Birdwatcher’s Diary No.114

Published on: 17 Jul, 2016
Updated on: 17 Jul, 2016

By Malcolm Fincham

June and July are well known to be quiet months for birdwatching enthusiasts, even uncommon species are scarce during this period.

On arriving home from York with just a few days of June remaining, I was rather optimistic for catching up on my yearly sightings of some of the many butterfly species that can be seen in Surrey. Unfortunately, the weather seemed to have other ideas; cool temperatures and heavy rain showers continued into the beginning of July. Such conditions don’t bode well for butterflies!

Rain poses a direct threat of injury or death, while cool air associated with storms may reduce temperatures below the thermal threshold for butterfly flight. With wet weather and ominous looking rain clouds never too far away, I often found myself having to ‘brave the elements’, on numerous occasions, ensuring I had a shower-proof jacket and cover for my camera, close at hand.

Stormy sunset over Whitmoor Common. Click on all pictures to enlarge in a new window.

Stormy skies did make for some pleasant sunsets, however.

Song Thrush singing on Whitmoor Common.

On Whitmoor Common I was welcomed by the sound of a song thrush, singing its repetitive, melodic song.

Adult coal tit with young.

Coal tits could be seen along with the many adult birds, now feeding their newly fledged young.

Goldfinch on Whitmoor Common.

A ‘charm’ of goldfinches were chattering.

Greenfinch wheezing on Whitmoor Common.

Greenfinches could be heard too, making their typical wheezing call, sounding like heavy smokers.

Green woodpecker on Whitmoor Common.

While a green woodpecker made its ‘yaffle’ call as it performed its undulating flight.

Male stonechat (with female in flight).

While a pair stonechats could be seen perched on the top of a bush, flicking their wings and making their sound like two small stones being hit together.

Young stonechat.

And a stonechat fledgeling close by.

Heather starting to bloom on Thursley Common.

Before June came to a close, I took advantage of a day of rare sunshine, by visiting Thursley Common. Walking across from the A3 side of the heathland I soon noticed the heather starting to bloom there.

My hopes were justified when I spotted a number of small butterflies flitting around its purple blossom.

Silver-studded blues (male and female.)

Silver-studded blues are found mainly on heathland where the silvery-blue wings of the males provide a marvellous sight as they fly low over the heather.

Female silver-studded blue.

Female silver-studded blue, are in fact brown.

Dartford warbler, Thursley Common.

Across the heath Dartford warblers continued to be seen.

Skylark perching on a dead tree stump.

A skylark hovered overhead singing its cheerful song. It then dropped down, perching to rest a on a dead branch.

Skylark takes to the air on Thursley Common.

Before taking flight once again, becoming a speck in the ‘heavens’, to sing a few more verses of its delightful tune.

Tree pipit on Thursley Common.

Another similar high flier, the tree pipit, joined it in song for a time. Parachuting down in its familiar way as it sang.

Female kestrel on Thursley Common.

While a female kestrel rested in a silver birch, surveying its milieu.

Male linnet, Thursley Common.

On the lower section of heathland linnets gathered around a pool of water washing and drinking.

Female broad-bodied chasers have a broad, yellow coloured abdomen.

As the sun warmed the air several types of dragonflies could be viewed, allowing me to get a photo of a beautiful, glistening, female broad-body chaser.

A hobby hunting dragonflies on Thursley Common.

This in turn seemed to instinctively attract two hobbies that appeared from nowhere to hunt over the bog.

Reed bunting, drying out after another shower of rain.

Never far away was another shower of rain. However, as I walked across the main boardwalk the sun broke once again and the sound of a few reed buntings broke the silence, as they reappeared with droplets of water on their feathers.

I made several visits to Pewley Down, with much of the time spent sheltering under trees from passing showers. On a one particularly pleasant evening (July 3) I finally managed to see and photograph a few butterflies there, which had taken advantage of a day of sunshine to break out on the wing.

Marbled white butterflies on Pewley Down.

Marbled whites were the most abundant, certainly the most noticeable too.

Meadow brown butterfly with wings open.

Meadow brown butterflies could also be seen in good number.

Ringlet.

It also gave me the chance to photograph my first ringlet butterflies of the year.

Small tortoiseshell.

Adding to the sightings were a few small tortoiseshells.

Large skipper.

As well as a few large skippers.

Small skipper.

And small skippers too.

Male kestrel hunting over Pewley Down.

A male kestrel hovered overhead.

Skylark in flight over Pewley Down.

While a skylark sang high above it.

Yellowhammer on Pewley Down.

Joining in with song were several yellowhammers in the surrounding hedgerow.

In the past, orchids have been picked for their attractive flowers.

To end the day I even took a walk down the northern slope of the downs and was able to rediscover the bee orchids I had seen in flower there last year.

With hope of boosting my year’s sightings of butterflies, on a sunny July 7, having enjoyed a few previous days of warm, dry weather, I visited Bookham Common with the addition of fellow enthusiasts, Bob and Dougal.

The silver-washed fritillary butterfly is our largest fritillary and gets its name from the beautiful streaks of silver found on the underside of the wings.

Although only getting a brief view of a purple emperor as it flew around high in the top of its ‘master tree’ and a probable purple hairstreak buzzing around close by, we were able to get good views of several siver-washed fritillaries. Even managing a few pictures of one that settled close by.

Red Admiral, Bookham Common.

Adding to the woodland species were red admirals.

White admiral.

And a few white admirals too.

Comma, showing its small white ‘C’ shaped marking resembling a comma.

Completing our visit with a few comma butterflies, seen around the open woodland and wood edges where they mainly breed and hibernate.

Box Hill near Dorking.

Having succeeded in getting our ‘target species’ we decided to visit Box Hill near Dorking.

Marbled whites abundant on Box Hill.

Walking down from the top, we were met by an abundance of marbled whites on the grassy slopes. Although having seen them just a few days earlier on Pewley Down, to me, they are always a delight to see, unable to resist, I just had to take a few more photos of them.

Dark green fritillary on Box Hill.

The dark-green fritillary is the most widespread fritillary found in the British Isles and Box Hill is one of the prime spots in Surrey to see them. Always a pleasure to see as it flies powerfully over its grassland habitats, I have always found, difficult to follow long enough to photograph.

Dark green fritillary, best recognised by its green hue found on the underside of the hindwings.

It gets its name from the green hue found on the underside of the hindwings, which are peppered with large silver spots.

Mallard with chicks.

Among other sightings that took my interest in the past few weeks while on my ‘travels’ around the countryside was a mallard, guiding her chicks to the water’s edge.

Yellow-necked mouse.

Also a picture of what I believe to be a yellow-necked mouse? Similar, though slightly larger than the wood mouse.

Swarm of bees.

A first for me was the sighting of a swarm of bees that I noticed hanging on a fence looking rather like a David Bellamy beard (for those that are old enough to recall)

Intrigued by their formation, I couldn’t resist getting a closer look. So surprised by my sighting, I was left unsure of a phone number I could contact of a local beekeeper

Close up view of the swarm.

And it wasn’t until the following day that I realised that a list of local contact numbers can, in fact, be found on the internet.

http://www.guildfordbeekeepers.org.uk/swarms

At an undisclosed location in the Surrey Hills I took time out to watch some juvenile peregrines.

Having followed the progress of the Woking pair raising their young.

Juvenile peregrine.

And having enjoyed seeing some of the excellent pictures taken by James Sellen, I was eager to get a few pictures of one of several other pairs that reside on private land within Surrey borders.

Juvenile peregrine.

These also have young that are now of a ‘semi-fledged’ age.

Juvenile peregrine.

Watching the juveniles’ speed of acceleration, as well their interaction with each other, was to me, far better than being at the Farnborough Air show.

Juvenile peregrines play-fighting in mid-air.

Performing feats the Red Arrows would never dare to make.

Juvenile peregrines.

These birds are highly protected these days along with other birds of prey.

Thankfully peregrines, along with all ‘birds of prey’, are protected under the Wildlife and Coutryside Act 1981. 

More information can be found on http://www.london-peregrine-partnership.org.uk/the-law.html

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