Birdwatcher’s Diary No.89

Published on: 15 Jun, 2015
Updated on: 15 Jun, 2015

By Malcolm Fincham

Struggling with stressful pressures of modern life and not having fully got over the death of brother last November, my intention had been to drop my reports for a while.

However, with encouragement from my doctor, as well as some wonderful support from my family and friends, at times forcing me out into the countryside, I decided to continue my quest to stay up to date with the world of nature beyond my doorstep The best therapy one could possibly recommend for the soul has to involve becoming at one with nature.

The arrival of June brought with it our first real taste of summer and almost as importantly the repair and return of my much missed lens, now back in first class working order. With much gratitude and many thanks to Guildford’s branch of the London Camera Exchange. And with thanks for the kindness shown allowing me to borrow a replacement while it was repaired in my desperation to stay up to date with my photos.

Swift over Stoughton.

Brushing off my wife’s amusement, as I carried it home cradled in what she claimed to be like a new born baby in my arms, I decided to test it to its limits with a few shots of the dozen or more swifts that scream over my garden at this time of year.

Female redstart collecting food for its young.

Male redstart.

Although night-time remained quite cool, some of our summertime migrant birds, such as redstarts, were already feeding young. And many resident birds had already fledged their first brood of youngsters.

Female blackcap on Pewley Down.

With fewer male blackcaps singing at the moment, as females (with brown caps) could be seen collecting food for their young, it became easier to pick out the similar sounding song of the garden warbler in various locations I visited.

Garden warbler on Witley Common.

Being one of our later arriving summer migrants, garden warblers could still be heard at a number of locations I visited, melodically calling for a mate or claiming their territory.

Tuneful song thrush.

The song thrush’s song had once again has become more prominent, possibly calling for a mate in the hope of starting a second brood.

Always impressed by their tuneful song, I couldn’t resist videoing one as it sang by the towpath near Stoke Lock. 

Peregrin.

Once again at the undisclosed location I visited about this time last year, deep in the Surrey Hills, a pair of peregrines could once again be seen raising their young. Click here for last year’s report.

Peregrin with a pigeon it had just caught.

This year I was there in time to witness an adult as it returned with a pigeon it had just caught.

Hobby on Whitmoor Common.

Hobby catching a dragonfly on the wing on Whitmoor Common.

On a visit to Whitmoor Common, Worplesdon, on June 3, I was surprised to see and even get a few pictures of a hobby as it hunted for a good 30 minuets across the heathland.

Male linnet on Whitmoor Common.

Stonechat on Whitmoor Common.

Also adding to my photos were the usual sightings including linnets as well as stonechats.

So with bird life pretty much settled in for the summer, some sunny days inspired me to try to brush up on my lack of butterfly identification skills. This was with the insistence and assistance of my knowledgeable friend Dougal.

Fortunately these days this pastime doesn’t involve running around the countryside with a net in one’s hand, in the hope of catching and pinning them up in a glass frame.

View across Pewley Down.

A visit to Pewley Down on Sunday, June 7,  brought some success with a few summertime butterflies now starting to emerge.

Common blue.

A few common blues had now started to appear as the sun began to shine.

Small blue.

Nationally, small blue are quite a rare and localised butterfly, but they seemed to be plentiful this year on Pewley Down.

Small heath.

A few small heath butterflies had also started to emerge.

Small tortoiseshell.

And even a correctly labelled this time (for my regular readers) a small tortoiseshell was added to my day list.

Brimstone.

Brimstone are easily spotted but not so easy to track down for a photo, so I was grateful to finally catch up with one.

Holly blue.

And also a holly blue appeared.

Yellowhammer.

I was delighted to still hear the sound of several yellowhammers singing their ‘little bit of bread and no cheese’ song.

Bee orchid on Pewley Down.

What has to be my favourite type of orchid, the bee orchid, could also be seen, now just coming out into flower in a field on the north-facing side of the downs.

With it being a poor spring for butterflies, we still had time to catch up on a few we had missed out on. For this we decided to drive out to a reliable spot on Witley Common.

Green hairstreak.

On our arrival we realised we were possibly only a few days from being too late, with much hunting a grassy glade we only managed to find just two rather tatty looking green hairstreak butterflies.

Grizzled skipper.

And also manage to photograph just one grizzled skipper. This was an especially good sighting as it was a first for me to see one.

A fitting end to my report was being dropped of by my wife at Farlington Marshes near Portsmouth. As I sat looking out across Langstone Harbour (with the song Dock Of The Bay, by Otis Reading, playing in my thoughts) and watching the black-headed gulls wheeling and spinning overhead, I couldn’t help but notice a few unusual ones.

Mediterranean gull (left) with black-headed gull.

Often seen but overlooked were a few Mediterranean gulls (or med gulls as they are now commonly called by birdwatchers).

Once restricted to breeding in the Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean as the name suggests.

Mediterranean gull.

What was once a rare UK bird until the 1950s, it has now become quite widespread across Europe and in the southern parts of the UK during winter months, and now breeding in this country in ever increasing numbers.

Spoonbill at Farlington.

A bird which had been spending some time recently on one of the inland lagoons there was a spoonbill, a graceful bird, looking almost prehistoric with its spatular-like bill.

Spoonbill in flight at Farlington.

I had already seen two earlier this year at Medmerry RSPB site, but always a good one to spot.

With as many as eight now breeding in Norfolk after over 300 years absence from the UK, they will hopefully become a common sighting in years to come.

And with so many UK species now declining, it shows conservation projects do work and we, as humans, really can make a difference by understanding nature.

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