I have been carrying out vegetation and butterfly surveys at Bedwyn Brail in Wiltshire, this woodland block is always a pleasure to work in and I recorded three new species for the site, most exciting was an egg laying female Purple Emperor but these Chimney Sweeper and Forester moths were nice additions.
Chimney Sweeper - Bedwyn Brail, Wiltshire
Forester - Bedwyn Brail, Wiltshire
I have been carrying out extensive invertebrate surveys on Portsmouth Water sites in Hampshire and West Sussex with Adam Wright. These have produced a few interesting species including a new colony of Small Red-eyed Damselfly and a whopping count of 31 Asilus crabroniformis at a site on Portsdown Hill. The latter is one of my favourite invertebrates and to find such a strong colony was very satisfying.
Bee Orchid - Near Wickham, Hampshire
Small Red-eyed Damselfly - Fishbourne, West Sussex
The Tachinid Fly Prosena siberita - Near Wickham, Hampshire (O)
The Longhorn Beetle Paracorymbia fulva - Near Wickham, Hampshire (O)
The Longhorn Beetle Agapanthia villosoviridescens - Near Wickham, Hampshire (O)
The Picture-winged Fly Chaetorellia jaceae - Near Wickham, Hampshire (O)
Wasp Spider Argiope bruennichi - Portsdown Hill, Portsmouth (O)
Asilus crabroniformis - Portsdown Hill, Portsmouth (O)
Asilus crabroniformis - Portsdown Hill, Portsmouth (O)
My only visit to Crockford Bridge this summer was on 26th June where the usual range of New Forest Odonata put on a good show.
Small Red Damselfly - Crockford Bridge
Southern Damselfly - Crockford Bridge
Beautiful Demoiselle - Crockford Bridge
Beautiful Demoiselle - Crockford Bridge
On 28th June I popped to Bentley Wood to try and see Purple Emperor. I met with some success but the only 'grounded' Emperor was in the shade and not showing much purple.
Purple Hairstreak - Bentley Wood
Broad-bodied Chaser - Bentley Wood
Red-necked Footman - Bentley Wood
Purple Emperor - Bentley Wood
On 4th July, having heard of large numbers of Purple Emperor present, I visited the Knepp Estate in West Sussex. After seeing around 12 Purple Emperor I eventually encountered one on the ground which showed fairly well. On the day before my visit there was an impressive count of 388 Purple Emperor at this site!
Purple Emperor - Knepp Estate
Purple Emperor - Knepp Estate
We visited the Isles of Scilly on a family holiday for a week from the 7th July. I didn't do any birding as such but did run my Heath moth-trap at the Star Castle and went on a pelagic on 10th July. The latter didn't produce many birds as the conditions were too calm but we did see around 12 Blue Shark, Ocean Sunfish, 12 Bottle-nosed Dolphin and 25 Common Dolphin. Moth highlights were two new British species for me, Shore Wainscot and Devonshire Wainscot,
Shore Wainscot - St. Mary's, Isle of Scilly
Devonshire Wainscot - St. Mary's, Isle of Scilly
Marbled Coronet - St. Mary's, Isle of Scilly
Four-spotted Footman (female) - St. Mary's, Isle of Scilly
Four-spotted Footman (male) - St. Mary's, Isle of Scilly
Ocean Sunfish - At Sea, Isle of Scilly
Blue Shark - At Sea, Isle of Scilly
Great Skua - At Sea, Isle of Scilly
Rose Chafer Cetonia aurata - Peninnis Head, St. Mary's, Isle of Scilly
Trips to Pennington 20th and 24th July produced relatively little but these three Curlew Sandpiper and a Little Stint on 20th July were very welcome.
Curlew Sandpiper - Pennington Marsh 20th July (O)
Black-headed Gull - Pennington Marsh 20th July (O)
Little Egret - Pennington Marsh 20th July (O)
Reed Warbler - Pennington Marsh 20th July (O)
On 24th July I was working near Noar Hill NNR and so I couldn't resist popping by for a couple of hours.
The Hoverfly Sericomyia silentis - Noar Hill NNR 24th July (O)
Brimstone - Noar Hill NNR 24th July (O)
Brimstone - Noar Hill NNR 24th July (O)
Brown hairstreak - Noar Hill NNR 24th July (O)
Weekends in the cottage in the Cotswolds allowed me to spend some time at Slimbridge 31st July and 11th August where a few migrant waders had begun to trickle through and Avocet showed well.
Avocet attacking Shelduck chick - Slimbridge 31st July (O)
Green Sandpiper - Slimbridge 11th August (O)
Green Sandpiper - Slimbridge 11th August (O)
Ruff - Slimbridge 11th August (O)
Ruff - Slimbridge 31st July (O)
This summer I sold my beloved Canon 7d Mark II and 500mm Mark II and purchased a new camera system, the Olympus OMD E-M1 Mark II with the 60mm macro, 70-150mm and 300mm lens. I have found adjusting to the system a steep learning curve having been using Canon kit for the last 20 years or so but I am getting to the point where I am pleased with the images I am obtaining, particularly the macro shots. Images taken with the new Olympus are marked (O) after the caption. For the time being at least most images on this blog will be shot with the Olympus kit. The full list of my Olympus kit can be seen on my About page here.
