4th August - Why Wait Until The Middle of a Cold Dark Night

Well once again the forecast turned out to be partially right, yes we did get the strong gusty winds, but we were promised quite a bit of sunshine, and unfortunately that never happened and the majority of the day it was cloudy, and with even the odd shower.  As a result I abandoned the idea of looking for butterflies at lunch time, and instead Helen and I set out in the late afternoon, when there was at least some sunshine about which warmed things up a bit but that wind was still very fresh.

The House Martins are busy feeding and the sky around Reads Field is full of them zooming about.  The walk along Brislands though was quiet, but as we came out into the open we could hear the calls of Swallows as they passed overhead, even above the noise of distant farm machinery.  The Swallows were mostly juvenile birds identifiable from the lack of tail streamers, and they were feeding over the harvested field.  The machinery in use were balers collecting the straw left over from the combines.

There were round bales and these rectangular bales that were also collected together in haystacks, and providing the Crows with a vantage point to look for possible food kicked up by the tractors.

We walked into Old Down in silence, there was not even the song of a Robin to greet us.  We turned onto the north perimeter path, and made our way to the middle where a track had been created by last year's forestry work.  Everywhere was dark and quiet, the height of summer having kicked in, completely shutting off the wood floor of any light.  As we came out on to the track we disturbed a white moth, probably a White Wave, but difficult to be sure from the brief views we had.

This time last year the track was open, and cleared of any plants, this year it had quickly become grown over, but there was light, and when the sun shown on the bracken the Speckled Woods appeared.

A little further on Helen pointed out a Buzzard that had flown from a nearby tree.  It flew low and then up into a tree in the distance, but not that far from us.  The area was where this year's nest had been, and I managed to get myself to a position where I could photograph the bird.  It looks like this was one of the juvenile birds.

As we tried to get a little closer it flew once again, and this time out of the wood, it came over the trees mewing constantly which further reinforced the opinion that this was one of this year's youngsters.

We carried on down to the West End where there was a group of tits calling but very little else.  Turning back up the main path the sun came out, and once again this brought out the butterflies.  Mainly Meadow Browns there were also Small and large Whites and a few Gatekeepers.  There was also a single Azure Damselfly close to the footpath.

We stopped at the junction with the south perimeter path to search for a group of Coal Tits that were calling.  As we looked a Buzzard flew over and the calls went quiet, and several flew from the tree.  Helen though found one Coal Tit, and eventually I managed to see it too!

We followed the path around towards old Down Cottage, pausing to check the bramble.  Once again there were plenty of Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers, but I was pleased to find this Large Skipper.

The area along this path is quite open, and the bramble is still in flower.  As we walked i saw a dark butterfly fly up, and settle on a hazel leaf.  I could see the white markings on the wings and knew immediately that it was a White Admiral, unfortunately though as I raised the camera it was off, through the leaves and away out of sight into the darkness.  Never mind though, I was pleased to find one, I had given up hope after last week, and this was very welcome, there is still a small population in the wood.

We decided to give it a chance to return, and as we stood looking into the trees a Seven Spot Ladybird climbing a very slight grass stem caught the eye.

Needless to say the white Admiral did not return so we headed out of the wood, and off towards Swellinghill Pond.  The water level was very low exposing quite a bit of mud, but the area is enclosed by trees and I can't see this attracting any passage waders in like the Wood Sandpiper currently at Alresford, I can but dream though.

As we walked around the pond we flushed two Moorhen from the Iris bed, and they flew and scurried off to the other side past the jetty.

The pond looked lovely in the late afternoon sunshine, the water lilies and reflections adding to the scene.  As we stood taking in the scene I was drawn to the pond skaters on the surface of the water.  At the beginning of the year at a Chris Packham talk he showed a series of photographs he had taken of pond skaters, and I was reminded of these as I watched them scurrying across the surface of the water.  The ripples on the surface create a surreal environment to capture these insects in.

The butterflies around the pond were mainly Small whites but there was one Green-veined White nectaring on the bramble flowers.

We headed on towards Kitwood, however I noticed some yellow markers in the verge on the side of the road, and as I got closer I realised why they were there.  They were identifying a rare orchid that seems to have decided to call the village home.  This is the Violet Helleborine, first found in Alton Lane in 2008, but have also been found in Blackberry Lane, The Shrave, Telegraph Lane and along Swellinghill.

The orchid is dependent on a mycorrhizal fungi symbiosis to germinate, and this also allows some Orchid species to have reduced leaves and need little chlorophyll. In the case of the Violet Helleborine it can even do without chlorophyll, and is found in very shaded dark areas.

They normally flower in August and September, so I am hopeful that I will be able to return later to photograph the flowers when they open.

The Violet Helleborines in Four Marks have survived thanks to the work of the local Wildlife Support and Conversation Team and more information on these flowers in the area can be found here

At the Kitwood Turn we walked through the meadow, where despite the strong wind there were still a few Meadow browns on the wing.  The search though was for Small Copper, now the one local butterfly to have eluded me so far this year.  Unfortunately there was no sign of them, but encouragingly the trefoil and kidney vetch seems to be growing through.  Helen did see a blue butterfly but we were not able to re-locate it it.

We crossed the field and walked through Old Down once again, heading out towards the Gradwell entrance.  It was still quiet but as we passed to open area of larches there were several Chiffchaffs calling.

Crossing the open field once more there was quite a few Swallows and House martins flying low over the barley.  We carried on along Gradwell, and then down Brislands towards home.

As we came down the hill towards Lymington Bottom there were two Wood Pigeon on the wire, and one was making that purposeful walk along the wire towards the other, obviously with intentions.  We stopped to watch as the one bird snuck up close.

It moved in close and nuzzled the bird on the right's neck, and then seemed to pass food which the right hand bird took, there then followed some more neck nuzzling.

It was what happened next that really surprised us.  We have watched amorous Wood Pigeons on the roofs, and observed the hop skip and jump approach as one moves in an attempt to woo the other and we have always thought the pigeon doing the approaching was the male, so we rightly assumed in this case the one feeding and doing the neck kissing here was the male.  This did not turn out to be the case, the right hand bird jumped up onto the back of the other, and well, consummated the relationship!

After which the (supposed) female returned to her cuddling and kissing.

What seems strange here was that the female was making the advances here when usually in the bird world the male has to do all the work to impress the ladies.  We could, of course have got this wrong, and maybe they were just good mates.  Any way this could also be one of the reasons why the Woodpigeons are so successful around here, not only do they breed all the year round, but both sexes are as promiscuous!

Both birds then decided to go their own way, and we walked on.  As we came along Lymington Rise a Red Kite was heading towards the house.  He or she is becoming a very regular sight now, it is definitely the same bird, it can be identified by the feather damage in the tail, I would imagine though very soon it will disappear to moult.

A quiet but nevertheless interesting walk, that at last found a White Admiral, and observed some interesting Woodpigeon behaviour where one pigeon took the chance to hold her baby tight!

2nd August - I Saw The Lamplight From Your Window

And so we are into August, seems like only a short while ago the year was just starting and here we are nearly at the end of the summer!  The weather leading up to the weekend was not really conducive to wildlife watching locally and when I did get the chance and time to go out it hardly seemed worth it with overcast conditions and cold winds.  The weekend though saw some improvement but there was work to be done in the garden.

The number of butterflies moving through the garden improved over the weekend with Brimstone, Large and Small Whites a Small Tortoiseshell, and several Gatekeepers.  The Goldfinches continue to empty the bird feeders, and there has also been a family party of Long-tailed Tits coming to the feeders and for a bath and drink.  

The House Martins now have a second brood above the lounge canopy.  It seems that they will nest early in the year then once the first brood has fledged they look to have a second brood in another nest.  Our nest was left for the second brood this year, and the young can be heard calling as the adults fly in.  As we worked in the area of the nest on Saturday, the adults seemed to be concerned by our presence with plenty of alarm calls as they flew low past us.

I took part in the House Martin BTO survey this year, my allotted square being just north of the A31.  The squares are selected randomly, and the area I surveyed had mostly bungalows and houses less than five years old.  As a result I had to return results of no House Martins at all which is a shame.  Around home the sky now seems to be full of them.

One other bird of note over the garden was a Red Kite on Sunday Morning, how long will it be before the Daily Mail is call for these beautiful birds to be controlled?

I did though manage to put the moth trap out Saturday evening, and Sunday morning there were mixed results with a very small amount of moths, but two new ones for the year.  First up though was a nice Rustic.

And a moth that over the next few weeks and months I will probably see a lot of, the Large Yellow Underwing.  This moth has been described to me in the past as "rectangular" and this is due to the way it holds its wings folded back, flat along the body.  The wings are held in place by a coupling mechanism for the front and rear wings of the moth.  There is loop on the underside of the forewing called a retinaculum and this connects with the frenulum, a spine at the base of the forward or costal edge of the hindwing, holding the wings closed at rest.

When disturbed it scuttles about on the floor like a mouse, having quite strong legs as you can see here.

New for the year was this Small Magpie.

And this delightful Lesser Swallow Prominent, identified from the Swallow Prominent by the shape of the white triangular patch on the edge of the wing.  In the Swallow Prominent this is two white lines.

Hopefully the weather will behave this week and I get the chance to spend a little bit of time in some more conducive conditions, There are signs that the autumn migration is under way with reports of migrant birds around the south coast.  All will be dependent of course that I can move after the exertions in the garden this weekend, Everyday hurts!

28th July - Sometimes You're The Windshield

After the rain on Sunday came the wind, and quite a strong wind varying from the north west, to a westerly.  Totally unseasonable more like October than the the middle of the Summer.  Temperatures haven't been much better struggling to get into the high teens.  From my office window there have been sightings of a single Red Kite once again over the garden early afternoon, and a Sparrowhawk skimming the tree tops along Lymington Bottom, I can also see plenty of House Martins high in the sky, around and over the roof tops.  

Regardless of the weather I was determined to get out later in the afternoon with the objective of looking for Roe Deer in Old Down, they should have started the rutting season by now and I was interested to see if my latest toy would work.

As I stepped out into the garden late in the afternoon I was greeted by some pleasant sunshine, so despite the still fresh breeze,, any sheltered spot had the potential to be warm.

As I mentioned previously there have been plenty of Goldfinches and Greenfinches in the garden using the feeders, and as I set off there was a group of Greenfinches in the conifers, obviously waiting for me to leave.

It was quiet walking along Brislands past the recreation ground for the first time in quite awhile.  Up to lately there has always been a a Song Thrush singing or Robins since the start of the tear, but today there was a stony silence.

As I passed the Gradwell turn I could see a pink haze in the distance that belonged to a large patch of Rosebay Willowherb.  This tall flower has now replaced the foxglove as the dominant flowering plant around the area.

A little further along a male Blackbird was on the road with a bill full of insects and worms that was more than likely destined for yet another brood.  Blackbirds have been busy with probably as many as three broods, maybe more since March.

The sun was intermittent now, and as I walked down the main path into the woods I was surprised to see butterflies along the path.  Mostly Whites there was also a few Meadow Browns.  One large White settled on one of the leaves as the clouds once more rolled over the sun.

My original plan had been to walk around the woods, but with butterflies about and the skies clearing and revealing more sunshine I decided to change the plan and walk the areas where there was the potential for some butterflies.

This change of plan took me down the Kitwood path where I hoped I might find White Admiral, however after the rush along the main path, this area was completely devoid of literally anything.

Coming out into the field the sky was full of hirundines.  I could see Swallows and house martins but with there having been a significant movement of Sand martins recently scanned the birds in the hope of finding one which would have been the first of the year.

There were plenty of stubby tailed individuals with what appeared to be chest bands that were worth checking but on a closer look they turned out to be juvenile Swallows.

The attraction to these birds was the ripened Barley that looked quite stunning in the sunshine and the distant clouds and trees.

I was crossing the field to spend sometime in the flower meadow at the corner of Kitwood.  there was still a fresh breeze but a lot more sunshine now so I was hopeful of finding something interesting.

Stepping over the style I could see plenty of Meadow Browns flying, and also settled on the Knapweed flower heads.

Other immediately obvious butterflies were several Small Whites.

I walked through the grass and flowers, and came across a dragonfly that while it never properly stopped allowing clear identification, from the colour I suspected that it was a Southern Hawker.

With a little bit more searching I managed to find a Small Skipper again on the flower heads.

And hiding amongst the grass a Green-veined White.

Butterflies have a habit of appearing here, and from no where this Peacock flew in, and settled to nectar on the flower heads.  I got down low in the grass to get a different perspective on an often photographed butterfly.

Whilst there were many butterflies, mainly Meadow Browns there were by far plenty more bees.  Dominant were the Red-tailed Bumblebees, and again I got down low to photograph this large one making its way through the knapweed.  Bumblebees feed on nectar, using their long hairy tongues to lap up the liquid; the proboscis (you can just it visible here as a red line in amongst the flower petals)  is folded under the head during flight.

Bumblebees have round bodies covered in soft hair which are long branched setae, called pile, making them appear and feel fuzzy.  They forage using colour and spatial relationships to identify flowers to feed from.

What I was hoping for here in the meadow was some Common Blues and Small Coppers, all seen here in previous years.  I was able to find any, and this maybe because the kidney vetch and birds foot trefoil that has grown here in previous years is absent this year.  It may still be a little early for the second brood of Coppers, we shall just have to wait and see.

I left the meadow and headed towards Swelling Hill Pond, over the lawn on the opposite side of from the pond there was yet another concentration of young Swallows.  They were swooping low over the grass and around the old nissen huts.

On the pond there was little of note, just this Moorhen hiding amongst the Iris leaves.

I wanted to head back into the wood, but before I did I walked along the edge of the field where the sun was warming up the brambles and knapweed.  Once again there were plenty of Meadow Browns, but I was pleased to see a single Marbled White fly past me even though it would not stop for the photograph, would this be the last one this year?

I turned back into the wood where I was greeted by a singing Chiffchaff, the first bird song I have heard today.  The bramble once again was lit up by the sun, and there were plenty of butterflies about.  I was looking for anything that wasn't brown, and quickly found a Small Skipper.

And then an Essex Skipper complete with black clubs!

The butterflies were then joined by a dragonfly, that circled around over the bramble and them came out over the grass and started to stop very briefly on the grass and then flying off deflecting the grass as if looking to disturb anything that may have settled on it.  I have seen this behaviour last year conducted by the same species.

It then fortunately settled on a bramble branch and i was able to get in close, it was a Southern Hawker, the same species I suspected was flying around the meadow.

i was able to get in really close, and focused on the head.  The major part of the head of a dragonfly is the frons, or forehead, which includes a pair of antennae; a pair of large compound eyes, and three simple eyes, the use of which is not clear.

In this close up you can see the segments of the compound eye, and the antennae.  A compound eye may consist of thousands of individual photoreceptor units or ommatidia. The image seen is a combination of inputs from the numerous individual "eye units", which are located on a convex surface, thus pointing in slightly different directions. Compared with simple eyes, compound eyes possess a very large view angle, and can detect fast movement and, in some cases, the polarisation of light.  Because the individual lenses are so small, the effects of diffraction impose a limit on the possible resolution that can be obtained. This can only be countered by increasing lens size and number. To see with a resolution comparable to our simple eyes, humans would require very large compound eyes, around 11 m in radius.

In this view you can see the area where the mouth parts are.  The mouth parts are extremely strong and are made up of the labrum, mandible, and labium.  Behind the head are a pair of plates that allow the head to turn like a neck, and connect the head to the Thorax.  

The thorax houses the locomotive organs, which are mainly the wings, and also the appendages.  There are three segments to the thorax, each of which bears a pair of legs.  The two rear segments also carry the wings.

Up close a completely fascinating animal.

Leaving butterflies and the dragonflies I turned down the west path.  I had with me what is known as a Buttolo Blatter, a rubber bulb that when squeezed gives off a sound extremely close to that a Roe Deer would make.  The hope was that if there were any deer about they would show themselves.  Unfortunately it had no effect what so ever and I didn't see a single deer!

Walking along the path the Foxglove blooms have all gone, and all that is left are tall green spikes.  That isn't to say that they do not look as good.  With the sun on them they still definitely look spectacular.

At the bottom of the path the sun was lighting up a clump of Bracken, and sitting on one frond was a Comma.

And that was about it, I made my way back home via the Gradwell footpath.  There were a few Chiffchaffs calling,and more meadow Browns but nothing to attract the attention of the camera.

It looks like I have missed out on White Admiral this year, my fears of the opening up of the trees and bushes in the area having proved right.  I am also a little concerned about the Small Copper too, but there is still time.  

It was good today to get in close on some of the insects to reveal some of the parts that you don't always get the chance to see.

26th July - Daylight Deals a Bad Hand

It just seems that when I have had the opportunity to get out around Four Marks the weather has played a really bad hand.  This week I was in Germany where the weather was very hot, and I was treated to a spectacular thunderstorm Wednesday evening.  When I returned to the UK and the possibility of a walk on Friday it just rained continually all day.  It hasn't all been bad news and true to my 2015 commitment I have been getting out and about around Hampshire and surrounding areas, the full details of these trips over the last few weeks can be seen here.  Some really good butterflies over the last two weeks.

Back at home the garden feeders have become busy with Goldfinch and Greenfinch families making their way through the sunflower seeds at a rapid rate.  The mealworms have now been stopped as those feeding on them have disappeared from the garden. 

I did put the moth trap out Saturday night in the hope that I could get to it before the rain came, but this did not work out.  There were a few moths present, One of which was a first for the year, an Early Thorn.

As well as the Early Thorn there were two Poplar Hawk Moths, always a treat to see.

There are some indications that there might be some settled weather about this week so hopefully I can have something a little more interesting to report on.

17th July - And There They Saw a Rock

The week has been extremely muggy and overcast, the kind of conditions that seem to exhaust you even though you are not doing anything.  It was then with a sigh of relief that the forecast was for thunderstorms last night that would clear out the still humid weather, and bring in more fresher weather.  \Thunderstorms and still conditions are also very good for moths in the summer, and as a result I decided to put the trap out.

The storms went through around 9.00pm last night, and there was some lightning and showers of heavy rain.  There was still some dampness in the air first thing in the morning as I stepped out to look into the trap. My hopes were proved to have come true, there was a lot of moths present, not least nine Elephant Hawk Moths my highest count for the garden.  Here are eight of them, the ninth was found later under one of the egg boxes after I had released all these.

Included in the catch were several first for the year, and two or maybe three new moths for the garden, there was also one moth that has proved difficult to identify, lets start with this one.

While resembling some of the Dark Arches that were present it was smaller and with more rounded wings.  It seems to have faded quite a bit, and the markings are not distinct, but the best I can think of is that this is a Rustic that has faded a little.

This is a Dark Arches, and you can see the different shapes of the moth from above the wings are sharper pointed, and from the side there is a definite hump that is not present in the Rustic.

A first for the year was this Grey or Dark Dagger, both have lovely dark dagger like markings on the wings, and it is impossible to tell apart with out examining the genitalia, which I did not bother to do.  Apparently the larvae or caterpillars are distinctly different.

As well as the Elephant Hawk Moths, there was a single Pine Hawk-Moth, the first for the year.

A medium sized Hawk-Moth, similar in size to the Elephants it is a fairly nondescript greyish member of the Hawk-Moths, this species is restricted in Britain to the south and east, 

It inhabits coniferous woodland, where it flies in a single generation during May and June, so this individual is quite late in the season

The larva, which is rather more colourful than the moth, feeds on the needles of Scots Pine, a small clump of which can be found at the top of Lymington Rise

Yet another first for the year, a Swallow-tailed moth.  A spectacular species and one of our largest Geometrids, this is however reasonably common in Britain but being strictly nocturnal and having quite a short emergence period in July, it is not often encountered by the non-moth enthusiast.

The larvae feed on a number of trees and shrubs, but prefer ivy of which there is quite a bit in the garden.

This individual seems to have faded a little, and of course settled on a cream wall!

Now for the firsts, the dubious one to start with, this is definitely a Footman, but is it a common or Buff Footman?  The common has the dark grey markings to the top of the head.  While the Buff Footman has a paler folded wings and creamy yellow on the head, and it is this that makes me think this is a Buff Footman.

With the next two I had no problem identifying them.  First was yet another green moth.  Last year I caught Small Emeralds, but today I had a much bigger green moth, this time a Large Emerald.  As you can imagine from the name this is the largest of the 'emeralds', with a wingspan of up to 3 centimetres, and one which is common throughout most of Britain. 

It inhabits woods, heaths and moors, and flies at night in June and July, when it is easily attracted by light.  It can be further distinguished by the butterfly-like resting position with the wings spread and at an angle as if ready to take off.

Last but not least was the night's star of the show for me, and I nearly missed it.  As I started to put away the egg boxes I could see that one was wet from the rain so I decided to leave it out to dry.  When I picked it up to put in a sunny place to dry I noticed a moth superbly camouflaged on the grey box.  I was able to get it off to get a better view

This is the Lobster Moth, and yes it bares no resemblance whatsoever to a Lobster.  It gets it's name from the remarkable crustacean-like appearance of the caterpillar. It is not a common moth, and I am very pleased to have seen one at last.  It can be found in the southern part of Britain, occupying woodland habitats where the caterpillars feed on beech and oak.

When at rest the head is tucked down and the antennae curled around with the front legs splayed out in front.  However when alert the antennae perk up like big ears and you can see the lovely big eyes and furry head, which give it an adorable look

Then the antennae droop and its just "so fluffy!"

The Blackbirds and Sparrows continue to entertain in the garden, and once again this morning the Red Kite drifted over, scouring the gardens below for the odd terrier or two(!).