ASHDOWN FOREST WEDNESDAY 27TH APRIL 2011

Not just off patch today but off county. I joined Greenie of 'Greenie In The Wild' fame for a days fossicking around the Sussex Wildlife Trust's Old Lodge reserve in the heart of the superb Ashdown Forest. We met at 0800 under light cloud but with a promise of sun later, which we hoped would be sooner rather than later due to the very cold breeze.

Within a few hundred yards we bagged our first male Stonechat of the day. He was turned out in his best bib and tucker and was dressed to impress somebody, but not us. He was one of at least two males here vying for the attention of the local ladies.

As ever fence posts are popular for posing Chats, but the one above, like all the birds today wouldn't tolerate our presence close enough for some decent pictures but even at this distance he cuts the mustard in the now watery sunshine. As for the one below, who knows, semaphor, territorial displaying, waving, under arm problem? Your guess is as good, or bad, as mine.

Stonechats weren't the only birds about, we also saw and heard Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Song Thrushes, Green Woodpeckers, Gt Spotted Woodpeckers and of course, my favourite of the day, Redstarts.
We saw maybe four or five around the site, if my memory serves me right we only saw one female. The rest were stunning males, the long distance shot below gives an idea of the fantastic colour of these birds at this time, especially when they are lit up by the sun. Indeed, my favourite moment of the day was without doubt when two males had a bit of a scrap and rose up from the forest floor together, claw to claw and beak to beak, with wings spread and the sun illuminating them like a ball of orange fire. I commented to Greenie that a photograph of that moment would have been a once in a lifetime shot.

Talking of fire, the acrid smell of charcoal and scorched undergrowth greeted us further along the track. I don't know how big the area was that had been destroyed, or how many creatures had been burnt to a cinder, or how many birds had been forced to abandon nests, eggs, or chicks to escape the flames. But I hope that the person who decided to have a barbecue in that tinderbox on monday afternoon burnt his sausage, if you get my drift. I refer to him as a person only because I don't want to offend morons.

This part of the forest isn't a great butterfly habitat but I was pleased to find a couple of Green Hairstreaks on the Gorse. I know i've posted a few shots of them recently but I think they're worth it. Especially with a face like the one pictured below, it looks as if it was meant to be a character for a childrens book or a Disney film or something. As ever, left click to get up close and personal.

Two other birds on our wish list today were Tree Pipit and Wood Lark. Greenie soon picked up the song of the Pipit and soon we had our first one, my first ever, on a telegraph wire and another, better view of one later in the day. The Wood Lark however wasn't playing ball today, although we did hear a report of one or two being seen earlier in the day. I'll come back soon for that one. Another species that we saw but stayed out of reach of my lens was Lesser Redpoll, a bird that i've only seen once or twice this year, once in my garden and once at Sevenoaks WR.

Around lunchtime we stopped for a bit of a sky watch and witnessed a sky full of Buzzards, seven in all, who drifted up almost simultaneously in the distance and all circled on the warming thermals and disappeared together into the heat haze. This was followed by another great sighting. I noticed what I thought at first were another two Buzzards above a tree line in the middle distance, but closer inspection showed them to be Ravens. They are my first southern Ravens, just a pity we weren't in Kent!

Later in the afternoon we revisited a couple of small ponds to see if there had been damselfly activity in the now quite warm sunshine. Sure enough, it wasn't long before Greenie found some Large Reds, pictured above and below. Pity there were no dragonflies today but you can't have everything, and we'd certainly had a lot by now with a list of about 36 species I think.

But just when you thought i'd finished, and before you doze off, here's one of my favourite beetles, the Green Tiger. I think these are great, but that's only because i'm bigger than him. I wouldn't be so keen if I was smaller!

It was a great day out, and as usual I learned a lot from Greenie. I also learned that it's good to go somewhere new and see some different stuff sometimes. I wonder what's going on at New Hythe though!

New Hythe Year Tick 18th August

It was so nice to wake up to blue sky at last this morning. Thankfully I had kept the morning clear for a visit to New Hythe.

What a difference the sun makes, wings were flapping everywhere. Not just the birds, in fact they were still pretty hard to find, but also the butterflies, dragonflies, damselflies and indeed the plain old flies.
The one pictured below though is certainly not plain, quite a handsome chap really in fly terms at least. I found it on the bankside vegetation along the river path and I'm pretty sure it's Tachina fera which are sometimes mistaken for blow flies. Reddish legs and larger size distinguish it from Gonia divisa, a very similar fly.

I was accompanied along the river by a few Reed Warblers which called softly from the reeds, occasionally popping up for a quick look before diving back down when they spotted me. A Sparrowhawk also spotted me before I could get a picture of it sitting on a metal sign alongside the river. I scanned the Downs above Wouldham once or twice in the hope of finding a Buzzard riding the thermals but none were seen.

The tide was on it's way out as I made my way along and I spotted this Common Sandpiper hitching a ride downstream on a small plank of wood. I've seen this a couple of times before on the river here and it always strikes me as odd, you'd think they would fly to wherever it is they need to get to.

At the end of the sunken marsh my attention was drawn to an unusual call from the small trees and as I stood puzzling a juvenile Bullfinch emerged followed by the adult pictured below. So the strange call was obviously junior, first time i'd heard that one.

Most of the butterflies seen today were Whites, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers and Speckled Woods, most of which appeared quite worn. So i was very pleased when this Small Copper turned up and posed nicely for a couple of seconds on the Blackberries. I'm pretty sure this is my first this year at New Hythe, I don't recall seeing them here very often at all.

I decided to walk down the new path that the fishermen have carved out along the edge of Abbey Mead lake and I was glad that I did. This is where I saw most of our feathered friends today. There was a large feeding flock of Long tailed Tits, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Chiffchaff and another small bird which i'm pretty sure was a Lesser Whitethroat. I stood alongside the Ash tree that they were feeding in and around for about twenty minutes watching and listening to the constant contact calls going on all around me but only managed two pictures; one below of a Blue Tit and the one below that of a Long tailed Tit who was wrestling a large caterpillar, I think the bird won. Left click it for a closer look.

I found two moths today, both were in vegetation along the edge of Abbey Mead. The one below was tiny and I think it's a worn Small Purple and Gold and the second much bigger specimen is a Treble Bar I think.

Many thanks to Dean for IDing the Small Purple and Gold as Pyrausta aurata (Mint Moth). Click on the link to visit his blog.

The lake edge here is also home to an array of Hoverflies and other insects attracted to the wild flowers and morning sunshine. It was here that I had a brief view of what I first thought was a Hornet, but it isn't, it's Volucella zonaria, sometimes referred to as the Hornet mimic fly. Not a great picture but I hope my ID is correct. I think i'll be advised if it isn't!

I stayed along the lake side for too long really and I soon realised time was running out. I nearly decided not to go over to the East Scrub because it's been so quiet lately. But the small chance of a passing migrant changed my mind and i'm very glad it did as I soon found this super female Redstart, pictured below from a distance, dropping Robin like to the floor and back up to the lower branches of a Hawthorn bush just yards from where I found one last year, only then it was in May. This is a welcome addition to my New Hythe year list, who knows, I still might make the 100.

And finally............................I took this picture of a Common/Ruddy Darter hovering in the distance.

Or was this it??

And finally finally, i'm off to the Lake District for two weeks on saturday so no posts for a while. Hopefully i'll have some good stuff to report when I get back.