjoy the walk
from the main car park to the lagoon. Today I noticed the
regular Goat's-rue was flowering for the first
time this year in the area of scrub immediately behind
the car park, along with a fine bush of Honeysuckle.
Goat's
Rue flowering in the overflow car park at Hayling
Oysterbeds
Black Horehound is
in flower just north of the car park, with some more on
the Hayling Billy Line. It looks a bit like a bushy Red
Dead-nettle. The various thistles are showing well along
the path, including Prickly Sow-thistle with yellow
flowers, Slender Thistle with pink flowers and Creeping
Thistle with purple flowers. The Milk Thistles with white
veined leaves now have deep red flowers with surrounded
by star like bracts. Spear Thistle is not yet in flower.
Also along the path to
the lagoon the large area of Common Ragwort is
opening up and the bright yellow flowers of Perennial
Sow-thistle are showing well. The Yellow-horned Poppy is
now at its splendid best on the shingle beach.
Common
Ragwort is starting to flower on Hayling
Oysterbeds
Wild Carrot and Bristly
Ox-tongue are newly flowering on the south side of the
lagoon, where Broad-leaved Everlasting-pea is also out.
The thorny shrub nearby with bunches of white flowers is,
I think, Firethorn (Pyracanthus); there are others along
the Hayling Billy Line.
Common Sea-lavender
is now in full bloom on the muddy shore surrounded by
the green shoots of Common Glasswort.
The pretty pink flowers
of Common Centaury are showing well on the mound
behind the shelter, along with the newly flowering
Perforate St John's-wort. I think the small yellow
daisies on the mound with red on the underside of the
petals are Beaked Hawk's-beard which usually grows much
bigger.
Viper's Bugloss is
now showing well on the north path where Hogweed and
Traveller's Joy are flowering for the first time.
I was particularly
pleased to find Hawkweed Oxtongue newly flowering
on the Hayling Billy Line. It has multiple yellow daisy
flowers and is rough with distinctive wavy-edged
lanceolate leaves. Other newly flowering plants on the
Hayling Billy Line included Greater Knapweed and
Agrimony. I also spotted some Crow Garlic bulbils which I
have not seen here before.
GARDEN
Today, we saw three
Hedgehog youngsters with their mother near the nest
in our back garden. They all seem to be moving OK. They
have not touched the dried mealworms that I bought
especially for them, but I suppose they are getting
enough nourishment elsewhere in the garden. I also have a
few dishes of water scattered around for them.
The only butterfly I have
seen in the garden for past two days is a Small
Tortoiseshell. This is good news for a threatened
butterfly, but where are all the others? In particular,
where are the Whites?
ORCHIDS
ON FISHBOURNE MEADOWS
Ed Rowsell reports their
annual count of the Southern Marsh Orchids in Fishbourne
Meadows as 330, which is considerably down on last year
when 500 were counted. I had a feeling that this was not
a bumper year from my last visit to Fishbourne Meadows.
However, Ed was heartened that orchids were found in part
of site they have not been present in recent years. This
count is in sharp contrast to the record count of 9324
Southern Marsh Orchids on South Moor Langstone last
Saturday. Ed added that the road verge at Appledram Lane
(south) with the Spiked Star-of-Bethlehem has survived so
far as well.
MYSTERY
BEETLE AT NEWTOWN
Two possible
identifications were offered for the mystery beetle I
found on Newtown Nature Reserve on June 19. To start
with, Bryan Pinchen pointed out that it was definitely
not a Ladybird which I initially thought it might be! If
it were it would have clubbed antennae, which it clearly
does not have. Bryan said it was one of the leaf beetle
family, Chrysomelidae probably Phytodecta
viminalis.
Graham Hoggarth suggested
an alternative identification for the beetle - Cassida
murraea. I have looked at some images on the internet
which backs up Graham's ID. The Newtown beetle lacks the
the black band at the rear of the pronotum which
according to Chinery (p.282) Phytodecta viminalis usually
has.
Fleabane
tortoise beetle (Cassida murraea) at Newtown Nature
Reserve - 19 June 2010
I went back to Bryan who
agreed Graham could be right, although he does have a
reference that suggests the black at the rear of the
pronotum is not always present in P. viminalis. But he
admitted beetles were not his strong point!
Finally, Reserve Warden
Pema Brunet has left message with the beetle recorder on
the island to confirm the ID - also known as the Fleabane
tortoise beetle.
MONDAY
JUNE 28
HOLLYBANK
WOODS
I spend a magical hour or
so this morning in this beautiful woodland, so cool away
from the scorching sunshine outside. I went mainly to
look for butterflies and I certainly was not
disappointed.
I saw my first White
Admiral flying around just inside the south gate near
the interpretation board, which is always a reliable
place for them. However, the best was still to come when
I reached my favourite seat along the eastern bridleway.
I sat there for a good 30 minutes, while at least two
White Admirals (there could have been more) fluttered
around me in their characteristic flits and glides.
The White Admirals
occasionally rested in the trees, though never close
enough for me to get a good photo. But who needs photos
with an experience like this? They seemed to favour the
path going north towards the road. I saw another White
Admiral while walking back along the southern path from
the seat. That makes four in all and there could be a lot
more. A bumper year perhaps? The caterpillars clearly
survived the cold winter.
This
was the best shot I could get of a White Admiral in the
Oak tree above the seat
I was also visited on two
or three occasions by two Silver-washed
Fritillaries, which skirmished around each other
vigorously without stopping.
I also had my first
Marbled White of the year on the Holly Lodge
clearing. A very nice morning, thank you, Hollybank.
SUNDAY
JUNE 27
EMSWORTH
Slipper
Millpond area
The Mute Swan is still
sitting on her nest on the west bank of Slipper Millpond,
though without much chance of success I would guess.
The
Mute Swan family with three cygnets, including the
'Polish' cygnet, was on Dolphin Lake.
As for the Coots, the
northern raft family on Slipper Millpond appears to be
down to 3 chicks, while the family in the centre of the
pond has 2 chicks.
Interestingly, Coot
numbers are building up, in advance of the main autumn
migration, with 12 birds already on Dolphin Lake.
Perennial Sow-thistle and
Wild Carrot were both in flower on the edge of the pond.
There is a Moorhen family
on Dolphin Lake with just one chick, maybe from the nest
on Eyas boat.
A Reed Warbler was
singing away from the reeds on the eastern side of
Slipper Millpond.
The
first Lesser Black-backed Gull of the summer was standing
proudly on the southern raft on Slipper Millpond.
Peter
Pond
At least 2 Reed Warblers
were singing from the reeds on Peter Pond.
David Gattrell thought
the missing eggs from the Mute Swan nest had been lost in
the high tide and not stolen by people or foxes. David
confirmed that a new information board for Peter Pond was
being financed by English Nature to replace the one that
was vandalised last year.
Bridge
Road Wayside
The
Narrow-leaved Water-plantain (Alisma lanceolata) is now
flowering well in the Westbrook Stream.
HAIRY
MILKWORT - a new subspecies?
Ralph Hollins wondered if
we had a new subspecies for Sussex with the hairy Common
Milkwort found on Nore Down, but it needs an expert to
resolve. I consulted Martin Rand.
Martin Rand said: "Don't
get too excited - it only has varietal status, implying
that you can expect to find intermediates; indeed it
appears to be sympatric in France with the normal one,
and to have no ecological separation.
However it's worth
recording and documenting these things. Get your
specimens dry with kitchen towel, put them into a folded
sheet of newspaper (laid out so that some of both leaf
surfaces are visible on top and any flowers are showing
away from the leaves - and write collection notes on the
newspaper margin!), put some sheets of blotting paper
either side and then put them with a large book
underneath and some large heavy books on top. Check them
after a few days and if necessary change the blotting
paper. When they are flat and dry you can leave them in
the newspaper until they find a home in a herbarium
somewhere.
The BSBI Polygala referee
is Mr. D. R. Glendinning, but you may want to submit them
via Alan - I don't know how he likes to work these
things. Either of us can give you his address if you are
sending them direct. "
MILKWORT
at Newtown is Centaury!
Regarding the 'pink
Milkwort' seen at Newtown Nature Reserve on the Isle of
Wight on June 19 Ralph Hollins pointed out that while the
stem and leaves look right the flowers look all wrong -
too closely grouped together and 'flat topped' not
tubular. Ralph says it is rather a pale Common Centaury I
agree absolutely. The plant clearly is not Common
Milkwort, but Common Centaury.
The
Newtown pink 'Milkwort'
The Nore
Down Milkwort
SATURDAY
JUNE 26
EMSWORTH
Bullfinches
I met a very excited
Robin Pottinger in Emsworth this morning. He told me
about a male and female pair of Bullfinches that he had
in his garden on the feeders, a first for the garden and
the first he has seen for years.
Stag
Beetle
I also happened to meet
John Williams who lives right opposite me in Bridge Road
and he had a bit of interesting wildlife news. John found
a female Stag Beetle while clearing out some rubbish at
the end of his very long garden. He told me the female
dies immediately after laying eggs. Out with a bang!
Hedgehog
family in my garden
We have had a Hedgehog in
the garden for a few weeks, and Jean has heard it
snufling around, but we had no idea it was raising
youngsters until this morning when we spotted a baby and
its Mum out in the open, much to the delight of three of
my grandchildren and their parents. It was the first baby
Hedgehog that any of us had seen.
I took some photos, one
of Mum encouraging the baby to climb a low wall, but it
did not manage it. Mum went off while the baby slowly
made its way back to the nest, which was a pile of leaves
at the back of a flower patch. This youngster still shows
some of its early white spines. Its eyes are open, but
the lids are still puffy. I read that Hedgehogs may have
between three and five young, so there might well be more
in the nest.
Mum
Hedgehog encouraging her baby to climb a small wall,
which it did not mamage
Baby
Hedgehog crawling away back to the nest
RALPH
HOLLINS NEWS
A cycle ride past
Langstone Pond this morning found at least 11 juvenile
Egrets in the trees and another 12 in the pony field
north of the pond - all looking ready to leave but having
greenish legs and dull bills.
Also seen flowering on
this trip and firsts for me were Perennial Sowthistle,
Hedge Woundwort and Bittersweet. In Langstone village the
Southbrook Road/footpath display of Least Yellow Sorrel
was good and Shining Cranesbill was still flowering by
the footpath on the way back from Pook Lane. In the
wildflower sown area of the Lymbourne triangle between
Lymbourne Road and the Billy Trail lots of Corn Cockles
were flowering (including at least one 'escape' on the
north side of the footpath) and among the Scarlet
Pimpernel flowers there were some pale pink (tending
towards Blue Pimpernel).
Portland is starting to
record the first migrants heading south including a few
Sand Martins and at least on Wheatear.
FRIDAY
JUNE 24
EMSWORTH
Blackbird
nest
Richard, a neighbour of
mine, who lives on the corner of St James Road, invited
me into his garden this morning to see a Blackbird's
nest. The nest had been built in a hanging basket and had
4 eggs in it. I asked Richard to try not to disturb it
and to keep me informed as to how it progresses.
Incubation by the female Blackbird takes 10-19 days and
fledging another 10-19 days after that. So Richard can
expect the birds to be in and around the nest for another
month or so.
Swifts
nest prospecting?
We have had five Swifts
flying around the houses in Bridge Road for the past few
days, mostly in the morning and evening. This evening I
watched one enter a small nesting hole under the eaves of
my neighbour's roof and remain there for 10 minutes
before flying off. The cavity has previously been used
this year for nesting by Starlings. This is not the first
time I have seen this behaviour from Swifts, but the
first time this year. I have previously put the behaviour
down to young birds prospecting possible nesting sites,
though I do not recall Swifts ever nesting in that
cavity, though they clearly do nest somewhere in the
local area.
Mediterranean
Gulls
An astonishing 12 adult
Mediterranean Gulls were on Slipper Millpond this
morning. There could well have been some juveniles as
well, though I could not seen them with my bins.
Plants
Least Yellow Sorrel
is flowering again in the gateway of No 18A Victoria
Road.
The first Black
Knapweed of the year was flowering on Brook Meadow.
Tufted
Hair-grass is towering above the vegetation on Brook
Meadow - 25 June 2010
The first Perennial
Sow-thistle was in flower on the edge of the boat
yard in Dolphin Quay.
I was surprised to find a
tuft of what looks like Spiked Sedge at the
eastern end of the path behind Lillywhite's Garage.
Insects
Lots of Meadow
Browns were flying on Brook Meadow.
A
female (brown form) Common Blue was flying on the Lumley
area.
Graham Hoggarth also
reported a couple of Large Skippers, 1 Red Admiral and 3
Large Whites on the meadow this morning. Graham also saw
5 Banded Demoiselles, one Large Red Damselfly and one
Broad-bodied Chaser.
I saw another two
Yellow Shell moths. They fly surprisingly well and
look at first like butterflies.
Lots of Grasshoppers were
jumping around in the grasses.
'HAIRY'
COMMON MILKWORT
BSBI Recorder for South
Hants Martin Rand replied to my query about the hairy
Common Milkwort that I found on Nore Down near West
Marden.
Common
Milkwort?
Common
Milkwort magnified 20x showing curled back
hairs
Martin replied:
I suspect this may be the
plant named Polygala vulgaris var. vestita in the 19th
century. Here's the description from Rouy's Flore de
France, Vol. III, 1896:
"Leaves abundantly
pubescent; median bract equalling the pedicel at anthesis
[i.e. same as the type and distinguishing from
another hairy form from the Alpes-Maritimes, var.
transiens]; flowers a little larger [than the
type] (wings 5-7mm long)."
There's been little
attempt at describing variation in this species in
Britain, apart from the segregation (or not) of P.
oxyptera. As in so many other species, part of the
baleful legacy of Bentham as described in David Allen's
latest book. Still, things are changing on that front and
it will be interesting to see what account Sell gives in
the next volume of his magnum opus. However there was an
excellent article by David Glendinning in issue 82 of
BSBI News on variation in British Polygala, with a long
section on P.vulgaris, but hairiness didn't come into the
discussion.
THURSDAY
JUNE 24
SOUTH
MOOR
As I shall not be able to
get to the annual orchid count on Saturday, I decided to
go over to South Moor Langstone to see what the Southern
Marsh Orchids were looking like. A wooden gate has been
put in the barbed wire fence with an access point beside
it which makes it easy to clamber over onto the orchid
field. Cattle are grazing on the main field, but not on
the orchid field. I wandered around for an hour in the
hot sunshine.
Southern
Marsh Orchids
The Orchids were looking
great, with lots of fine specimens at their best. I would
estimate 2,000 at a rough count, probably not up to last
year's official count of 4142.
Southern
Marsh Orchid with Narrow-bordered 5-spot Burnet moth on
South Moor - 24 June 2010
Other
plants
Logged today included:
Divided Sedge, Distant Sedge, Glaucous Sedge, False Fox
Sedge, Carnation Sedge, Common Spike-rush, Sea Club-rush
, Crested Dog's-tail, Plicate Sweet-grass, Fen Bedstraw
(small bristle at the end of the leaves - two substantial
clumps of white flowers), Sharp-flowered Rush (abundant),
Jointed Rush, Soft Rush, Saltmarsh Rush, Hard Rush,
Ragged Robin (over), Sea Arrowgrass, Bird's-foot Trefoil,
Greater Bird's-foot Trefoil, Meadowsweet (both just
starting to flower), Black Knapweed (rayed),
Celery-leaved Buttercup, Pepper-saxifrage (leaves only),
Meadow Vetchling.
Clumps
of Fen Bedstraw on the South Moor - 24 June 2010
Burnet
Moths
There were lots of Burnet
Moths on the moor, mainly feeding on Marsh Thistle, but
which one? Last year, Ralph Hollins told me they were
almost certainly Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet
(Zygaena lonicerae). The main emergence of these is in
June, whereas the normal 5-spot Burnet (Zygaena trifolii)
comes out in July. Experts say that Five-spot Burnets are
only found on chalk and that the species is very rare in
Hampshire anyway, probably restricted to Martin Down,
whereas the Narrow-bordered species is quite common and
by far the more likely to be seen at places off the chalk
such as the South Moors.
Birds
A Lesser Whitethroat was
singing.
NEWTOWN
NATURE RESERVE - Saturday June 19
Here is my delayed report
on a visit to Newtown Nature Reserve on the Isle of Wight
where for the second year running I accompanied Warden
Pema Brunet on a very interesting and instructive nature
walk around the Reserve. Starting at the reserve centre
we walked down to the wild flower meadows near the
harbour. After a short lunch break Pema took us through
Walter's Copse which we missed out on last year. Here are
a few notes and photos that I took during the walk.
There was a fine display
of Meadow Barley on the roadside through Newtown village,
a grass I have not yet been able to locate on Brook
Meadow Nature Reserve here in Emsworth. We also stopped
to admire the Dotted Loosestrife, a garden escape.
Pema
examining plants with the group in Newtown - 19 June
2010
On the way back we
pondered over a tiny pink flower partly hidden in the
vegetation on the roadside, which I thought was Common
Milkwort However, Ralph Hollins comments tha while the
stem and leaves look right, the flowers look all wrong -
too closely grouped together and 'flat topped' not
tubular. The flower suggested pale Common Centaury
to me - see Seaside Centaury on p 200 of Fitter and
Blamey.
Common
Milkwort or Common Centuary ? on the roadside verge in
Newtown
We also stopped to
examine the Fescues growing on the roadside, which I
think we agreed were all probably Tall Fescue in various
stages of growth. We walked through the harbour meadows
which were full of wild flowers and grasses, including
lots of Crested Dog's-tail. We walked a little way along
the new boardwalk and examined some of the plants growing
on the saltmarshes. These included Common Saltmarsh Grass
(Pema said Red Fescue is not common on the reserve),
Saltmarsh Rush and Common Sea-lavender (starting to
flower).
Pema took us through the
gate behind the Old Town Hall to have a look at the Hairy
Buttercups, though she did not need to dig one up this
year to demonstrate they had no bulbs, like Bulbous
Buttercups.
Yours
truly with the Hairy Buttercups
In the same area, we also
spent some time studying a growth of Tare, though we were
undecided between Hairy Tare and Smooth Tare.
Here
is Pema and the group studying the possible hairy Tare.
Or is it Smooth?
After lunch we took the
cars down to Walter's Copse, which is a splendid natural
woodland with broad walks. Among the plants we noted were
hundreds of Common Spotted Orchids, Greater Bird's-foot
Trefoil along with the regular woodland sedges and
rushes, including Remote Sedge, Compact Rush, Soft Rush,
Hard Rush plus False Brome and Tufted Hair-grass.
After the end of the
official walk I had a walk along the old 'High Street'
where I found masses of what I am fairly sure was Hairy
Tare plus more Hairy Buttercups. It was Hairy Tare rather
than Smooth because it had more than 2 flowers on the
spikes. I also found several spikes of the beautiful and
delicate Grass Vetchling. But the highlight was the fine
display of Dyers Greenweed which was still well in
flower, something I never see at home.
Dyer's
Greenweed flourishes on the Newtown Nature Reserve
Coming back along the
lane to the reserve centre I found several large tufts of
what I am fairly sure was Tufted Hair-grass. We also saw
a lot of this in Walter's Copse. The lane itself was
lined with a wonderful array of wild flowers, a great
advert for not cutting roadside verges. This is a
campaign I am heading here in Emsworth called the Friends
of Emsworth Waysides.
Finally, we also
encountered a number of insects on the walk, including
Meadow Brown, Common Blue and Large Skipper butterflies.
We also saw a pretty orange moth which was I think Yellow
Shell, which I have also seen on the Brook Meadow Nature
Reserve in the past week.
Yellow
Shell moth on Newtown Nature Reserve
WEDNESDAY
JUNE 23
BROOK
MEADOW
Reed
Canary-grass
Wally Osborne asked me
during the Open Day about the pink haze on the large
patch of Reed Canary-grass above the causeway. I thought
at the time it must be due to the anthers emerging from
the spikelets. However, I had a close look at the plants
this morning and the pink haze is not produced by the
anthers, but by the spikelets themselves, which have a
strong purple flush on them.
Reed
canary-grass spikelets showing purple flush - Brook
Maedow 23 June 2010
Water
Dock
The massive Water Dock
plants on the west side of the Lumley Stream are now in
full flower and tower above my head. A most impressive
plant.
Pyramidal
Orchid
Richard Somerscocks
discovered a Pyramidal Orchid on Brook Meadow this
evening. Richard said "it wasn't a particularly good
specimen, since it had been a bit bashed by a dog/person
at some stage, but it was still growing OK and looking as
though it would flower." Richard notes correctly that one
was planted on Brook Meadow in 2008 but was not seen last
year.
Pyramidal
Orchid on Brook Meadow (first since 2008) - 23 June 2010
- Photo by Richard Somerscocks
NORE
DOWN
'Hairy'
Common Milkwort
I went to Nore Down this
morning to have another look at the unusual Common
Milkwort that I found there on June 13 with curled hairs.
Both Alan Knapp and Ralph Hollins were puzzled by it. I
found quite a lot of Milkwort, both pink and blue
varieties at Grid Ref: SU 7733 1282. However, all the
plants I examined appeared to have the same curled hairs
on the stem. Ralph Hollins suggested that they might not
hairs at all, but some sort of fungal growth on the
plants. Maybe, he is right. But how does one decide?
Common
Milkwort on Nore Down showng curled 'hairs' on the stem -
23 June 2010
I also found 12 Fragrant
and 4 Pyramidal Orchids along with plenty of other
flowers. It's a great place. I shall be leading a walk
here for the Havant Wildlife Group in 2 weeks.
Fragrant
Orchid on Nore Down - 23 June 2010
UPDATES
ON YESTERDAY'S NEWS
New
Shingle Island at Oysterbeds
Jason Crook comments as
follows on the suggestion yesterday that the new shingle
island on Hayling Oysterbeds would work better with water
around it:
"Regarding the new
shingle area, all involved in it's funding and creation
are aware of its current limitations (or should I say,
having known the site for years, I made everyone aware of
them!). I am also aware of the possibilities of the
reserve, and I have been peddling the idea of further
island and lagoon creation at the north end of the
reserve for three years now. In fact I was commissioned
last autumn by the Wildlife Trust to produce a proposal
for habitat creation on the reserve. The problem is the
funding, or lack of it. We need a substantial amount of
capital funding to make any major changes to the layout
of the embankments and channels. We explore every avenue
we can, but that budget the government has just rolled
out doesn't look good for funding nature conservation,
however you look at it. I remain optimistic that someone
out there will see the sense in using the Oysterbeds for
addressing more of the issues that we see with our
coastal wildlife, particularly the breeding sea birds and
roosting waders.
The new shingle area is
regarded as an interim project and it has proved the main
thing we set out to prove within the overall objective of
creating an alternative site for Little Terns within
Langstone Harbour: the species will breed on that part of
the reserve without water surrounding them all the time
(as they do, of course, on the main harbour islands) with
the simple provision of an area of bare shingle. A lagoon
will add security for the birds (both from disturbance
from people, and predation from mammals) and, as you
rightly suggest, is achievable. At the moment we have to
work with what we have got (which we have thanks to some
funding from the EA via the RSPB's Langstone Harbour
Little Tern project).
Predation of tern chicks
by a Mediterranean Gull this evening was recorded. I hope
it doesn't return but I know it will. It had probably
predated chicks before today anyway. Predation incidents
occur quickly and are easily missed or overlooked. I
would ask that everyone looks out for Med Gulls
patrolling (almost quartering) the islands looking for
food and report any incidents to me so I can keep a
record. Thanks.
You can read my take on
the sea bird colony on the Langstone Harbour Wildlife
Blog.
http://langstoneharbourwildlife.blogspot.com/
Oysterbeds
Broomrape
Pete Potts comments on
the Broomrape I spotted on the Hayling Billy Line
yesterday:
"I think the Broomrape is
Common Broomrape I found quite a bit of it at the top of
the Billy Line on edge of path around Texaco bay it is
parasitic on clovers etc"
Travellers
on Emsworth Recreation Ground
David Gillett comments on
yesterday's news:
"We think these were the
same travellers that caused damage to trees and saplings
at Southmoor Lane the other day. I met with an HBC
officer at the site and our team will be calling on them
first thing, although there is a promise to leave at the
weekend we will commence the legal process, just in case
they don't."
TUESDAY
JUNE 22
HAYLING
OYSTERBEDS
Phew! It was sweltering
down on the Oysterbeds this morning for my regular
wardening session. We had a regular flow of visitors,
mostly people on holiday, some of whom stopped to chat
about the birds. Most were disappointed not to see Little
Terns, but I encouraged them to enjoy the fine spectacle
of Common Terns with their chicks.
Kevin Crisp was on the
south bund taking photos of the tern colony when I
arrived, bronzed and jet-lagged from his birding holiday
in Thailand. He usually wardens on Monday morning, but
could not wait to get back to the Oysterbeds!
I was also pleased to
meet Alice Horsell, a new volunteer warden, who will
probably be taking over the Tuesday afternoon slot
immediately after me. Alice is a first year biology
student at Royal Holloway University College in London
and is keen to get some practical experience in wardening
and wildlife conservation. I had probably met Alice
several years ago when she visited Brook Meadow in
Emsworth as part of the HWT Watch conservation work.
Birds
The Black-headed Gull
chicks on the islands are growing fast and are
developing their flight feathers. I did not see any
actually fly, but it should not be long now before they
do. Many of them had ventured onto the lagoon and Kevin
and I noticed that two chicks had actually made it onto
the Stoke Bay shore.
Most of the Common
Terns on the south island appeared to have chicks.
Jason said a few nests had failed, but there were around
100 chicks and, provided the weather remained fine and
aerial predators stayed away, we should have a very good
season.
A couple of
Oystercatchers appeared to be sitting on nests on
the north island, though Jason told me the one by marker
Q had failed.
The only birds on the
new shingle island were 5 Black-headed Gulls,
keeping the decoys company. I was talking to Kevin about
the new island and he wondered if it might work better
with water around it. Looking at the island it does seem
possible in principle to block of some of the adjacent
channels to create a lagoon.
No sign of any Little
Terns on the Oysterbeds today, but Chris Cockburn
reports "at least 28 'mobile' Little Tern chicks" on
Baker's Island, which is good news indeed.
Insects
There were surprisingly
few butterflies on the wing. The only ones I saw were 1
Small Tortoiseshell on the Slender Thistle, 2
Holly Blues on the Bramble and 2 Large Skippers on
the Hayling Billy Line, plus some unidentified Whites,
not Marbled Whites as far as I could tell. Small
Tortoiseshells seem to be making a come-back after
several years in which few were about.
Plants
The Slender
Thistle is now well in flower on the path from the
car park, with Field Bindweed, Sea Mayweed and Scarlet
Pimpernel here and there. No movement as yet in the Spear
Thistle, though Common Ragwort is starting to open up.
Some of the Milk Thistle behind the mound had deep purple
flowers. Common Centaury and Common Stork's-bill
are also out on the mound. A clump of Common Sea-lavender
is flowering well on the muddy shore south of the lagoon.
Meanwhile, Viper's Bugloss is looking good along the
north path.
The sweet aroma of
Wild Privet wafts along the Hayling Billy Line,
where Yellow-wort and Marjoram were newly
flowering.
Yellow-wort
flowers on the Hayling Billy Line - 22 June 2010
As for orchids, the two
Common Spotteds are almost over. I did not see any Bee
Orchids on the reserve, though Pete Potts reports plenty
further south on the Hayling Billy Line and locally there
are a few on Brook Meadow in Emsworth and on North
Thorney.
Finally, I spotted a
Broomrape at the north end of the Hayling Billy Line just
before the bend. Local ranger Pete Potts said he thought
it was Common Broomrape. he found quite a bit of it at
the top of the Billy Line on edge of path around Texaco
bay it is parasitic on clovers etc.
Common
Broomrape on hayling Billy Line - 22 June 2010
My personal plant list
for Hayling Oysterbeds reserve for this year now stands
at 143, already one up on 2009.
LANGSTONE
HARBOUR REPORT
Chris Cockburn
reports:
"Encouraging news from
distant telescope observations of Baker's Island made
today - at least 28 'mobile' Little Tern chicks seen
(some suggesting that adults have three or two chicks) -
two of the chicks were able to fly 50m or so - not a good
idea as, on landing, they were immediately attacked by
adult Little Terns - "you're not my chick, begone!".
There was some luck involved in the time-limited
observations - scanning only found 12 chicks - but for a
few seconds there was a mass movement of 16 chicks, which
had been invisible amongst the stones and annual
vegetation. No small chicks were seen, but, there are
likely to be some - adults were seen with fish prey which
was delivered either to an out of view sitting adult or
small chick. At least nine 'nests' still have sitting
birds. Hopefully, the c12 'nests' that failed south of
the brick shelters will lead to re-nesting soon. The
apparent success so far is probably mainly due to no big
tides and reduced levels of fox and crow predation.
At least four Ringed
Plover chicks (small but fast!) were seen.
There is at least one
1-day old Oystercatcher chick behind the electrified
fence - an adult was seen to fly away with the eggshell
as the other adult came in for the brooding 'changeover'
(walking across the recharge shingle, it was dive-bombed
by several angry adult little terns - a little tern
chick, which tried to fend off the oystercatcher, was
given a prod of oystercatcher bill and sensibly ran
away).
Only 10 Black-Headed Gull
chicks were seen - much fewer than expected - that could
be due to predation by fox or large gulls (latter often
roost nearby). The Great Black-Backed Gulls could become
the biggest threat to the success of Little Terns - the
predominantly N/NE winds have resulted in no cuttlefish
corpses near the west side of Baker's Island - if we have
a run of W/SW winds, problems will arise!
On South Binness Island,
there are lots of gull chicks (yes, lots and lots) some
of which are now able to fly. There are also good numbers
of large Sandwich tern chicks, but very few common tern
chicks."
RALPH
HOLLINS NEWS
"I see from your
newsletter that Alan Knapp was puzzled by the Hairy
Milkwort - if you do find some more I wonder if there
is any possibility that the hairs are not part of the
Milkwort but are perhaps a fungal growth on it (I know
that is extremely unlikely but worth checking). It might
also be worth asking Martin Rand for his
opinion.
Today (mid morning) we
had three Swifts visiting the Manor Close houses
where they have bred in past years -did you also see
any?
Note:
Five Swifts were feeding in the sky over Emsworth this
evening.
One creature you have not
I think mentioned in your website is Stag Beetle. I have
seen several reports of them on John Goodspeed's website
and elsewhere and I mention them as I found a second male
corpse today after finding another a few days back -
almost certainly the work of Magpies which eat the
abdomen but leave the tougher thorax, head and
horns.
Glad to see Brook Meadow
is increasing its renown through its insects."
TRAVELLERS
ON WAYSIDE
I happened to be driving
down Horndean Road this evening when I noticed a group of
caravans and other vehicles parked in the far NW corner
of Emsworth Recreation Ground, which is the site of one
of our wayside conservation reserves. I stopped and went
over to have a look. A police officer was just leaving
and he confirmed to me that they were travellers who had
got onto the site through the north gate to the
recreation ground this afternoon. He had taken all their
details and said the Council were aware of their
presence. They told him they would be moving off at the
weekend! Let's hope they go soon and do not leave a pile
of mess.
MONDAY
JUNE 21
BRIDGE
ROAD WAYSIDE
Plants
The Bridge Road wayside
is currently a riot of wild flowers and grasses. This
year's plant total for the site so far is 111, including
29 new ones over last year. The grand total stands at an
astonishing 127 species. This place must surely have a
botanical history? Take a look next time you are in the
car park. You will also see the new information board,
bought with donations from several local organisations,
including the ERA and the EBA.
For full list of plants
on the Bridge Road site go to .. . http://www.emsworthwaysides.hampshire.org.uk/bridge-road-NR-plants.htm
Bridge
Road wayside reserve is a riot of wild flowers
Mallard
ducklings
The female Mallard was
back on the Westbrook Stream this afternoon with 9 tiny
ducklings in tow, three dark ones and 6 light coloured.
She has been missing from the strem for the past few
weeks, so that is what she has been doing! The two male
Mallards are still around and no doubt will continue to
harass her and put the ducklings at risk.
BROOK
MEADOW
I spent most of yesterday
involved in the Open Day activities on Brook Meadow
celebrating the 10th Anniverary of the founding of the
Brook Meadow Conservation Group in Year 2000.
During my nature walk in
the morning I noted a Large Skipper and Small
Tortoiseshell. Several other people reported seeing
Small Tortoiseshells, which is very good news after the
bad time they have had over the past few years. Richard
Somerscocks also reported a Red Admiral which has not
been seen recently on the meadow.
Large
Skipper on Brook Meadow - 20 June 2010
We also found a very
distinctive caterpillar feding on a Meadowsweet plant
with four tufts of bright yellow hairs along its back and
bunches of fine black hairs at each end of its body. I
subsequently identified it as a caterpillar of the
Vapourer Moth.
Today I had a quick walk
through the meadow and found my first Toad Rush of the
year, in fact, masses of it near the Lumley gate, far
more than I recall seeing in previous years.
I
also saw a beautifully fresh Speckled Wood
butterfly
SLIPPER
MILLPOND
Coot are doing well on
Slipper Millpond with a family of 5 chicks on the
northern raft plus another family with 3 small chicks on
the same pond. Brendan Gibb-Gray told me Moorhens are
nesting again on the boat called Eyas in Dolphin Lake,
which, fortunately for the Moorhens, never moves. Brendan
also said 4 Tufted Ducks have been present on the pond
for much of the week, but they will not be nesting here.
The Mute Swan is still on
her nest on the west side of the pond, probably sitting
on just one egg, after having had 5 others washed away.
One of the three cygnets in Dolphin Lake is a white
'Polish' variety that we often have in Emsworth.
Mute
Swan family on Dolphin Lake with one white 'Polish'
cygnet
ORCHIDS
ON HAYLING
Pete Potts reports: "c.30
Bee Orchid Spikes and at least 1 Pyramidal Orchid half
way down the Billy Line near the sea grass display board;
the bees on the seaward side and the Pyramidal right
below
the fence between the
paths. Noticed when we were trimming back the line ready
for the annual Hayling 10km race - we made sure not to
trim them off.
Birds-foot Trefoil has
had a good season as the cold winter allowed its seed to
germinate it has a thick hard seed case that needs hard
frosts to crack it. One of my favourite plants and such a
good nectar source and food plant of Common Blue, burnet
moths etc. Bring it on!"
YELLOW SHELL MOTH
Sarah Patten idetnified
the moth I saw on Brook Meadow last Thursday (17 June) as
Yellow Shell moth (Camptogramma bilineata),
a species she says which is often disturbed from
undergrowth during the day.
Yellow
Shell moth (Camptogramma bilineata) Brook Meadow
on 17 June 2010
FRIDAY
JUNE 18
BRIDGE
ROAD WAYSIDE
Ralph Hollins reminded me
to look for Wall Speedwell in Bridge Road car park
which he now has flowering in his garden. I had a look in
the usual place around the northern entrance, but could
not see it there. However, I did find some in the
shrubbery near the southern entrance to the car park.
Close-up
of Wall Speedwell from Bridge Road Wayside - 18 June
2010
I discover Les and John
of HBC cutting the Beech hedge and strimming all the Wall
Lettuce plants that I counted yesterday. I told them this
was a valuable plant and not to cut them in future. They
were apologetic and very positive about helping the
waysides project. Les told me that the Beech hedge must
be between 40 and 50 years old. He remembered the car
park when it was a timber yard full of logs which he used
to play on as a lad.
GODWITS
AT TITCHFIELD
John Goodspeed posted on
hoslist that Sue Thomas had seen a flock of around 150
Black-tailed Godwits at Titchfield Haven on Wednesday
16th June.
Pete
Potts provided the following information:
It is usual to get a
summering flock of godwits in The Solent, these are
largely first summer birds and a few adults that either
don't make it to Iceland (sick or in poor condition we
think) and it is possible that some adults have already
returned, we know that some do by late June if they have
failed to breed successfully.
Some of the nests in the
south of Iceland have been hatching in the last 10 days
with the rest to follow, soon most will have hatched by
the end of the month. Birds in the north and north west
may be a little later. So if you have lost your clutch or
failed to find a mate and we think there are more males
than females in the population then they head back south
again.
I also suspect that some
of the birds in adult summer type plumage are immature
birds in their second year and have still to make their
first flight to Iceland, or so we think.
I would be interested to
hear if there is a flock at Thorney/Chichester area or at
Farlington/Langstone Hbr at the moment. There were
c.70-80 about earlier in the summer at Northney but I
haven't seen them for ages.
Our international team of
11 people from 3 countries returns for the 11th summer to
Iceland to visit our study sites. We go from 1st-20th
July for chick ringing, we also hope to nest trap some
adults and cannon-net some post breeding flocks. We also
spend a lot of time reading rings and visiting our
Icelandic friends and may even do a whale watch and will
eat a lot of dried fish but will avoid the shark! Wish us
luck.
I have no evidence to
suggest that the recent volcanic activity has affected
godwits - the ash plume has largely covered an area to
the SE of the volcano which is a predominately sandy area
with old larva fields good for Whimbrels (Spoi) with a
scattering of godwits.
If any one sees any
colour-ringed godwits I would very much appreciate the
records. I usually up to date with sightings but am
currently a bit behind with correspondence but working on
catching up once more!
THURSDAY
JUNE 17
BROOK
MEADOW
Insects
Entomologist, Bryan
Pinchen was doing his monthly insect survey of Brook
Meadow today and I had a fascinating and highly
instructive couple of hours going round the meadow with
him. I was amazed at the huge number of insects he caught
with each sweep of his net, all largely unseen on casual
observation.
Bryan
Pinchen conducting his monthly insect survey on Brook
Meadow - 17 June 2010
Among the insects
Bryan pointed out were
Orange Ladybird,
Grass Bugs (hundreds of them),
Picture-winged Flies (lays eggs on Creeping Thistle),
Black-tailed Skimmer,
Dock Leaf Bug,
Flea Beetle,
Bumblebee - Bombus hypnorum (first recorded in Hampshire
in 2001 and recorded infrequently since),
Short-winged Conehead,
Roesel's Bush-cricket,
Snail-killing Fly (lays egg on snail which is eaten by
grub), Robber Fly, 24-Spot Ladybird.
Dock
Leaf Bug caught by Bryan Pinchen on Brook Meadow - 17
June 2010
Roesel's
Bush-cricket caught by Bryan Pinchen on Brook Meadow - 17
June 2010
Short-winged
Conehead (early stage) caught by Bryan Pinchen on Brook
Meadow - 17 June 2010
Robber
Fly caught by Bryan Pinchen on Brook Meadow - 17 June
2010
Among the butterflies I
saw on the meadow were Small Tortoiseshell (possibly the
same one I saw yesterday), Large Skipper, 2 Meadow
Browns (my first of the year), Speckled Wood.
Plants
Three more Bee Orchids
were found on the north meadow, making 4 in total.
'HAIRY COMMON MILKWORT'
I consulted Ralph Hollins
about the puzzling Common Milkwort with pink flowers that
I found on Nore Down near West Marden on June 13. On
close examination the plant could be seen to be covered
in tiny hairs which appeared to be curled back. But the
field guides say that Mugwort is hairless!
Ralph said the plant
looks just like Common Milkwort on which the flowers are
often pink, but he was puzzled by the hairs. I decided to
consult Alan Knapp, the BSBI Recorder for West Sussex
attaching the following photos.
Common
Milkwort?
Common
Milkwort magnified 20x showing curled back
hairs