Birdwatcher’s Diary No.166

Published on: 22 Jul, 2018
Updated on: 23 Jul, 2018

By Malcolm Fincham

The June heatwave carried on into the first few weeks of July. Temperatures continued to hover around 30c. with no rain for over four weeks, plant life was beginning to suffer in many of the areas I visited.

Long overdue was a visit to Clandon Wood Burial Ground, a short distance, along the Epsom Road in West Clandon. Just a passing visit, I hasten to add, with no plans!

Clandon Wood.

A strange unintentional habit of mine is to recollect songs from days gone by when visiting places on my travels. Since finding it a custom I’m not alone with.

This time rolling back to the early 1970s with a Rolling Stones song:

Went out walkin’ through the wood the other day.
And the world was a carpet laid before me.
The buds were bursting and the air smelled sweet and strange. 
And it seemed about a hundred years ago.

Kestrel sitting on gate – It seemed about 100 years ago.

On this occasion, for those who can recall the rest of the lyrics, it was a kestrel that was sat upon a gate, gazing skyward. A family of them had recently fledged in the area and the young were still remaining within sight of their parents.

They certainly seemed to realise they were in, a “human-friendly” environment there.

Kestrel at Clandon Wood.

Often seen perched on the pavilion, too.

Six-spot burnets at Clandon Wood.

Six-spot burnet moths seemed plentiful this year.

As well as a good variety of butterflies now taking to the air, although never the easiest to photo. I was, as always, in hope that they might settle for long enough to catch a picture.

Gatekeeper at Clandon Wood.

Gatekeeper butterflies were now abundant.

Marbled white at Clandon Wood.

As well as marbled whites.

I was fortunate to see and have a brief chat with Clandon Wood’s resident ecologist and ornithologist Matt Phelps, who keeps a blog on recent sightings there. Matt’s nature diary blog is at. https://www.clandonwood.com/mattsnatureblog/

White-letter hairsteak at Clandon Wood.

He put me on to where he had his latest sightings of the elusive white-letter hairstreak butterfly.

Purple hairsteak at Clandon Wood.

I also managed to add purple hairsteak, while in the vicinity.

Brown argus butterfly at Clandon Wood.

A new brood of brown argus butterflies had also started to breakout.

Small copper Clandon Wood.

Also finding a small copper butterfly.

Male emperor dragonfly. at Clandon Wood.

A small pond in the grounds harboured several species of dragonfly, including emperor dragonfly.

Little grebe with young at Clandon Wood.

While on the pond was an adult little grebe with its young.

House martin at Clandon Wood.

Several house martins.

Swifts.

And swifts could be viewed flying overhead.

Red kite.

While common buzzards and a red kite circled the blue skies above.

Purple emperor, wings looking deep brown in this photo, at Oaken Wood.

During the first week of July I visited Oaken Wood in Chiddingfold. A few purple emperor butterflies could be seen coming to the ground, seeking minerals to feed upon.

White admiral butterfly at Oaken Wood.

White admirals were in good numbers.

Silver-washed fritillary.

As well as silver-washed fritillaries.

Ringlets mating.

A few ringlets, not long out on the wing, could be seen and were already mating.

Large skipper.

Adding to the sightings were numerous large skippers.

View from Newlands Corner.

On July 5, I checked out Newlands Corner.

Dark-green fritillary at Newlands Corner.

Among my findings were several dark-green fritillary butterflies.

Silver-washed fritillary at Newlands Corner.

A few silver-washed fritillaries.

Purple hairstreak at Newlands Corner.

And a dozen or so purple hairsteak butterflies, that, from time to time, buzzed around the tops of a small group of oaks, growing on the chalk downland.

Song thrush at Newlands Corner.

Also adding a photo of a song thrush, collecting food for its young.

Waterlilies on the Moat pond, Thursley Common.

On the sandy heathland of Thursley Common, at the moat pond, near the car park, water lilies had begun to burst into flower.

Male emperor dragonfly.

Dragonflies and damselflies seemed abundant this year, none less so than at Thursley. Although many pools on the boggy parts of the heathland were now drying up. With some patience, I managed a few in-flight pictures of emperor dragonflies as they flew back and forth over the rapidly drying ditches.

The adult male, red-backed shrike, I mentioned in my previous report, was still present, as we headed into the second week of the month. Now having moved across the heathland from the Pudmore pond.

Red-backed shrike, Thursley Common.

It could only be seen from a distance in an area cordoned-off for a small group of belted Galloway cattle to roam.

Common lizard on a boardwalk at Thursley Common.

With daytime temperatures still hovering around 30c, it seemed even too warm but for a few common lizards to bask on the boardwalks.

A visit to Farlington Marshes near Portsmouth on July 10, gave me the chance of acquiring some slightly cooler sea air. Although not adding any new sightings to my “year list”, I did get some reasonable photos while on the circular walk around the reserve.

Swallows feeding their young at Farlington Marshes.

A pair of adult swallows, feeding their young, was probably the highlight of my visit. The young fledglings had perched in a hawthorn, while their parents busily collected flying insects from the surrounding field.

Having collected a good mouthful, they would return. Their young, watched on eagerly.

Opening their mouths simultaneously as the adults returned, in the hope that they would be the next to be fed.

Oystercatcher at Farlington.

Adding to the day’s photos was an oystercatcher flying overhead.

Mediterranean gulls with black-headed gulls in the background at Farlington.

On the “deeps” were a reasonable collection of Mediterranean gulls, still in their summer plumage. This gave me the opportunity of a few photos of them, showing their less attractive cousins, the black-headed gulls, in the background.

Brown hawker dragonfly along the River Wey.

Highlights of my ventures to the Riverside Nature Reserve, near Burpham, included a reasonably successful in-flight shot of a brown hawker dragonfly.

Reed warbler at Riverside Nature Reserve.

By the lakeside I unexpectedly spotted a reed warbler fledgling, bravely attempting to climb up the reeds surrounding it.

The young still in the nest.

Below it was its parents’ nest, neatly weaved, between some reed stems. Poking out of the top of the nest were the several pointy beaks of its siblings.

The parent returns with food.

Taking a few photos through the gaps in the reeds, a parent returned with a mouthful of insects and fed them.

Reed bunting.

Moving on, several adult reed buntings could also be seen, collecting food for their own young.

Great crested grebe with juvenile on Stoke Lake.

I found evening visits gave the best light when it came to taking pictures of the adult great crested grebe with its young, as they traversed the lake.

Greylag goose on Stoke Lake.

A greylag goose could also be seen on the lake on several evenings, as well as a growing number of Canada geese.

Whereas, the late morning and afternoon heat of the sun was the best time to catch up with photos of the butterflies presently out on the wing there.

Comma at Riverside Nature Reserve.

These included a good number of comma butterflies.

Red admiral at Riverside Nature Reserve.

Red admirals seemed at long last to be coming out in reasonable numbers there.

Essex skipper at Riverside Nature Reserve.

Various skipper butterflies could be seen. This included a few Essex skippers, recognised by looking like the small skipper, but with black tips on their antennae.

Holly blue at Riverside Nature Reserve.

A few holly blues were back out on the wing on their second brood of the year.

Small tortoishell butterfly.

While several small tortoiseshell butterfly could also be found.

Marbled white at Riverside Nature Reserve.

Surprisingly, beyond the northern end of the lake I also saw and photographed, a few marbled whites; a butterfly I haven’t often seen in the area.

Hobby, seen in flight from the boardwalk at Riverside Nature Reserve.

Another rare sighting early in the month was a hobby, as it flew across and a little way ahead of me as I walked along the main boardwalk.

Little egret over Riverside Nature Reserve.

Also sighted, flying over as I looked up from the boardwalk, late in the day, on July 18, was a little egret.

Starlings gathering on the pylons near Stoke Lock.

The first signs that the tide of summer had started to turn, was the sight of starlings grouping together on the pylons by Stoke Lock. Occasionally swooping down to feast on the ripening blackberries by the towpath.

Common whitethroat feeding on mother of pearl moths.

Flitting around in the brambles, as the evenings came to a close, were, what I learned to be, mother of pearl moths. Watching on, I managed to capture a shot, as light faded, of a common whitethroat as it took advantage of them as a food source to feed its young.

Rapidly growing roe deer fawn with its mum.

A female roe deer also appeared from the long grass, to enter the scrape, now totally dry of water, with its young fawn, putting an end to another fine day.

Another unusual sighting in the Guildford area came my way in the form of an e-mail. A regular reader of The Guildford Dragon NEWS sent me a picture taken just outside of Guildford of a bird that a friend of hers had photographed.

Lilac-breasted roller seen near Guilford.

I instantly recognised it to be a lilac-breasted roller, a bird that had been reported just a few days before at Frensham.

The species is found throughout Eastern and Southern Africa. The birds live in open woodland and savannah country, bushy game lands, and areas with well spaced trees.

They are the national bird of both Kenya and Botswana, where they are often considered one of the most beautiful birds in the world. 

Even in my own small garden in a suburban part of Guildford, there were items of wildlife to be observed. Several species flew through and some kindly settled long enough to have their photos taken:

Speckled wood butterfly.

A speckled wood butterfly on some ivy.

Holly blue.

While a holly blue landed on the forsythia hedge to sun itself for a while.

Gatekeeper butterfly on tomato plant in my garden.

Even photographing a gatekeeper butterfly on one of my tomato plants.

Large white in my garden.

Also adding a large white butterfly, in flight near my pond.

Meadow grasshopper in my garden.

While in the pond was a grasshopper in dire need of help. With some assistance, I rescued it from the predatory jaws of the fish within.

As a thank you, it allowed me a few photos as it dried itself out enough to then hop away to enjoy another day.

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