Wayne Bull's Wildlife Blog.

Sunday, 15 June 2014

New Forest Sat 14th June

We spent the day in the New forest today to see the Dragonflies and other wildlife of the area.We stopped off at Hatchet pond first as the Short toed eagle that has been moving around the south coast was in this area the day before. About 30 birders were around looking for it but it didn't show!!!
After here we headed to Crockford bridge for the dragonflies.

Emerald Damselfly

Golden Ringed Dragonfly

Emerald Damselfly

Golden Ringed Dragonfly

Southern Damselfly

Beautiful Demoiselle

Small Heath

Heath Spotted Orchid

After here we headed for Dibden bottom. The main reason was in the hope of finding the Heath Fragrant Orchid. I've searched most of the areas in the new forest where it's supposed to be for years but still not been able to find it!! I did manage to find a nice Lesser Butterfly Orchid and a single "Pulchella" early marsh orchid but was past it's best.There were also some Heath Spotted orchids around.

Lesser Butterfly Orchid

Heath Spotted Orchid

Keeled Skimmer

Silver Studded Blue

Bog Pimpernel

Dams/Drags seen today:-
Beautiful Demoiselle
Emerald Damselfly
Large Red Damselfly
Small Red Damselfly
Southern Damselfly
Golden Ringed Dragonfly
Broad Bodied Chaser
Keeled Skimmer
Common Darter

Butterflies seen today:-
Large Skipper
Silver-Studded Blue
Small Tortoiseshell
Small Heath

Orchids:-
Heath Spotted Orchid
Early Marsh Orchid"Pulchella"
Lesser Butterfly Orchid

Friday, 13 June 2014

Norfolk 10th - 13th June

Just back from a 3 day stay in Norfolk. On Tuesday 10th we spent the day looking around some of the nature reserves of the broads in the hope of seeing the Norfolk specialities, Swallowtail, Norfolk Hawker and Fen Orchid. I'm Pleased to say that we managed to see all of them.

Swallowtail

Norfolk Hawker

Variable Damselfly

Fen Orchid

Round Leaved Wintergreen

Dams/Drags seen:-
Banded Demoiselle
Large Red Damselfly
Azure Damselfly
Variable Damselfly
Blue Tailed Damselfly
Red Eyed Damselfly
Hairy Dragonfly
Norfolk Hawker 25+
Four Spotted Chaser
Black Tailed Skimmer
Common Darter

4 Fen Orchids were seen but there were probably more as I only had a look around a small area of the site. Common spotted and Southern marsh orchids were also seen. Quite a lot of Round leaved wintergreen was also seen in flower.

Butterflies seen:-
Large Skipper
Swallowtail 12
Small White
Brimstone
Red Admiral
Peacock
Small Tortoiseshell
Meadow Brown
Ringlet
Speckled Wood
Small Heath.

After looking around these sites we had a quick look at the Grey seals at Winterton. A few Marsh Harriers were also seen.

Wednesday 11th:-
We headed north today to Burnham Overy to see the Spectacled Warbler that has settled and been making a nest on the dunes at Gunhill. The bird was showing well but a bit distant.

Spectacled Warbler

Thursday 12th:-
Today we decided to head for Suffolk wildlife trusts Castle Marsh reserve bordering the river Waveney. The main reason for the visit was to see the Scarce Chaser.8+ were seen along with 10+ Norfolk Hawker, 3 Hairy Dragonflies, Four Spotted Chaser, Black Tailed Skimmer, Azure Damselflies, Variable Damsels and Large Red Damsels.
2 Chinese Water Deer were also seen here.

Reserve Sign

Scarce Chaser

Norfolk Hawker

Sunday, 8 June 2014

Black Hairstreaks 8th June

Spent a couple of hours at Whitecross green this morning in the hope of seeing some Black Hairstreaks.We arrived at the pond and it wasn't long before I spotted one feeding on Dogwood flowers. Julie then spotted another sat on Blackthorn leaves. They were quite high up so it was difficult trying to get any decent shots of them. 5+ were seen by the time we had finished here.

Black Hairstreak

Black Hairstreak on Dogwood

Black Hairstreak

Hairy Dragonfly

Common Spotted Orchid

Butterflies seen today:-
Large Skipper
Grizzled Skipper 1 in very good condition
Orange Tip
Brimstone
Black Hairstreak 5+
Common Blue
Speckled Wood
Meadow Brown

Dams/Drags seen today:-
2 Beautiful Demoiselle
Azure Damselfly
5+ Hairy Dragonflies seen flying along the rides
3 Emperor Dragonflies.2 males,1 Female. The female was seen to catch a Hairy Dragonfly in flight and was struggling to fly with it. A male then flew up to her probably trying to take it off her. She then let go of the Hairy which then managed to escape.
1 Teneral Ruddy Darter.

Lots of common Spotted orchids.

Thursday, 5 June 2014

Radley Gravel Pits/Lakes, 5th June

Spent a couple of hours here today mainly to see what Dragonflies were about. Numbers were low and the wind didn't help,keeping most things down.

Four Spotted Chaser"Praenubila"

Four Spotted Chaser

Black Tailed Skimmer

Common Blue Damselfly

Red Eyed Damselfly

Dams/Drags seen today:-
Azure Damselfly
Common Blue Damselfly
Blue Tailed Damselfly inc "Rufescens" and "Violacea"forms.
Red Eyed Damselfly
Four Spotted Chaser 4
Black Tailed Skimmer 2

Butterflies seen today:-
Brimstone
Orange Tip
Green Veined White
Common Blue
Peacock
Meadow Brown
Speckled Wood

Lots of Southern Marsh Orchids and Early Marsh Orchids still in flower but most past their best. Also Common Spotted orchid and a single Pyramidal Orchid.

Sunday, 1 June 2014

Woodwhites 1st June

As we no longer have Woodwhite in Oxfordshire you need to travel a bit if you want to see any. The closest colonies now are in the woods of Northamptonshire. So this morning we spent an hour or so in Bucknell wood near Silverstone to see them. 20+ were seen along the rides including courting pairs. A few Green veined whites were the only other butterfly species seen.

Woodwhite

Courting Woodwhites

Froghopper on Dandelion

White-faced at Whixall 31st May

I'd been checking the BDS website regularly in the last week or so to see if any White-faced Darters had emerged. There hadn't been any reports and I thought that they surely must be out by now. We have a good friend who lives in Shropshire who fortunately only lives about half an hours drive from Whixall Moss NNR, so myself and Julie decided to combine a visit.We drove to Whixall first and then spent the afternoon at our friends house.

8+ White-faced darters were seen flying around a pool, mostly males but also 2 egg laying females and 1 teneral.
10+ Four spotted chasers were flying around also Azure and Large red damsels.

2 Curlew seen flying over calling.