An Unexpected Clearwing, Small Blue Butterfly and an Exhuberant Reed Bunting - Reculver to Shuart 10/06/21

I started out from Reculver on a beautifully sunny morning with a light and warm south westerly breeze. Making my way along the sea wall several Meadow Pipits were singing away, as they parachuted down in their display flights, and the warm air was filled with the calls and songs of the local birds. The tide was well on its way in and nearby, off shore, 4 Great Black-backed Gulls of various ages were bobbing gently along on the sea.

Great Black-backed Gulls

Great Black-backed Gull

Whitethroat were singing away from the bushes beside the sea wall and a female Blackbird flew past with the most enormous bill full of mud and vegetation, presumably for nest building. A Meadow Pipit on the shore chased a very slight and well marked Rock Pipit who had come too close.

Rock Pipit

Rock Pipit

There were good numbers of Stonechat and the various youngsters that I saw appeared to be doing well. One of the Stonechat returned time and again to the one of the gates overlooking the oyster farm and appeared to be very adept at catching insects, even if it was completely oblivious of the sign, which left me with a smile as I carried on.

Stonechat

Thirteen Mallard were resting up on the banks of one of the lagoons on the oyster farm and various male Reed Bunting's song danced through the air as I made my way along. Overall it remained quiet but was a beautiful day to be out. A single Sandwich Tern flew west out to sea while inland a large crane working near the railway line made a striking addition to the skyline.

Despite the fine day it was nice that the sea wall was pretty deserted for a change with only the odd cyclist passing me now and then. I caught sight of something tumbling through the air, from the land side of the sea wall which then fell onto the path, literally just in front of me. It turned out to be a pair of mating insects which were very striking with their striped bodies and orange/red wings. They continued to mate before separating with one resting up briefly at the edge of the path. I could see through the viewfinder that they were likely to one of the Clearwing moths, but I didn't know which one, and on looking them up when I got home I was really surprised to see that they were a pair of Fiery Clearwing. What absolute beauties and completely unexpected to see them along the sea wall!  A very lucky and surprising encounter indeed! 

Fiery Clearwing Pyropteron chrysidiformis

Fiery Clearwing Pyropteron chrysidiformis

Fiery Clearwing Pyropteron chrysidiformis

A small group of Herring Gulls and a single Great Black-backed Gull were on the beach as I continued along. Amongst them a first summer Herring Gull was yawning away and showed an impressively large gape when it yawned.

Herring Gulls

1st summer Herring Gull and 2nd summer Great Black-backed Gull

As the tide rose the Herring Gulls gradually began to make a move with the second summer Great Black-backed Gull being the last to leave. 

Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gull

1st summer Herring Gull

The Great Black-backed Gull's wing pattern was particularly striking as it took off.

2nd summer Great Black-backed Gull

2nd summer Great Black-backed Gull

I had a sit on the sea wall for a while once I reached Coldharbour and though it remained quiet out to sea I could see a couple of distant adult Mediterranean Gulls amongst the wader roost at the back of Coldharbour, together with a Little Egret, a single Shelduck and 15 Oystercatcher. Coldharbour itself had a couple of Mute Swan with a single Oystercatcher and a pair of Ringed Plover making the most of the exposed muddy margins. On the other side of the sea wall a Sedge Warbler was busy collecting insects and a Cetti's Warbler was excelling itself with the volume of its song.

Sedge Warbler

As I came to the end of Coldharbour I caught sight of a striking Longhorn Beetle resting up on some vegetation. I looked it up when I got home and it was a very handsome Golden-bloomed Grey Longhorn Beetle.

Golden-bloomed Grey Longhorn Beetle Agapanthia villosoviridescens

Golden-bloomed Grey Longhorn Beetle Agapanthia villosoviridescens

Golden-bloomed Grey Longhorn Beetle Agapanthia villosoviridescens

In the same area of vegetation there was also a male Nomad Bee. I think that it might have been a flava but telling it apart from a panzeri is probably beyond me at the moment. Still, I enjoyed watching it and should, hopefully, only improve in time with identifying more accurately the Nomad Bees. 

male Nomad Bee sp ? flava

male Nomad Bee sp ? flava

male Nomad Bee sp ? flava

There was another Golden-bloomed Grey Longhorn Beetle as I came to the end of the patch of vegetation. They are certainly one handsome beetle.

Golden-bloomed Grey Longhorn Beetle Agapanthia villosoviridescens

I had another sit on the sea wall for a while but apart from a couple of Sandwich Tern it remained quiet out to sea. Patches of Sea Beet were dotted around the shingle. 

Sea Beet

Sea Beet

I had a wander back along the bottom path in the hopes that I might catch a glimpse of or hear the Grasshopper Warbler that has been around but I didn't have any luck. I did, however, see an interesting looking little insect which on looking up I found is a Urophora stylata.

Urophora stylata

Urophora stylata

Urophora stylata

A male Marsh Harrier was up at the back and the repeated call of a Cuckoo drifted over. Sedge Warblers were busy collecting insects and I hope that they have a good breeding season.

Sedge Warbler

I decided to have a wander up towards the embankment and a family of Coot were on the River Wansum with 2 adults and 4 well grown young. The parents each had a couple of youngsters in tow.

young Coot

young Coot and adult

A Reed Warbler was making frequent trips collecting nesting material and spiders webs.

Reed Warbler

Reed Warbler

Cetti's Warbler song rang out as I reached the embankment. A swathe of the path and path-side vegetation has already been cut, as happens each year, but appeared to uncut further along so I decided to have a wander along the embankment before any more was cut and see if I might be lucky enough to catch up with a Small Blue Butterfly. The weather unfortunately had been deteriorating rapidly with ever increasing cloud cover and cooler conditions but it still seemed worth a try. I saw Small Heath resting up and it was missing a large chunk from its hindwing. A Common Carpet Moth stood out amongst the grass stems.

Small Heath

Common Carpet Moth

Several Azure Damselflies were resting up amongst the vegetation as I made my way along and I stopped to admire a Dark Strawberry Tortrix moth. 

Dark Strawberry Tortrix Moth Celypha rufana

A little further along a smart immature Variable Damselfly gave some nice views as I made my way past.

immature Variable Damselfly

immature Variable Damselfly

Several Holly Blue's were on the wing as I made my way along but no sign of the hoped for Small Blue. I came across a micro moth which I think may be a Epiblema scutulana.

 ?Epiblema scutulana

The sun was breaking through now and again and a few more butterflies were beginning to be active. I was well chuffed when I suddenly caught sight of a Small Blue Butterfly and was treated to some nice views as it fed. They are handsome butterflies and always a joy to see. I ended up seeing three altogether as I made way along towards the crossing. A Cuckoo was singing in the distance and a female Marsh Harrier was slowly quartering over the far fields.  

Small Blue Butterfly

Small Blue Butterfly

Small Blue Butterfly

As I made my way towards Shuart a male Reed Bunting was singing repeatedly, pausing between bursts of song to look round before starting up again. Although he was very close to the path he kept singing even as I made my way along the path past him and he was a joy to watch as he positively vibrated with song. He made a nice end to a very enjoyable visit.

male Reed Bunting

male Reed Bunting

male Reed Bunting

Birds seen this visit included: 12 Meadow Pipit, Cormorants, Herring Gulls, 10 Whitethroat, 8 Stonechat, 1 Kestrel, Carrion Crow, 6 Ringed Plover, Sedge Warblers, Reed Warblers, 5 Great Black-backed Gull, 3 Sandwich Tern, 1 Rock Pipit, 6 Blackbird, 12 Reed Bunting, 4 Dunnock, 16 Mallard, 10 Linnet, 1 Turnstone, 4 Wren, Skylarks, 9 Goldfinch, 1 Shelduck, 2 Mediterranean Gull, 1 Little Egret, 3 Mute Swan, 5 Magpie, Starlings, 16 Oystercatcher, 5 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Marsh Harrier, 8 Coot including 4 young, 3 Cuckoo, 2 Song Thrush, 1 Tufted Duck, 1 Red-legged Partridge, 1 Common Buzzard, 3 Chaffinch, 1 Green Woodpecker, 

An Obliging Cetti's Warbler and a Hungry Gull - Reculver to Chambers Wall 04/06/21

With a north westerly wind and the threat of rain coming later I headed round the towers at Reculver on a sunny morning with rapidly building cloud. Four Swift were hawking for insects above and the song of Blackcap drifted over from the far hedgerow. As I started along the sea wall a Herring Gull flew in clutching a fish in its bill and landed on the beach. The fish was rolled and appeared to be a cut piece of raw fish rather than a freshly caught fish.

Herring Gull and fish

Herring Gull and fish

A passing immature Herring Gull spotted it instantly and pursued the adult who dropped down onto the sea and despite the size of the rolled piece of fish it somehow managed to mostly swallow it. As it tried to lift off it managed to completely swallow it but it appeared to be stuck in its throat, showing as a visible bulge, and the gull was clearly finding it difficult to gain height. Moments later the bulge in its throat had gone and it settled back down onto the sea, presumably to give it a chance to digest its meal a bit. The immature Herring Gull tried dive bombing a couple of times but seeing no further sign of the fish went to try its luck elsewhere. 

A pair of Tufted Duck flew up from the oyster farm and headed inland and a little while later another headed in the same direction. 2 Marsh Harrier, a male and a female were up at the back while out to sea a distant Fulmar flew east. A few Swallow were hawking for insects and Whitethroat and a Sedge Warbler were in good song as I made my way to Coldharbour. Two Dunnock were chasing each other through one of the bushes by the sea wall and a single Great Crested Grebe was on the sea. The Yellow Horned Poppies were in flower giving vivid splashes of colour amongst the shingle.

Yellow Horned Poppy

Yellow Horned Poppy

A Sandwich Tern was out to sea and 2 Fulmar flew east as I approached Coldharbour while on Coldharbour itself there were a couple of Redshank and 3 Little Egrets. A pair of Oystercatchers were calling noisily from the shingle bank at the back and briefly mated. A male Tufted Duck was in its usual spot on the dyke opposite.

Tufted Duck

I tried again to see or hear a Grasshopper Warbler but unfortunately still didn't have any success. It really is turning into a bogey bird for me this year and I am proving to be particularly inept at catching up with one. Still, never say never, it may still happen. More of the darker patch of Salsify were in flower and very attractive.

Salsify

Salsify

Salsify

A small Snail showed a beautiful branching pattern on its semi-translucent shell as it made its way along a stem.

Snail

Snail

A micro moth was resting up and on looking it up, once I got home, I think that it is a Carnation Tortrix Cacoecimorpha pronubana.

Carnation Tortrix Cacoecimorpha pronubana

Carnation Tortrix Cacoecimorpha pronubana

I could hear a Mediterranean Gull calling and a few moments later two adult Meditereranean Gulls flew over heading out to sea.

Mediterranean Gull

Mediterranean Gull

I was lucky that the rain had skirted round me so far but with the sky looking more threatening I decided to head for Chambers Wall. A Nomada Bee was resting up and I think that it may be a Marsham's Nomad Bee Nomada marshamella but I never got complete views of the pattern on its abdomen.

? Marsham's Nomad Bee Nomada marshamella

? Marsham's Nomad Bee Nomada marshamella

I met Chris and Anne who had heard and seen a singing Grasshopper Warbler near the railway embankment and had got a lovely photograph of it. I really hoped that it might still be their by the time I got there. Maybe today would be the day for one after all. A Cetti's Warber was in good voice but unfortunately I didn't have any success with the Grasshopper Warbler once I reached the railway embankment. I would liked to have spent longer trying for it but with drops of rain already falling and clearly some very heavy rain heading straight for me I decided to carry on. Another Cetti's Warbler was singing away and a Sedge Warbler was busy collecting insects for its young.

Sedge Warbler

Sedge Warbler

The Cetti's Warbler flew in and chased the Sedge Warbler following which it broke into frantic bursts of song moving from bush to bush within its territory. It was cycling through them rapidly and regularly returning to the bush it had chased the Sedge Warbler from but remaining out of sight. With the sky getting blacker by the minute I risked waiting and luckily for me on the 3rd loop round it perched briefly in the open allowing some good if fairly distant views. It made my day as I hear them a lot more than see them and these are the best views I have had of Cetti's Warbler for a long time.

Cetti's Warbler

Cetti's Warbler

Cetti's Warbler

Well chuffed, I paused to admire a Tipula lunata and a Variable Damselfly and then my luck weather wise ran out and I got soaked as a prolonged torrential shower moved through. It brought the visit to a decidedly soggy end but it had been good to be out and seeing the Cetti's Warbler so well made getting soaked well worthwhile.

Tipula lunata

Variable Damselfly

Birds seen this visit included: 4 Blackbird, 6 Swift, 4 Blackcap, House Sparrows, Starlings, 2 Collared Dove, Herring Gulls, Black-headed Gull, 4 Meadow Pipit, 12 Whitethroat, 6 Linnet, 4 Stonechat, 4 Reed Bunting, 14 Mallard, Cormorants, 6 Tufted Duck, 10 Swallow, 9 Sedge Warbler, 5 Ringed Plover, 2 Marsh Harrier, 2 Lapwing, 2 Magpie, 4 Dunnock, 3 Fulmar east, 4 Little Egret, 10 Oystercatcher, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 7 Reed Warbler, 2 Redshank, 4 Wren, 1 Sandwich Tern, 2 Mediterranean Gull, 7 Mute Swan, 3 Turnstone, 5 Cetti's Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat,1 Yellow Wagtail