Butterfly Transect Update.

After quite a long blogging absence I felt it was time to provide an update on my fourth year of undertaking butterfly monitoring on the northern boundary of Ashtead Common NNR, managed by the City of London Corporation. 

The transect, covering a distance of 1770 meters, follows tracks and footpaths through deciduous woodland, with many ancient oaks, and open grassy glades .

As in previous years the predominant early species on the wing has been the Brimstone.

The second most common species during the last six visits has been the Speckled Wood with the highest weekly count of nine yesterday.

At Flag Pond, probably a former clay pit (hence the water colour) linked to the nearby Roman villa complex, I tend to stop for a while to check out the wildlife. On the 4th May I recorded the first Large Red Damselfly and from mid May the numbers of Broad-bodied Chasers has steadily increased with White-legged Damselflies appearing in the grassland nearby. I have also seen Common Blue Damselfly and Beautiful Demoiselle here in the last two weeks.

While watching the pond life yesterday I heard the begging calls of young Blue Tits (below) from a tree behind me and turned round to find four hungry individuals squashed together in the cleft of the tree waiting for the parents to return with food. [Unfortunately I didn't have a long lens with me so these images are heavily cropped].

I have also recorded 22 bird species so far this year whilst walking the transect and two weeks ago heard my first ever Cuckoo calling on the common from woodland south of the Roman earthwork complex.

Other species of butterfly recorded so far this season, albeit in very low numbers, include Small and Large White, Green-veined White, Comma, Common Blue, Holly Blue and Orange-Tip (below).

Orange-Tip (female)

About a hundred yards away from the transect I saw my first Large Skipper of the year yesterday so hopefully they and a few other species will provide some photo opportunities in the coming weeks.

During yesterdays walk I watched masses of micro-moths, Green Oak Tortrix (Tortrix viridana). On two trees I estimated there were at least 300 fluttering and feeding. One individual dropped onto the bracken below allowing me to grab a quick snap. 

Below are just a few of the wild flowers that have finally emerged in the last two weeks.

Linking to:
Nature Notes

Blue Tits: Fledging Update.

After the young Blue Tits fledged the nest box on 28 May (see previous post) the weather changed dramatically with lower temperatures and plenty of rain. Whilst there were occasional sightings of the parents visiting the feeders we had no idea where the family were roosting and we didn't see the youngsters again until they revisited the garden in bright sunshine during this last weekend. 

 

Most of the time they stayed hidden in the dense cover of the Hawthorn tree or in one of the nearby tall shrubs waiting patiently for mum or dad to provide some food. 

When they did venture partially into the open the lighting conditions were very harsh but here is a record shot of one of the youngsters getting fed. 

On Sunday one or two of the four youngsters occasionally popped out into the open allowing a closer inspection of their development.

With the heavy rain having washed many invertebrates off the leaves the adults (see below) topped up their own diet and that of their charges by visiting the fat feeder. Hopefully as the days pass we will see the juveniles feeding for themselves.

Linking to:
Nature Notes (# 366)
Wild Bird Wednesday 

Blue Tits Fledging.

While checking the progress of vegetable seedlings in the garden this afternoon I realised that the adult Blue Tits were extremely vocal so I went to investigate. 

Initially I thought they were indicating that one of the neighbourhood cats was nearby but then I noticed a very young head peeping out of the nest box so I dashed back indoors to tell Anita and to get the camera.

From about 1.15 pm we watched and counted four young Blue Tits leave the box and fly into a neighbours Birch. 

Including my initial sighting I'm guessing that they successfully reared at least five.

So here are a few images of this event.

 Do I really what to leave?

Hmmm ... it's a bit different out there!

OK ... Here goes.

During the afternoon the adults made various forays to the feeder closest to the house and carried food back to their fledglings who remained in their hidden location. I caught one adult vocalising as another local feline slinked across the patio!

Linking to:
I'D-Rather-B-Birdin'
Nature Notes
Wild Bird Wednesday

Blue Tits - Nesting Update.

During the weekend Anita confirmed that there were noises coming from the box in the birch at the bottom of the garden indicating that some Blue Tit eggs had hatched. Incubation normally takes between 13 to 15 days.

So after returning from a patch walk at 2pm on Monday I spent a little while monitoring the activity around the box.

The adults are notoriously quick at entering and exiting the nest box so a little patience was required to grab a few shots during a 30 minute session before the sky darkened once again ahead of another rain shower!

The normal protein source is usually juicy caterpillars but during this session the adults were obviously visiting the garden feeders for sunflower hearts and the occasional mouthful of fat enriched with meal worms.

How they manage to call with a full mouthful to announce their arrival before entering the box beats me!!

All this effort definitely takes its toll on the adult's plumage. 

If all goes well, depending on the weather and availability of the required food sources, the nestlings should fledge in about 18 - 21 days time. The monitoring will continue.

Linking to:

Nature Notes

Wild Bird Wednesday

Friday Flutters: A Blue and Green Day.

With much higher temperatures today the hour spent on my Ashtead Common transect turned out to be mainly a blue and green affair. The first butterfly recorded was a Holly Blue (above) but the most predominant species was the Brimstone (below) with 12 individuals logged in addition to Small White (1), Speckled Wood (1) and a very flighty single Green Hairstreak.

A few of the ancient oaks are in full leaf but many of the very old pollarded veterans are still waking up. It was very quiet at Flag Pond and in case you wondered that is the muddy colour of the water all year round due to the underlying clay and it plays host to three species of Newt.

A slight detour off my prescribed route provided a few views of two regular woodland species; the Treecreeper (left) and the Nuthatch which was particularly vocal today.Another surprise while watching these 'creepers; was the single hoot call of a Tawny Owl somewhere high on the ridge ... most unusual for the time of day!

Back at home I spent an hour or two doing a few tidy up jobs in the garden while listening and watching three Swifts screaming high overhead plus visits by a Holly Blue and a Small White butterfly.

I am not a fan of non-native species but these 'Spanish' Bluebells do provide a splash of colour at the moment. These invaders will have to be removed when I find the time and replaced with our native stock. Elsewhere a few different varieties of Tulip are hanging on and the herbaceous greenery is bulking up very fast.

Nesting Update:

One final good bit of news today is that we finally have evidence that a pair of Blue Tits are using the nest box in the Birch at the bottom of the garden. 

I will be monitoring their progress and hope to get some better images over the coming weeks. FAB.

Linking to:
Saturday's Critters

Today's Flowers
Nature Notes 

Check out FABirding.

For this week's editions of Nature Notes and Wild Bird Wednesday you will need to switch over to my photo blog FABirding where I am featuring images of five local species from the Tit family. 

Please feel free to browse through some of my other work on FABirding and let me know what you think of my efforts. (Recent posts are also shown in the link on my sidebar). FAB.

Blue Tit.

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) enjoying today's sunshine.

Birding through a clear eye.

Today I made my first outdoor sortie for a wander around Horton Country Park following the cataract surgery to my left eye on Tuesday. The Surgeon has dramatically improved my distance vision so it was quite an experience to be birding without wearing any spectacles. 

Pied Wagtail

A Pied Wagtail in one of the paddocks who couldn't decide whether to sit in the sun or the shade from the fence!

Still good numbers of overwintering Redwing moving between their woodland roosts and feeding spots in the horse paddocks.

Great Tit

I watched any number of Goldcrest flitting through the vegetation in Pond Wood without any chance of a photo but at least this Great Tit was far more obliging.

Every now and then the bird song died away as this Kestrel made a few forays along the woodland edge.

I'm linking to GOOD FENCES with this final image of a Blue Tit perched on one of the dilapidated woven hazel fences.

Fuzzy Focus.

Blue Tit hanging around.

Above is a prime example of not being ready with the right camera settings when the action happens AND this is also the fuzzy, out of focus, image that I have been seeing through my left eye for some time ... actually it is much worse than this!

I am booked in for cataract surgery early on Monday Tuesday morning so if all goes well without any unforeseen complications I am hopeful that my clarity of view with both eyes will soon be nearly as good as my camera's auto-focus.

March has arrived with a few more sunny but cold days interspersed  between the continuing blustery showers but this week I have not ventured very far from home. So here are just some of the birds that have come within range of the lens.

My first sighting of a Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus) this year during a wander in Bushy Park on Thursday. Another species whose conservation status in the UK has been upgraded from Amber to RED! 

Close by its slightly smaller cousin the Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos) was joyfully singing.

As usual any opportunity to spend time with a Grey Heron (below) will always grab my attention and I have a few other images to share in a future post.

During a late morning walk on Friday around Horton Country Park I finally added another species to my local patch and current year lists, the Siskin (Carduelis spinus), one of our smallest finches. This was definitely a case of identifying them initially by the colour and pattern of their under bellies before spotting the single adult male with his black cap. They certainly tested my patience and focusing skills while acrobatically moving around the top of an Alder some 50 or so feet above my head seeking out the ripe seed heads. 

I logged a much smaller number of the overwintering Redwing (Turdus iliacus) feeding in the horse paddocks and only one individual (below) came close enough for a quick snapshot. Surprisingly this winter I have seen very few Fieldfare and only located one individual amongst the Redwing flocks on Friday.

Linking to:
Saturday's Critters
I'D-Rather-B-Birdin'
Nature Notes