Sunny Cliffe Pools at low tide

Telescope views are wonderful in these well lit conditions and I quickly found the Black-necked Grebe in among the Little Grebes, Great Crested Grebes, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Goldeneye, Clangula bucephala, Black-headed Gulls and Coot at the back corner of Radar Pool. There were good numbers of duck overall with hundreds of Shoveler and Teal, and dozens of Pintail and Wigeon.

On the new beach there were hundreds of  Lapwings and no other waders. Some Wigeon and Teal were on the shoreline, but surprisingly few Gulls. A few Herring Gulls and Black-headed Gulls were scattered across Radar and Flamingo.  

Leybourne again

Trying out the monopod today I did think it made a difference, until I forgot to point the autofocus spot directly onto the birds concerned. However, here is a fairly sharp Greylag, Anser anser, from quite close-up,

There were also about 60 Canada Geese, Branta canadensis, Mute Swans, Cygnus olor, many Black-headed Gulls, Chroicocephalus ridibundus, some Herring Gulls, Larus argentatus, and at least one Common Gull, Larus canus. Also Mallard, Anas platyrynchos, Tufted Duck, Aythya fuligola, one Drake Shoveller, Anas clypeata, several Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristata, Cormorants, Phalocrocorax carbo, Moorhens, Gallinula chloropus, and Coots, Fulica atra.

This is a one year old Black-headed Gull, as indicated by the brown on the wings, and the slightly orange bill

Whereas this is an adult bird with a much darker red bill and perhaps a tendency to achieve breeding plumage a bit earlier.

This is an adult Herring Gull, only just in focus,

Herring Gull calling, much more heavily cropped:

Moorhen:

Tufted Duck:

Leybourne on Boxing Day

Very enjoyable walk through to Brooklands, quite mild and sunny.

The pair of Muscovy Duck were still at the feeding area of the Ocean. The colour of the water has been slightly enhanced here by reducing the brightness/exposure of the photo. I hadn't realised these ducks originate from Central America, and are escapes from captivity in UK or Europe. This pair have been around this corner of the Ocean for about a week. Their colouration is very variable within the taxon, but their overall jizz is quite characteristic, and the black/white pattern with the reddish colour and bumps on  the bill are diagnostic. The tail feathers of the other bird that I assume to be the male have a mallard-like quiff, so this should be the female.

This Black-headed Gull is probably an adult because of the colour of its bill, good grey back and just visible) half moons on the folded primaries, due to their white tips.



 This Black-headed Gull is probably a 2nd cy bird. It is the yellow-orange bill of a young bird. but its tail feathers are in partial moult, with the two outer ones new: now with no dark tips and perhaps still just growing into place. The two middle ones have been moulted as well.



The Black-headed Gulls are always ready to be fed, and to fight noisily over the proceeds. Its a bit tricky to get the action shots, but here goes.

The bird below, probably an adult from the colour of its bill clean white tail and wings, has a good dark outer edge to the outer web of the primary P9 feather, echoing the this dark edge so often seen on p10 - the last feature might be universal, I don't know.

There is a good range of other birds, including this Mute Swan,

And this heron was a long way away when the picture was taken:

There are woodpecker holes in the trees where I saw woodpeckers nearly a year ago I think.

There is also quite a lot of downed timber around, and here is a close-up of some of the moss on a fallen tree trunk. There is a pleurocarpous species, perhaps Hypnum cupressiforme, and a solidly acrocarpous species, apparently with old setae from previous fruiting, and possibly some other species.

The area here used to include some ornamental trees and shrubs, perhaps part of a large garden. Here are the odd old inflorescences of Rhus typhina, the Stag's Horn Sumach.

On a big tree by Brooklands Lake I suspected these tiny whitish mushrooms growing on the bark of what I think must be an old willow may be Mycena pseudocorticola

Black-necked Grebe at Cliffe Pools

Well it would be nice to say that this was a bird that I had found, but sadly it had been seen for a number of days and I just hunted for it until I finally saw it on the far side of Radar. a very neat little grebe, certainly not much larger than a Little Grebe, and spending a lot of time diving, making it even more difficult to pick up.

I just missed 12,000 Dunlin apparently, quite a sight according to the two who did see them!

Lots of lapwings, Curlew, Golden Plover (some Grey maybe), Ringed Plover, Dunlin, maybe a few Black-tailed Godwits. Where are all the Redshank??

Teal, Wigeon, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Clangula bucephala, Pintail, Mallard, Shoveller, Shelduck

Brrr Barden

I think the weather is now starting to get wintry, and among the waterfowl at Barden today was a drake wigeon. A Cormorant was hunting among the Coot in the angular bay by the wood, and the usual Coot, Yufties, Canada Geese, Mute Swans and Mallard were seen with one moorhen. A single herring guill was seen chasing one of the many black-headed gulls.

Equally pleasant were the couple of calling Redwings in the woods between the lake and the river, and the singing Song Thrush by the railway bridge over the path.   

The first Goldeneye arrive

500+ Shoveller, 500+ Wigeon, 1,000+ Teal, 100 Mallard, 12 drake Pintail, 6+ Pochard, pair of Goldeneye, Clangula bucephala, 20+ Tufted Duck, 4 Moorhen, 200+ Common Coot, 100+ Black-tailed Godwit, 200+ Redshank, 2500+ Dunlin, 6 Curlew, 300+ Lapwing, 50 Grey Plover, 25 Golden Plover.

15 Common Gull, Larus canus, 100+ Black-headed Gull, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 11 Greater Black-backed Gull, 30+ Herring Gull.

I Marsh Harrier, I Kestrel (twice I think, or 2 of course), 100+ starling,  

Pochard arrive at Barden

2 Grey Heron, 1 Cormorant, 50+ Black-headed Gulls. 20+ Greylags, 20_ Canada Geese (including the hybrid), 50+ Coot (including Chalky) squabbling a bit, 40+ Tufted Duck, 20+ Mallard (many doing nuptial display flights), 6+ Gadwall, 8+ Pochard, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 2 Moorhen, 2 Mute Swan:

A lovely summer afternoon!

Winter duck numbers now building at Haysden

Many more Tufted Duck were present, about a dozen Gadwall have arrived, and even a Pochard! The Mallard are still very much around and starting to look quite festive in their winter plumage.

I also spotted a Little Grebe, joining the several Great Crested Grebe in the middle of Barden Lake.

The Principal's Lawn!

Starlings, Rooks, Grey Heron

Got as far as the hide on the Swale NNR

I thought I got as many as 15 White-fronted Geese, Anser albifrons, feeding in front of the hide, together with about 50 Greylags and a dozen or so Black-bellied Brent Geese, Branta bernicla bernicla. This time I was sure that there were a mix of adult and juvenile birds. Also a sparrowhawk I think, and a grey heron. On the fenceline behind there were about 50 Goldfinches fluttering about. Half a dozen swans and cygnets were scattered around, and a couple of white (farmyard?) geese. 

Lightning visit to Muswell Manor Beach and the Brent Geese

On the way I thought I picked out a Mediterranean Gull from a dispersed group of Black-headed Gulls on the fields on the Leysdown Road before the planted wood. I stopped to have a peek at the Raptor Mound, and there was a probable female Marsh Harrier over the reed-bad of the Capel Fleet.

On the beach there were numerous Black-headed and Herring Gulls, together with a few Greater Black-backed Gulls. There were also Oystercatchers, Redshank, a couple of Godwits, and a Curlew.

But the birds I had really come to see, the Dark-bellied Brent Geese, Branta bernicla bernicla, from the Russian North Artic were also there, in small groups of half a dozen or more. They are said to breed mainly on the Taymyr Peninsula in the far, far North. They winter in the South East of England (50% of the World population), and France and Holland, and in the spring they gather in the WaddenSee and then migrate further North and East via stopping off sites particularly such as the White Sea and the Kanin peninsula, heading for the Taymyr peninsula, travelling thousands of miles altogether.

The white neck flashes on the necks, and the dark bellies, only a bit less dark than their uppersides, were clear, and the white rears showed well. All of the ones that I saw looked like adults. The number of young, I seem to remember, may perhaps be partly dependent on the number of lemmings, and the resulting predation choices by Artic Foxes. They are certainly quite inconsistent breeders year on year.

The population dropped drastically in the 30s through to the 50s, recovered into the 70s, and stabilised in the 90s, at about a quarter of a million birds.

The Brent Goose population is generally protected in Western Europe under the EU Birds Directive 79/409 and under various national legislation. Hunting is not currently permitted, except in some local regions. As a result of the recovery and further increase of population size, however, proposals have been made in some countries for a regulated harvest of Brent Geese.

The Brent Goose is a success story in modern conservation; as a result of protection on the wintering grounds, together with other factors such as feeding on agricultural land and the recovery of eelgrass beds, they recovered from a very low population level in the 1950s.

Low Tide at Cliffe

Had a look from the viewpooint South of Radar Pool and there were about 500 Lapwing, 600 teal, 4 Pintail, 20 Mallard, 20 Shoveller, 1 Avocet.

It was very pleasant to see the few Pintail, upending in the middle distance.

There were about 12 Greater Black-backed Gulls in the distance, with 1 Herring Gull with them I think. GBBs are the largest of the Gulls, monotypic, with about 17,000 UK breeding pairs, and about 75,000 birds over-wintering (BTO). There was a considerable expansion in the twentieth century (Fishing industry?), both in the UK and worldwide, but populations in the UK may have fallen back a little since. Pink legs may help to distinguish from the Lesser with its yellow legs. Individuals may live for more than 27 years.

I stopped by Crystal Lake on the way back, under threat of rain, and there were just a pair of Mallard, and a Moorhen.

B & Q

I was so involved in watching the Black-headed Gull, Choirocephalus ridibundus, flying from the roof of B & Q, that I ignored the lady telling me my bacon butty was ready. The butty was a special treat to cheer me up after my visit to the Doctor, who wants to do further tests on my cough.

Post-script - might well have been acid reflux, so I cut down on the spicy foods, then started to lose serious amounts of weight, and no problems since (Jan 2015)! 

Back at Cliffe with a possible Little Stint, thinking of Golden Plover

Made it to Cliffe about an hour before high tide, just in time to see many of the waders arrive off the Thames.

Great numbers of Avocet, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Little Egret, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Black-headed Gull, Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Shoveller, Teal, Shelduck, Mallard, some Pintail.

One possible Little Stint actively feeding on the drier sand behind a large group of Dunlin.

Woodpigeon, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Robin, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit. Some warblers seen, possibly an autumn call of a Chiff-chaff.

It was very nice to see the Golden Plover on the edges of the pools. There were a number of the Grey Plover as well, looking tougher as they so often do, with their heavier bills. However the Golden Plover, Pluvialis apricaria, were my main interest today. These may be breeding in Northern Europe or Russia, but they could be from the uplands of the UK as well. The breeding in the UK might be regarded as somewhat on the edge of its range, and also slightly artificial as upland moorland is largely created by historic land management, but there has been quite a lot of research on the breeding ecology of these gorgeous birds. The UK population could be regarded as at the southern edges of its breeding range and particularly subject to potential warming and drying climate change, which could reduce food sources such as cranefly (Tipulid) larvae. In order to preserve this potentially threatened population, 9Pearce-Higgins, 2011) suggested thart efforts could be made to improve habitat, and thus breeding success, and reduce predation on the other hand.

One very interesting and unexpected feature - the males and females split incubation period in an interesting way: the males incubate during the day, while the females incubate at night.

The research has shown some rather odd features of this species' breeding ecology. When not incubating their eggs on moorland, the adults can often be found on neighbouring agricultural pasture fields rather than moorland, where they are likely to be feeding (perhaps) or resting for about half their time.  This is however less true for the males. The average distance moved to the fields was about 2.7 km in the Sunderland study, with females flying further than males. Individual flocks of birds tended to show fairly strong faithfulness to their individual favourite fields, both within a year, and from year to year. Relatively few of the available fields were used for feeding, with those used tending to be large, old, with some cover of rushes Juncus spp., and grazed by sheep. Leatherjackets were possibly the favoured prey.

Although field size did not seem to determine whether fields were occupied or not, field size was correlated with the numbers of birds in an occupied field. Having wet flushes did seem to increase the popularity of a field being chosen, as did the sward kept short by sheep. The nature of the boundary did not seem to have much of an effect, although this might have been expected to have affected ease of predation. The number of molehills, as a proxy for earthworm numbers, was a good indicator of field attractiveness, (according to Whittingham et al, 2000).

Once the eggs hatch, the behaviour of the adults changes, and then they spend much motre time foraging on moorland.

It was estimated that there were about 2,000 pairs breeding in Caithness, of which about half would have been nesting in the Special Protection Area (declared because of the importance of this area for the total breeding population. The fields used while incubating need to be managed appropriately: Management of areas of pasture to maintain their suitability for feeding golden plovers should, in general, avoid ‘improvement’ in the sense typified by agricultural intensification (Wilson et al., 2005). Specifically, the following practices should be avoided: Draining; Application of pesticides to control tipulid larvae (cranefly larvae = leatherjackets); Ploughing and re-seeding with single palatable grass species; Application of inorganic fertilisers; Removal of grazing; Conversion to silage or hay crop.

Based on the apparent preferences of golden plovers, the following characteristics of fields should be maintained: Field size (although enlargement through removal of fences between fields should not have an adverse effect); Poor drainage (as revealed by at least some coverage of Juncus rushes); Multi-species grass community; Grazing regime to maintain a short sward less than 5 cm

Tipulid larvae abundance is also enhanced by the presence of a taller sward during the adult tipulid emergence period ( July – September); this is thought to be because taller grass prevents airborne laying females being blown away by the wind and hence encourages them to lay their eggs in a small area around their emergence site (McCracken et al., 1995; Bignal et al., 1996). Thus a grazing regime whereby livestock is put on to fields in late winter (to create a short sward) but is removed shortly before the adult tipulid emergence period begins in July (to allow a taller sward to develop and retain laying female tipulids) should create favourable conditions for feeding golden plover. In this context, fields used as ‘lambing parks’, especially where ewes and lambs (or other livestock after lambing has finished) are held until mid-June before being hefted to other areas, are likely to be favoured by golden plovers, assuming other field characteristics are compatible.

Clearly these practices should be targeted at those fields already known to be used by plovers, although, as noted earlier, identification and maintenance of suitable ‘alternative’ fields nearby should also be desirable. The proportions of all fields which are used by golden plover are so small (about 3% overall) that it should be feasible to strike a balance between maintaining sufficient suitable fields whilst still being compatible with any intensification deemed as necessary by farmers, although in some holdings the proportion of ‘plover fields’ may be locally greater. Maintenance of fields which are potentially or known to be suitable for golden plover should also benefit several other wader species which appear to have similar preferences.

The chicks obviously feed closer to the nest, and appear in NorthEast England to like patches of mixed heather and grasses, as well as wet areas. Mixed grazing of appropriate intensity to create the vegetation mosaic, as well as stopping up drains to create the wet areas, might therefore be very helpful in aiding their feeding, possibly primarily in Tipulids (according to Whittingham et al, 2001). In Swedish Lapland the pattern differed somewhat according to (Machin et al, 2001), where the chicks fed largely on Coleoptera but also  first on Tipulids on more open areas, then switched (as these ran out (?)) to Bibionids in Willow Scrub a bit later, which might also have helped to protect them from predators.

A lightning look at Crystal Pool, Cliffe

A very brief look of a minute or two at Crystal Pool, as the rain clouds rolled towards us, revealed a Herring Gull on the old woodwork, and a male Mallard together with a male Pochard, the first one for me this winter! Fantastic!

As we reached the car after our brief outing, the heavens opened. Excellent timing!

Phyllonorycter species at Dene Park

Interesting to think about leafmines at this time of year.

I found some nice blotch mines on the upper surface of Hornbeam leaves at Dene Park this afternoon, which I thought must be mines of a Phyllonorycter species from their "general look". The most likely species should be Phyllonorycter esperella, (Goeze 1783), according to the pictures on the leafminer website. The species has an old synonym, Phyllonorycter quinnata, (Geoffrey, 1785).

Phyllonorycter esperella mines are generally found first in June, then again in September-October, specifically on Hornbeam, Carpinus betulus (L.). The young mines are roundish, on the upperside (generally unusual for a leaf-mine), usually centred over a side vein, silvery with brown speckles, and they then expand to be larger ovals, often substantially contracting the leaf beneath them as they do so. All these characters seem to fit very well the mines that I found today!

The adults emerge, like many other Phyllonorycters, first in May and then again in August as a second brood.

I don't think it could be Phyllonorycter tenerella, as although this species is found on Hornbeam, it is described as being on the underside of the leaf, from the midrib to the edge of the leaf, and quite narrow, generally between only two veins.
http://calderdalemoths.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/phyllonorycter-tenerella-challange.html

Equally it is very unlikely (but not absolutely impossible) that it should be Phyllonorycter ulmifoliella, which normally feeds on the underside of Birch leaves. There is however one recorded instance of this species feeding on the upperside of Hornbeam leaves, noted in the Entomologists Record of early 2013 following the emergence of an adult from a mine collected in the autumn of 201.?

I also do not think it will be Phyllonorycter messaniella, as that is generally found on Oak, Beech or Sweet Chestnut,  and less commonly on Hornbeam. On Beech and Hornbeam this species is found on the lower surface between two adjacent veins, with a sharp fold, so again this does not really fit the majority of mines found. However there was one mine, clearly different, and I thought it was most likely to be this! It started well out from the midrib, and finished well before the leaf margin, and fitted the pictures really quite well.

Black tern at Cliffe again, even better views.

A good day, although a little bit wetter.

About 1,000 Avocets, 300 Redshank, 150 Black-tailed Godwits, 80 Lapwings, 70 Great Crested Grebes, 80 Little Grebes, 1 Pochard, 1 Tufted Duck, 12 Wigeon, 4 Shoveller, 40 Teal, 15 Mallard, 4 Cormorant, 3 Grey Heron, 1 Greenshank, 10 Greater Black-backed Gulls, 10 Herring Gulls, 40 Black-headed Gulls, 30 Dunlin.

It was lovely to see the Wigeon arriving, circling and whistling, and then settling.

And 1 Black Tern, flying well, steadily and buoyantly in the still conditions and regularly swooping down to the water surface and just the beak touching (in an on-line swoop straight ahead), possibly to drink??

Still plenty of Bumblebees and Dragonflies and a warm day!

Black tern at Cliffe

A much nicer afternoon than morning, so after getting a whole load of College admin done before lunch I headed off to Cliffe pools with Monty. On the Radar viewpoint there were about 200 Black-tailed Godwits, 12 Little Egrets, 20 Redshanks, 3 Greenshanks (including the one-legged bird), 20 Great Crested Grebes, 15 Little Grebes, and some Black-headed Gulls. Across on the Ski Pool there were about 70 Shelduck, 49 Avocets and some Greater Black-backed and Herring Gulls amongst the Black-headed Gulls.

And then I saw a Black Tern over the back of the Ski Pool, noting the quite even grey of the uppersides, the grey breast smudge more visible in flight, the white forehead and black cap, and the slightly forked tail. I was also struck by the generally easy and steady flight, not making a lot of ground speed, quite bouncy and occasionally twisting and swooping down to close to the water surface and then back up again. I now think that it would have been taking insects from above the water surface, although at the time I thought that it was searching for fish and failing! This all ties in with its reported diet, mainly insects but also with small fish and amphibians on the breeding grounds and a mix of insects and fish on migration and on the wintering grounds.

After a while I trailed up towards the flamingo pool lookout, and saw the Black Tern again (unlikely I think to be a second bird), and this time it also settled on a distant rock at the near end of the Flamingo Pool.

On Flamingo there might have been another 30 Coots, 40 Great Crested Grebes and 30 Little Grebes. I also got a fleeting glimpse of an odd duck that might have been a Wigeon in eclipse.

A birder coming back from the Thames told me that there had been another half dozen black terns going West up the Thames. This seems to be a fairly typical movement for this species - I wonder where they are all heading for? Birds regularly migrate Westwards from Europe into England in the autumn (but are less regularly seen on the return trip). Presumably they then head South down the coast of Europe and perhaps the Atlantic coast of Africa to their wintering quarters along the Western African seaboard, centred in the Gulf of Guinea. Juveniles may often accompany them, but may not make the return journey for 2 or 3 years.

The Black Tern, Chlidonias nigra, is spread across the Paleartic, with the nominate subspecies nigra breeding in Eurasia and wintering in Africa, while the subspecies surinamensis breeds in North America. They tend to be fairly gregarious and can commonly be found in groups of 2 - 20 on the breeding grounds or on migration. However they can also be found in much larger aggregations of up to thousands in certain migration points, or in Africa. Some birds may move South down the Nile and Rift valleys, perhaps wintering around the Sudan.

Spring migration of adults begins in late March, mainly via the West African coast. On reaching Spain many birds may move along a Mediterranean route while others follow the Atlantic coast, of which some may be seen in Britain. The "Sudanese" winterers come back up the Nile, and may join the main stream of migration as some of them on the Mediterranean route move Eastwards along the Northern coast of Africa before moving across to Eurasia.

The breeding grounds seem to be under some threat due to habitat loss, but the species is not declining fast enough to be considered threatened (by extinction). Interesting that the species can be declining and generally disappearing from specific areas, but not thought to be under threat! The birds arrive in a group at the possible breeding area, and explore it, finally settling to jointly build the nest - a pad of vegetation on the marsh or water or a scrape on the drier ground - and laying only about 3 days later. There are some great behaviours described in BWP, and overall it is a fascinating bird.

Courtship is primarily monogamous, at least for the current season. Courtship is both aerial and ground-based. There is generally only one clutch, of 2 - 4 eggs which take about 21 - 22 days to hatch. The young are precocial and nidifugous. They are fed by both parents (up to 80 times a day), and also brooded for the first week or so, staying in the nest itself for only 2-3 days, then wandering further as they explore the area around the nest site, and then heading off into the surrounding vegetation.  They start to fledge after about 19 days and are capable of independent feeding and then flight from about 25 days old.

Oare Marshes

3 or 4 Ruffs, Philomachus pugnax, some juveniles, 1 poss adult. 500 Black-tailed Godwits and about the same number of wonderful Golden Plover. Dozens of Teal, some Shovellers, a few Redshank, about a hundred Lapwing, all on the main scrape, an amazing place to see birds close-up. No photos unfortunately.

Warmer Cliffe

About 500 Avocets, 500 Black-tailed Godwits, 20 plus Great Crested Grebes, same again of Little Grebes, at least a dozen Little Egrets, a few Redshanks. 

Cooler Cliffe

400 or so Avocet (fantastic site wheeling about), 100+ Redshank, 50+ Lapwing, 20+ Great Crested Grebes, 15+ Little Grebe, 60+ coot, 2 Goldfinch, 20+Black-headed Gull, 3 Black-Tailed Godwits.

Warkworth Sunday

Fantastic walk along the beach. Sandwich and I think Common Tern, Common and Artic Skua, Black-headed Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gull, Redshank, Curlew, Turnstone, Curlew, Dunlin, Red-throated Diver, Eider, Cormorant,

There were about a flock of about 50 finches in the dunes inland of the beach - I hoped for Linnets but the could all have been Goldfinches.

After I trudged quickly back down the beach South to the old harbour, little more was seen until I reached the river estuary and followed the muddy offshoot of the Coquet (locally known as the Gut, I think) towards the dune slacks overlooked by the picnic site where I had left the car. On the Gut itself there were Black-headed and Herring Gulls, lots of redshank and a single curlew. I saw one Lapwing overflying, but the walk had now turned into a bit more of a route-march to try to get back to the house at a reasonable time - and to have some breakfast!

Holly Blues at Cliffe

There were at least half a dozen second brood Holly Blues in a very short walk to the scoping view over ?? pool so there must have been lots over the reserve as a whole. I can't remember having seen them in the garden yet. The ones I saw over a month ago would have been first brood.

The second brood is different in that the female has very dark wing edges, a feature most noticeable when I got a flash of upperwing at last, too quick to photograph.

The underwing pattern is a diffuse scattering of small spots over the pale surface, with a nice thin "eyebrow" mark in the middle. In fact the spots are quite a consistent pattern, although this is a little difficult to describe in words. Nice second brood individuals. The legs are gorgeously patterned (rather in the style of Cruella De Ville) and the antennal tips look like expired sparklers with their white ashy tips. On the forewing you can see the "eyebrow" of this wing easily, and if you look at the edge of the fore wing you can see the dark chequer marks along the margin, which are not really repeated on the hindwing.

A windy St Margaret's at Cliffe

When I arrived at the Dover Patrol memorial it was still rather misty, cool and windy. As the afternoon progressed it got a bit warmer and drier, but the windspeed didn't drop at all, making butterfly ID and photography very difficult.

The first butterfly I saw on the path towards Kingdown was a tattered Marbled White, Melanargia galathea (L.). I think maybe these are coming towards the end of their season, as I haven't seen them elsewhere in the last few weeks.

There were also a number of Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers scattered by the wind. The Meadow Browns when put up fluttered frantically across the wind and then crashed down close to the ground in amongst the grass.

Here is a very tattered Gatekeeper, probably a female - from the lack of the large brown smudge in the centre of the forewings.

There were Large and Small Whites as well, and here is a Large White male.

I took a couple of shots of the Everlasting Peas and to my shame when I looked the photos I realised I had missed two moths and even a silver-spotted skipper!! Poor observational skills:

Bumblebees were in good numbers despite the windspeed. One species fairly commonly seen was the Red-tailed Bumblebee, Bombus lapidarius, and I was really pleased to see my first definite Queen this summer (there was also a probable at Queensdown yesterday). The Queens are huge compared to the workers:

I checked the antennal segments on the left antenna (the right one was missing oddly enough) and there were only 10 flagellar segments as expected in a female.

I also checked that the  rear leg had a pollen basket

As in most sites I've visited recently, there were good numbers of the Sothern Vestal Cuckoo Bumblebee, Bombus vestalis, and many of the ones I've been able to sex have been males, as this one is also. You can see the smokiness of the wings blocking the colour of the knapweed head behind that is characteristic of cuckoo species. You can also see the hind of yellow where the white tail hairs are separated from the black hairs of the front of the abdomen characteristic of vestalis, and the partial yellow band on the front hair of the abdomen that is often found. The rear legs are generally hairy as characteristic of male Bombus.

Here is the same bee extending out its front leg to fend off intruders - a characteristic attitude when approached by other bees or other insects:

While photographing the Bumblebees, the camera also picked up the tiny flea beetles on the Knapweed:

There were also good numbers of the Hogweed Bonking Beetle, Rhagonycha fulva, paired up on the Hogweed flowers,

And a single Oedemera nobilis on a Field Bindweed flower,

There were a very good range of flowers on the clifftops. Here is a harebell, Campanula rotundifolia (L.): A delicate perennial with graceful, slender stems, usually in clusters, rising in height from 4-15 in. The stems can be weak so that the entire plant bends over. Its rounded, basal leaves wither early while the narrow, stem leaves remain. Blue-violet bell-shaped flowers hang singly or in clusters along the top parts of nodding, thread-like, mostly unbranched stems that grow in small patches. The nodding, bell-shaped, lavender flowers are borne in loose clusters at stem tips.

The genus name, from the Latin campana (bell), means little bell. The name Harebell may allude to an association with witches, who were believed able to transform themselves into hares, portents of bad luck when they crossed a persons path. In Scotland, another old name for this plant was Witches Thimble. The characteristics of this perennial vary considerably, depending on habitat conditions, ranging from Scottish hills to Kentish chalk downlands. Harebells can be seen in many areas of the UK, being found in a wide range of habitats including heaths, dry sandy banks, and grassy places on poor shallow soils. They thrive on both acid and chalk soils.

This is Field Scabious, Knautia arvensis, and I think most of the plants I saw today are actually this species. I do also need to keep my eye out for the Small Scabious, Scabiosa columbaria, which is superficially very similar.

Clouded Yellows at Queendown

Garden bumbling

I spent a few minutes in the back garden this afternoon and tried to take e few close-ups of Bumblebees. There was one very tired and worn Red-tailed Bumblebee, Bombus lapidarius (L.), and a rather more lively Common Carder Bee, Bombus pascuorum.

This is the (dying?) Red-tailed Bumblebee photographed. Here is a reasonable shot of the hind leg and the pollen basket:

This is the Carder Bumblebee photographed. The antennae have ten segments in the flagellae, and the hind legs are clearly modified into pollen baskets, each with just with a few pollen grains here (in the second picture), making this one a good sized worker. This one is in quite reasonable condition.

The Bumblebee tongue is amazing:

Here you get another view of the ancillary mouthparts:

Queendown the third - another small copper and Helophilus trivitattus!

Guidance on telling the Brown Argus, Aricia agestes, from the female Common Blue, Polyommatus icarus, can be found on this website, http://www.glaucus.org.uk/BflyBlues03.html.

Here are a couple of heavily cropped shots of what is definitely a Brown Argus, probably a male, bacuse the spots on the forewing upper don't quite reach to the front of the wing:

My photos do seem a bit soft at the moment. I'm not sure whether this is because I'm using a small aperture, or because of the high ISO, or because of the high degree of cropping I'm having to do. So I'm going to up the lens in order to reduce the amount of cropping required. I'll also consider buying a Canon lens to see if the quality of the lens makes any difference.

I find it truly remarkable that this butterfly was once really quite restricted in its distribution and threatened in the UK. Luckily it seems to have benefited greatly from warmer temperatures and is now able to take advantage of a wider range of food plants in newer parts of the country.

I noticed two apparently male Brown Argus behaving oddly. The front one, smaller, and a lot less worm was apparently displaying mate refusal signals. He/she was quivering his/her wings and had pointed the tip of the abdomen vertically upwards in what I believe is known as the mate refusal posture, normally exhibited by mated females who "wish to be alone". The two remained in this sort of position for about a minute before the rear one flew off.

It then took about 10 seconds for the front one to stop its quivering and posturing, and then it eventually flew off as well.

Where am I going wrong? Were they both really males, as I interpreted the wing patterns, in which case why was the front one exhibiting mate refusal posture? Is that normal behaviour for males to do?

Or was the front one actually a female, with the orange spots not quite reaching to the front of the fore-wing? In which case how accurately can one really identify gender in Brown Arguses, including that of the rear one in these photos?

This butterfly, on the other hand, is a female Common Blue, from its white edgings to the orange spots on the rear wing, the whitish spots on the front of the forewing, and the lack of a clear dark mark in the centre of the forewing. Confirmation can be obtained from the spots seen fairly near the body on the underside of the forewing.

The Brown Argus is on its second brood, by a couple of weeks. It should be egg-laying and I would hope to see females fluttering about at low level looking for lush shoots of Rock Rose, Helianthemum nummularium plants to lay on.

As yesterday, there was one gorgeous Small Copper, Lycaena phlaeas, to be seen. This one was actively feeding on Marjoram, Origanum vulgare (L.), probing different flowers on one head very busily. I could not tell whether this was a male or a female, although I would have thought it might have had more rounded wings, making it a female. The subspecies found in the UK is Lycaena phlaeas eleus, first defined by Fabricius in 1798 in Germany, as opposed to the type named in Sweden. Amongst other things he described the antennae as brown, white ringed, with a black, oblong club, tip rust-coloured [although the base of the antennae actually looks white on the underside, on the basal half, as seen in the second picture]. Its really nice to see the copper hairs on the frons, and the dark chocolate brown of the eyes.

The primary larval foodplants are Common Sorrel (Rumex acetosa) particularly on calcareous soils and Sheep's Sorrel (Rumex acetosella) particularly on acid soils. Broad-leaved Dock (Rumex obtusifolius) is also used very occassionally - possibly when the sorrels are affected by drought. "Forewings dark brown with a bright reddish yellow discal region with large black spots, grey beneath with a reddish orange discal region with (small?) black eyespots. Hindwings greatly notched and generally twin-tailed, dark brown, with a bright band with short teeth, reddish yellow, grey beneath with minute black spots and a faint reddish yellow outer band" (Fabricius, 1798).

Today I must have seen hundreds of Meadow Browns, Maniola jurtina, all of which seemed to be feeding on the abundant nectar sources available. Here is a nice female on Wild Rosemary: