Birdwatcher’s Diary No.111

Published on: 5 Jun, 2016
Updated on: 3 Jun, 2016

By Malcolm Fincham

As is the case with nature as well as birdwatching, it’s often a matter of mixed fortunes, grateful for much luck, and a reasonable camera. And not forgetting a small ‘posse’ of enthusiastic friends keen to vary my ventures. All of which means I am able to come up with some more recent photos.

A view across the Devil’s Punchbowl and the old A3 along its ridge. Click on all pictures to enlarge in a new window.

On May 15 we decided on a visit to the Devil’s Punchbowl. Having not visited to explore for any longer than a sightseeing visit, since the construction of the Hindhead Tunnel, and having last walked down into it over 30 years ago, it was a trip, well overdue.

Deciduous woodland slopes at the Devil’s Punchbowl, Hindhead, ideal habitat for the wood warbler.

Our hope was for the remote chance of spotting a wood warbler. These birds can be found in deciduous woodland under closed canopies.

Wood warbler. A singing male I photographed in Scotland last year.

Thirty years ago as many as six or more pairs were thought to breed at the Punchbowl. In the UK wood warblers are predominantly found in upland western oak woods. Sadly, although the habitat in the area we walked still looks good enough to sustain them, not a note of their song could be heard that day.

Woodlark in the Devil’s Punchbowl.

Although slightly disappointing, it wasn’t unexpected and it wasn’t too long before we were enlightened by the sighting of a woodlark. A bird that has made a bit of a come back in recent times locally on our Surrey heathlands.

Tree pipit at Hindhead.

The sound of a tree pipit, as it perched on a small pine, was also a welcome to sound as it perched on top of small pine.

Hindhead Common.

Close by on Hindhead Common we were taken by surprise as we caught a glimpse of a flock of 20 or so birds, as they flew overhead, disappearing out of sight within seconds of seeing them. Definitely birds of the ‘finch’ family, we decided as we debated their ‘ID’.

Although not calling in their usual way, my ‘hunch’ was that they were crossbills. Intent on getting better views, we followed the direction in which they had flown, sure they had landed nearby. Crossbills are known to feed on pine cone seeds, so we scanned a pine tree that we thought they had landed in with our binoculars.

Crossbill in silver birches at Hindhead.

About to give up, just by chance, my view drifted across to a silver birch near by. To my surprise, rather than feeding on pine cones, I spied a small group of males and females, feeding on the catkins of the silver birch I had now focused on.

Crossbills on the ground at Hindhead.

Having not seen a common crossbill locally since April 4, 2014, while on a visit to Thursley Common, this was indeed a treat to see. And an added bonus, having watched them feeding for a while, was to see a few even come down to drink in a nearby puddle.

Adult male crossbills are a distinctive brick-red and females greenish-brown.

The crossbill is a member of the finch family, and very clearly the principle that Charles Darwin developed that species adapt in order to survive in their particular environment. In the case of the crossbill, not surprisingly, the adaptation is the crossed bill after which it is named, perfectly shaped to remove seeds from cones. The crossbill has evolved to survive in coniferous forests, mostly in upland areas of Europe, such as the Alps, the Pyrenees and Scandinavia.

Adult male crossbill at Hindhead.

In the British Isles it is most likely to be seen in the Scottish Highlands, where its own strain of Scottish crossbill (as well as a few parrot crossbills) can be seen. Numbers in particular areas can fluctuate considerably from year to year, depending on the availability of conifer seeds (the crossbill’s main diet) in its usual breeding areas. The UK population is boosted occasionally by an ‘irruption’ of birds from northern Europe, possibly due to the failure of spruce cones.

Female stonechat.

Ending the day with a walk along a track that was once the old A3, a few stonechats could be viewed.

A brief spell of warm sunshine and the sighting of two green hairstreak butterflies, that settled momentarily in some nearby gorse, reminded us that it was that time of year to begin our quest to seek out some of the ‘early’ species of butterfly that had started to emerge around the Surrey and Hampshire borders.

A trip to Witley Common on May 22 gave me the opportunity to photograph a few new species for 2016.

Grizzled skipper on Witley Common.

These included a few grizzled skippers, in an open glade of rough grassland, where a few of one of its favoured food plants, the wild strawberry grows.

Like most skippers, the grizzled skipper is extremely difficult to follow when in flight, but will stop to feed from various nectar sources. Once settled, the black and white pattern on the wings, from which this species gets its name, is unmistakable

Small heath.

Adding to the day list were a few small heath butterflies. While out of sight, within the surrounding scrub, both garden warblers and blackcaps could be heard.

During the week that followed I managed to find some time for a few evening visits to my local patch at Stoke Nature Reserve.

Greater spotted woodpecker.

Along the towpath leading to Stoke Lock a greater spotted woodpecker flew across the river and landed in a tree nearby. It was unhindered (or unaware) by my presence as it worked its way up a tree looking for grubs in the loose bark.

Green-veined white by the towpath.

Within the vegetation a green-veined white butterfly settled on one of the plants.

Common whitethroat near Stoke Lock.

A common whitethroat flew in and out of a dense area of brambles, possibly already feeding young.

Sedge warbler at Stoke Nature Reserve.

While a sedge warbler sharing the same area flew back and forth, appearing to be on a similar mission.

Grey wagtail collecting food for its brood.

Close to the lock gates a grey wagtail could be seen with a mouthful of insects to feed its young.

Moorhen with chick.

While a moorhen was feeding one of its chicks.

A robin collects a tasty looking meal for its young.

And a robin was also among many birds carrying food.

Kestrel hunting over field by Stoke Lake (showing off ‘ID’ leg tag).

Around the reserve a kestrel could regularly be seen, often hovering over the field by the lake in the evening sunshine.

Common buzzard.

Other birds of prey seen in the area on regular occasions in recent days are common buzzard.

Local sighting of a red kite.

And what has become my favourite of recent times, the red kite.

My last sighting of the common tern at Stoke Lake.

For the first year in the four I have been writing these reports for The Guildford Dragon NEWS, the common tern, that for several weeks had been on the tern raft at Stoke Lake, finally gave up patiently waiting for its partner and moved on. Allowing a pair of Canada geese to make it their home.

Noar Hill.

As May came to a close, more species of butterflies had now started to emerge. We decided to take advantage of some rare UK bank holiday sunshine on May 29 to visit Noar Hill near Selborne in Hampshire. 

Once the site of medieval chalk workings it is now carpeted by flowering plants growing on the chalk. The ridges, banks and hollows provide a variety of niches that allow many different species to thrive.

There is a nationally-important colony of the diminutive musk orchid at Noar Hill.

There are a large number of breeding butterflies (over 35 species) and over a dozen species of orchid can be found here.

Duke of Burgundy, one of more than a dozen seen at Noar Hill.

Duke of Burgundy was our ‘target species’. A rare butterfly occurring in small discrete colonies in scrubby grassland and recent woodland clearings where its larval foodplants, either primrose or cowslip, grow in reasonable abundance in sheltered but open, sunny conditions.

Duke of Burgundy is one of our rarest UK butterflies.

The butterfly has undergone a major decline in Britain especially in woodlands. But fortunately for us, at Noar Hill they could still be seen in good number.

Dingy skipper also found on Pewey Down.

Adding to the day list were several dingy skippers.

One of several dingy skippers found at Noar Hill.

Quite moth-like at first glance, a freshly-emerged one reveals a subtle pattern of browns and greys that is quite beautiful.

Green hairstreak, iridescent in its green / turquoise colour.

Not nearly as beautiful to my mind as the green hairstreak butterfly, iridescent in their green/turquoise colour.

Common blue (male) at Noar Hill.

Or the common blues that were now emerging there. Other additions to the day list were several small heath butterflies.

Speckled wood.

And a speckled wood.

Glimpse of a garden warbler in hedgerow at Noar Hill.

Once again, as at Witley Common, all this was backed up by the glorious sounds of blackcaps and garden warblers singing from within the hedgerows.

Yellowhammer at Noar Hill.

But this time, the addition of yellowhammers on backing vocals, singing their chorus song of ‘Little bit of bread and no cheese’.

Common blue (male) in pristine condition.

Heading home we decided to make time to visit Pewley Down. And having seen them at Noar Hill, male common blue butterflies were now out in good numbers and in pristine condition. But we did not see any females, we guessed they hadn’t emerged yet.

Small blue butterflies abundant thi year on Pewley Down.

The small blue is Britain’s smallest resident butterfly and is easily overlooked, partly because it is often confined to small patches of sheltered grassland where its sole food-plant, kidney vetch, is found.

Kidney vetch is the sole food plant for the larvae of Britain’s smallest butterfly, the aptly named small blue.

It has a very patchy distribution across the UK. Its strongholds are on the chalk and limestone grasslands of southern England.

South facing slopes of Pewley Down.

The south-facing chalk hill of Pewley Down, is an ideal area for them to survive and from the amount we saw, this seemed to be a very good year for them.

Sun sinks low in the sky to end another day of wildlife watching.

And so with the evening sun dropping low in the Guildford sky and setting on my May reports, it’s time to ponder on what ‘goodies’ June might bring.

For those out there, brighter than I, (of which, no doubt there are many) and keen on a quiz. What do you think of this?

Can you Identify this rather pretty moth?

While photographing butterflies, both at Noar Hill and Pewley Down, I came across a ‘daytime’ moth. There is a the vast array of moths found in the UK and of which I know little. Curious of what it might be, I took a picture of it.

If anyone can put a name to it, I would be grateful. Please leave a reply in the comments box below.

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