I have been busy with work but before and after have been doing some smalll mammal survey work at Wicken Fen. Lots of hard work but with cracking results with at least 5 water shrews caught. There were plenty of bank voles, wood mice common shrews and a lone pygmy shrew. Plenty of roe deer and muntjac seen as well.
22nd September
With an excellent weather forcats in North Wales I set off on Friday night for another crack at the Risso's dolphins. With a very busy week of early mornings I had to stop for some sleep, the Heddlu kindly checked what I was up to and convinced my mad plan would not be hurting anyone else let me be. I arrived at the coastguard lookout at dawn, the conditions were significantly better than last week. I set up my gear ready for another 12 hour stint. I was quickly onto a mixed feeding flock of auks, gannets and gulls and with them harbour porpoises some 5 or so. And further away there was another feeding flock again with half a dozen harbour porpoises and they were pretty much attending every feeding flock all day. As I settled in for some breakfast a dotterel wandered up to my position. It was quite confiding and allowed me to get some great photos before it wandered off. Choughs were ever present and a group of buzzards hung around for a while. The peregrine was hunting a movement of meadow pipits. The hours passed with nothing happening apart for a wheatear showing on and off. Mid afternoon I finally had something of interest, some cetaceans distant way off the west of Bardsey island but they came a little closer and they were indeed Risso's dolphins a pod of about 15 or so After a while a boat came from Bardsey Island presumably the WDCS researchers to see them close up. The dolphins never came closer but were showing for almost 2 hours and I headed home via the chip shop after a cracking day.
20th September
Helping on the Mink project locally and one was caught today and one was also caught tomorrow. Some local muntjac digiscoped feeding in a stuble field was nice.
15th September
Bardsey Island is a hot spot for Risso's Dolphins, so I headed for the headland opposite for a days seawatching to search for them. The weather was worse than the forecast I had read the day before and very strong wind made it difficult. 12 hours seawatching was not very productive, when I did spot some cetaceans they were harbour porpoises. The choughs did entertain over 50 of them along with some ravens and a peregrine. I will have to visit again in better conditions.
11th September
With a prompt finish from work I headed to the Ouse Washes for the second time within a couple of weeks. The Kingfisher hide was unusually busy with people looking for the white rumped sandpiper. The great white egret was quickly located, but the spoonbill was hiding and could only be spotted when flushed by one of the marsh harriers. After a short white someone located the white rumped sandpiper in what was a wader fest with 14 species being present including turnstone and knot. A hobby occasionally flushed the smaller waders in search of some food. A couple of kingfishers and a little gull finished off the visit. With enough light I headed to Wicken Fen and after a short walk was soon on to the pectoral sandpiper as dusk approached I retreated, with Autumn approaching evening birding will start to come to an end, but hopefully one or two things will appear before then.
10th September
It was not until mid afternoon after sorting out work commitments I made it to Rainham, after a short wait the Baillon's crake showed very well, apparently the best view of the day and brought relief to the amassed crowd. Exhausted after the previous day I did not look for water voles too hard but saw a couple of marsh frogs and a Caspian gull on the river before heading home.
9th September
With commitments early Sunday it was not until mid afternoon when I reached Portland, probably about the same time as the sun left and the Monarch that had been showing so well was roosting high in a tree. The possibility of sun arriving was low so I headed for Lodmoor for a look at the short billed dowicher which was also roosting not showing at all well and showing no signs of moving soon. I was on a schedule so I left for my pre arranged trip to Devon. After some deep fried chipped potatoes, I headed to the site for tea and biscuits with the owners before setting up. Heavy rain had me move to the boot of my estate car viewing the feeders from this dry spot was actually quite pleasant, but my quarry was not showing apart from the odd quick glimpse. Just after midnight the rain eased and the hazel dormouse decided to visit the feeders and showed well a few times but the returning rain put pay to any prolonged action. I gave in and headed to Buckfastleigh for some bats. I arrived at the church and set up just as heavy rain arrived, I persevered a while but had only spotted one greater horseshoe bat before I was beaten. As I drove back through the village I saw at distance what I thought was a polecat but as I approached it was an otter, just near the Abbey inn, the only other mammal of interest was a brown rat also in the village. I headed home after a strange day in which I saw all the targets just not as well as hoped.
8th September
A small mammal trapping survey of a local farm produced bank vole and wood mouse as expected but also a single field vole, common shrew and yellow necked mouse, other commitments prevented me from going anywhere else.
th September
As we arrived home late a polecat was running down the road at the edge of the village. An hour later I had been picked up by Simon West and John Dixon for the Pilot Whale trip pt2. I awoke at the border and it was not long after we were searching the Firth of Forth. A few hours searching hte sites from the previous day gave a brief view of two long finned pilot whales but we could not locate them. But eventually under the road bridge we located a pod of long finned pilot whales but they were never close but they were almost always on view and we followed them up the Forth at a few sites until late afternoon when it was clear they were not coming close in shore we headed for home.
th September
With a stranding of Pilot whales in the Firth of Forth, John Dixon and myself headed north, taking John's car as mine had broken down the last two times I ventured north of the border. We arrived just after dawn and after avoiding unhelpful police we were on the cliff inspecting the carnage below. The rescued whales ahnd the rest of the pod were nowhere to be seen, but had headed up the Forth so that is where we continued our search and over the next few hours we stopped at plenty of sites some including particularly dodgy ones, but no whales were spotted. We corssed the bridge to the south shore but crucially we did not stop, (it was here the whales were later in the day) no whales at any of the south shore sites, but a nice velvet scoter and a couple of seals, both grey and common were present. We stopped at Burnmouth for butterflies, but wall was the only species of note. We headed home only to discover our error.
30th August
An evening visit to the Ouse Washes to see the current Little Egret and Garganey spectacular, bumping into James Hanlon who had seen 127 Garganey whetted my appetite. I dodged the showers and made it to Grose Hide where the glossy ibis flew in on que. The Kingfisher hide produced the high count of Gargany, I lost count a 100, and dozens of little egrets.
25th August
A cracking day in the Forest of Dean with Simon West and local expert Ben Locke. Our first site drew a blank but the pleasant weather was good for butterflies amongst other insects. The second site we found our target wild boar we had located a group of 10 youngsters and they were very accomodating. We kept with them for well over an hour and got some good photos before we let them be. An ice cream was in order so we headed to Cannop Ponds and watched a nice raven and a few mandarins. We continued our search but could only find fallow deer and as the light faded we headed for a bat roost. As we arrived lesser horseshoe bats were flying about near the roost and showed well we also had a common pipistrelle and one we could not ID, the only other thing of note was a fox in London as I dropped Simon home.
with good weather
17th August
With a trip to South Essex already organised for the evening I left work early and headed to West Canvey Marsh RSPB, here a few southern migrant hawkers have been present. Its was not long before I located one and then another, but they were tricky to photograph in rather breezy conditions, but one did eventually land for a few moments. Then I was off to a badger watch which is always a treat and the performed very well with 7 individuals showing very well and were quite photogenic.
28th July
I once again headed to London to find Aesculapian snakes, the weather conditions were ideal and after a couple of hours searching I spotted an olive lump in some vegetation which on close inspection was a snake. It was very well hidden and difficult to photograph. I kept a watch incase it moved and it did when a dog got a little too close and I got a few photos, the dogs owner looked very urprises but I assured her they were harmless and that they kept the rats and mice down she seems much happier with that news. More exotics were on the menu down in Ashford where an eagle owl of unknown origin has taken up residence. It was dozing on a ledge not doing too much. I visited anoth site on the way back north, here I found a grass snake, three adders and several slow worms. Butterflies of note chalkhill blue and marbled white. A quick stop at connaught water on the way home for some mandarin ducks.
24th July
After a bag of chips, I met Simon West for a few hours at Wendover Woods, as dusk arrived a few common pipistrelle bats started to show and then we heard the first Edible dormouse. Several were located quite easily in excellent conditions and we even had a couple which sat nicely - What a great evening.
22nd July
A few hours in London looking for the Aesculapian snakes without any luck. At home a pygmy shrew was running round the front room, it either walked in or was brought in by the cat. I caught it and released it after a few photos.
21st July
Following up on previous reports of Southern Emerald Damselflies at Cliffe RSPB I paid a visit. The weather was pleasant for a change and odonta were out in force. Emerald and Scarce Emerald were both abundant and I eventually located a Southern Emerald after about 1 hour and went in for the photo and fell in the ditch, magic! The sun dried me out but I did not locate any more, but had a nice grass snake. There was a mass emergence of darters which was quite impressive. I visited a site on the way home for adders and slow worms both easily seen.
14th July
A day out in North Kent with James Hunter, where at his house were a nice collection of moths trapped overnight, a cracking privet hawkmoth the pick. We then embarked on several stops to see some orchids, Broad leaved helleborines just beginning to flower, green leaved helleborines still in bud, thousands of pyramidal orchids, and a couple of Lizard orchids and during a bright period we even managed a white admiral. But then the heavens opened and our luck ran out as we arrved on Sheppy, so not insects were located and no sign of the quail at Elmley. And we also failed trying to catch a mitten crab, but we probably got the best of a terrible day weather wise.
12th July
With some fine weather I headed to Reedham and Lopham Fen after work, but as I arrived so did the clouds, I had had no response to my e-mails from the reserve staff so skipped the £ 1 parking donation in protest. I searched for the affectionately named "paddy" the Black tailed prairie dog, I found the area but the vegetation was a little high and he was only spotted briefly. A few Odonta were about and a roe deer was nice, several fledglings showed that this season was not a complete washout. A couple of fen raft spiders were easily found on a couple of the ponds on the spider trail. On the return to the car I encountered the cows used to graze the area, I managed to get between the small group of calves sleeping and the adults grazing as that was where the path was and the adults did not like this and charged, I ducked under an electric fence out of their way and got round them. But how stupid to put calves in an open part of the reserve like this, the cows should be fenced off when with calves. I got back to the car as the rain started, after a poor evening on a rather poorly run reserve I headed for home.
7th July
A local weasel and a leveret the highlights of a rather damp day when I only ventured out to see the Olympic torch.
5th July
Another noctule count, with a brief stop at Eldernell to see and hear the cranes which oblighed on both counts. While waiting for the bats to emerge, I took delight in watching 50 or so swifts displaying, the Noctule count was 68 and I had 20 emerge at once - cracking.
