Birding and other distractions

After failing to find White-letter Hairstreak at Rede Common (Strood) last week I tried my luck at Northward Hill for this species. The weather was far from ideal when I arrived, being windy and generally overcast. I was not very hopeful but there was the odd sunny interval so persevered.  The spot where the butterfly had been seen by others had a couple each of Comma, Red Admiral and Silver-washed Fritillary, but no hairstreaks. Walking further on I came to the southern edge of the wood which had many elm saplings/small trees as shown in the picture below. This looked ideal and within 15 minutes I found the first hairstreak. The weather improved in the afternoon with longer sunny intervals and this side of the wood was also quite sheltered from the wind. Other butterflies appeared including Green-veined White, Ringlet, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, and a single Small Copper. A total of four White-letter Hairstreaks were seen, generally at about head height on the elms, though on a...

A beautiful sunny morning, though a depressing start to the day when checking out the Sandwich Tern colony on Burntwick Island, viewed from the shore at Grain. Serious disturbance had been reported the previous morning as a result of two individuals landing on the island. We hoped that some adult terns may have returned to the colony, but it appeared to be deserted. Truly awful. Things could only get better after that and Murray and I went to Allhallows, and a particular area I had not visited before.  The adjacent small golf course has some rich flower meadows in the 'rough' full of knapweed, field scabious, yarrow and many others. A juvenile cuckoo flew up from this area and landed in a bush nearby. The bird had brownish upperparts though blackish barring on the head and breast. Another cuckoo was later seen in the same area, thought to be an adult female. The beach is attractive and very clean, with an impressive salt marsh backing onto it. After earlier reports we checked t...

Encouraged by reports of spotted redshanks, wood sandpiper and a rumoured red-footed falcon I went to Cliffe in the afternoon. I didn't see any of those waders (or a red-foot) but 100+ avocets and several black-tailed godwits were nice, though too far away for the camera.  A kingfisher was seen by the pond near the bottom of Allen's Hill. Everywhere I go this year and where there is suitable habitat I am seeing lots of common whitethroats, Cliffe being no exception. You couldn't miss them in the bushes either side of the road leading to the first viewing mound, with occasional song and especially the Dartford warbler like alarm call being heard.  A lesser whitethroat also gave its distinctive rattling song. As a boy living in the village I used to find common lizards near the Creek fairly regularly in the summer. Also good numbers of slow-worms. I still see the odd slow-worm in the area but haven't seen lizards for years. Until today that is when I was pleased to see th...

Two nature reserves near Croydon, Hutchinson's Bank is especially well known for butterflies. The weather was less than ideal on this visit, mostly cloudy with the occasional short sunny interval. Nevertheless butterfly sightings included good numbers of Small Blue and Marbled White at Hutchinsons Bank, especially the area in and around the 'Scrape' shown below. Other butterflies included Large Skipper, Meadow Brown, Small Heath, Small Tortoiseshell and the first Ringlets for the year.  Chapel Bank is well known for Dark Green Fritillary, and did not disappoint in this respect. At least 10 individuals were seen, all quite fresh in appearance. However, try as I might I couldn't get an underwing shot. An odd id tip for upperwing views of DGF is that the black markings on the (inner) right forewing depict the numbers 1358 if you use your imagination. The very similar High Brown Fritillary lacks this, although the species does not occur in the east.

A lovely morning so did the late BBS survey at Boxley Warren, as it turns out the only visit this year in view of the lockdown when the early one would normally have been done. The highlight was two Ravens which flew along the top of the escarpment and landed on a pylon. They were very vocal as is often the case with this species. Other notable birds included two Buzzards, and two each of Lesser Whitethroat / Common Whitethroat. Whilst walking round I found a richly coloured female Adder laying out in the sun, perhaps the individual I saw in the same spot last summer.

I walked down the banks keeping my eyes open for butterflies.  A single Marbled White and two Small Skippers were the first of the year for each species.  Although not taken using the macro lens one image I obtained showed the diagnostic antennal pattern whereby the underside of the tips is not black as in the case of Essex Skipper. What I thought was a Brown Argus showed more blue colouration on the wings when I examined a photo taken, making me wonder if this was a female Common Blue. But checking up later confirmed this is a Brown Argus, which can sometimes show a blue sheen on the wing, as seen here. Moving on to the valley a male adder was seen briefly, having seen me first and so disappeared into the undergrowth.  Two beautiful female slow-worms were under the refugium.  Further on in EF one male adder was seen well, which however moved away after a short while.  

I did a WeBS count for Hoo marsh today. The marsh is very dry after the lack of rain in May so waterbirds were thin on the ground. Just one lapwing was seen suggesting they have had a bad breeding season. Also two Avocet and two Oystercatcher, one of the latter sitting on a nest. On the way back it was nice to see at least eight House Martins flying around the fishing lakes. I checked the site for Wall Lizards. A few spots of rain had started to fall so not the ideal conditions for these sun loving reptiles. I did see two, the first a male hiding in cracks of the wall. I have never before observed the blue spots along the flanks as in this individual. However, it is apparently not unusual for males to show this during the breeding season. The second lizard was a female which dashed out briefly to catch an insect.

Reputedly one of the best places in the country to see Black Hairstreak and as weather conditions were ideal I headed off early to this site. The reserve is a mixture of blackthorn scrub and mature woodland. Within 10 minutes of entering the wood I had seen the first hairstreak, and saw many more during the course of the morning, often very close as they nectared on bramble flowers. Other insects included this attractive Large Red Damselfly. Birds included  a single Red Kite, marsh tit, and three yellow wagtails in a nearby field with cows.