Friday, August 31, 2012
The last day of summer
Greger suggested doing our Saturday walk today as the weather looked good and we have no work anyway. We parked at Warren Farm near Streatley and walked up the Ridgeway. A wheatear was far out on the warren.
In the scrub on the eastern flank of Lowbury Hill there was a spotted flycatcher. Despite the photo, this was the best view I've had of a spotfly this year.
There was also a colourful pigeon, sitting very still in an elder tree. It had a green ring on its right leg. Perhaps this is one of the racing pigeons that have been disappearing into England's answer to the Bermuda triangle (various news outlets recently).
Back at Streatley Warren we encountered our third migrant of the day in this redstart.
Otherwise there were loads of swallows and house martins still around and a fair number of buzzards and kites; and a Silver Y moth was seen at the edge of a field.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Dorney
A quick lunch-time visit with my scope produced the two wheatears, but there was no sign of the whinchat.
This evening I walked the length of the wetlands (seeing a hobby) and found the two dunlins together at the near end of the flood. (Tenth day for one, possibly for both.)
Swallows and one or two house martins were hunting overhead and a snipe zoomed over and dropped down into the grass.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Dorney
The hard, cracked mud on the common where the flood has dried up is beginning to grow a little muddy again and show signs of green life; and no doubt there are plenty of insects there as well. This evening two wheatears and a whinchat had dropped in; this was my first local returning wheatear and my first whinchat for the whole year, so despite the drizzle I took a couple of record shots.
Two dunlin were together on the Eton Wick flood, and at least two teal were there. As I stood on the common peering over the reeds a peregrine came flying from behind me; it was too dark to see any plumage details so I don't know if this was the juvenile that buzzed the flood last Friday. What I did notice was the powerful flight of the falcon and the fast, whippy wingbeats.
Then I realised that one of the dunlin was in the air, zig-zagging away over the field with the peregrine in hot pursuit. The falcon seemed to give up and I last saw it disappearing over the trees to the east. A hoarse "treep" was heard from the dunlin that had stayed put. After perhaps a minute the pursued dunlin came swooping in from the Jubilee River side and landed on the far, grassy margin of the flood where I couldn't see it. But I heard another "treep".
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Pagham
At the visitor centre we found the small car-park full and so turned into the overflow. It was a breezy, sparkling day and the walk along the bank to the sea was as enjoyable as ever.
Turnstones were everywhere on the beach.
A mixed flock of grey plovers and knot landed at the tip of the shingle spit, and I made my way carefully through the turnstones' hunting ground to get closer. The plovers were in all kinds of plumage but even the very black ones were difficult to focus on.
Meanwhile the turnstones had closed around me and I found myself in the middle of a group numbering at least thirty-five. I could hear the click-clack of the stones being turned over and the waders' calls. There was a soft murmuring between them, and now and then an agitated rattle if two birds went for the same stone.
At least four wheatears were on fence posts along the terns' now empty breeding ground and five yellow wagtails were also there. Sandwich terns flew to and fro calling.
As we left the beach to have a look over the mudflats from Church Norton, a swift flew over going south and Greger suddenly remembered that the overflow car park would be locked - only he couldn't remember when. We found the phone number of the visitor centre on the information board nearby and were dismayed to learn that it would be locked at 4 o'clock - and it was now ten to. We couldn't possibly make it back by then! Fortunately the cheerful lady said she would be there for a while longer, and Greger set off at a rate of knots only he can walk at.
I followed in a more leisurely fashion and added two greenshanks, several common and green sandpipers and a flock of dunlin to the day's list. (They lock the inner car park because of fly-tipping. That's another small freedom taken away thanks to the activities of people who should be shot.)
Monday, August 20, 2012
Taplow
Greger called me into his office as I was going to bed; and there on the window was a large, quite sensational moth. We've seen a red underwing here before but not from below. My flash-aided picture doesn't do it justice. It measured 55mm across and that's without the wings being fully opened.
I went outside to try a shot from above; this shows a large but rather drab brown moth.
Then it opened its wings.
And then it flew away over the house.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Back to Dorney
In the late-afternoon sun the ruff looked tawny again.
The cattle would graze for a while and then come lumbering through the flood from end to end, making the lapwings squeak in protest until they lumbered out again. Two of them passing behind the ruff provided a size check. (Sometimes, staring at waders through optics, I forget how small they really are.)
Aware suddenly of beady eyes just inside the field I realised that two snipe were nestling there. I put the camera on landscape setting to get past the rushes, and it sort of worked. A third snipe flew over calling.
I've never been able to remember whether the common snipe has a yellow central crown stripe and the jack snipe a dark one, or vice versa. Maybe I'll remember now.
A green sandpiper was also present, and all birds were still there when I left (with aching arms and shoulders - it's not easy to look at this flood with just bins). Those birders who can sit comfortably in hides and survey great swathes of wetlands have it easy! Mind you, I don't much like hide birdwatching. There's no pleasing me really.
Dorney
I paid a visit to the flood this morning and found a ruff still present on the Eton Wick side of the stream. I suppose it's the bird that was here on Friday evening; I couldn't always see the lovely warm wash of orangey-buff, but then I was looking into the sun.
A green sandpiper was also present. A grey wagtail was at the weir, and while I watched the ruff I was serenaded by a willow warbler. It's usually a mistake to go back for a second look, but with the sun moving round to a better angle I may be tempted. It's not as though we're spoilt with waders round here and the flood won't last forever.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Bury Down
Back to our old stomping ground today for a walk of about 14 kilometres. A bird launching itself from a bush just along the Ridgeway from the car park was identified by Greger as a sparrowhawk. And looking through the bins I could see he was right.
Turning onto the bridleway to West Ilsley, we encountered about a dozen meadow pipits skipping about in the bushes. Meanwhile I was frantically scanning the hawthorns along the side of the sheep field for redstarts as we walked. Yes! There was a bird dropping down into the grass and then flying back up into the low branches. As usual it was very distant. I watched through the bins and could see the lovely flash of orange as the bird flew up.
Slogging up the Catmore lane I spotted what I first thought was a small dog at the crest of the road, bounding towards us. It was a hare. It loped down the hill until it saw us and then disappeared up the grassy bank to the right. It was probably escaping from the harvesting that was under way in fields to the left of the road.
Further along the road, large numbers of goldfinches, chaffinches and bullfinches were feeding out in the stubble. Otherwise it was, bird-wise, fairly quiet.
Friday, August 17, 2012
The flood on the common this evening was almost gone, with several lapwings on the last puddle left in a large area of dried, cracked mud. I scanned the flood in the Eton Wick field from the weir, and saw a wader on the far side among the gulls. It wasn't easy to see with just bins, but I thought it was a ruff; and enlarging the pictures at home later confirmed that.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
More mud than flood.....
......in the north-eastern corner of Dorney Common now; but just right for a bright-eyed snipe to settle down and have a rest in the sun. As I walked away it tucked its bill back under its feathers to resume its nap.
After watching the closing ceremony of the Games on Sunday night, I went out into the garden to see if I could spot any meteors. A slow rustling noise in the corner resolved in the torch beam into this toad. (Also revealed was the cobwebby state of our back gate!)
And I didn't see any Perseids because by the time I'd taken the photo the sky had clouded over.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Fellow travellers
On our walk today two orange butterflies flew, disputing, across our path and I thought at first they were both Commas. When they alighted I realised that one was larger and clearly not a Comma. It departed down the track and we lost it; but the silvery bars on the underwing point to its being a Silver-washed Fritillary.
This lot were just about to set off along the track dressed for some reason as French onion sellers. They greeted us with many a cheerful "Bonjour!"
The male Montagu's harrier was past us before we noticed it and even then I thought it was a gull! In the distance we saw two more, both dark birds.
All added interest to a lovely walk on a gorgeous summer's day; and this evening we flopped in front of the television and watched the last of the athletics. We both like middle distance running whether or not there's British involvement, but Mo Farah winning the 5,000 metres after already winning the 10,000 was really something.
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
A late-afternoon walk to the Dorney flood found it much diminished; but a common sandpiper was present at the western end.
Other birds on or round the flood were black-headed gulls, starlings, pied wagtails, lapwings, stock doves and a heron.
