Birdwatcher’s Diary No.92

Published on: 21 Aug, 2015
Updated on: 21 Aug, 2015

By Malcolm Fincham

As August arrived noticeable signs that the tide of summer was starting to turn.

I heard our local blackbird sing his last tuneful song of this year on July 24 (a little later this year), and as August rolled in daylight hours started to shorten.

Swift.

Added to this was the disappearance of our local swift population in Stoughton, of well over 30 birds, which had now started making their way back to Africa with their young. Just the odd few could now seen passing through from further afield.

Although Surrey is far from the best place in the country for the variety of birds one can spot, it certainly makes up for it as one of the best counties to see butterflies.

With 59 breeding species of butterfly in the UK, more than 40 of the different types have been found in Surrey It can, however, take much perseverance, knowing where to look and what time of year to do so. With weather conditions playing a big roll too, I have been grateful for the long dry spells we have had here in the South East this year.

Gatekeeper.

I haven’t had to look beyond my own small garden to record some of the more common species such as peacock, gatekeeper, large white and meadow brown.

Holly blue.

Another one that now seems to have become more common to my garden this year is the holly blue, which as with a number of types of butterfly, is now on its second brood of the year.

Retracing my steps after my last report, I again visited Pewley Down before July was over.

Small blue on Pewley Down.

I was able to add the small blue to my year list.

Chalkhill blue on Pewley Down.

Side view of two chalkhill blues.

Chalkhill blues were out in greater numbers than my previous visit.

Essex Skipper is a slightly brighter colour and antennae tips appear darker.

Several Essex skipper could still be found. This species is very similar in appearance to the small skipper also found there.

Because of their similarity, it was not recognised as a separate species until 1889.

Six-spotted burnet – a day-flying moth.

Also several six-spotted burnet, often confused by some as butterflies, but are in fact day flying moths.

Common blue on Pewley Down.

Male and female common blues mating.

Common blues could also be seen, with several performing their mating rituals.

Dark-green fritillary.

I was also pleased to see and picture another dark green fritillary there.

A view across Whitmoor Common.

Visiting Whitmoor Common just north of Guildford on a few occasions in the first week of August, I was again able to get some photos of a pair of Dartford warblers I had seen there earlier in the year.

Male Dartford warbler on Whitmoor Common.

Female Dartford warbler on Whitmoor Common.

Being the first time I had seen them there for over a decade, I decided not to mention these sightings in my reports, until now that their breeding season is over.

A flock of 28 ring-necked parakeets fly over Whitmoor Common.

On several evening visits as many as 28 ring-necked parakeets could be seen flying overhead in a north-easterly direction going to roost.

Kestrel on a wire.

On a few afternoon visits as well I had good views of a kestrel as it perched on a wire.

Common buzzard on Whitmoor Common.

I also had a few sightings of common buzzards.

Red kite over Whitmoor Common.

On one occasion I even had a good view of a red kite, distant at first. But as I watched it began to drift in my direction and to my delight it flew overhead allowing me some reasonable photo-shots.

As with most of our heathlands this year, stonechats seem to have done very well with both adults and young in good numbers.

Adult male stonechat (left) attending to one of its young.

Even managing to get a picture of a male adult attending to one of its young.

Linnets on Whitmoor Common.

Male linnet on Whitmoor Common.

The usual small flock of linnets could be seen, with males in their bright red summer plumage.

Green woodpecker on Whitmoor Common.

Both greater spotted and green woodpeckers are also a regular sight there.

Staying on the trail of my yearly sightings of the many various butterfly we can see in Surrey, I took a walk across Thursley Common on August 3 and was able to catch up on my first sighting this year a few grayling.

Grayling on Thursley Common.

Although similar in size and colour to the meadow brown while in flight, I was able to recognise the grayling’s much faster flight pattern and captured a picture of one as it landed.

Stonechat on Thursley Common points out which direction I should go.

As with on Whitmoor Common, stonechats could be observed in good numbers.

Although Dartford warblers and redstarts remained camera shy on this occasion, hearing their calls was enough to know they were present.

A young redstart on Thursley Common.

In fact, I was able to get a picture of one young redstart as it made a brief inquisitive appearance.

Rowan berries.

View across Thursley Common with the heather in bloom.

Rowan berries were starting to turn into their bright red and orange colours, contrasting with the purple carpet of heather and even some yellow flowers on the gorse, now coming out in bloom.

A visit to Stoke Lake in the first week of August gave me the chance to catch up on the great crested grebes. Having lost their first brood to predators, they are now successfully raising two more young.

Great crested grebe with two young on Stoke Lake.

This I believe was with the help of the added protection of the common terns that were still present at their time of hatching, mobbing any passing predators.

Barn owl in its daytime roost near Bowers Lock.

At Bowers Lock, although still not getting to capture any shots of the barn owl out hunting, it was good to see it still present and roosting in one of its favourite trees.

Buck roe deer with two fawns.

This was while watching a buck roe deer as it grazed in the field near by. He was later joined by two fawns.

With the chances of sighting new species butterfly this year coming to a close, my friend Dougal and I decided to take advantage of a few dry weekends in August to visit Denbies Hillside, near Dorking. This was with the hope of spotting three species we hadn’t yet seen this year.

Silver spotted skipper on Denbies Hillside.

On our first visit on August 9 we managed to pick out the silver spotted skipper.

Unlike most other blues, the brown argus has no blue scales on its upper side.

As well as brown argus among the many chalkhill blues on show.

Three kestrels together above Denbies Hillside.

Stealing the the show for me that day were four very obliging kestrels along the hillside. Being primarily a bird-watching enthusiast, along with a sighting of a red kite drifting overhead, I was  distracted from my hunt for butterflies for a while.

Kestrel eyes fixed and looking for prey on Denbies Hillside.

Kestrel on Denbies Hillside.

Another view of a kestrel.

Kestrel hunting with rolling Surrey countryside beyond.

Revisiting Denbies Hillside on August 16, we were finally able to catch up with what is considered by many, to be the ‘jewel in the crown’ of blue butterflies.

Male adonis blue on Denbies Hillside.

The adonis blue is indeed a beauty, richer in colour than any of the others. And the rarest of our blue butterflies too, only found in southern England.

Although only spotting about a dozen of them, they were just out on the wing and all in good condition, making them stand out well among the chalkhill blues still on display.

In Surrey they are restricted to the short grass of south-facing chalk downland of Denbies Hillside and Box Hill, Dorking.

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