SUNDAY
OCTOBER 16 - 2011
NORE
BARN
I spent the day
visiting family in Kingston near Lewes, so had no
opportunity for local wildlife observations until I
got home. I went down to Nore Barn at 5pm where the
tide was on the wane and the stream emptying fast. The
Little Egret was there as usual with a Lapwing, but
still no Spotted Redshank. There are just three days
to go before last year's first sighting (Oct 19), so I
shall keep checking.
THORNEY
ISLAND
Richard Somerscocks
went down to Thorney Little Deep first thing this
morning. He captured this beautiful atmospheric photo
of two Mute Swans on the harbour in the early morning
mist.
Richard paid two
visits to Thorney Little Deep to get the following
photo of a female Bearded Tit in the reeds - the first
female of the species I have had for the web site.
He also got excellent
images of a female Stonechat and a Meadow Pipit. Here
is the Stonechat.
FISHBOURNE
In between visits to
Thorney Deeps, Richard nipped over to Fishbourne,
where he found about 130 Black-tailed Godwits,
mostly on the far west shore, too far away to
distinguish any rings.
Among those on the
near shore was LRG+OLO. Ringed in Suffolk on
12/09/2008, it has been a regular wintering bird in
Fishbourne Channel ever since. Suffolk ringed birds
have OLO on the right leg. It was last seen this
autumn by Anne de Potier in Fishbourne on 29-Aug-11.
Richard also noted
about 115 Mute Swans swimming up with the tide and 14
Wigeon - probably first arrivals. We should be getting
them at Nore Barn soon.
SATURDAY
OCTOBER 15 - 2011
EMSWORTH
GROUP WALK
An amazing 16 members
of the Havant Wildlife Group assembled in Bridge Road
car park at 9am for the morning's walk down to the
harbour led by myself. Richard Somerscocks and
Caroline French joined the group later. The weather
was fine and sunny, with a slight chill in the wind.
Perfect for birdwatching.
Here
is everyone (including me) posing for a group photo in
the car park
Emsworth
Millpond
We walked round the
town millpond, where we noted the usual Mallard, Mute
Swans and Coot, but noted the absence of Tufted Duck.
They should be on the pond very soon.
On the millpond
seawall some members of the group caught sight of a
Kingfisher which perched briefly on the wall,
before flying off across the calm millpond. A Grey
Wagtail also flew over towards the harbour. We all got
a good view of the Buzzard soaring over the
millpond and then leisurely flying across the harbour
towards Hayling Island.
Richard
Somerscocks got this excellent photo of the bird as it
passed overhead.
and he
was dead chuffed to have got it
Emsworth
shore
From the town shore we
got a good view of 40 or so Black-tailed Godwits
huddled together on the edge of the main channel. A
group of 5 Greenshank were feeding in the low water
channel near the marina entrance. We got a distant
view of about 50 Brent Geese on the Thorney Island
shore. Three Lapwing were also seen from the town
shore.
Dolphin
Creek wayside
Walking down the
Dolphin Creek conservation wayside we examined the
browning leaves of the large Horse Chestnut tree in
the garden of Holmwood House, but decided they were
not affected by the leaf miner moth. We saw our first
butterfly of the morning on this wayside, a Speckled
Wood.
Slipper
Millpond
A Little Grebe was
fishing on the southern part of Slipper Millpond,
where we noted a juvenile Black-headed Gull
perched conveniently on a post for a photo.
Juvenile gulls have been scarce this year following
the complete failure of the gull breeding colony on
the Langstone Harbour islands.
On the way back,
Heather spotted a single Common Gull in amongst
the Black-headed Gulls on the pond, he first I have
seen there this autumn.
Emsworth
Harbour
We had our 'coffee
break' at about 10.45 sitting on the grassy bank in
front of the deckhouses and looking across the wide
expanse of Emsworth Harbour, gradually filling with
water as the tide rose.
Right in front of us
were 46 Black-tailed Godwits on the shore;
another 25 were further out, making a total of 71. As
most of the Godwits were standing in water reading
colour-rings was almost impossible. At 11am all the
Godwits flew up and over to Thorney Island, where they
have their high water roost probably on the Deeps.
We could see about 50
Dunlin on the green island far out in the main
channel; this was the largest number I have recorded
in Emsworth this autumn.
Even better than the
Godwits, were the 27 Brent Geese on the water,
new arrivals in Emsworth this autumn. I saw my first
Brents in the harbour only yesterday. Very encouraging
was the presence of 12 juveniles in families of 4, 3,
3 and 2, a very promising start to the Brent Goose
Breeding Productivity Survey, which I take part in
each year. It clearly suggests the geese had a good
breeding season.
Richard's
photo of the Brents taking off shows two
juveniles
Wickor
Bank
We walked along the
Wickor Bank, just past Little Deep. A Wheatear
flitted past us on the seawall. A Red Admiral was
flying on the shore. I noticed a Shoveler on the far
end of the Little Deep. A Water Rail was heard
squealing from the reedbeds. Other birds heard and not
seen included Bearded Tit and Cetti's Warbler.
Three
Turnstones were on the weedy shore searching for
insects - photo by Richard
We had a distant view
of the Golden Plover flock (approx 200) roosting on
the saltmarshes off the Great Deep. On the way back
some of us caught a glimpse of the Green Sandpiper
flying off from the Deckhouses Pond. Coming back
through Brook Meadow, Ros and I admired the Cow
Parsley in full flower on the main river path.
Reports
and photos from other Saturday morning walks by the
group are on this
page . . .
Saturday
walks - reports
NORE
BARN
I checked the Nore
Barn stream at 16.30, about 3 hours after high water.
The stream was largely empty of water and just perfect
for the arrival of the Spotted Redshank. However, only
the Little Egret was feeding there as usual. We are
now just 3 days away from last year's first sighting
of the Spotted Redshank in the stream on 18 Oct 2010.
So, it could show up any time.
FRIDAY
OCTOBER 14 - 2011
EMSWORTH
HARBOUR
Eastern
harbour
09:30 - 10:30 - About
3 hours to high water at 13:18. I spent half an hour
on the marina seawall this morning looking at the
birds in the eastern harbour as the tide came in. I
counted a total of 82 Black-tailed Godwits
feeding mostly on the marina shore, exactly the
same number as yesterday. They included all 5
colour-ringed birds that I recorded yesterday, plus 2
other Emsworth regulars this autumn: G+BG G+BW G+WR
L+LL W+GO W+WN ROL+RLR Richard Somerscocks looked at
the harbour this afternoon and added RYL+RLY to this
list.
I had my first
Brent Geese of the autumn in Emsworth. Just six
were swimming in the main channel, including one
family of 2 adults and 1 juvenile. Anne de Potier had
two families of 3 and 2 juveniles in Bosham on Oct 11.
So, that is quite a promising start to the Brent Goose
breeding season.
Other birds in the
harbour were Greenshank (6), Turnstone, Oystercatcher,
Redshank, Lapwing (1), Grey Plover (1), Starlings,
Black-headed Gulls, Grey Heron (1), Little Egret (2),
Canada Geese (4), Mallard (2), Mute Swans.
One bright Peacock
butterfly was fluttering around the marina
seawall, the first I have seen for some time.
Western
Harbour
11:00 - 11:45 - The
western harbour was almost deserted. A small group of
7 Black-tailed Godwits, all unringed, turned up
the creek south of Nore Barn Woods at about 11:15,
probably the same 7 that were here yesterday. I am
pretty sure they are not from the eastern flock, which
do not come this way, but most likely go over to roost
on Thorney Deeps.
I watched the stream
for about 30 minutes, hoping against hope that the
Spotted Redshank would arrive, but no luck. The Mute
Swan family with 3 cygnets that I usually see around
Emsworth quay turned up, followed a few minutes later
by the regular Little Egret, which was feeding mostly
by sieving the water through its bill.
THURSDAY
OCTOBER 13 - 2011
EMSWORTH
HARBOUR
Eastern
harbour
10:00-10:15 - Viewing
from the marina seawall. About 3 hours to high water
at 12.47. When I arrived I found about 50 Black-tailed
Godwits clustered on the shore beneath the marina
seawall. There were more over on the on the town shore
west of the marina entrance. The rising tide
eventually pushed all the godwits onto the rapidly
diminishing town shore, where I counted a maximum of
82 Black-tailed Godwits, with 6 colour-ringed
birds. All these were Emsworth regulars this
season.
G+BG G+BW L+LL W+GO W+WN ROL+RLR
An extra bonus was a
Kingfisher which flew over the marina seawall
right in front of where I was standing, into the
harbour, then back towards Slipper Millpond.
I decided to drive
over to Nore Barn to see what was happening there.
Western
Harbour
10:30 - Nore Barn.
Tide was rising fast in the harbour. I could see 7
Black-tailed Godwits in the western harbour which
looked as if they had been there for some while. I
could not see their legs. They make a total of 89 for
both parts of the harbour. I counted 22
Shelduck on the mudflats off Nore Barn with
another 6 further east towards the Emsworth Sailing
Club. Other birds in the harbour included a few
Black-headed Gulls, Redshank, Oystercatcher and
Curlew, 2 Mute Swans, one Grey Heron and a Little
Egret.
Nore
Barn stream
It was such a
beautiful morning, warm with a hazy sun, calm sea and
no wind, so I decided to settle down with my coffee to
watch the stream gradually fill up with water. The
only bird in the stream when I first arrived was a
Carrion Crow having a vigorous bathe.
By 11:00 a Little
Egret arrived along with a couple of Black-headed
Gulls. I was interested to observe the feeding
behaviour of the Little Egret which basically involved
two strategies. One was the usual walk and stab,
presumably for small fish; the other, which I have
noted before, was the filtering technique in which the
bird lowers the end of its bill just below the surface
of the water, apparently filtering the water for
insects.
BOSHAM
CHANNEL
Richard Somerscocks
went down to Bosham at about 5:00 pm this evening. He
found around 175 Black-tailed Godwits on the
saltmarshes, but they were quite spread out and not
very close to the shore. Richard managed to pick out a
few colour rings; O+YL, O+OL, O+BO, R+GO, and L+WN. No
sign of any Brents.
O+YL, O+OL, L+WN and
R+GO have been seen recently by Anne de Potier at
Fishbourne/Bosham.
O+BO - I don't know
about, but here is Richard's photo.
OTHER
NEWS
Bird
nest in garden
A neighbour of Patrick
Murphy has a bird's nest in an apple tree in his
garden and wonders if anyone can identify it. It is
quite small at 10cm diameter and Patrick thinks it
could belong to a small bird, such as Robin or
Dunnock. Here is the photo. My money would go on
Dunnock since a Robin's nest is usually well hidden in
some sort of hole or container. I think Dunnocks also
line their nest like this one. Any other offers?
Goldcrests
on Brook Meadow
Tony Wootton had a
wander around Brook Meadow yesterday and came across
two Goldcrests near the tunnel under the railway in NE
corner. Best ever sighting of Goldcrest for the
meadow?
Cherry
Plum flowering
Today, Tony and Hilary
went walking around Hook/Warsash and found lots of
blossom, which he thought must be Cherry Plum. He
commented: "No sign of any of this year's sloes around
or thorns, so not Blackthorn. Blossom out before
leaves so not Hawthorn. The world's gone
mad."
WEDNESDAY
OCTOBER 12 - 2011
NORE
BARN
I arrived at Nore Barn
at 2.30 about 2 hours after high water. The tide was
well in and the stream was full. A Mute Swan was the
only bird in the area. I had a walk around and by the
time I got back at 3.30 the stream was empty and the
regular Little Egret was feeding along with the
unringed Greenshank. There was no sign of the Spotted
Redshank even though the stream was perfect and its
'friends' were waiting for him.
The first birds to
arrive on the emerging mudflats were 22 Shelduck. The
next to arrive were the noisy Oystercatchers and then
the Godwits.
Black-tailed
Godwits
I counted 78 Godwits
on the shore immediately opposite the path leading
from Beacon Square, which is where they were
yesterday. They included the following 5 colour-ringed
birds, all regulars this autumn in Emsworth.
G+BW G+BG W+GO W+WN
ROL+RLR
Plants
I had some time to
kill as the tide ebbed, so had a mooch around the
saltmarshes to the west of the stream. I found a good
number of Lesser Sea-spurrey in flower, mainly
on the edge of the footpath leading to the shore.
Just a few flowers of
Sea Aster were still open, but mostly gone to seed. I
met Roy Ewing from the Friends of Nore Barn Woods who
said it had been a very good year for Sea Aster.
There were just a few
flowers of Golden Samphire open along the concrete
seawall to the south of the woods.
The only flowers of
interest in the woods was a plant of Bittersweet in
flower. It has surely been a remarkable year for
Acorns; they were masses all over the ground in the
woods. You just could not walk without treading on
them.
Insects
Just one Red Admiral
was flying in the woods.
PALE
TUSSOCK CATERPILLAR (Calliteara
pudibunda)
Ralph Hollins has
provided the following extra info about the Pale
Tussock caterpillar that Tony Wootton photographed at
Arundel on Oct 9.
Ralph says this
caterpillar was almost certainly looking for somewhere
to pupate before emerging as a moth next May.
In Tony's photo - the
distinctive spike of red hairs on its rear end is
hidden by leaf litter but can be seen in the UK Moths
photo at http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=1095
Another UK Moths photo
shows the way the caterpillar responds to threats by
curling up to show its black bands - see
http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=1096
- You must
see this amazing photo.
The caterpillar used
to be called the 'Hop Dog' as its favourite food plant
is Hop though it will eat other plants
All this and more is
on Ralph's web page . . . http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ralph.hollins/Diary.htm
TUESDAY
OCTOBER 11 - 2011
EMSWORTH
HARBOUR
Nore
Barn stream
15:15 low water. Birds
feeding in the stream included the now regular Little
Egret and Greenshank (unringed), plus a single
Black-tailed Godwit (also unringed). The only other
birds in the stream were a Mute Swan and a few
Black-headed Gulls. No sign of the Spotted Redshank.
Probably a bit early for it - another week or so I
reckon.
Shelduck
I counted 13 Shelduck
at Nore Barn, plus another 16 further east nearer the
Emsworth Sailing Club, making 29 in all. A good
number, though not the most I have seen here this
autumn.
Black-tailed
Godwits
15:30 - Exactly 60
Black-tailed Godwits were feeding on the mudflats west
of the Emsworth Sailing Club building, right opposite
where the path emerges from Beacon Square. They
included colour-ringed birds: W+WN, G+WR, G+BW and
ROL+RLR
From the millpond
seawall I could see another group of Black-tailed
Godwits. They started at 11 and gradually increased in
number to 22. Although they included at least one bird
from the western flock (G+WR), most of them probably
came from elsewhere as they included three new
colour-ringed birds: L+LL, W+GO, RYL+RLY. I think it
is reasonable to say 15 of these were not on the
western mudflats earlier, which means I probably had a
total of 75 Black-tailed Godwits with 7
colour-ringed birds, which is roughly par for the
course. It was good to see both the Kent-ringed birds
for the 3rd time in Emsworth.
For a summary of all
17 colour-ringed Godwits seen in Emsworth Harbour this
season with the total number of sightings for each go
to . . . Black-tailed
Godwit
While on the millpond
seawall, I was pleased to make the acquaintance of
Pru, a keen birdwatcher who now lives in Emsworth. Pru
is a friend of Anne de Potier and used to go on Anne's
Sunday morning bird walks from Nutbourne.
Brent
Geese
There was no sign of
any Brent Geese in the harbour this afternoon, though
Anne de Potier saw her first at Bosham this morning -
"only a small flock of 33 at Burnes slipway, but
including 2 families of 3, and one of 2, so that could
be promising, especially given the gloom and doom
about breeding success elsewhere in the north." So,
they are getting closer!
MONDAY
OCTOBER 10 - 2011
EMSWORTH
HARBOUR
Golden
Plover
Richard Somerscocks
had a look at the harbour first thing this morning.
There were no Black-tailed Godwits but Richard did see
a flock of about 250 Golden Plover off Great Deep.
They were there for a while before taking off and
heading out over Thorney. Golden Plover are fairly
regular on the saltmarshes in this area of the
harbour, often up to 500.
Brent
Geese
Richard was fortunate
to see a group of 10 Brent Geese that landed for a
short while in the harbour just off Little Deep.
Interestingly, later in the day while I was walking
along Western Parade, I met Susan Kelly who told me
she had also seen about 20 Brents flying into the
western harbour last week. These birds are clearly
having a look at Emsworth, but not staying. We will
have to wait a litle longer for our first true winter
residents.
Nore
Barn
10.00 - I paid a visit
to Nore Barn this morning about 2 hours before high
water, to check for Spotted Redshank, but no sign of
it anywhere.
Black-tailed
Godwits
16:30 - Low water. I
counted 52 Black-tailed Godwits on the mudflats from
the millpond seawall, though I must have missed a few
since they were all amongst the boats. I located just
two colour-ringed birds: R+GY and G+WR. both Emsworth
regulars.
SUNDAY
OCTOBER 9 - 2011
PETER
POND
This morning I found
David Gattrell hard at work on Peter Pond, thatching
the reeds on either side of the north channel to
prevent them falling into the water and blacking the
channel. He breaks the reeds and lays them flat to
create a neat shelf along the edge of the channel.
David told me he had
caught two Brown Rats in the past week in the south
eastern corner of the pond near the feeding area, a
common area for rats. He had also seen Water Voles in
the reeds near the Lumley Path bridge. He was puzzled
by quite a pale Kingfisher perched on a post, which
could be a juvenile, or a moulting adult.
David told me he is
hoping reduce light pollution on the pond by
persuading the highway authorities to install
directional street lamps on the A259 as it passes the
pond. What a good idea.
After David had left I
watched a large greenish dragonfly, probably Southern
Hawker, patrolling the channel between the reeds.
EMSWORTH
HARBOUR
Black-tailed
Godwits
Richard Somerscocks
found the Black-tailed Godwits on the Thorney side of
the harbour this afternoon after high water. There
were 7 colour ringed birds in a flock of about 70.
They included the two Kent-ringed godwits we saw
yesterday, ROL+RLR and RYL+RLY, plus four regulars
G+WR, G+BG, L+LL, R+GY and one new combination for
Emsworth - LY+OX.
LY+OX - the X
denotes a white ring marked with an 'X'. This bird has
been seen in the Chichester Harbour area for some
years, but not before in Emsworth Harbour to my
knowledge. I last saw it in 'Texaco Bay' North Hayling
on 16-Mar-11. It was ringed on 27.04.02 at
Grafarvogur, Reykjavík, SW Iceland. Richard's
photo is poor and we shall try to get a better one,
but Richard was confident in accuracy of the reading.
Greenshank
Earlier in the
morning, Richard found a group of 7 Greenshank in the
low water channel, including colour-ringed birds,
L+WY, NY+GR and OO+YY all regulars in Emsworth Harbour
over the years.
CATERPILLAR
Tony Wootton sent me
the following photo of a caterpillar that he found
this afternoon on the footpath near the centre of
Arundel. He moved it to safety. I think it is a Pale
Tussock Moth larva.
HOOK
WITH WARSASH
Chris Cope reported on
the Havant Wildlife Group walk yesterday.
Her full report can be seen on the special HWG page .
. . Saturday
walks - reports
One special sighting
was a leucistic pale bird in the small reserve amongst
the Willow trees. Some HOS birders who were there
identified it as a Willow Warbler because of it's
orange legs. Here is the photo by Derek Mills.
Willow
Warbler at Hook
SATURDAY
OCTOBER 8 - 2011
EMSWORTH
HARBOUR
16:00 - Emsworth
Harbour (east) viewed from the millpond seawall. Low
water. The light was poor but there were plenty of
birds in the harbour. I was on the millpond seawall
when Richard Somerscocks arrived. Good to see him back
on the Emsworth beat after several days working away.
Black-tailed
Godwits
We counted a total of
66 godwits, most of which were feeding on the far side
of the channel. Between us we logged 8 colour-ringed
Godwits today, including the first two triple-ringed
Kent Godwits of the season:
ROL+RLR - We
both saw this bird clearly, though I admit insisting
the red rings were orange, even though they were
obviously red in Richard's photo! Richard had got a
good photo of this bird earlier in the day when the
godwits were nice and close. ROL+RLR has been an
Emsworth regular from Oct to Jan over the past two
winters. It was ringed on 27 Oct 08 at Kingsnorth
Power Station, Medway Est. Kent as an adult male.
RYL+RLY - My
photo of this familiar godwit only shows the left leg
with the RYL rings, but I got a reasonable view of
both legs and am pretty sure of the reading.
RYL+RLY was ringed in Kent in autumn 2005 and
has been a regular in Emsworth Harbour ever since,
usually arriving in early October and leaving in
January. In late September Dudley Hird said RYL RLY
had been seen regularly in Kent this passage and
predicted it would be with us soon. Spot on
prediction, Dudley!
There were also some
Emsworth colour-ringed regulars: R+GY (we are now sure
this is GY and not GL), OY+LR, W+GO, W+WN, G+WR G+BW
See special
Black-tailed Godwit page for all this year's sightings
and photos . . . Black-tailed
Godwit
Greenshank
A maximum of 15
Greenshank were feeding in the low water channel,
the most I have seen there this season. They included
some colour-ringed birds, but with the birds
constantly in water the rings could not be read. I saw
what I thought was a possible Spotted Redshank, though
it turned out to be nothing more than a Greenshank
with red rings.
FRIDAY
OCTOBER 7 - 2011
EMSWORTH
HARBOUR
12:00 - Nore Barn.
Three hours after high water. There was still plenty
of water in the harbour. On the edge of the
saltmarshes were about 100 Redshank and 7 Greenshank
with 19 Shelduck further out in the channel (six more
than yesterday). Five Black-tailed Godwits were
feeding on the emerging mudflats south of the woods. I
the stream was the usual Little Egret plus a Grey
Plover and an un-ringed Greenshank, which had my heart
racing for a moment until I realised it was not the
Spotted Redshank.
13:45 - Marina
seawall. 46 Black-tailed Godwits were on the
town shore including two regular colour-ringed birds:
G+BW and W+WN. Another 4 more Godwits further up the
channel. Redshank appear to have arrived in numbers,
with about 60 on the mudflats off the seawall. Also, 6
Greenshank, but no colour-rings. One Little Grebe
fishing in the channel.
Plants
Several plants of
Black Mustard were in flower on the seawall, plus a
later flowering of one Hemlock. Others
flowering were Hedgerow Crane's-bill and Lesser
Burdock.
This afternoon,
Richard Somerscocks (welcome back) had a walk along
the harbour and found 78 Black-tailed Godwits
all in the Eastern Harbour including several regular
colour-ringed birds: G+BG, G+BW, G+WR, L+LL, W+WN and
OY+LR. Richard also saw R+GY and agreed with my
conclusion yesterday that the right leg was GY and not
GL.
Richard also saw a
juvenile Common Tern and a group of 8
Greenshank feeding in the channel coming out of
Slipper Mill Pond, including the ringed bird OO+YY.
BROOK
MEADOW
Flowering
plants
Inspired by the
example of Ralph Hollins's logging of all the plants
he sees in flower, I did a tour of Brook Meadow this
afternoon and noted 44 flowers and 8 grasses. The
dominant flowers on the meadow at present are Hogweed,
White Dead-nettle and the Bindweeds, all white
flowers. The yellow flowers of Bristly Ox-tongue are
also widespread . Also, well represented were the pink
flowers of Red Clover and Creeping Thistle.
The Cow Parsley
on the main river path just north of the S-bend is
still standing, though looking a little battered by
the wind. Wild Angelica has mostly gone to seed,
though there are still a few flowering plants on the
Lumley area and south meadow. Most of the
Pepper-saxifrage has also gone to seed, but a few
flowers were still showing.
There is a marvellous
display of Michaelmas Daisies on the eastern
edge of the Lumley area, which look particularly fine
in the late afternoon sun. The large yellow daisies of
Perennial Sow-thistle show well in the south eastern
corner of the south meadow, where I also found a good
flowering of Wild Radish. I was surprised to
find that this was a new plant for the Brook Meadow
list to take number of plants recorded on Brook Meadow
this year to 253 and the grand total to 334.
The Russian Vine
(Fallopia baldsschuanica), which I incorrectly
referred to as Potato Vine last year, is again
flowering just inside the Seagull Lane gate, exactly
as it did at this time last year. This plant is
clearly an escape from plant that is rampant over the
hedge of a garden opposite.
Plants just hanging on
included Hedge Woundwort, Water Mint. All three of the
common buttercups, Creeping, Meadow and Bulbous were
flowering again. One plant that has almost gone from
the meadow is Mugwort which in previous years has been
very common alongside the path leading from Seagull
Lane to the north bridge.
Of the grasses
False Oat-grass is widespread with lots of
freshly grown spikelets. Other grasses with fresh
growth included Cocksfoot, Wall Barley, Tall Fescue
and Perennial Ryegrass.
Birds
Wren is now singing
and has added its voice to Robin over the past week.
Dunnock is calling strongly.
THURSDAY
OCTOBER 6 - 2011
EMSWORTH
HARBOUR
Black-tailed
Godwits
10:30 - About 3 hours
after high water. Looking from the observation area to
the west of the Emsworth Sailing Club building, I
could see 13 Shelduck on the western mudflats.
11:00 - I walked round
the millpond seawall. The water was still well in the
main harbour, but 30 or so Black-tailed Godwits were
already assembling on the eastern shore. I could see a
lot more collecting beneath the marina seawall, so I
decided to cycle over there to have a look.
12:00 - On a very
windy marina seawall. Tide falling fast. A flock of 66
Black-tailed Godwits were on the shore in front of me.
I had a good view of them, though the very strong wind
meant it was impossible to keep the scope steady.
Another 16 Godwits were still on the edge of the town
channel, making a grand total of 82.
Despite the wind, I
managed to go through all the godwits and found six
with colour-rings.
R+GY - First
sighting of this one in Emsworth was on 28 September
2011. I had seen it once before on Farlington Marshes
on July 9 2009. Today, I looked long and hard and took
lots of photos. I wanted to establish that the yellow
ring was actually yellow and not lime, since R+GL was
a regular bird in Emsworth Harbour last winter, but
not seen so far this season. The Y ring certainly
looked yellow today and the photos supported this.
Looking at the photos of R+GL taken last year the L
ring was certainly lime and not yellow. See . . .
Black-tailed
Godwit . . .
page for comparisons of R+GL and R+GY
All the rest were
regulars in Emsworth Harbour this season: W+WN, W+GO,
G+BW , G+BG, G+WR
OTHER
NEWS
Little
Grebe
The first Little Grebe
of the year was fishing on Slipper Millpond this
morning.
Sparrowhawk
kill
During a Skype chat
with his brother-in-law and his wife in Spain this
morning Patrick Murphy and his wife were interrupted
by a male Sparrowhawk making a kill (a Goldfinch) and
landing outside their dining room window. Luckily
Patrick had his camera next to hand (good fellow) and
was able to take a couple of photos of the hawk before
it flew off with it's kill.
Giant
House Spider
Tony Wootton had a
monster of a spider in his bedroom this morning. It
was a good one and a half inches back to front and had
monstrous fangs! While Hilary was hiding in the
wardrobe, Tony (good wildlife man) got his camera out
and took a picture. The spider is almost certainly
what is commonly known as Giant House Spider
Tegenaria duellica; formerly known as
Tegenaria gigantea. The spider certainly can
use those fangs, though the bite (according to Google)
does not pose a threat to humans, although it is the
only species of the whole Agelenid family to be able
to bite through human skin.
WEDNESDAY
OCTOBER 5 - 2011
WAYSIDES
NEWS
Westbrook
Stream clearance
When I walked past the
car park this morning, I found that the stream had
been strimmed, presumably by the Environment Agency.
The EA usually do this at this time of the year to
keep the stream flowing. I was pleased to see that
there had been no further widening of the channel and
that the clump of Bulrushes had been spared. These
were cut down last year.
Narrow-leaved
Michaelmas Daisy?
The clump of
Michaelmas Daisies on the northern edge of the wayside
by the wire fence at Grid Ref: SU 7452 0676 has small
and very pale, almost white, flowers, and could be an
example of Narrow-leaved Michaelmas Daisy (Aster
lanceolatus). The leaves were also narrow and
lanceolate. The Hants Flora describes this plant as
local and occasional, probably frequent and the most
established Aster species in Hampshire.
Broad-leaved
Cockspur Thorn
Ralph Hollins visited
this wayside yesterday to have a look at the
Broad-leaved Cockspur Thorn bushes on the northern
edge and had a bit of a job finding it. Just in case
others have the same difficulty I am including a photo
showing the location of the bushes at the northern end
of the wayside at Grid Ref: SU 75354 07197.
During his visit,
Ralph found another example of this American Hawthorn
on the far eastern edge of the mown area at SU 75366
07140. This was not such a 'pure' example as those on
the wayside, as the bush was a mixture of common
Hawthorn with Bramble and with a single visible branch
of Cockspur Thorn showing with bunches of large bright
red haws. In contrast, the trees on the wayside are
standard and full of berries.
EMSWORTH
HARBOUR
Black-tailed
Godwits
A flock of 54
Black-tailed Godwits were feeding on the green
mudflats right in front of the millpond seawall where
I was standing. I have not seen them this close
before. There was only one colour-ringed bird among
them: W+GO - a regular here this season. There were
another 11 Black-tailed Godwits on the edge of the
town channel. No more colour-rings.
OTHER
NEWS
Cow
Parsley
Yesterday, Ralph
Hollins was walking through Brook Meadow when he
discovered 'a magnificent Cow Parsley plant in full
flower' on the main river path. I must have walked
past it without noticing! I had a look for the plant
this afternoon in company with Roger Mills and his
wife, and we all admired this beautiful late flowering
plant. Roger mentioned that he had seen one in flower
late in the year at this same spot in previous years.
Maybe, it is a special breed?
Butterbur
leaves
The huge Butterbur
leaves on the south meadow are now starting to brown
to turn in on themselves, producing a variety of
contorted shapes.
Shaggy
Ink Caps
Patrick Murphy took
the following photo near Thornham Marina yesterday of
what look like a couple of Shaggy Ink Caps in
different stages of development. The back one is a
young fungus with a typical finger-shaped smooth white
cap; the front one is older with its cap base having
dissolved into an inky fluid resulting in a flat cap
with a long stem.
TUESDAY
OCTOBER 4 - 2011
HAYLING
ISLAND
Brent
Geese
10:30 - Parking in the
Hayling Oysterbeds car park, I walked a little way
down the Hayling Billy Line to get my first look at
the Brent Geese which were, as I expected, clustered
together in the far south eastern corner of the
harbour near the Sinah Warren Holiday Centre. Why do
they always gather in this particular spot when they
first arrive? Maybe, there is a particularly good
supply of Eel Grass? They were too far away to count,
but I would estimate several hundred. Ralph Hollins
said there were 500 in the harbour in his weekly
notes.
Black-tailed
Godwits
I had a look at
'Texaco Bay' to the north of the Oysterbeds, but no
sign of any Black-tailed Godwits there, nor were they
any on the mudflats to the east of the bridge.
EMSWORTH
HARBOUR
Black-tailed
Godwits
11:30 Low water rising
to high water at 17.14. From the marina seawall I
could see a group of 45 godwits feeding on the town
channel shore. Another group of 30 were on the edge of
the main channel, making a grand total of 74 in the
harbour. No sign of any Brent Geese.
Colour-ringed birds
recorded: G+BW W+GO G+WR G+BG W+WN. They are all
regulars this season.
FISHBOURNE
CHANNEL
Black-tailed
Godwits
14:00 - Tide rising.
74 Black-tailed Godwits were feeding along the edge of
the channel close to the Apuldram shore. This is far
fewer than I would have expected at this time of the
year, when we could have 150 to 200. There have been
no godwit reports from Fishbourne this year, so I do
not know if today's flock was unusually small. Even
more suprising was that I could not find a single
colour-ringed bird among them!
Wigeon
Fishbourne is usually
full of Wigeon, but all I could find today was a small
flock of 30 in the channel. Ralph Hollins comments in
his weekly wildlife summary that Wigeon were late
arriving locally this autumn with the highest count
this week being 78 in Christchurch Harbour on Sep 25.
He wonders if they could have overshot us and flown on
west as the Exe estuary had over 300 on Oct 1.
There were plenty of
Redshank along the edge of the channel, but no Brent
Geese.
Goldfinches
Walking back from the
shore towards Apuldram Church I came across a
wonderful charm of around 50 Goldfinches. This was the
largest flock of Goldfinches I have seen for years.
They were feeding on the seedheads of thistles.
FARLINGTON
MARSHES
Colin Vanner was at
Farlington Marshes again yesterday and got another
couple of excellent photos,
Female
Reed Bunting appropriately in the reedbeds
Kestrel
in flight
MONDAY
OCTOBER 3 - 2011
EMSWORTH
Garden
The Chiffchaff
that has been calling for some days from the Silver
Birch revealed its identity this afternoon with a bit
of chiff-chaffing. I tried to get a photo, but the
bird was never still.
Two Red
Admirals were feeding on the Verbena flowers as
usual. Ralph Hollins reports Red Admirals were flying
south at most places this week and at Portland Bill
they were watched heading out over the sea - on the
way to France?
A large dragonfly
(probably a Southern Hawker) flew around the
garden a few times before making off over the fence.
Emsworth
Harbour
I cycled along to Nore
Barn (2 hours to high water), mainly to have a look at
the stream just in case the Spotted Redshank had
arrived. It had not. The regular Little Egret was the
only bird in the stream apart from a Mute Swan and a
Black-headed Gull. There was no sign either of any
Brent Geese anywhere in the harbour. The Mute Swan
family with 3 cygnets was present in the eastern
harbour.
Peter
Pond
The lone Canada Goose
is still with us. I met David Gattrell who confirmed
he had nothing to do with the goose, despite putting
up a decoy earlier in the summer.
Having had plenty of
experience in trapping Brown Rats on Peter Pond, David
said he would he would be happy to help us with
setting up the traps on Brook Meadow and with the
humane disposal of the creatures. He offered to lend
us a trap to get started, though Mr Hines at the
Council should be able to provide them.
Sadly, the rickety
tree house in the garden of Gooseberry Cottage, which
has been quite a local feature, has been removed along
with the tree.
SUNDAY
OCTOBER 2 - 2011
EMSWORTH
HARBOUR
11.30 Four hours
before high water at 15.30.I cycled down to the marina
seawall to have a look at the Black-tailed Godwits.
Tide still well out with plenty of exposed mudflats
covered in green seaweed.
Black-tailed
Godwits
I found 22
Black-tailed Godwits on the shore in front of the
marina seawall including W+WN. Another 40 Godwits were
on the edge of the town channel including G+WR and
G+BW. There were another 14 Godwits strung along the
channel and among the boats, making a total of 76.
This was very similar to the flock I had here on Sep
29 when I counted 74. Colour-ringed birds W+WN, G+WR
and G+BW. were also present in that flock, but the Sep
29 flock had W+GO, OY+LR and L+LL which I did not see
in today's flock, though it is possible they were
among the birds in the channel that I did not check.
See . . .
Black-tailed
Godwit . . .
for records of all this year's Godwit colour-ringed
sightings
I went through the
group of 22 Godwits that were closest to where I was
standing for juveniles, looking for birds with
'scaliness' of the back; I found six that seemed
likely juveniles, though not with any confidence.
Hedgerow
Crane's-bill was flowering on the seawall.
GARDEN
It was much too hot to
walk around so I spent this afternoon sitting in the
garden and very interesting it turned out to be from a
wildlife point of view.
Chiffchaff
I have had this
Chiffchaff calling from the Silver Birch tree on
several days this week. It was at it again this
afternoon and I managed to get a sighting of it. I am
fairly sure it was Chiffchaff from its monosyllabic
whistle, in contrast to the disyllabic call of Willow
Warbler. It was feeding actively in the tree, moving
quickly from one twig to another. Typically, it stays
for about 5 minutes then departs not to be heard again
until the following day, provided I was in the garden
to hear it. This is the same tree that I had a Willow
Warbler in on 4 April 2010. I managed to get a
reasonable photo of it, but I identified it from its
song.
Insects
The flowers of
Perennial Verbena continue to attract a variety of
insects. This afternoon, in addition to the regular
pair of Red Admirals I also had a Small Copper
feeding on the flowers for the first time. This was
probably an adult from the third summer brood.
Another first on the
Verbena was a Hummingbird Hawkmoth which moved
around the flowers, sampling one after another with
its long proboscis. This was all my poor old point and
shoot camera could manage in the way of an image.
BEARDED
TITS
Colin Vanner just goes
from strength to strength. He was on Farlington
Marshes today and got this stunning photo of a Bearded
Tit in the reeds. I have never seen a better one.
Colin also managed to
capture some Bearded Tits in flight, something I have
never seen before.
SATURDAY
OCTOBER 1 - 2011
BROOK
MEADOW
Water
Voles and rats
Jeff Fleming had
another 10 hour session in his special spot on the
river bank in Palmer's Road Copse watching for Water
Voles. I visited him this afternoon, but he had only
had a single Water Vole sighting at 12.15. In
contrast, Jeff saw 'loads of rats' - not good news at
all, now we know that rats can seriously damage a
Water Vole population. Jeff told me they came from
three distinct areas, which clearly would be the
places to locate any trapping cages. As well as taking
photos, Jeff was also doing some sketches of the area,
noting the various aspects of wildlife that he sees.
This is very valuable material.
Birds
Jeff Fleming saw a
Kingfisher fly up the river passing where he
was sitting at 15.30.
While I was updating
the display cases on Brook Meadow this afternoon, I
heard a Chiffchaff singing from the west bank
of the river close to the north bridge. This was the
second Chiffchaff I have heard this week, which means
they must be starting up again.