Seawatching

With a fairly decent northerly blow taking place, I put in a couple of stints of seawatching yesterday afternoon and this morning, with the main highlights being a Long-tailed Skua, Sooty Shearwater, Puffin and Arctic Tern which were all new for the year.

 

Good numbers of Arctic and Great Skuas were also noted, along with a few Manx Shearwaters. Kittiwakes, Fulmars and Gannets were also on the move along with a few Common Scoter, Wigeon and Teal. Good numbers of mainly Sandwich Terns were also passing by along with a few common wader species.

Shoveler

Another trip into Felbrigg today produced the surprise of a Shoveler on the lake, the first on the patch this year. Also new in were a Teal, a Tufted Duck and a drake Gadwall had joined the female. I must admit I'm getting a bit paranoid as to the origins of wildfowl on the lake given the situation with the Swans there, with the Mutes now up to 21, but I guess I'll give the ducks the benefit of the doubt for now.

 

Another search around for the Red-veined Darters again drew a blank, but this red-veined Common Darter was a potential trap for the unwary.

 

 

At least a dozen Migrant Hawkers were regulary hanging up in their favourite oaks, sadly mostly up too high to get a really nice pic but the odd one did land a bit lower down.

 

Small Red-eyed Damselflies at Felbrigg

Made a couple of further visits in the last few days to Felbrigg to see if I could find some more Red-veined Darters, and although unsuccessful so far I was delighted to find several Small Red-eyed Damselflies whilst I was searching. I hadn't seen any here last year and was fearing they had died out so I was very pleased to see they were still present.

Another welcome surprise was finding an Emerald Damselfly, the first one I've ever seen at Felbrigg, and only the second one I've ever seen on the patch. It stayed a bit distant along the reed edge but allowed a record shot to be taken to document the occurrence.

A Banded Demoiselle was also present which is also a very scarce species in the park, and during the course of checking all the Darters seen I found my first Ruddy Darter of the year too. Emperors, Black-tailed Skimmers, Brown Hawkers and Southern Hawkers were all also seen, along with numerous Common Darters.

Common Blue and Blue-tailed Damselflies were also present around the lake, and then a check of the trees where Migrant Hawkers like to hang-out produced about half a dozen including the one below.

 

On the lake the Mute Swans had been 're-stocked' back up to 19, and the Whooper Swan had returned to the lake to join them. A Gadwall was present in amongst the Mallard flock and several Reed Warblers were still in the reedbed. A (family?) flock of 6 Common Buzzards were circling high up over the park, and Crossbills were heard flying over.

Elsewhere a couple of Bonxies were seen passing by, and up to 5 Swifts were feeding over the village and seafront.

Red-veined Darters emerge at Felbrigg

Having neglected Felbrigg for a while I decided to head over there today to see what was about in the park.

 

What appeared was going to be a pretty uneventful visit, aside from a Little Grebe on the lake, improved as I got to the south-east corner of the lake and flushed a few teneral Darters out of the grass. Fortunately one of them landed a little way ahead so I slowly approached it and upon getting near was immediately struck by the pale blue-grey lower half to its eyes, a feature that I was aware was indicative of Red-veined Darter.

 

As I was however unsure as to the eye colour of freshly emerged Common Darters, I thought that it maybe only wishful thinking, especially as I noted another nearby which again had the same coloured eyes. Anyway I thought the best course of action was to get a few snaps and then check the literature later.

 

A quick look at the books didn't imediately help and I nearly just let them go as just Common Darters, however logging on to the Dragonfly forum the next day I was greeted by photos of a freshly emerged Red-veined Darter from Hampshire which was a dead ringer for my own! So I quickly uploaded my own photos and had it confirmed that indeed they were Red-veined Darters too.

 

I guess in a way it was a bit annoying that I'd failed to find any here during the influx earlier this year given that they were obviously present, but it was nice to know that they had successfully bred, and it was of course very satisfying to have confirmed this. One can only speculate as to how many have emerged here during the last few days, especially with the blisteringly hot weather over the weekend, but naturally I'll be checking every darter very carefully during my next few visits to the park.

 

Aside from the eye colour, the photos below (of an immature male) show the yellow veins along the leading edge of the wing, and the black on the face extending down the sides of the frons like a drooping moustache, which is a feature not present in Common Darter.

 

Pied Flycatcher

Migration through the patch has been pretty slow so far, with a single Wheatear on the Golf Course in the week the only notable occurrence. However things took a turn for the better this evening with a Pied Flycatcher at Sidestrand.

 

Butterflies have become a bit more evident in the recent warmer weather, with notable sightings including Wall on the cliffs at Trimingham, a single Common Blue by the Lighthouse which is a species which unusually has been ultra scarce on the patch this year, and there's also been a nice influx of Peacocks too.

Common Darters are also becoming widespread in recent days, including this pair in copulation.

Quail

With news of a Quail at Northrepps emerging, although disappointingly 6 days into its stay, I headed up to Hungry Hill this evening to try to locate it. Although there were numerous cereal fields in the area, an educated guess at its likely field quickly paid off as when whilst walking along the roadside it was heard singing only a short way into the barley. Over the course of the next half hour it gave a couple more bursts of song, and although as usual it offered no prospect of a glimpse, it was still a welcome new bird for the year.

Alpine Swift

The month got off to an excellent start with an Alpine Swift gracing the patch yesterday. Initially very mobile, I first caught up with it over Sheringham, before it finally settled down over Beeston Bump in the evening. Remarkably its now the sixth one that I've seen over the Bump, and the seventh in total for the patch, but was also notable for being the first outside of the spring period.

As it continued to linger, I popped back for a couple of hours today during which time it put in a few brief appearances viewable from the top of the Bump, allowing for a few record shots to be obtained, a montage of which are included below.

South Coast

With summer having temporarily arrived, I made a quick day trip down to the south coast last week with my first destination being the New Forest for a spot of dragonflying.

Crockford Stream was my first port of call, which proved to be a really excellent spot. Walking from the car park at Crockford Bridge down to the stream, the heath was found to be alive with Silver-studded Blues flitting across the heather in the rapidly rising heat.

Nearing the stream Small Red Damselflies started to be encountered, and then shortly after I found my first target of the day, a Southern Damselfly in the bog myrtle bordering the stream, with up to half-a-dozen more found around the small area which I concentrated on during the ensuing couple of hours or so, including a pair in cop.

Walking around more Small Red Dams were found, Keeled Skimmers made the odd fly-past and numerous Beautiful Demoiselles danced away over the stream and perched up in the vegetation.

Then a large dragonfly appeared along the stream. and after a game of cat and mouse trying to get a good look at it, it finally gave itself up to reveal that it was my second hoped-for species a Golden-ringed Dragonfly. Two or three were seen buzzing around the area with the occasional clash in flight between them, but thankfully they also regularly perched up allowing a few pics to be obtained.

I then moved on to the nearby Silver Stream/Ober Water area where yet more Small Red Damselflies were encountered.

A couple more Golden-ringed Dragonflies were seen, and Keeled Skimmers were numerous around the streams and pools and on the heath in general. A couple of Redstarts were seen along the forest edge along with a Spotted Flycatcher, and further along White-legged Damelflies were numerous along Ober Water.

It was then on to Durlston Country Park for a spot of Butterflying and after a bit of searching to find the most productive area I managed to locate my final target of the trip Lulworth Skipper. The females were fairly easy to pick out with their distinctive light crescent in the wing, but the males were pretty indistinct, although they were a noticably dingier colour compared to the brighter orange of our other skippers, and with some, such as the male picured below, also ghosting the wing pattern of the females.

 Numerous other butterflies were seen around the park including this fresh Small Blue.

Good numbers of Marbled Whites were also seen, although like most of the other butterflies seen, they rarely landed in the sunny and hot weather, so I just grabbed a quick record shot of one which paused briefly.

This Large White also paused briefly to feed before heading off along the clifftop.

Birdwise a juv Black Redstart was on the cliffs, Shags were on the sea, and Ravens and Peregrines were present too.

Purple Hairstreak

Highlight of a walk round Felbrigg Park yesterday was this stunning Purple Hairstreak which I discovered in the meadow to the south of the lake. After a wait of over an hour and a half during which time it just sat motionless in the grass, it eventually opened up its wings briefly to display its purple sheen.

Also around the park, my first Gatekeepers and Small Skippers of the year were also evident, as were a few freshly emerged Small Coppers.

What appeared to be a Migrant Hawker was flushed up from vegetation but quickly disappeared up into the trees, but this Common Darter and Broad-bodied Chaser were more co-operative.

Birdwise a Green Sandpiper was feeding along the lake edge, a Mandarin was in with the Mallards, and Mute Swan numbers had risen back up to seven. The Whooper Swan was as usual on the new water meadow, and a Little Owl was seen flying amongst the trees.

Brown Hawkers

A walk round Upton Fen yesterday in far from ideal weather actually proved very productive with the highlight undoubtedly being the several Brown Hawkers which had been grounded by the showers and were showing very well, allowing me to get the best ever photos I've got of the species.

Both Black-tailed Skimmers and Four-spotted Chasers also gave good views trying to dry out between the showers.

My first Common Darters of the year were also seen, and in a brief sunny interlude a Norfolk Hawker was watched patrolling one of the ditches and I managed to grab a digiscoped image whilst it briefly perched.

Damselflies seen included a few Variables along with my first Emeralds of the year, and a few butterflies were also noted, including this Comma which like the dragonflies was also trying to dry out between the showers.

White Admiral

A walk down to the lake in Felbrigg Park today produced the surprise of a White Admiral briefly feeding on brambles before towering up high into the trees. Good numbers of Meadows Browns were out, and also the first Ringlets seen there this year were also evident.

The usual dragonflies were in evidence, including a female Emperor ovipositing in the new water meadow, but birdwise it was pretty quiet apart from the resident Whooper Swan.

Robin Abel R.I.P

It was with deep sadness that I learned on Friday of the death of Robin Abel who passed away in his sleep this week aged only 59. I'd known Robin for many many years, and as recently as last weekend had spent an hour in his company at Beeston whilst we tried to relocate an Alpine Swift which was hopefully heading that way. The fact that he was out scouring the coast for it typified his dedication to his Norfolk year list which he pursued with a tireless enthusiasm year in year out which could only be admired.

Although its a phrase too often used, Robin really was one of the nice guys on the countys birding scene, and upon arriving at a twitch he would be one of the few trusted people I'd head for to find out the gen. He will be sorely missed by many and of course our thoughts are with his family and friends.

Robin (nearest the camera) at the Winterton Black Lark, April 2008

Felbrigg & Red-veined Darter

With some decent sunny and warm weather this afternoon I headed down to Felbrigg Lake just in case any Red-veined Darters were present. Arriving at the lake I was amazed to find that there was a positive wader fest going on with 5 Common and 3 Green Sandpipers present, both site record numbers as far as I can recall.

There were good numbers of dragonflies present by the lake including Black-tailed Skimmers, Emperors and Broad-bodied Chasers, with the odd one conviniently perching up on vegetation in the surrounding meadows to enable me to get a pic. 

A few Four-spotted Chasers were also present, along with the usual damselflies including these Blue-tailed in a mating wheel.

Butterflywise a few Meadow Browns were present round the park, along with this Large Skipper.

Acting on information gratefully received, I then headed off to Beeston, where I quickly found the Red-veined Darter around the Dew Pond on the Top Common where it was showing excellently. It eventually moved off from the pool and became quite mobile, but I managed to refind it again quite quickly each time I lost sight of it, as it perched up on the mown areas on the Common. With it being so obliging and having it all to myself I was able to get the photos I had hoped to get but failed to last weekend, with a selection reproduced below.