I started out from Chambers Wall this morning. It was another beautiful morning with the sun once again rising into a clear blue sky. 25 House Sparrows were around the entrance road and a Cetti's Warbler was calling from the hedgerow as I came up to the car park. Where the tractors had been working recently in a far field I could see that there were good numbers of Rook and smaller numbers of Carrion Crows and Jackdaws. Overall it seemed quite quiet for birds. A Wood Pigeon was enjoying the early morning sunshine too much to move when it saw me and carried on sitting there quite contently even though it did keep a wary eye on me.
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| Wood Pigeon |
As I walked down to the railway crossing there was a good mix of the usual jobs. 2 Curlew flew high overhead heading south west and calling away. A little while later a single bird followed in the same direction. An immature Cormorant gave a lovely view in the early morning light as it flew past following the river. 7 young Mallard were tucked in together at the edge of one of the fields.
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| immature Cormorant |
As I neared Coldharbour I was pleased to see a Whinchat on the path. It stayed a good ways in front of me before flying over to the reeds and then moving on towards Coldharbour. It remained distant but it was nice to be able to get a memory shot of it. From the sea wall I could see a Lesser Whitethroat on the lookout for insects.
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| Whinchat |
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| Lesser Whitethroat |
A Black-headed Gull on Coldharbour had an almost perfect reflection as it picked invertebrates off the water weed below the surface. A couple of Redshank were also present and a Common Sandpiper was working its way along one of the edges. Yellow Wagtails, Meadow Pipits and Reed Buntings were all back and fore with disputes regularly breaking out. I could hear a Green Sandpiper calling and as a group of cyclists came round it flew up from cover before heading off in the direction of the oyster farm.
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| Black-headed Gull |
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| Redshank |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Green Sandpiper |
I sat and watched out to sea for a while. The sea was very calm and stunningly blue and the light was crystal clear. It really was a beautiful morning. I had a single Tufted Duck flying west and small numbers of Common and Sandwich Tern. 5 Curlew also flew west calling.
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| Curlew |
I started to make my way to Reculver. I could see 8 Coot down the dyke and a couple of Mute Swan. A few Turnstone and 26 Ringed Plover were along the shore together with 8 Sanderling. Common and Sandwich Terns continued past in small numbers with some flying both east and west. A couple of Willow Warblers were working their way through the bushes by the sea wall. I came across another Whinchat and also a Stonechat. A second Whinchat joined the first. I ended up with some very nice views of one of them as it flew down to the track near the sea wall. They are lovely little birds and I thoroughly enjoyed my time watching them.
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| Whinchat |
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| Whinchat |
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| Whinchat |
I dropped down to the bottom path as I could see some hawkers and got some good views of a mating pair of Migrant Hawkers. After a while the female started to keep jerking herself up and away from him, with what appeared to be quite forceable movements, and she was clearly trying to unattach but either the male was reluctant to let go or perhaps it is quite difficult for them to unattach and needs the movements that the female was doing to enable them to do so, I don't know. Eventually he did partially unattach but was still clasping her head. They stayed in that position for a few moments before she once again began to jerk her body away from him and he finally unclasped her head and they separated. It was a privilege to have been able to spend time watching them.
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| mating Migrant Hawkers |
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| mating Migrant Hawkers |
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| mating Migrant Hawkers |
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| separating Migrant Hawkers |
I headed back up to the sea wall and saw a young Herring Gull flying past holding in its bill a sizeable flatfish. It dropped down the exposed mussel bed to try and eat it but moments later attracted the attention of a hungry adult and the chase was on. The youngster was first mobbed by the adult and then another youngster joined in. Despite that the gull with the fish held its nerve and hung onto it and eventually managing to evade them both it flew further along with its catch.
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| Herring Gull being mobbed |
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| Herring Gull being mobbed |
Quite a way further along from where I had seen the last couple of Whinchat I saw what was likely to be another bird making a total of 4 Whinchats seen today.
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| Whinchat |
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| Whinchat |
As I neared Reculver I could see a couple of Clouded Yellow butterflies patrolling along the bottom track. There was also a Brown Argus and a little further on a Small Copper. Out to sea the horizon line was almost invisible, as it was the same colour as the sky, and with darker bands of colour in the sea nearer to me it gave the optical illusion of the wind turbines hovering in the air.
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| An Optical Illusion of Hovering wind turbines |
I took a fairly long break at Reculver and then as it is almost the end of my holiday I decided to try and make the most of the day and carry on to Bishopstone via the clifftop walk. It had started to cloud over but there were breaks in the clouds and I hoped that I might catch up with some more butterflies or insects. Good numbers of House Sparrows were at the start of the path and Sand Martins were hawking for insects above. 17 Goldfinches were busy feeding amongst the seed heads.
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| House Sparrow |
I saw a couple of interesting looking insects. I am not sure what the first is at present and will update when I can find out. I think that the other may be a Lucerne Bug.
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| ? Lucerne Bug Adelphocoris lineolatus |
A Skylark was on the path and looked surprisingly long-legged as it stood very upright to look round as a dog started barking.
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| Skylark |
I came across at least 4 Clouded Yellow butterflies with a fifth appearing to come in off the sea. I was very lucky as one allowed some very good views as it fed. They are beautiful butterflies. Another one flicked its wings briefly allowing a glimpse of the upperwings. I was very lucky as when one took off I just about managed to get it in the frame to enable a shot of its wings open as it flew up. It was great to be able to be able to spend the time just watching and enjoying such a super butterfly.
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| Clouded Yellow Butterfly |
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| female Clouded Yellow Butterfly |
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| female Clouded Yellow Butterfly |
I sat on a bench and was treated to views of 2 Hobbies hawking for insects. A large group of mixed Herring and Black-headed Gulls was doing the same thing. If a Hobby got too close to a gull it was harassed and quickly moved away.
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| Hobby |
After a while I made my way to Bishopstone Glen and had a wander through. There was a lot of activity from dog walkers so I did not see very many birds but I did do quite well for insects. I was really surprised to come across a Willow Emerald Damselfly as I have not seen one here before and did not know that they occurred in the Glen.
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| Willow Emerald Damselfly |
A Buddliea was proving, as usual, to be popular with visiting butterflies so I paused for a while to see what came along. I got another nice surprise when a Hummingbird Hawkmoth dropped in and I was treated to the unusual view of looking up at it. Peacock, Comma, Painted Lady and Small White butterflies all visited while I was watching.
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| Hummingbird Hawk Moth |
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| Hummingbird Hawk Moth |
I finished off a very enjoyable day with seeing a patch of Robin's Pincushion Gall on a Dog Rose and a male Goldfinch keeping watch while its mate was having a preen.
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| Robin's Pincushion Gall |
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| Goldfinch |
Birds seen this visit include: 105 House Sparrows, 1 Cetti's Warbler, Wood Pigeons, 65 Rook, 13 Carrion Crow, 25 Jackdaw, 8 Curlew, 15 Whitethroat, 127 Linnet, 11 Mallard, 2 Green Woodpecker, Blue Tits, Great Tits, 1 Blackcap, 4 Wren, 3 Blackbird, 4 Magpie, 37 Goldfinch, 1 Common Buzzard, 5 Sedge Warbler, 2 Robin, 2 Chaffinch, 8 Coot, Cormorants, 4 Reed Warbler, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Pheasant, 3 Whinchat, 7 Reed Bunting, 12 Meadow Pipit, 1 Green Sandpiper, 5 Redshank, 16 Common Tern, 3 Yellow Wagtail, 15 Sandwich Tern, 1 Tufted Duck, 2 Mute Swan, 4 Turnstone, 26 Ringed Plover, 8 Sanderling, 1 Dunnock, 1 Little Egret, 3 Oystercatcher, 14 Swallow, 59 Sand Martin, 1 Grey Heron, 135 Starling, 2 Kestrel, 3 Stonechat, 2 Willow Warbler, 1 Pied Wagtail, 1 Skylark, 1 Yellowhammer, 2 Hobby, 2 Collared Dove, 2 Great Black-backed Gull, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 Jay, 1 Greenfinch
