THURSDAY
OCTOBER 16 - 2014
BROOK
MEADOW
Conservation work session
I went over to
the meadow this morning for the regular conservation
work session. It was a fine and warm autumn morning
and there was a good turn out of volunteers. The main
task was to complete cutting and clearing the orchid
area on the north meadow. This was achieved with one
volunteer operating the power scythe and numerous
others raking, bagging and removing the
arisings.
Flood
defence wall
At the end of
the session I met one of the workers from the
Environment Agency contractors who had been summoned
back to inspect the damage to the concrete bag wall.
He said they would repair the wall with new bags and
pins. He also said it had been mentioned about
'naturalising' the wall with soil and shingle. That's
good. The message has clearly got through about the
need to improve the general appearance of the concrete
bags.
Wildlife
observations
I heard two
Wrens singing, adding their voices to those of Robins
which have been singing for a couple of months.
I saw several hoverflies (Helitopus
pendulus) on the south meadow.
Bumblebees were
feeding on the Michaelmas Daisies. Here is an all over
ginger Bumblebee which I think must be Bombus
pascuorum . This is one of the last Bumblebees
to disappear in the autumn.
I saw 2 Red
Admirals in different parts of the meadow, basking
in the warm sunshine. I saw another two Red Admirals
in my garden when I got home.
Plants in flower
included Bristly Ox-tongue, Red Clover and Common
Comfrey.
Differing
fortunes of migrants
The State of
the UK's Birds 2014 report is published today by the
British Trust for Ornithology. It highlights the
trends for 59 winter migrant birds, those that breed
at higher latitudes and spend the winter months in the
UK, along with the trends for 29 summer migrants,
those that breed here and winter further south from
southern Europe to sub-Saharan Africa.
It finds that the winter migrants are doing much
better than the summer migrants. Of the 59 winter
migrants, eg Pink-footed Goose and Whooper Swan,
only 5% have declined drastically, and just over a
quarter have shown moderate declines; the remainder
being stable or increasing. However, of the 29
summer migrants, 41% are in long-term decline,
31% are stable and 28% are showing increases in their
populations.
The report also highlights interesting variations
in the fortunes of the summer migrants depending on
where they winter. The report sub-divides the
migrants into three categories:
1. those wintering in the arid zone of Africa
immediately south of the Sahara (the Sahel and Sudan
savannah)
2. those wintering in the humid zones of central
Africa (the Guinea savannah and forest)
3. those wintering further south in the tropical and
subtropical zones of Africa.
The review shows particularly dramatic declines in
those species wintering in the humid zone of Africa,
ie Common Sandpiper, Turtle Dove, House Martin, Willow
Warbler, Wood Warbler, Garden Warbler, Spotted
Flycatcher, Nightingale, Pied Flycatcher, Whinchat,
Tree Pipit. This contrasts sharply with species
wintering in the arid Sahelian areas of Africa which
show less decline overall, eg Sand Martin, Whitethroat
and Sedge Warbler.
Species wintering furthest south in tropical areas
e.g. Cuckoo, Swift, and Swallow also show a
substantial decline since the early 1980s, but not as
much as those wintering in the humid zone.
Finally, the group of species that winter north of the
Sahara, ie the partial/European migrants show a
substantial increase since the mid 1980s. This latter
group includes Blackcap, Meadow Pipit, Chiffchaff and
Stonechat.
Download the report here . . . http://bto-enews.org/IG4-2TMR2-3RN36S-1B6ZDP-0/c.aspx
WEDNESDAY
OCTOBER 15 - 2014
Garden
birds
My garden has
been bereft of birds for the past few weeks, but there
was a veritable bonanza early this morning with two
Blackbirds, Blue Tit, Robin, Magpie and a splendid
female Great Spotted Woodpecker feeding on the
bark of our cherry tree. When it saw me through the
window it slid around the back of the tree as is its
custom. I got my camera out, but could only get a
blurry (but colourful) image through the
window.
Great Spotted
Woodpecker is very unusual in my town garden, this
being only the third sighting since moving into this
present house in 1997. The last one was another female
in late October 2012. All this gives me an incentive
to start recording birds regularly for the BTO Garden
BirdWatch scheme which I have somewhat neglected
recently.
Warblington
shore
Peter
Milinets-Raby had a short walk along the Warblington
shore ahead of the high tide just before the rain came
down (12:05pm to 1:30pm). The highlights were as
follows:
Off Conigar Point: 1 Greenshank, 25 Brent Geese, 31
Teal, 32 Wigeon, 4 Ringed Plover, 1 Lapwing, 3 Dunlin,
Spotted Redshank with colour rings W//R+GR, 1 Sandwich
Tern.
In Tamarisk hedge: 1 Chiffchaff, 1 singing Cetti's
Warbler.
Flying over on migrant: Skylark 7 over south, 1 Meadow
Pipit over south, 1 Snipe over south, though briefly
dropped in the field behind the point for three
minutes, then resumed heading south (see
photo).
Off Pook Lane: 16
Knot, 18 Brent Geese, 10 Dunlin, 21 Lapwing, 88
Bar-tailed Godwit, 50+ Redshank (one noted with
coloured rings B//-+B//BG), 7 Greenshank (colour rings
- G//R-+YN//- and G//R-+NY//-).
Unusually, Peter also
had 109 Black-tailed Godwit some with coloured
rings, as follows: W+LO, W+YN, Y+GY, G+YY, R+YG, R+RG,
B+GG, Y+YB.
Brian's note:
Peter wondered if these were the missing Emsworth
godwits, but I think not. I have checked through all
my records and I have no sightings for any of them in
Emsworth Harbour, except G+YY way back in 2005. The
three I personally have records for were seen west of
Emsworth as far as Farlington.
G+YY - Last record -12-Sep-10 Farlington Marshes
W+YN - Last record - 11-Aug-11 Farlington Marshes
Y+GY - Last record - 04-Mar-13 'Texaco Bay' Hayling
Island
I have no previous records for B+GG, R+RG, R+YG, W+LO,
Y+YB.
Squirrel
antics
Graham Petrie
has been laughing this afternoon at one of his local
squirrels balancing on the head of an ageing sunflower
to steal all the seeds.
TUESDAY
OCTOBER 14 - 2014
Vandalism
on Brook Meadow
I had a stroll
through the meadow on the way to the shops. Four of
the concrete bags are now in the river in the
north-east corner as reported by John Tagg on Oct 12.
Another bag on the wall is loose and could easily be
thrown in with the others. Overall, I think the wall
of bags is very ugly, so maybe the kids who threw them
in the river are telling us something?
I went over there again this afternoon when I happened
to meet a young chap from the Environment Agency who
had come to check on the work carried out by the
contractors. He did not know anything about the damage
to the wall, but said he would report it to his
superiors. I also requested that he bring to their
attention that the conservation group were not pleased
with the appearance of the concrete bags. One
possibility I mentioned to him was that the bags could
be covered with an embankment of soil which could then
be planted to create a feature. That would also make
the wall of bags more secure.
Emsworth
Harbour
12:30 - Tide
rising to high water in about 3 hours. From the marina
seawall I counted 32 Brent Geese including a family
with 3 juveniles. This could well have been the same
family that I saw yesterday in a different flock. The
family with 2 juveniles that I saw yesterday was not
here today. There were another 7 Brent Geese in the
upper channel near the town, but no juveniles.
Juveniles can easily be identified from the white bars
on their wings.
The
Brent family with three juveniles
Barry and Margaret
Collins stopped for a chat. They were going for a walk
down the west side of Thorney. Just as he was leaving
Barry called out 'Wheatear' as one of these
delightful birds perched very briefly near where we
had been standing. No time for a photo. I counted just
17 Black-tailed Godwits in the harbour with no
colour-rings.
It's
a Dunlin
Peter
Milinets-Raby says the possible 'Curlew Sandpiper'
that I saw in Emsworth Harbour yesterday is almost
certainly a Dunlin.
"The bill does look
long, but some Dunlin can have very long bills, so not
a reliable feature. Curlew Sandpiper bills have a
snout-like appearance, emerging from the lores, while
Dunlin look stuck on with a broad base. Jizz is the
best feature, though not always captured well in
photos. On closer inspection, it is dumpy, rounded and
appears to have short legs. No real neck (though it
could be tucked in). The crown is very grey (I would
expect Curlew Sandpiper to have a darker, streaked
crown). The wings seem to be too plain. I would expect
Curlew Sandpiper to have more patterning in the
wings.The following website might help:
http://www.dublinbirding.ie/pages/features/Curlew%20Sand%20ID/getting_to_grips_with_curlew_san.htm
The last few Dunlin I have seen have been in "early"
winter plumage, like this bird. A bit of a dramatic
difference from the autumnal birds that I have got
used too over the last two months. The first "Winter"
plumaged Dunlin fooled me the other day. Made me look
at them more closely than usual. I think the winter
birds that are here to stay are just moving in. My
last visit on 12th October had no Dunlin and the six
on 7th October were all in winter plumage. So my
conclusion is 95% Dunlin, unless other photos hint at
anything else."
Slipper
Millpond
I was
interested to find 24 Coot on Slipper Millpond, the
most so far this autumn, and possibly marking the
start of the traditional winter gathering?
Westbrook
Stream
The Westbrook
Stream that runs adjacent to Bridge Road has been cut
and cleared by the Environment Agency. All the
Bulrushes have gone. What a shame. How is it the
agency are not willing to cut and clear the River Ems
on Brook Meadow in the same way?
Waiting
room display
I have up
dated the wildlife display board in the newly
refurbished waiting room on Platform 2 of Emsworth
Railway Station. The new display contains a mixture of
wildlife and people which I thought would be of more
general interest than the straight forward wildlife
pictures which I did last time. The waiting room is
now warm and nicely decorated and has tables chairs
where you can have a coffee and a cake from the cafe
which is next door. A very pleasant and friendly
environment.
Hampshire
Farm
Chris Oakley
says the contractors were back on Hampshire Farm today
to cut the paths around the site, which are now twice
the width they were after the last cut in September.
Chris found four types of fungi including a
Mycena which were everywhere. Chris hesitated
to specify which one as there are 102
varieties.
MONDAY
OCTOBER 13 - 2014
Emsworth
Harbour
I got to the
marina seawall at 11:30 with the tide rising to high
water at 15.30. The first birds to greet me were a
small flock of Brent Geese - my first of the winter
season. They have been around for a few weeks in
Langstone Harbour, but always take their time to come
into Emsworth. I counted 24 Brent Geese in this
small group with 5 juveniles in two broods of 3
and 2. That's a very good start! I could see another
35 Brent Geese on the far mudflats, but they were too
far away to check reliably for juveniles.
Other birds in the
eastern harbour: 85 Redshank, mostly in water
so checking for colour-rings was difficult, but I did
not see any. 18 Black-tailed Godwits well scattered. 2
Little Egrets, 1 Grey Heron, Mute Swan family with 2
cygnets, 6 Turnstone, 1 Grey Plover, 2 Curlew, 1
Greenshank.
I also spotted what I thought at first was a solitary
Dunlin, but on closer inspection the bird the bird
appeared to have a longer bill than I would have
expected on a Dunlin. So, my tentative conclusion is
that it might have been a Curlew Sandpiper! I shall be
interested to hear from Peter Milinets-Raby as he has
had plenty of experience with Curlew Sandpipers at
Warblington.
Nore Barn
12:00 - Plenty
of Wigeon and Teal close to the shore. 16 Shelduck
much further out in the main channel. Nothing in the
stream but for Little Egret and the usual flock of
Mute Swans. No sign of the Spotted Redshank and the
Greenshank, but I did not wait until the stream filled
up.
Hampshire
Farm
Chris Oakley
has added a new page to his web site on the archeology
of Hampshire Farm. It is amazing the things he has
found there. If you are into this subject then take a
look.
Go to . . . http://www.hampshirefarm.co.uk/412055416
Nightingale
survey
The BTO survey
conducted in 2012-2013 of breeding Nightingales in
Sussex (which I took part in) has just been published
and here is a very brief summary of its main
findings.
1. Most strikingly, the survey found no evidence for a
decline in Nightingale numbers in Sussex since the
previous national survey conducted by the BTO in 1999,
and it is possible that numbers have remained stable,
as there have been no significant changes in
distribution in Sussex since 1999.
2. There has been a continuing shift, also noted in
the 1999 survey, towards scrub as being the most
important habitat type for Nightingales in Sussex,
with 64% of all territories in 2012-2013 containing
scrub habitats of various kinds, and there is also a
clear association with wet habitats such as ponds,
streams and ditches.
Overall, the range of Nightingales in the UK is
contracting towards the south-east and the continent,
though it is interesting to note that this range
contraction is occurring despite a projected northward
expansion in response to climate change.
SUNDAY
OCTOBER 12 - 2014
Value
of Ivy
David Minns
who lives in North Street, Emsworth, had at least five
Red Admirals on his ivy the other day, and more today,
feeding avidly on the flowers in the sunshine. It just
goes to show the value of ivy flowers at this time of
year. I have two hedges of Ivy in my garden which,
like David's, attract a variety of late flying
insects.
David also noted lots of bees of several different
types, including some bumble bees with white rumps.
These will probably be Bombus terrestris
as the queens often start new nests in the autumn and
David's bees might be early workers collecting pollen
and nectar.
Rare
bug?
Chris Oakley
discovered what he is sure is a Western Conifer
Seed Bug (Leptoglossus occidentalis)
on the Hampshire Farm site yesterday. He says it can
be found in British Bugs an on line identification
guide to UK Hemiptera under family Coreidae. It was
introduced from the USA in 1999 and is found
principally scattered along the south coast. It didn't
like the rain and kept dodging under the wood, so
Chris had to keep turning wood over until he got a
decent shot.
Chris also had a bit
of a surprise yesterday with seven House Martins
around the pond. They didn't stop long and flew off to
the west. He thought that this gall looked
interesting, made by a Thistle Gall Fly which
has a particular fancy for Creeping
Thistle.
More
vandalism
John Tagg
reports that vandals have returned to the north-east
corner of Brook Meadow and have thrown the four
concrete bags back in the river. These were presumably
the ones that were retrieved from the previous
vandalism, but only placed back on the wall, not
secured, so easy enough to pick up again for a strong
and determined youth. It also looks as if they have
loosened some others from John's photo.
Warblington
shore
Peter
Milinets-Raby was out this morning to have a stroll
along the Warblington shore (7:05am to 9:02am - a very
, very low tide). A very quiet morning.
Ibis Field: 7 female, 1 male Pheasant, 2 Moorhen,
Water Rail heard squealing, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1
Chiffchaff .
Visible migration: Linnet 3 over south east, Pied
Wagtail 11 over (mostly singles), Chaffinch 23 over,
Skylark 9 over west (two singles and a flock of 7), 3
Mistle Thrush over, Snipe over heading south.
Conigar Point: 36 Brent Geese, 30 Teal, 19 Little
Egret feeding in the channel with 2 Grey Herons, 3
Grey Plover.
Pook Lane: (not much around due to bait digger out in
the trickle in the channel).
87 Bar-tailed Godwit, 10 Grey Plover, 41 Brent
Geese (12 of them juveniles), 3 Greenshank (one
colour ring RG//-+YY//-), 40+ Redshank (one with rings
B//-+B//RR-), 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 10 Lapwing.
Brian's note: excellent news about the Brent Goose
juveniles. Looks like they've had another reasonably
good breeding season.
FRIDAY
OCTOBER 10 - 2014
Emsworth
Harbour
Starting at
the marina seawall at 09.30 with the tide rising to
high water at 13:13. I counted 47 Black-tailed Godwits
scattered around the mudflats. No colour-rings that I
could see.
Over to Nore Barn by 10:30 where the tide was still
not fully in. The Spotted Redshank and the
colour-ringed Greenshank (G+GL) were feeding together
in the stream, and were still there when I left at
about 11:00. Here is today's picture of the two
'chums'.
In addition, 26
Wigeon, 12 Teal and 4 Black-tailed Godwits were in the
bay. No sign of any Brent Geese as yet.
Hampshire
Farm
Chris Oakley
had wet trip around the Hampshire Farm site this
afternoon. He says there were still Common Darters, he
saw two females, one by the pond and the other up on
the reserve. Also, a bright Red Admiral. The fox was
in his usual place but took a well aimed dive into the
hedge when he spotted Chris. There was a Skylark
hovering over the plantation.
Chris sent me a photo of a 'grass' which he could not
identify. He said it was obviously a runner as this
specimen is 48 inches long. The gap between each node
varies from 2 to 5 inches, progressively longer toward
the root which is quite small and stubby. It looks a
bit like Common Reed (Phragmities australis) to me
which does creep extensively, though I am far from
sure. Maybe someone else can say?
Brent
Geese
Ralph Hollins
saw at least four families (one group of four juvs
seemed to be a single family - the others had two juvs
each) among some 300 Brent Geese on the Budds Farm
shore this morning.
Ralph also notes the first appearance of any Brent (at
least 100) on the South Moor shore was on Oct 4. He
says they used to take much longer to pluck up courage
to approach places where humans could be seen. They
have not yet plucked up enough courage to venture into
Emsworth Harbour.
Migrant
birds
The British
Trust for Ornithology reports that most of our
summer-visiting breeding birds are well on the way
towards their wintering grounds. Many Cuckoos are
already in the Congo basin, where they'll spend the
next few months.
See . . . http://bto-enews.org/NXN-2V45G-3GJW16-1AMP13-0/c.aspx
Despite the prolonged
easterly airflow in September, we are still waiting
for the main arrivals of winter thrushes and finches.
First Redwings, then Fieldfares, should start
appearing in numbers over the next couple of weeks
though, as the temperature drops in Scandinavia. For a
full round up of what's arriving and what to expect
next, check out the BTO Migration blog at . . .
http://bto-enews.org/NXN-2V45G-3GJW16-1AUBI7-0/c.aspx
THURSDAY
OCTOBER 9 - 2014
Brook
Meadow vandalism
Yesterday Dave
Lee reported that vandals have attacked the new flood
defence work in the north-east corner of the meadow
just days after its completion. Four of the pinned
concrete bags had been wrenched from their pins and
dumped in the river. Dave informed the police and
suggested more monitoring of this area.
I went over this morning only to find the bags back on
the wall, presumably retrieved from the river by the
Environment Agency contractors. But the bags had just
been placed back on the wall, not fixed in, and so
could easily be thrown back in the river.
Stunned
Firecrest
Patrick Murphy
sent me the following photo from one his neighbours in
North Emsworth of a bird that had flown into the
kitchen window but flew off a few minutes after the
photo was taken.
Although Patrick
called it a Goldcrest, there is more than a hint of a
white supercilium over the eye which strongly
suggested a Firecrest and not a Goldcrest. I would be
interested in anyone else's view of this. I suppose
this could be a breeding bird making its way south for
the winter. However, Firecrests do winter here as we
found on Brook Meadow in Jan-Mar 2013 with at least
two long staying birds.
Local
seal sightings
Peter
Milinets-Raby says he also saw what was almost
certainly the same seal as that seen by Doug Outram on
Oct 7, swim past Pook Lane on Oct 5th at 9:15am. It
popped its head above the water on two occasions as it
swam eastwards. It was surprisingly close in, but it
was too quick for his camera. At the time Peter
wondered how much depth of water it had to play with
as the area it was swimming in could only have been
one metre or less deep!
Peter has had two other sightings of Seal along the
Warblington Shore during the last couple of months,
but has not bothered to report them. He will do so in
future.
Butterfly
Sightings
Ralph Hollins
provides a useful review of what butterfly species are
still being seen in October. Surprisingly, thanks to
the warm weather of the first five days of the month,
Ralph reports that 16 species have been seen in
Hampshire and Sussex. They include:- Clouded Yellow,
Large White, Small Copper, Common Blue, Red Admiral,
Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma,
Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown. See . . .
http://ralph-hollins.net/Diary.htm
for Wed 8th October 2014
WEDNESDAY
OCTOBER 8 - 2014
Nore
Barn
I was a bit
later getting down to Nore Barn than I had planned. It
was about 09.45 when I arrived and the tide was
already well advanced. Two hours to high water. The
stream was pretty well full of water with the regular
flock of Mute Swans there along with the Little Egret
feeding near the bridge.
The Spotted Redshank and the Greenshank G+GL were
resting together on the western edge of the stream by
the saltmarshes. However, they will not be roosting
there as it is a high spring tide and the saltmarshes
will be covered. The rain started at about 10am so I
headed back to the car.
For
news, history and photos of the Emsworth Spotted
Redshank go to . .
. Spotted
Redshank at Nore Barn
Hampshire
Farm
Chris Oakley
said a Grey Heron was on the Hampshire Farm pond again
and is becoming a regular visitor. Despite the weather
a Skylark was singing over the central grass area.
Cat's-ear flowers are again dotted around the site
despite their earlier pruning, their bright yellow
flowers are a welcome sight. There is water once again
in the stream at the top end after many weeks but not
yet running. Chris found this Bush-cricket in
the nature reserve, but hesitates to say what species.
I think it could be a Speckled Bush-cricket, but I am
certainly no expert. Maybe John Arnott could help?
Harbour
Seals
Following the
Doug Outram's report of a seal at Nore Barn on Oct 7,
I guessed it could be one of about 15 in the harbour.
However, Ralph Hollins informed me that recent counts
put this figure much higher; Barry Collins had 28
seals on the Pilsey Sands off Thorney Island on Aug 31
this year. Numbers have been increasing over the
years, so my initial guess was somewhat out of date.
For further information see . . . http://www.conservancy.co.uk/page/seals/375/
Here
are some of the Harbour Seals in Chichester Harbour
that Malcolm Phillips took from the solar boat
TUESDAY
OCTOBER 7 - 2014
Nore
Barn
I got to Nore
Barn at about 2.15pm with the tide falling - 3 hours
after high water. The stream was pretty empty, but
there was nothing in it but for a Mute Swan family
with one cygnet and a few gulls. There was a brisk
westerly wind blowing so I sheltered in the small path
leading to Maisemore Gardens to wait for the birds to
arrive.
After a few minutes Neil and Jill Foster arrived and
we did not have long to wait for the birds to show up.
A Little Egret was first to come in, feeding actively
in the stream. After about 10 minutes the Spotted
Redshank arrived along with its friend the, now,
colour-ringed Greenshank - G+GL - and they all
proceeded to feed in the stream, just as they always
have done. All good pals! Note: Greenshank G+GL was
ringed on 22-Sep-2014. This is likely to be the same
Greenshank that regularly fed with the Spotted
Redshank in the Nore Barn stream, but as an unringed
bird.
The next person to
turn up was Peter Milinets-Raby who had been watching
a good collection of Greenshank in the channels on the
western mudflats, including at least 6 colour-ringed
birds. See his report below. The Greenshanks included
G+GL from the stream which had joined them. I also got
this photo of a Greenshank with YO on the left leg
which I have not been able to identify. It looks like
yellow on the right leg too. I don't think Peter got
this one. Anne de Potier says it was probably
YO+YY, ringed last year 8.9.2013.
Peter also picked up a
Sandwich Tern perched on top of the post with
the red can.
Emsworth
Harbour (east)
I got to the
millpond seawall by 3.15pm. The tide was still well in
the eastern harbour, but I found a small group of four
Black-tailed Godwits feeding on the town shore,
including the familiar flagged colour-ringed bird:
LO+LW flag. This bird has been a regular
wintering bird in Emsworth since Nov-2010. It was last
seen on 17-Sep-14.
Warblington
shore
Peter
Milinets-Raby reports: "After a wash out yesterday, it
was good to be out this morning ahead of a perfect
incoming tide. Again, it feels like the area is
waiting for winter to arrive with wader numbers (like
Dunlin) being way down. I visited the Warblington
shore (7:04am to 8:57am), the highlights were as
follows:
Chiffchaff in the cemetery.
Off Conigar Point: 37 Teal, 2 Great Black-backed
Gulls, 2 Grey Plover, 4 Brent Geese, 2 Lapwing.
Off Pook Lane:
90+ Redshank - colour rings -//B+B//BG and
-//B+B//NO and -//B+B//WL and -//B+B//RR),
9 Greenshank - colour rings RG//-+YY//- and
N//R+RY//- and R//G+YN//- and B//R+GR//- {Seen later
at Nore Barn} and NR//+YY//- and G//R+GR//- and
G//R+LL//- {Seen later at Nore Barn} and G//R+BB//-
and the 9th bird had rings, but was too far away!)
Spotted Redshank - colour rings W//R+GR.
Feeding with Redshank. Note: W+GR was ringed by Pete
Potts and his team on Thorney Island on 18-Jan-14.
138 Bar-tailed Godwit (best count so far), 12
Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Grey Plover (later a flock of
22 headed west down the channel towards Langstone
Harbour), 4 Lapwing, 1 Knot, 6 Dunlin, 2 Brent Geese,
2 Sandwich Tern feeding along the channel, 2 Skylark
over on migration south.
Nore
Barn
Later in the
day, Peter had a couple of hours to kill, so he waited
at Nore Barn for the tide to drop (1pm to 2:51pm -
high tide at 11:04am). That is where I met up with
him.
Highlights: Summer plumaged Little Grebe in the bay of
the stream from 1pm to 2pm. 2 Little Egrets roosting
at stream entrance, 2 Jays over, 3 Sandwich Tern
feeding out in the harbour, 7 Brent Geese, 10 Teal
& 6 Wigeon loitering out on the salt marsh north
of Fowley Island, flock of 37 Lapwing flew west over
the harbour heading towards north Hayling, 45+
Black-tailed Godwits dropped into the salt marsh north
of Fowley Island at 1:46pm. One flew into Nore Barn
stream for ten minutes until dog flushed it.
At 2:05pm a flock of 12 Greenshank dropped onto
the edge of the salt marsh north of Fowley Island.
With this flock was the Spotted Redshank that
eventually flew into the Nore Barn stream with a
single Greenshank at 2:30pm.
Colour rings on Greenshank RY//-+BYtag//- and
YO//-+YY//- and B//R+GR//- and G//R+GL//- and
G//R+LL//- and G//R+YB//-) Note: G+YB was last seen in
Emsworth 17-Sep-14 in the Slipper basin by Malcolm
Phillips.
Kingfisher over stream and along past Nore Barn
Wood.
Seal
at Nore Barn
I had an
e-mail from Doug Outram to say that at about 10am on
Sunday 5th October, when the sun was out and the sea
was dead calm, he and Sally watched a Harbour Seal
swimming around the bay at Nore Barn, very close to
the shore. That was a very interesting sighting,
probably a first for Nore Barn! It is certainly
something I have never seen over the years at Nore
Barn, though apparently there is in excess of 15
Harbour Seals in Chichester Harbour.
MONDAY
OCTOBER 6 - 2014
Hampshire
Farm
Chris Oakley
managed to get a picture of the elusive Clouded
Yellow butterfly which has been fluttering around
on the Hampshire Farm site for some while. Chris says
there were two of them around the pond. There was also
a Buzzard on one of the fence posts which he hadn't
noticed and it gave him quite a start when it came up
only a few feet from him.
New
web site
Chris has
created a splendid web site for the Hampshire Farm
open space area, which he says is still 'under
construction' but it looks pretty good already with
lots of excellent photos. It has a very useful history
of the site from farmland to building site, an account
of its ecology and a special feature on the
attenuation pond, which Chris rightly sees as an
important attraction for wildlife on the site. Chris
also devotes a page to discussing the enigma of the
so-called 'nature reserve' in the northwest corner of
the Farm, while another page is devoted to Chris's
favourite dragonflies, which abound on Hampshire
Farm.
I am sure Chris would welcome feedback about the web
site, so go to . . . http://www.hampshirefarm.co.uk/
SUNDAY
OCTOBER 5 - 2014
Brook
Meadow
There was a
good turn out of 14 volunteers for today's workday on
a fine but chilly morning. The tasks for the day were
outlined by Jennifer Rye who also showed us all the
formal certificate for the CPRE Award for Hampshire
which the Brook Meadow Conservation Group had won. The
main task was cutting and clearing the flower rich
area in the centre of the north meadow that I usually
refer to as the orchid area.
I managed to rescue a
couple of Four-spot Spiders (Araneus
quadratus) from the orchid area before they were
swallow up by the power scythe. I relocated them on
the east side of the meadow.
I stopped to admire
the dark green Osier leaves on the trees to the
east of the orchid area on the north east path. They
are much longer and thinner than the leaves of Crack
Willow.
Jennifer told me that
the men working on the new wall in the north-east
corner reported seeing Water Voles along the
stretch of river adjacent to the railway embankment.
That's interesting as we have had no sightings from
that area since the spring.
Warblington
shore
Peter
Milinets-Raby was up before sunrise and out for a walk
along the Warblington shore. Tide pushing in and just
a bit too late for waders - maybe tomorrow might be
better.
He was able to watch
the waders depart this morning for their high tide
roosts. Interesting! (7am to 9:22am) with the
highlights being:
Off Pook Lane: 4 Greenshank (one with colour rings
GR//- + YY//- ) - Flew off towards Thorney, 80+
Redshank (4 with colour rings -//B+B//NG and
-//B+B//RR and -//B+B//GG and -//B+B//NL) - Most flew
off to roost along the north Hayling shore by the
hotel, 19 Lapwing - Departed high inland towards
Southmoors, 98 Bar-tailed Godwit (highest count so
far) - Departed towards Thorney, 23 Brent Geese -
Loitered, 34 Teal in eclipse feeding ahead of the
incoming tide - Then at high tide they flew into the
mill pond, 3 Grey Plover - Flew off towards Langstone
Harbour, 111 Oystercatchers pre-roost before departing
towards Langstone Harbour, 48 Golden Plover - Flew off
with the godwits towards Thorney (first birds in this
part of the world), Sandwich Tern.
Langstone Mill Pond: Winter male Reed Bunting,
Chiffchaff, Grey Wagtail, 5 Teal before the 34 flew
in, 16 Little Egrets and 4 Grey Herons roosting in the
trees. Stock Dove
Passing over on
migration: 5+ Pied Wagtails, 12+ Skylarks (Mostly in
singles roughly heading northwest - one group of
6).
SATURDAY
OCTOBER 4- 2014
Brook
Meadow wall
The job
building up the brick wall and repairing the eroded
river bank in the north-east corner of the meadow is
now complete. It is a hefty construction, but should
fulfil its main job in keeping the river off Brook
Meadow. We have been assured that the sandbag
extension to the brick wall (containing over 400 bags)
is secure from vandalism as the bags are filled with
concrete and fixed with spikes. The barriers have been
removed and it is now possible again to walk around
the north path. The contractors will be clearing their
work site on the Seagull Lane patch on Monday after
attending to the repair of the junction between the
path and the eastern end of the north bridge which has
been damaged.
Woodpecker
Patrick Murphy
got this great shot of a male Great Spotted Woodpecker
feasting on the sunflower hearts in preference to the
usual fat balls.
FRIDAY
OCTOBER 3- 2014
Spotted
Redshank returns
I got to Nore
Barn at about 09:45 which was about 3 hours after high
water. The first thing I saw was a small pale wader
snoozing on the far bank of the lower stream and my
heart soared! Yes, this was the Spotted Redshank -
back at Nore Barn for the 11th year running. I watched
it for the next 30 minutes or so as it continued to
snooze on one leg, opening one eye from time to time
and occasionally having a stretch.
Eventually, the
Spotted Redshank made its way down into the stream to
feed in the same active manner that it always has. It
looked totally 'at home'.
It was joined in the
stream by a colour-ringed Greenshank, which
which was probably its old feeding companion from
previous years. My guess is that this Greenshank was
recently caught and ringed by Pete Potts and his team
on Thorney Island. I also saw it yesterday, but this
time I could read all the colours, which were G//R+GL
- not previously recorded.
This was the earliest
first sighting date for the Spotted Redshank at Nore
Barn though the dates have been getting gradually
earlier over the years. See the special Spotted
Redshank web page for all the details . . .
http://www.emsworthwildlife.hampshire.org.uk/x-spotted-redshank.htm
Rob Hill of HBC turned
up at Nore Barn just in time to see the famous Spotted
Redshank feeding in the stream. Rob was there to check
on the clearance work in the woods by Martin Cull and
the council and to have a look at the new sea wall
defences. He told me that Andy Paffett was leaving
Havant Borough Council after 35 years!
Other birds in the Nore Barn stream included the
regular Little Egret, three Black-tailed Godwits, one
was limping with a damaged left foot and the usual
collection of gulls.
Emsworth
Harbour
I arrived on
the marina seawall at 10:45 with the tide falling,
though very slowly.
Main sightings: 5 Little Egrets, 74 Redshank - none
with colour-rings. 9 Black-tailed Godwits - no
colour-rings. 6 Greenshank - four with colour-rings,
but I could only read one of them entirely:
G//R+NL - again I have not previously recorded
this combination. 7 or 8 Little Grebes swimming in the
main channel.
It was good to meet Neil Foster on the marina seawall
whom I previously met for the first time yesterday at
Nore Barn. Neil had his scope with him and hopefully
will be able to make a valuable contribution to
birdwatching in the local area.
Langstone
Mill Pond
Peter
Milinets-Raby had a walk along Wade Court to the
Langstone Mill Pond this morning at 10am for an hour.
There was very little to be seen, with low tide and
glaring sun. The highlights were:
Horse Paddocks: 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 5 Pied
Wagtails, 12+ Long-tailed Tits, 2+ Chiffchaff.
Langstone Mill Pond: 12 eclipse Teal, 2 Shoveler (See
photo), Chiffchaff singing, 45+ Goldfinch feeding in
the trees, 4 Grey Heron roosting in the trees. Off
shore, miles out at the edge of the mud: 4 Grey
Plover, 3 Greenshank ( one with colour rings
B//R+GR//- ), 5 Sandwich Tern loitering on the mud.
Winnall
Water Voles thrive
Hampshire
Wildlife Trust reports on a recent Water Vole survey
at their Winnall Moors Nature Reserve, near
Winchester. The survey found 185 latrines along a 400m
stretch of the River Itchen, compared to only 20 last
year. This shows a healthy population that has bounced
back from winter floods. Rachel Remnant, Winnall
Reserves Officer, puts this down to the Trust's
maintenance of Water Vole friendly habitat, such as
thick bankside vegetation, which provides escape from
aerial predators and quick recolonisation once high
waters recede. See . . . http://www.hiwwt.org.uk/node/3692
This type of habitat is also present on Brook Meadow
(by default), but it does not appear to have helped
the Water Voles population, at least as far as the
sightings are concerned.
THURSDAY
OCTOBER 2- 2014
Nutbourne
Bay
15:00 - After
parking at the end of Farm Lane I walked along the
usual footpath to the sea wall to have a look at the
bay. It was about 3 hours to high water and the tide
was already fairly high. There was a good number of
Wigeon and Teal milling around close to the
shore - I would estimate 300 ducks in total with 75%
or so of them Wigeon.
Also in the bay were a good number of Pintail
with their distinctive profile of long narrow
necks and small heads and long pointed tail. I counted
9 in a separate group from the other ducks though
there were others mixed in with the Wigeon, not easy
to separate. All the Pintail had scalloped brown backs
and flanks indicative of females or males in eclipse
plumage. There were no males in mature breeding
plumage.
I scanned the bay with
the scope hoping to see Brent Geese, but there was no
sign of any. I still have yet to see one, though I
gather there are plenty in Langstone Harbour. I did
spot 8 Great Crested Grebes in the bay.
There were no waders to be seen apart from a roosting
flock of over 100 Redshank and 4 Black-tailed Godwits
on the shingle spit. There was no sign of the regular
Greenshank GY+GY or Spotted Redshank in the stream.
Nore
Barn
15:30 - I
drove over to Nore Barn where the tide was rising
slowly - height only 4 metres today. There were still
just 9 Wigeon in the bay; they came into the
stream as I waited. No Teal at all.
I could hear the distinctive calls of Greenshank
wafting over the water. The birds were on the far
bank of the main channel and too far away to read
colour-rings even with the scope. None of the
Greenshank came across to the stream while I was
present, so I was not able to check them. And, of
course, there was no sign of the Spotted Redshank.
While standing overlooking the shore at Nore Barn, I
was pleased to make the acquaintance of Neil and Jill
Foster. They are newcomers to Emsworth, but are
already avid readers of this blog! We all had a chat
to Maggie Gebbett from over her garden fence. Maggie's
house overlooks the bay at Nore Barn from where she
has a grandstand view of birds in the bay and stream.
Brook
Meadow
Malcolm
Phillips had a quick look round the meadow today. He
managed to get another sighting of the Water Rail near
the S-bend. But the photo I liked best was this
splendid Comma butterfly - the first we have
had reported for some while. This insect will be
feeding voraciously on flowers in preparation for
hibernation in woodland. It could possibly be an
offspring of an hutchinsoni form Comma, which do
emerge in September and look normal, unlike the
parents which are very bright.
Hampshire
Farm
Chris Oakley
reports on autumn time on the Hampshire Farm site:
"This time of the year always seems to be holding its
breath. Summer is over and winter yet to come. The
Swallows and Martins have disappeared, though some
butterflies and dragonflies are hanging on. The
Clouded Yellow which has been around for some weeks is
still with us as are the Common Blue butterflies and
even a Peacock. There are a lot less of the Common
Blue Damselflies but there are still some flying over
the pond. The Darters are plentiful and I saw one
Broad-bodied Chaser this afternoon. We had a visit
from a Heron yesterday but what it can find in this
pond, I don't know.
I discovered a Badger sett on Sunday, tucked
away in a quiet place. I set up the camera overnight
but nothing appeared, although there were grunting
noises, probably a Hedgehog. I set it again on Monday,
but only a Brown Rat showed up. The next night a Tabby
cat came to look round. I now believe that this is an
old sett but I will keep an eye on it. One of my
refuge mats was home for this young Common
Lizard."
Titchfield
Haven
Tony Wootton
circulated some interesting photos that he got during
a visit to Titchfield Haven Nature Reserve, including
Snipe courting and a Little Stint dwarfed by an
Avocet. But the one I liked best was of a Water
Rail having a good stretch, displaying its wings,
underparts and legs which are usually well hidden.
WEDNESDAY
OCTOBER 1- 2014
Brook
Meadow
I had a walk
through the meadow this morning where I met Malcolm
Phillips on the main river path. The Mackey chaps were
still complaining about the difficulty of getting the
big posts in the riverbank in the north-east corner.
They said the Environment Agency were on the scene and
discussing the next step.
Malcolm had already seen and photographed the Water
Rail and we walked back to the S-bend to have
another look for it. The bird showed up, but very
briefly. Here is the photo Malcolm took earlier.
Malcolm stayed on for
a while after I left, but did not see the Water Rail
again. However, he did get a nice visit from a Grey
Wagtail. The first we have seen for a little
while.
Nore
Barn
14:30 - 15:00
As it was October I thought I should go over to Nore
Barn to check on the stream. The tide rising quickly
and already quite high. There was no sign of the
Spotted Redshank as yet, but it is still a bit early
for it. The first sighting last year was on Oct 11.
The usual small group of Mute Swans was in the stream
along with a Little Egret.
A little later a Greenshank turned up in the
stream which I was surprised to see was colour-ringed.
The regular Greenshank here has no rings. I could only
see the rings on one of its legs which were GL (green
over lime). This could be GL+YY.
A couple of
Sandwich Terns were flying around noisily, one
of which I think was a juvenile. Here is the adult
perched on a post.
Five Wigeon
were on the water in the bay, the most I have seen
here this season. Here are four of them.
Walking over the small
bridge towards the shore I spotted good numbers of
Lesser Sea-spurrey flowering on the edge of the
path. I then had a look at the main area of
saltmarshes to the west of the stream and found what
could be Greater Sea-spurrey. I am never sure
how to distinguish these plants, except for the size
of the flowers, much larger in Greater Sea-spurrey.
According to Blamey, Fitter and Fitter, Greater
Sea-spurrey should also have longer petals than
sepals, though the one I photographed here does not.
Lesser
Sea-spurrey
|
Greater
Sea-spurrey
|
I met Roy Ewing
clearing up after the cutting back of the brambles by
the council. The clearance has opened up the glades
through the woods which will certainly encourage
wildlife. The grassland had also been cut by Martin
Cull.
I continued walking
along the shore to the south of the woods and noted
the splendid new sea wall which is now complete and
looking very good with flat concrete blocks the same
as those used previously.
Roy told me about the
special celebration to mark the completion of the new
wall to be held on Friday October 17th at 3pm at the
site.
For
earlier observations go to . . Sept
1-30