FRIDAY
SEPTEMBER 30 - 2011
BRIDGE
ROAD WAYSIDE
House
Sparrows
The central shrubbery
was alive at 5pm with the chattering of many House
Sparrows. It was difficult to estimate numbers, but I
would think there were at least 10, or it sounded like
that. They quietened slightly as I went by, then
started up again when I had passed. I listened to them
for some minutes and was interested to hear the whole
group suddenly stop chattering for a few seconds, as
if turned off, then slowly start up again.
BTO
report
The BTO have just
published a research study on House Sparrows in urban
landscapes which finds that houses with gardens were
strongly preferred to any other habitat type. In more
rural areas, allotments and greenspace were found to
provide useful alternatives to houses with gardens.
They recommend mitigation measures to prevent the loss
of House Sparrow breeding colonies should concentrate
on the maintenance and enhancement of quality urban
gardens and the resources they contain. This may be of
particular importance in the most densely populated
urban areas.
For more details on
BTO research on the House Sparrow go to . . .
http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/gbw/about/background/projects/sparrows
Spiders
As I walked through
the reserve I had a real job avoiding the many
spider's webs that were strung between plants. All
those I looked at were the common Garden Spider
(Araneus diadematus) with the cross on the back of the
abdomen. That remined me I have not seen a Four Spot
Spider (Araneus quadratus) anywhere theis autumn.
OTHER
LOCAL NEWS
Grass
Snake swimming
Tony Wootton solved
the mystery of the 'funny snake' photo that he took at
Blashford Lakes yesterday. It was swimming straight
towards him (with mouth open?) and one coil showing
behind. The first time Tony ever saw a Grass Snake
swimming was on the Havant Wildlife Group Fritham walk
on July 23. Yesterday, he had three sightings in a 20
minute spell at Blashford.
Mallard
nesting
Mallards nest in all
sorts of strange places. Lesley Harris had one that
raised three broods of ducklings 12 feet off the
ground in her Emsworth garden near the sea. Lesley
says "The ducklings are tipped out of the nest by the
mother, who then needs a human hand to get the tiny
balls of feathers, trapped in our small garden, to the
other side of the sea wall. Two people are required,
one to fend off the agitated mother and the other to
catch the ducklings and throw them 6ft down into the
water at high tide. Mother is then reunited with her
brood and swims off with them towards the Marina. We
understand that ducklings must get to water within 24
hours and we wear gloves to prevent the smell of human
hands."
Sparrowhawk
Colin Vanner went over
to Farlington Marshes this evening and saw two
Sparrowhawks, including this magnificient juvenile
with distinctive brown upperparts.
THURSDAY
SEPTEMBER 29 - 2011
EMSWORTH
HARBOUR
09.15 - 10.15 - I
spent an hour on the marina seawall overlooking the
eastern harbour with the tide rising quickly to high
water at 13.15. It was a prefect morning for
birdwatching, no wind, calm sea, good light and a nice
collection of birds.
Black-tailed
Godwits
When I arrived I could
see 41 Black-tailed Godwits on the edge of the town
channel with another 30 or so strung out along the
main channel. As the tide came in, most of the birds
were pushed onto a relatively small area of green
seaweed to the north of the town channel, where I
counted a maximum of 74 Godwits. They were close to
the seawall and were feeding by pecking food from the
surface of the weed, not digging. Presumably they were
finding insects and other creatures in the weed.
Colour-ringed
Godwits:
W+WN G+WR G+BW G+BG -
all Emsworth regulars this season.
W+GO - Ringed
at Farlington on 20 Oct 1995 as an adult male. That
makes him at least 17 yars old. There has been a huge
number of local sightings and some in Iceland on
breeding grounds. First seen in Emsworth Harbour on 20
Sep 1996 it has been regular each year, clocking up
over 90 sightings. It was regular Nov - Feb in 2010-11
season. First sighting this season 23 Sep.
OY+LR - Ringed
as a chick in Iceland in July 1999 and has been a
regular Solent winterer ever since. It has often been
seen in Emsworth Harbour over the years and last year
it was here in Aug and Dec. First sighting of 2011-12
was on 25 Sept.
For full details and
photos of all the colour-ringed Godwits seen in
Emsworth this season go to . . . Black-tailed
Godwit
Other
birds
Other birds in the
same area as the Godwits included 2 Greenshank (not
ringed), 5 Curlew, 10 Turnstone, 12 Redshank,
MILLPONDS
A total of 36 Coot
were on the two Hermitage Millponds: 22 were on
Peter Pond and another 14 on Slipper Millpond.
On the main raft on
Slipper Millpond were 3 Cormorants and an adult
Great Black-backed Gull - the first I have seen
this autumn.
A Grey Heron was on
the small southern raft which has been anchored back
in roughly the same place before it got blown off.
I noticed what looked
like a nesting box has been fixed on top of the
Slipper Millpond sign at the southern end of the pond.
OTHER
NEWS
Colour-ringed
Spotted Redshank returns
Barry Collins saw the
colour-ringed Spotted Redshank W+GY on Thorney Deeps
yesterday (Sep 28). Good to see it has returned
safely. Now, we are awaiting the return of the regular
Spotted Redshank to Nore Barn for its 8th winter
running.
Brent
Geese are here
Ralph Hollins was the
first to report a flock of at least 172 Brent Geese in
the regular first arrival area in the south eastern
corner of Langstone Harbour near the Sinah Warren
Holiday Centre. We should soon be having some in
Emsworth Harbour.
Little
Egret roost at Langstone
Ralph Hollins also
made a count of 166 Little Egrets going into the night
roost behind Langstone Mill Pond, probably an
underestimate he thought. Ralph also heard a Cetti's
Warbler on the pond.
Grass
snake swimming
Tony Wootton was at
Blashford Lakes today and sent me several images of a
grass snake swimming. I have never seen one swimming,
though apparently they can and do swim well and will
take small fish and amphibians.
Here
is one of Tony's pictures, fairly straight forward,
with the reptile swimming.
But
here is another one which is puzzling. What is
happening here?
WEDNESDAY
SEPTEMBER 28 - 2011
EMSWORTH
HARBOUR
Black-tailed
Godwits
09.30 - I had a rush
around on my bike chasing Godwits this morning. I got
to the millpond seawall where the tide was rising
quickly in the eastern harbour to high water at 12.30.
I could see a flock of about 70 Black-tailed Godwits
feeding on the far shore by the marina, but too far
away to see any rings. I cycled over to the marina,
but when I got there by 09.45 the Godwits had moved
onto the east beach near the town where they were
feeding in the seaweed.
I made my way back to
the millpond, hoping the Godwits would still be on the
beach, and they were! I counted 94 which was close to
the number that Richard Somerscocks had yesterday
evening. I went though most of them for colour-rings,
though many had their legs hidden by water or seaweed.
All the Godwits flew
off at 10.25, splitting into two groups. The larger
group of about 60 headed east towards Thorney Island
and the smaller group of around 30 flew west towards
Nore Barn,
Colour-ringed
Godwits
G+WR, W+WN, L+LL and
G+BG - all Emsworth regulars this season.
I am fairly sure that
G+BG was the bird I identified as possible G+GG at
Nore Barn yesterday. Putting blue and green rings next
to each other on the leg makes reading them difficult.
R+GL - First sighting
in Emsworth this season. Regular last winter from
Sep-Nov.
YOL+YRY - Just before
the whole flock took off, I caught a glimpse of what
could have been (but far from certain) the Devon
ringed bird that Richard Somerscocks first saw in
Emsworth Harbour on Sep 26.
Nore
Barn
I cycled over to Nore
Barn by 10.45, but the tide was well in and I could
only find 4 Godwits on the edge of the saltmarshes.
The Little Egret was in the stream as usual. The flock
of Shelduck that numbered 20 yesterday had swelled to
34 this morning. Still no sign of any Brent Geese.
OTHER
NEWS
Painted
Lady
A mid-afternoon walk
through Brook Meadow produced very few butterflies,
but one was special! Feeding on the Michaelmas Daisies
on the south meadow was a Painted Lady. Painted Ladies
have been very scarce this year and this was the first
one recorded on Brook Meadow.
Apart from a few
Whites the only other butterflies I saw were the usual
Speckled Woods in the shady areas. The Michaelmas
Daisy flowers were also a great attraction to a
variety of bees, all colours, shapes and sizes.
Plants
A Black Mustard
plant was in flower on the marina seawall, having
yellow flowers and pods with short thin beaks
appressed to the stem.
North
Thorney
Tony and Hilary
Wootton had a fine afternoon on the west side of
Thorney during which they saw the Green Sandpiper on
the deckhouses pond and this lovely Whinchat nearer
the deeps.
Of insects they saw
lots of Red Admirals and a Clouded Yellow and a Small
Copper
and
this magnificient Migrant Hawker - note the brown
thorax.
TUESDAY
SEPTEMBER 27 - 2011
EMSWORTH
HARBOUR
Black-tailed
Godwits
I arrived at Nore Barn
to the west of Emsworth at 09.30, two hours to high
water. 53 Black-tailed Godwits were feeding on the
edge of one of the rapidly diminishing grassy islands
off the end of Warblington Road. The light was not
particularly good, but I could see one colour-ringed
bird in my scope which I think must have been G+BG.
G+BG has been seen three times this month in Emsworth,
however, I would not rule out G+GG which I have not
seen before in Emsworth, though I did see it last
October in Fishbourne. My digiscoped photos were
inconclusive.
Yesterday evening (Sep
26), Richard Somerscocks counted 88 Black-tailed
Godwits in the eastern harbour, including some of our
regular colour-ringed birds: OY+LR, W+WN, G+WR, G+BW
and L+LL. In addition, there was a triple ringed bird,
the first of the season, though not our regular
Kent-ringed Godwit RYL+RLY. Richard's photo suggested
YOL+YRY, which is not a combination I am
familiar with. The Suffolk ringed Godwits have OLO on
their right legs, so it was not one of them.
I asked Dudley Hird,
who monitors the Godwit situation in Kent, and he told
me that YRY is the marker of a few godwits ringed by
Mike Tyler on the Axe Estuary (not Exe) near Seaton in
Devon. Combinations on left would be any three from G
, O , L , R or Y so that fits . All rings are on the
tibias. They have yet to have any Devon godwits coming
through Kent.
Dudley added that they
had their very first Godwits ringed in Spain and
Northern Ireland. He also had his first sighting this
morning of Solent ringed G+RB (large rings). As for
our old friend RYL-RLY Dudley says it has been very
regular this passage so it should be with us any day!
Richard Somerscocks
was out again on the Thorney shore this evening. He
had about 92 Black-tailed Godwits including the
following colour rings: G+WR, G+BW, G+BG, L+LL and
W+WN, but no sign of the triple ring, nor of my
possible G+GG. However, I intend to keep G+GG on the
back burner as I have a sneaky feeling that the
Godwits I saw at Nore Barn this morning were a
different lot to those that Richard regularly sees in
the east harbour.
Richard also saw a
Wheatear on the wall and the Green Sandpiper back on
the pond by the deckhouses.
Little
Egret behaviour
I watched a Little
Egret feeding in an unusual manner in the Nore Barn
stream. It was bending low over the water with its
beak just below the surface and slightly open. My
first impression was that it appeared to be filtering
algae rather like a duck. However, I was interested to
read in Birds of the Western Palearctic that adult
insects and larvae form a large part of the diet of
the Little Egret, so maybe this bird was filtering
insects from the surface of the water.
Shelduck
I counted 20 Shelduck
on the water south of the saltmarshes. They were too
far away to make out the juveniles. I was interested
to read in Ralph Hollins wildlife news that groups of
Shelduck are moving through our area at this time of
the year and birds that one sees on one day will
probably not be there the next. From the start of
November the Shelduck start to settle down and through
December and January the flocks are at peak strength
and there is little movement from place to place.
Ralph thinks the 27 Shelduck I saw on the western
mudflats on Sep 16 were part of this passage movement
and would have moved on westward by now. So, the 20
Shelduck that were on the water today were probably a
new group freshly arrived.
First
Teal
A male female pair of
Teal was swimming in the Nore Barn creek for much of
the time I was there. These were my first Teal of the
year. On the far side of the creek, I could see 8
Lapwing resting on the edge of the grassy saltmarshes,
which is the largest number I have seen at Nore Barn
this autumn. I could not see any sign of Brent Geese
in the Sweare Deep channel or over at Langstone.
RATS
AND WATER VOLES
Graham Roberts
expressed concern about my report at the weekend that
Jeff Fleming had numerous sightings of Brown Rats
during his 10 hour vigil on the river bank in Brook
Meadow while watching for Water Voles. "You mention
seeing rats and water voles in the same vicinity. I
personally would be worried by this. There definitely
is interaction between the two species, where Brown
Rats are known to kill Water Voles particularly young
ones. Brown rats also act as vectors for diseases that
Water Voles are susceptible to. Brown rats, as their
numbers build up, will actually drive Water Voles out
of their burrow systems.
The difficulty is in
controlling Brown Rats without putting Water Voles at
risk. It may be worth experimenting with live cage
traps baited with grain set at least two metres back
from the bank edge of a quiet stretch. Traps need to
be checked at least twice a day and closed if no-one
available to check them at any time. If rats are
caught they need to be destroyed."
From what Graham says
Brown Rats are a greater threat to our Water Vole
population than I first thought they were and clearly
they need to be controlled if the Water Voles are to
prosper. I forwarded Graham's comments to Frances
Jannaway and Wally Osborne of the Brook Meadow
Conservation Group with a copy to Rob Hill of Havant
Borough Council who has had experience of controlling
rats threatening the tern colony on Hayling Oysterbeds
a few years ago.
I spoke to Jeff
Fleming this afternoon who can help. He knows exactly
where the rats are in the Palmer's Road Copse area
(their lair) and can show the best place to position
any traps. Jeff also made the point that he was
surprised not to have seen any young Water Voles
during his long observations. An ominous sign perhaps
in view of Graham's comments. Brown Rats have been
sighted at various other sites along the river in much
the same areas as the Water Voles, but it might be
best to start in Palmer's Road Copse.
I spent a few minutes
at Jeff's spot on the river bank in Palmer's Road
Copse at about 3.30 this afternoon and actually saw
both Brown Rat and Water Vole. The first was a Water
Vole (definite) swimming across the river from west to
east just south of the observation fence. A few
minutes later I saw the Rat scuttling around on the
west bank almost opposite where I was
standing.
OTHER
NEWS
Grey
Polypore
I think (hope) I have
identified correctly a white bracket fungus growing in
tiers on the old Osier stump near the south gate to
Brook Meadow. The cap is faintly zoned and is covered
in silvery grey hairs. The underside is has tiny grey
pores and a white margin. It is a common fungus which
occurs throughout the year on dead or damaged wood.
Spider's
Webs
This is the season of
spiders and one can hardly walk anywhere without
bumpring into them. Maurice Lillie sent me an amazing
selection of 24 photos of webs of all types and
varieties. Here is one I liked in particular for the
spider's inventive use of grass stems and other
vegetation to suspend its web.
MONDAY
SEPTEMBER 26 - 2011
WAYSIDES
SURVEYS
Jane Brook and I
surveyed five of the Emsworth waysides this morning.
Some of the more interesting observatiosn were as
follows: the full report can be seen on the waysides
web site at . . . http://www.emsworthwaysides.hampshire.org.uk/few-NEWS.htm
Amphibious
Bistort in flower
Jane spotted a bright
pink flower spike of Amphibious Bistort close to the
main pathway on the Westbourne Open Space. Apparently,
there are two forms of this plant, one that grows in
water and the other on land. Flowers are very uncommon
on the land form of this plant and this was the first
I have seen this year, despite a lot of looking on
Brook Meadow.
Wasp
Spider with egg sac
Jane also spotted a
Wasp Spider (Argiope bruennichi) standing guard over a
cocoon of eggs on the Westbourne Open Space. The other
Wasp Spiders I have seen this year have all been on
webs with the characteristic stabilimentum, a ladder
like structure in the web to keep it steady. There was
no sign of a web with this one. The spider and its
eggs were on the northern section of the wayside which
is not being cut this year, so the eggs will not be
damaged.
White
Poplar 'forest'
The 'forest' of White
Poplar suckers has grown considerably over the past
few weeks on the western section of the Havant Road
verge wayside at the top of Valetta Park, towering
over Jane in the photo. What is amazing is that the
host tree is some 20 metres away in an adjoining
garden. Insects are taking advantage of this new
habitat and several Ladybirds were on the leaves,
including some Harlequins.
There is a mini forest
of suckers of Sea Buckthorn at the eastern end of the
Lillywhite's path wayside behind the garage. The host
bush in this case is on the other side of the tarmac
path.
Sea
Couch
I was interested to
learn from Martin Rand during the Flora Group Meeting
on Saturday that Sea Couch is moving inland. There is
certainly plenty of evidence of it along the
Lillywhite's path wayside, which must be 100 metres or
more from the nearest salt water.
OTHER
NEWS
Common
Lizard
Joyce Sawyer saw a
Common Lizard today. It was under the railway bridge
at the end of Washington Road. Interestingly, Jane
Brook and I also spotted a Common Lizard a bit further
along the path towards Emsworth Recreation Ground
earlier this year on April 18. This area seems to be
good for them!
Aerial
ballet
Colin Vanner sent me
the following remarkable photo of a Jackdaw and a
Kestrel in an aerial ballet - taken last weekend on
the Isle of Wight.
CATERPILLAR
IDENTIFICATION - Knot Grass ?
With reference to the
caterpillar that I found on the Chichester Canal on
Sep 22, Jane Brook has come up with another suggested
identification. I first identified it as a Brown-tail,
then Ralph Hollins came in with Yellow-tail, but Jane
thinks we were both wrong saying it is the larva of a
Knot Grass moth (Acronicta rumicis)
- see photo on the UK
Moths site at . . . http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?bf=2289
The one provisio I had
about Ralph's identification was that the Chichester
Canal caterpillar had gingery hairs on its body,
whereas the Yellow-tail has grey hairs. The Knot Grass
caterpillar also has gingery hairs and certainly looks
very much like the caterpillar in my photo. So where
do we go from here?
The
Chichester Canal caterpillar
The
Yellow-tail and the Knot Grass caterpillars
SUNDAY
SEPTEMBER 25 - 2011
BROOK
MEADOW
Water
Voles
Jeff Fleming spent 10
hours today in his 'special place' on the river bank
in Palmer's Road Copse watching for Water Voles. I
joined him for about an hour in mid afternoon. He had
only two sightings of Water Voles one at 10.50 and the
other at 15.15 - just before I arrived. He had
numerous sightings of Brown Rats and he gave up
counting them.
I did not see any
Water Vole while I was on the bank with Jeff, but I
did see a Rat which ran rapidly along the east bank
and swam quickly across the river from east to west. I
realised that Rats do run much faster than Water
Voles, but I was surprised at how proficient a
swimmmer the Rat was, just as good as a Water Vole.
This made me wonder how many Water Vole sightings
sightings we have had which were, in fact, Brown Rats.
Jeff said the rats were no problem and there was no
interaction between them and Water Voles. But he was
much more concerned about two black and white dogs
that raced down the river at 15.15, disturbing a Water
Vole which was feeding at the time.
Birds seen by Jeff
during the day included a single Kingfisher at
9.20 and two flew past at 10.35. A Goldcrest
rested on a branch close to where he was sitting -
the first sighting on Brook Meadow this this year. A
Buzzard was on the centre meadow being harrased
by two Crows at 13.30. This was probably one of the
birds from the Lumley Mill Farm nest. A Robin was a
regular visitor to his spot and Jeff puts tit bits out
for it. Jeff saw the Treecreeper on the large Ash
opposite where he was sitting on Tuesday (Sep 20) at
12.15. He has seen this bird on a number of occasions
before. While I was there, a Great Spotted Woodpecker
was calling constantly.
Jeff showed me some of
his photos of Water Voles taken on previous visits,
which he will be sending to me in the near future once
he has sorted out how to use his new laptop computer.
He also showed me photos of Kingfisher on Wallington
River and Peregrine on the Paulsgrove chalk cliffs.
GODWIT
NEWS
Richard Somerscocks
walked over to the harbour at daybreak today to look
at the Godwits. The tide was quite well in, so only a
few birds were left on the mudflats, but it included
L+LL, much as yesterday. He went back again late
afternoon and there were many more Godwits. However,
there must have been a bird of prey flying over the
top, because all the birds in the harbour got airborne
almost simultaneously. Richard counted a total of 105
Black-tailed Godwits on a photo he got of them in
flight.
When they eventually
settled down again Richard logged the following
colour-ringed birds: G+WR, G+BW, W+WN, L+WN and OY+LR.
L+WN - First sighting
this season. My only other record was a sighting by
Anne de Potier in Nutbourne Bay on
10-Dec-10
OY+LR is the first
Icelandic ringed Godwit seen in Emsworth in the
current season. It was ringed as a chick in Iceland in
July 1999 and has been a regular Solent winterer ever
since. It has often been seen in Emsworth Harbour in
previous years and last year it was here in Aug and
Dec.
PAGHAM
HARBOUR
Ros Norton sent the
following report of yesterday's walk by the Havant
Wildlife Group at Pagham Harbour:
"15 of us met at
Pagham Harbour information centre for a walk in
direction of Church Norton on a glorious sunny warm
morning with little wind . A highlight was a Ruff on
Ferry pool when we returned. High tide was about 9.30.
There were also many Lapwings on Ferry Pool.
Surprisingly we saw a Turkey which flew off
(but not before Tony Wootton got a photo of it). Lots
of recently released Red Legged Partridges and
Pheasants were on the fields. A large number of Canada
geese flew over. Long tailed tits and Linnets flew
along the hedgerow. Several Grey Herons and Little
Egrets were seen. Many Swallows skimmed over the
ground. Raptors including Buzzards, Sparrowhawk and
Kestrel. Some Curlew and Redshank around and distant
Cormorants. Some were lucky to see a Clouded Yellow
butterfly and several red admirals,"
Here
is Tony Wootton's photo of the Pagham Turkey!
SATURDAY
SEPTEMBER 24 - 2011
HAYLING
ISLAND
This morning I
attended a field meeting of the Hampshire Wildlife
Trust Flora Group led by Martin Rand. Parking near the
Station Theatre, we walked up the Hayling Billy Line
for a short distance and then and cut across some
saltmarshes to the shore. Here are just a few notes
and photos from an extensive and demanding morning's
botanising. I just wish I knew the scientific names
for plants. But too late for that now!
On the Hayling Billy
Line, Martin stopped frequently to examine trees,
bushes and plants; Rose hips were a particular focus
for discussion and there were some puzzling extra
large sloes. These could have been a hybrid
between Blackthorn and Cherry Plum.
Personally, I found
the saltmarshes the most interesting area, with many
familiar plants and some unfamiliar ones. Martin spent
some time going over the various forms of
Glasswort, though I think the only one he found
was Common Glasswort - Salicornia europaea which is
erect with numerous straight branches and has the
central flower the largest of the three.
Smith's
Pepperwort was a totally new plant for me - found near
the shore
Martin puzzled for a
long while over a Radish 'bush' with both white and
yellow flowers, suggesting Wild Radish, but with pods
suggesting Sea Radish. It was also firm in the
ground, suggesting it was a perennial, ie Sea Radish.
He took away some samples for another botanist to have
a look at.
Martin also pointed
out some Bastard Cabbage with fruits like
Christmas baubles on stalks. He said it was spreading.
I have only previously seen it on the Chidham shore.
Another new plant for me was Corn Parsley,
which is rather like Stone Parsley, but has a sweeter
smell.
I
was impressed with these seed capsules of White
Campion
We
came across this magnificent Wasp Spider (Argiope
bruennichi) on its web
I had intended to go
to the afternoon walk on the saltmarshes at Gutner
Point, which sounded really interesting, but I had had
enough by the end of the morning. I was physically and
mentally drained! This is no criticism of Martin's
walk which was excellent, but my not having any
botanical background or training, meant the
concentration required was quite demanding and I just
did not have the energy to carry on.
THORNEY
ISLAND
Richard Somerscocks
had a walk today around Thorney and managed to see
quite a bit of wildlife. Here is his report:
"The Cetti's
Warbler was showing again near Little Deep along
with a Reed Warbler. I also stopped to chat to a local
resident who reported that quite a few Bearded Tits
were on the reeds by Little Deep recently. This is
the second report I have heard, so I must look out for
them.
In the Harbour there
were a reasonable variety of waders, including around
60 Redshank on the bank off Great Deep. Others that I
saw included Grey Plover, Ringed Plover, Turnstone,
Dunlin, Knot, Greenshank and Curlew. On the land side,
birds included Willow Warblers, Blackcap, Whitethroat,
Skylark and quite a few Meadow Pipit on the salt
marshes at Pilsey Island.
On
a sandbank between Thorney and Hayling Island I
counted 14 Seals.
There were also quite
a lot of flowers still out including a good display of
Sea Rocket. There was also what I presume was a grass
of some kind which had attractive tassle like flowers
coming off the stem, but I couldn't identify it. It
was growing on the dried out salt marsh, so I presume
it was fairly salt tolerant.
By the time I
completed the walk the Black-tailed Godwit were
back in the Harbour although they were getting
somewhat disturbed by the powered parapents flying
over the top. Before they all flew off I counted 20
including G+WR and L+LL. I hadn't seen the latter
before this season although it made a few appearances
last year I seem to remember."
Brian's
notes
Richard's mystery
grass was Common Cord-grass ie Spartina. A very
common grass around the local harbours.
Black-tailed Godwit
L+LL - First seen in Emsworth in Nov 2009. Seen 4
times in Emsworth last winter between Nov and Jan.
This was the first sighting in Emsworth this season.
FRIDAY
SEPTEMBER 23 - 2011
EMSWORTH
HARBOUR
Western harbour -
11.30 Three hours after high water. 53 Black-tailed
Godwits were feeding on the edge of the far
channel. Other waders included Oystercatchers,
Redshank and Curlew, but no sign of the Grey Plover
that were here in good numbers yesterday.
Eastern harbour -
12.30 Four hours after high water. Still plenty of
water in the harbour. From the marina seawall I could
see 38 Black-tailed Godwits and 18 noisy
Oystercatchers on the near shore.
There were two
colour-ringed Godwits: G+WR - A regular in Emsworth
Harbour both last winter and so far this winter
season.
W+GO - The W ring
looked very yellow. Could possibly be Y+GO. W+GO has
been one of the most regular colour-ringed wintering
Godwits in Emsworth Harbour over the years with 93
sightings The very first sighting was on 20-Sep-96.
This was the first sighting this winter season.
THORNEY
ISLAND
Tony and Hilary
Wootton Hilary spent a lovely warm sunny afternoon
down at the deeps. They saw a Clouded Yellow, Sandwich
Tern and Kingfisher on the razor wire. They also
watched a Marsh Harrier flying very close to
the road leading to the army camp; it eventually dived
into the reeds where it stayed put for 3/4 of an hour
by which time they gave up. But here is Tony's photo
to prove it. That one won't win you any prizes, Tony,
but its good enough for me! The all dark wings
suggests it was a juvenile.
BROWN-TAIL
MOTH CORRECTION
Ralph Hollins agreed
that the photo of the caterpillar taken on the
Chichester Canal yesterday (see the photo by scrolling
down a day) looked like a Brown-tail but was probably
a Yellow-tail. He asks, Where was the tent? Where were
all the others? Why was there no stripping of nearby
foliage? All of these would be expected with a
Brown-tail caterpillar. The timing of the caterpillar
also suggested it was not a Brown-tail. Their eggs are
laid in August, caterpillars hatch in about three
weeks and are quite small when they build the tent in
which they will over winter. They do not develop into
full grown caterpillars until the following June when
they pupate. The caterpillar in my photo was clearly
already a good size and therefore unlikely to have
been a Brown-tail. In contrast, Yellow-tail eggs are
laid in July and the caterpillars grow over the next
two months. They stay in individual webs so are more
likely to remain separate when feeding, which was the
case with the caterpillar I saw. Ralph attached photos
of Brown-tail and Yellow-tail caterpillars from the UK
Moths website which show that the Chichester Canal one
was very likely a Yellow-tail. Thanks for all the
help, Ralph.
Here
is the Yellow-tail larva from the UK Moths web
site.
Compare with my photo by scrolling down. The main
difference is in the colour of the hairs. Is this
significant?
JACK
SNIPE IN GARDEN
Steven and Emma Turner
posted a message on the SOS Sightings web site on Sep
19 with a photo of what they thought was a Jack Snipe
in their back garden in Emsworth. "It was sitting,
resting on the patio and my sister thought it was
injured as it laid with it's long beak resting. My dad
approached the bird thinking it was injured and it
immediately shot off at speed. Very exciting!!" The
SOS Editor said the photo confirmed 'beyond all doubt'
that it was indeed a Jack Snipe. The short legs and
bold yellowish back stripes were distinctive.
Interestingly,
Juliette Leach sent me a photo of a common Snipe that
she had in her Rowlands Castle garden in December
2010. That was unusual, but a Jack Snipe must be very
very unusual.
THURSDAY
SEPTEMBER 22 - 2011
CHICHESTER
CANAL
Jean and I walked from
the entrance of Chichester Marina along the Chichester
Canal path as far as Hunston and back along the same
path. The weather was fine and warm.
Birds
Robins were singing
everywhere. The only other song we heard was from a
single Chiffchaff.
Lots of Coot and
Moorhen were on the canal, some with young.
Surprisingly, no sign of any Mute Swans or Grey Heron.
Brown
Tail moth - SEE
CORRECTION SEPT 23
The most striking
insect we saw was a Brown Tail moth caterpillar with
bright red and white markings and long hairs on Purple
Loosestrife.
The hairs, which are
irritating, provide protection for this species
throughout its life cycle: the larva incorporates some
into the cocoon within which it pupates; the emerging
adult female collects some on its tail and uses it to
camouflage and protect the eggs as they are laid. The
species overwinters communally as larvae within a
tough silken tent. In areas where the species is
abundant, these tents are a familiar sight and can be
seen on a huge range of plants.
Plants
A large variety of
interesting plants were seen and I kept a list of the
flowering species. The total seen came to 77. Of
particular interest were the following:
Musk Mallow: A good
crop of Musk Mallow east of Cutfield Bridge.
Bulrushes: We noted
the distinctly smaller Bulrushes growing east of the
Cutfield Bridge which I believe are the hybrid with
Lesser Bulrush -Typha x glauca.
Purple Loosestrife:
was still in full flower in most areas.
Gipsywort: was
plentiful and just in flower as was Marsh Woundwort.
Hedgerow Crane's-bill:
its bright flowers showed up well along the path.
Brooklime: also in
flower with surprisingly round leaves.
Lesser Swine-cress:
abundant in parts.
Fool's Parsley: with
its distinctive bracts hanging below the umbels, is a
plant I had not seen all year.
Mystery grass: I found
some more of the mystery grass with pointed egg-shaped
panicles (Pennisetum?) that I found on the Warblington
Underpass wayside in Emsworth, just before Hunston.
Cyperus Sedge (Carex
pseudocyperus) - was on the canal bank near to
Hunston, which I also found when Jean and I walked the
canal last year on Aug 23. It is like a giant version
of Wood Sedge. There was more of it near the Cutfield
Bridge.
Nodding Bur-marigold
(Bidens cernua): no sign of this plant found on the
canal bank last year.
Water Lettuce (Pistia
stratoides): no sign of this one either which was
growing abundantly in the canal near Hunston last
year. As this is a highly invasive plant, I assume it
has been removed.
There were a good
number and variety of berries on the bushes, including
hips, haws, elders, Black Bryony, Bittersweet and,
best of all, Spindleberries.
SEAFIELDS
FUNGUS
Ralph Hollins visited
Seafields yesterday afternoon to have a look at the
very large Bolete fungus growing on the grass verge,
but failed to find it. However, Ralph did find several
other fungi on the Seafields grass verges, including
several Brown Rollrim, a troop of Russula aeruginea
(which is associated with Birch), and a single Bolete
with a brown cap only 8.5cm across, clearly not the
one large one I reported which was 25cm across. Ralph
inverstigated the Bolete and several factors convinced
him that it was Boletus erythropus
(e.g., external colours and re-action to cutting).
I went to Seafields
again this afternoon and found the large Bolete still
intact on the western side of the road in between a
mature Silver Birch tree and a small tree with red
fruit. The fungus was getting soft and beyond its
best, so, as suggested by Ralph, I cut a section to
see what colour was produced.
As can be seen, the
cut section rapidly became dark blue on cutting which
suggested that it too was Boletus erythropus
and not Red-cracked Bolete as I thought
yesterday. The description of the fungus in my Michael
Jordan Encyclopedia of Fungi as a large or massive
bolete (up to 20cm) also supported this
identification.
I saw a group of 12
fungi on the eastern side of the road, just a bit
further north than the large Bolete, which I think
were also Boletus erythropus though they were all much
smaller than the very large one. I brought one home
with me and like the large Bolete it too turned dark
blue immediately when cut.
ARUNDEL
WWT
Tony Wootton got this
smashing photo of a Water Vole nibbling at some
vegetation during his visit today to the Arundel
Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. There was a big release
programme some years ago and I gather it has been very
successful.
WEDNESDAY
SEPTEMBER 21 - 2011
WAYSIDES
NEWS
Warblington
Underpass
Five new plants were
identified on this visit: False Oat-grass, Red Clover,
Redshank and Guernsey Fleabane. I also found a few
spikes of an unusual grass with single pointed
egg-shaped panicles about 3.5cm in length at the top
of tall stems. It reminded me of Hare's-tail grass,
but the panicle of the present lacked the fluffiness
of that grass. My guess is that it is an ornamental
species of Pennisetum. These five plants take
the total for this wayside to 112 species, which means
it now shares second place in the waysides plant
league table with the Washington Road path.
Beacon
Square allotments
I added two new plants
Fat Hen and Smooth Hawk's-beard to take the
provisional list for this new wayside to 37 species.
NORE
BARN
11.30 low water. One
Lapwing back in the stream - first of the season.
Woods
Starlings were
chattering and whistling in the woods, while feasting
on the copious crop of Blackberries. Otherwise the
woods were quiet but for the wistful autumn song of a
Robin and the occasional cooing of a Woodpigeon.
Speckled Woods were chasing one another in sunny
glades.
The delicate hanging
panicles of False Brome are prominent along the paths,
some dead, some fresh. Some of the Selfheal is still
in flower on the central path through the woods, from
the wonderful display earlier in the summer.
Saltmarshes
Plants in flower on
the saltmarshes by the stream at Nore barn included
Lax-flowered Sea-lavender, Common Cord-grass, Sea
Aster, Golden Samphire and Sea Wormwood (tiny
yellow flowers just visible). Many saltmarsh plants
are turning bright red, including Annual Seablite, Sea
Beet and Glasswort. Tamarisk is flowering well along
the shore on the way to Conigar Point.
From the shore I went
through a gap in the fence into the wet field on the
east side of Warblington Farm ie Field W on Ralph
Hollins' map of the farm . . . http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ralph.hollins/warblington.htm
There were plenty of
saltmarsh plants on this field including some fine
examples of Glasswort with woody stems -
possibly Perennial Glasswort? I found the small colony
of Pepper-saxifrage, that Ralph Hollins first
discovered on Aug 8 on the path near to the northern
entrance to the field, still in flower.
Glasswort
on the saltmarshes on field W of Warblington
farm
Most interesting in
this field was the great variety of Wild Carrot
plants in different stages of growth (or decay),
some in full flower, others closing up into seed heads
and others quite brown and dead.
SEAFIELDS
FUNGUS - Red-cracked Bolete?
I had another look at
the large fungus that I found on the grass verge in
Seafields, leading from Warblington Road to Beacon
Square. It has grown even bigger since yesterday and I
measured the cap as 25cm. It was still split on one
side and crazed over about half of the surface.
As it was slightly
tilting I could look at the underside which showed
yellow pores with tiny red spots. The cap was bruised
red around the edge. The stem was very thick with red
streaks.
Yesterday, I
tentatively identified the fungus as Brown Birch
Bolete mainly due to the presence about 10 metres away
of a large mature Silver Birch tree. However, having
seen the yellow and red pores on the underside and red
streaked stem I am inclined to go back to my original
identification of Red-cracked Bolete. There is another
small fungus of the same type growing about a foot
away.
THORNEY
ISLAND
Richard Somerscocks
had a pleasant short walk along the Wickor Bank shore
this evening on the west side of Thorney
Island.
"Quite
a lot of Migrant Hawkers have been around recently"
Tide was high so not
much sign of waders, although there was a group of 11
Greenshank on a mudflat that was still exposed just
off Great Deep.
There
was also a Brown Hare this evening in the field
between the two Deeps.
TUESDAY
SEPTEMBER 20 - 2011
EMSWORTH
Black-tailed
Godwits
I was on the millpond
seawall at about 12:00 by which time the tide was
rising quickly (high water at 16:42). I counted 54
Black-tailed Godwits on the edge of the main channel,
which was exactly the same number as I found there on
Sep 16. Today's flock also included all three of the
colour-ringed birds seen on that occasion, G+BG, W+WN,
G+GY, plus G+WR. Three of these were also seen by
Richard Somerscocks on Sunday (Sep 18). Clearly, this
is the regular flock which feeds in Emsworth Harbour
at low water and flies to Thorney Island to roost at
high water. I saw them fly to Thorney on Sep 16. I did
not see them go today, but I checked the western
mudflats at 14:00 and they were not there, so I assume
they did go to Thorney. The godwits we normally get on
the western mudflats throughout the winter period from
late September onwards presumably have not arrived as
yet.
Other waders seen in
the main harbour this morning included Oystercatchers,
Redshank, Curlew, Turnstone (7) and Grey Plover (2).
Brown
Birch Bolete?
While delivering the
Brook Meadow Newsletters this morning, I came across a
huge fungus growing on the west side grass verge of
Seafields, which is the road leading to Beacon Square
from Warblington Road. The cap measured a good 20cm
across, was light brown and darker in the centre and
had a crack on one side. The surface of the cap was
also slightly paved. At first I was inclined towards
Red-cracked Bolete, but since it was growing under
Birch trees (note the leaves on the ground) I decided
to go for Brown Birch Bolete though not with any great
confidence.
One problem concerned
the size of the cap which was much larger than the
maximum measurement given in my fungus guides (ie
15cm). However, I am reassured that Ralph Hollins met
a similar difficulty with a large specimen of Slippery
Jack (Suillus luteus) that he found yesterday, which
measured 25cm across, whereas the fungus books all
give the maximum cap width for this species as 10cm.
You can't believe what it says in the books! I could
not see the underside of the fungus as it was growing
so close to the ground.
MONDAY
SEPTEMBER 19 - 2011
WAYSIDES
SURVEYS
Jane Brook and I
resumed our Monday morning surveys of the waysides
after a break of three weeks due to the Emsworth Show
and poor weather. We started in Washington Road and
walked through to the Emsworth Recreation Ground, then
through to Christopher Way and finally down to the New
Brighton Road junction.
For our full report go
to the waysides web site at . . . http://www.emsworthwaysides.hampshire.org.uk/few-NEWS.htm
Washington
Road path
Most of our time was
spent on the Washington Road path which had not been
surveyed since the reconstruction work on the
footpath. An amazing new growth of ruderal plants (see
definition of ruderal below) had sprung up in the
ground disturbed by the construction work, including
masses of Fat Hen and Redshank along with Lesser
Swine-cress, Scented and Scentless Mayweed, Spotted
Medick, Mugwort, Annual Mercury, Common Chickweed,
Petty Spurge, Scarlet Pimpernel , Groundsel,
Pineappleweed, Hoary Ragwort, Black Nightshade, Smooth
and Prickly Sow-thistle, Wild Radish and Lesser
Burdock. Cockspur grass was a new addition to the
Emsworth waysides list, taking the total number of
species recorded on the 19 waysides to 288.
An
amazing new growth of ruderal plants on the Washington
Road path
Note
on ruderal plants
A ruderal plant is
first to colonize disturbed lands. The disturbance may
be natural, or due to human influence (e.g., path
construction as in this case), or agricultural (e.g.,
abandoned farming fields or irrigation ditches).
Ruderal species typically dominate the disturbed area
for a few years, gradually losing the competition to
other native species.
Dor
Beetle
Jane discovered a
large black beetle lying on its back in the middle of
the underpass. It was still alive, though walking with
some difficulty. Jane carefully placed it on her
notepad where I took some photos and then released the
beetle into dense vegetation. Jane later identified
the insect as a Dor Beetle (Geotrupes stercorarius).
It is also called Lousy Watchman as it is often
heavily infested with mites, as was the case with our
beetle. Apparently, it lives mainly on cow dung,
digging shafts below it and burying the dung for
breeding.
Dor
Beetle (Geotrupes stercorarius)
OTHER
EMSWORTH NEWS
Brook
Meadow
Meadowsweet is still
flowering (or flowering again) on the north meadow.
Square-stalked St John's-wort on the edge of the
Lumley area has bright red seedheads. I found lots of
galls on the keys of the large Ash tree on the railway
embankment which overhangs the north path of Brook
Meadow. These appear to be growths of the keys
themselves rather than the flowers as one authority
stated.
Ash
tree galls on Brook Meadow
Peter
Pond
The board in the
channel between the reeds to the north of Peter Pond
has been placed there by David Gattrell supposedly as
a refuge for Water Voles. I have not seen any on it as
yet, though David tells me that he has seen several
Water Voles around the reeds on the pond during his
conservation work this year.
The lone Canada Goose
is still on the pond. The Mute Swan pair is also back
on their breeding territory, hopefully they will do
better than they did this year.
Slipper
Millpond
The Slipper Millpond
Association have done some clearance of vegetation
from the east bank of the pond. I happened to meet
Gavin Miller, their conservation officer who explained
they had not decided exactly how to carry out the
cutting. I suggested they should cut in a patchwork
fashion, much as on Brook Meadow, leaving stretches of
bank uncut to provide a refuge for wintering small
mammals and insects. Gavin agreed this would be a good
policy to pursue.
Five Cormorants were
on the main raft on Slipper Millpond.
Emsworth
Harbour
Richard Somerscocks
went for a walk yesterday morning round the Harbour as
far as Nore Barn. The main concentration of 37
Black-tailed Godwits were in the main eastern
harbour, including 3 colour ringed birds: W+WN, G+WR
and G+BW. All these have been seen before this season.
On the western mudflats between Emsworth Sailing Club
and Nore Barn, there were another 9 Black-tailed
Godwits scattered along the shore including G+BG. I
saw this one for the first time this season on Sep 16.
Other waders in that area were a group of 7 Turnstone
close to the shore.
SATURDAY
SEPTEMBER 17 - 2011
LOCAL
NEWS
Wryneck
on North Thorney
I went down to North
Thorney have another look for the Wryneck after lunch.
I hung around for about 30 mins without seeing
anything. While I was there I was pleased to meet
Colin Vanner for the first time. Colin has been
sending me his excellent wildlife photos for some
time, many of which have appeared on this web site.
Richard Somerscocks was also out looking for the
elusive Wryneck today with no luck. He says no one
else had seen it either, so perhaps it has moved on.
Green
Sandpiper
Before I left the area
I had a quick look at the deckhouses pond and was
pleased to get a good view of the Green Sandpiper that
Richard Somerscocks has seen there on a number of
occasions. It was on the mud at the back of the pond
looking from the ropes by the public footpath. It flew
off showing its white rump before I could get a photo.
But it is clearly a regular.
Grey
Phalarope
The Grey Phalarope,
discovered on the Prinsted shore by Tony Wootton
yesterday, was still there today when Richard
Somerscocks got some great views of it. It was quite
unconcerned by his presence and he was able to get
some good images of it out of the water.
From its plumage I
would guess it is a juvenile bird going into its first
winter plumage. The bird is sometimes called Red
Phalarope (e.g. Collins Guide) as in its breeding
plumage it has red underparts, though, since we never
see it like that, I think the name Grey Phalarope is
much better.
Black-tailed
Godwits
It was late afternoon
when Richard Somerscocks watched the waders fly back
into the Harbour from Thorney. He saw 3 flocks of
Black-tailed Godwits fly over Little Deep and took the
following photo of the third group with 29 in it. The
other 2 were of similar size, so he thinks there must
have been about 90-100 Godwit back in the Harbour at
the end of the day.
Very few settled on
the Thorney side of the harbour and most appeared to
come down over on the other side nearer to the
Emsworth Sailing Club. I suspect we have had a recent
influx of new birds. Note I had two new colour-ringed
birds yesterday. So we shall need to start checking
other areas of the harbour - even Nore Barn?
Other
Thorney news
Andrew House reported
on the SOS Sightings web site that a juvenile
Sabine's Gull was found by Barry Collins at around
midday on the west side of the harbour by the Little
Deep.
Andrew also watched
the Cattle Egret on the Thornham Lane field
catch one of the Yellow Wagtails that have been
feeding around the cattle. One wonders how many others
the egret has caught.
First thing this
morning just as it was getting light Richard finally
managed to get a clear view of a Cetti's
Warbler and took the following photo in poor
light.
Brent
Geese are due
Ralph Hollins reminded
me that the first of the Brent Geese are likely to be
arriving in our harbours in the very near future.
September 15 is the most likely date, though none has
been seen as yet. Ralph did see six Brents in the
Mengham Rithe area on Hayling Island but assumed they
were summering birds. The south eastern corner of
Langstone Harbour by the Sinah Warren Resort is where
the first Brents usually turn up.
Black-tailed
Godwit correction
Consulting my notes
the colour-ringed Godwit seen in Emsworth Harbour
yesterday was G+GY and not G+BY. G+GY was seen several
times in Emsworth Harbour last winter, but this was
the first this season.
For
earlier observations go to .
.
September
(1-16)
