Bat surveys and Surrey heath nature

Back at Acorn Ecology in Guildford this week and next on the second part of the work placement part of my Certificate in Ecological Consultancy course.

Had three bat dusk emergence surveys in a row since Tuesday. A hunting Common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus gave great views during Tuesday's survey in Caterham, but Wednesday's survey near Jacobs Well was particularly good - a Brown-long-eared Bat Plecotus auritus hovering in half-light around the willow I was surveying was a nice bonus, but after the survey Jess, Nick and I spent a magical half hour watching 1-2 Daubenton's Bats Myotis daubentonii hunting just above the surface of the River Wey, with the Duet detector switched on the whole time so we could hear what was going on (and also recording them on the Anabat Express for sonogram analysis later) and were treated to a great view of a fly-by Barn Owl by torch light.

On the mornings of the 24th and 25th I visited Thursley Common NNR and Hankley Common to look for inverts and plants before work. Highlights were an emergence of Silver-studded Blues Plebejus argus - with a single male at Thursley Common NNR on 24th and shed-loads at Hankley yesterday - most were males but I did find a single female at Hankley. Silver-studded Blue is a heathland specialist - adults feed principally on heather Erica spp. and the main larval foodplant is Bell Heather Erica cinerea. They are a UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) priority species - they have a tiny distribution in Britain and are sedentary, rarely moving more than 20 metres in their life, and do not readily colonise new areas.

Other noteworthy inverts were a Silver Y Autographa gamma and lots of Red-banded Sand Wasps Ammophila sabulosa at Hankley Common on 25th. Found a nice colony of Oblong-leaved Sundew Drosera intermedia at Thursley on the 24th.

Best of the birds noted over the last few days were a Common Cuckoo was seen over the A3 in the centre of Guildford at 10:30 on 24th, 1m Stonechat at Thursley on 24th, and 2 Tree Pipit (singing and displaying), 2H Dartford Warbler, 1H Woodlark, 1H Skylark, 1m Stonechat and a family party of 1 ad and 4 juv Coal Tit at Hankley on 25th.

All photos in this post were taken with my Samsung Note 4 smartphone and have had minimal cropping, levels and sharpening applied. The quality and speed of the 16 MP rear camera on the Note 4 is, well, bonkers frankly!

Male Silver-studded Blue, Thursley Common NNR, 24 June 2015

Male Silver-studded Blue, Hankley Common, 25 June 2015 (taken with a Samsung Note 4)

Male Silver-studded Blue, Hankley Common, 25 June 2015 (taken with a Samsung Note 4)

Female Silver-studded Blue on Bell Heather Erica cinerea - the adult's main food plant, Hankley Common, 25 June 2015
(taken with Samsung Note 4)

Oblong-leaved Sundew Drosera intermedia, Thursley Common NNR, 24 June 2014 (taken with Samsung Note 4)

Titchfield Haven NNR: 12 June

Decided on an impromptu visit to Titchfield Have in Hampshire today instead of another slog around the patch. Spent an hour or so mid morning watching the adult Greater Yellowlegs showing well, though a little distantly, feeding and roosting on Posbrook Flood, before it flew south with a group of Black-tailed Godwits. Also at Posbrook Flood were 1 Green Sandpiper, 150 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Northern Lapwing, 2 juv Pied Wagtail, 1 Common Cuckoo, 2H Cetti's Warbler, 1H Reed Bunting, 14+ House Martin and a few Barn Swallow.

Greater Yellowlegs at a distance on Posbrook Flood this morning. Way out of DSLR range, I thought I'd try some phone-scoping. Well,
I'm crap at it - no amount of sharpening is going to improve these (taken with Samsung Note 4 through a Swarovski STS 65HD and
20-60x zoom eyepiece)!

Noted on the reserve itself were 3 (2 ad, 1 2nd-summer) Mediterranean Gull, 4 (3H) Cetti's Warbler, 4+ Little Egret, 1 Grey Heron swallowing a ridiculously huge eel, 70+ Black-tailed Godwit, c 20 Avocet (including c 10 juvs and at least 3 adults on nests), 2-3 Oystercatcher, 2 (1m, 1f) Northern Shoveler, 1H Common Cuckoo and 2 Linnet. Later in the afternoon the Greater Yellowlegs was seen on the reserve, this time on the River Meon from the Suffern Hide.

Spent some time searching for bugs along the Scrapes Trail, the best of which were 2 Painted Lady, 1 Large Skipper, 1 White Plume Pterophorus pentadactyla, and a few Blue-tailed Damselflies. An approachable Red Fox was also watched along this trail.

One of two Painted Lady butterflies along the path at Titchfield Haven NNR

A very fresh Large Skipper at Titchfield Haven NNR - my first of the year

Large Skipper

Male Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans

The patch: 6 June

My first visit to the patch for a long time, concentrating on the east side of Staines Moor today. Between my ecological consultancy course, building the new REGUA website and other commitments, I haven't had very much time for birding at all this spring.

Staines Moor produced 1 very elusive Grasshopper Warbler in the thistles and sedges in the SE corner that showed fairly well briefly mid morning though was wasn't particularly vocal, 3 Redshank (1 off from the Colne NE and a very territorial pair beside the Colne, possibly with chicks nearby but I couldn't see any), 1m Lapwing with them that was also behaving a little territorially, 2+ Common Tern (fishing along the Colne and overhead), 1+ Little Egret, 1 Kingfisher and a single Coot all along the Colne, and 1m Tufted Duck flew W from the Colne early morning.

Also a flock of c250 mixed adult and juvenile Common Starling around the livestock, 1 Cetti's Warbler in the NE corner along Bonehead Ditch showed briefly, 3 Sedge Warbler, 5+ Linnet, 6 (5m) Reed Bunting, 1f Sparrowhawk, 2+ Kestrel (including 1 first yr m harassing a female), 2H Reed Warbler, lots of Meadow Pipit (several carrying food) and Skylark, 2 (1ad, 1 imm) Grey Heron, 4H Blackcap, 4H Chiffchaff, a flock of fledged Long-tailed Tits, and 2 (1m, 1f) Common Pheasant in the SE corner.

Logged overhead at Staines Moor were 2 (1m, 1f) Shelduck NNW, 2+ Hobby briefly, 3 Red Kite, 3+ Common Buzzard (including presumably the same pale individual), 2 (1m, 1f) Tufted Duck, 4 Barn Swallow, 9+ House Martin, several Common Swift and 2 Egyptian Geese low S.

Redshank are down to just a single pair this year from a peak of 23 adults and three young on Jun 12th 1999. Re-wetting the moor and encouraging winter flooding would almost certainly improve their numbers.

I didn't spent much time looking for bugs today, but a Cinnabar moth was my first this year, and several Banded Demoiselle and Common Blue Damselflies and lots of Downlooker Snipe-flies Rhagio scolopacea were noted amongst the irises.

Botany-wise, Staines Moor has turned yellow with Meadow Buttercups Ranunculus acris and Yellow iris Iris pseudacorus, with patches of Marsh Stitchwort Stellaria palustris, and along Bonehead Ditch lots of Water Forget-me-not Myosotis scorpioides. Just a single Cuckooflower Cardamine pratensis seen in flower today.

A fair amount of Marsh Stitchwort Stellaria palustris in flower today. This species requires areas where there is standing water in winter
and has declined considerably in southern and eastern England due to the drainage of wetlands and eutrophication from agriculture.
Now classified as Vulnerable on the Vascular Plant Red Data List for Great Britain and a UK BAP priority vascular plant species.

Stanwell Moor added 3(2H) Common Whitethroat, a pair of Canada Geese with two young and 4-5 Shelduck SE.

Moth dip at Thursley: 23 May

Made a late afternoon/early evening trip to Thursley Common to try and attract an Emperor Moth using pheromones (many thanks to Keith Kerr for the loan). No Emperor Moth (too cold maybe?) but some nice lowland heathland inverts, plants and birds.

Freshly emerged Four-spotted Chaser

Mangora acalypha - a small orb spider found locally on heaths mainly in south-east England

Pleurota bicostella - a common heathland specialist preferring damp areas. The larvae feed on heather. LOTS of these around today

Brassy Tortrix Eulia ministrana - prefers woodland but we found this one on the open heath

Plenty of Bogbean Menyanthes trifoliata flowering on the mire at the moment - an aquatic species of acid bogs, widespread but
scarce in south-east England now that many of the regions wetlands have been drained

Birds noted include 1m Dartford Warbler, 1 Woodlark, 2(1H) Tree Pipit, 3(1H) Common Cuckoo, 1m Stonechat, 1 Curlew, 2m Reed Bunting, 1 Skylark and 4 (2m, 2f) Tufted Duck. Also a few Common Lizard were seen on the boardwalks.

Hazel Dormice: 17 May

I've now started working towards obtaining my dormouse handling licence. Carried out two nest box surveys today - one at Sheepleas and another nearby at Green Dene - an area of ancient semi-natural woodland on the North Downs in Surrey comprised largely of hazel, beech and yew. Found five Hazel Dormice - an active male and three torpid females at Sheepleas (including two females together in a nest in the same box) and a single torpid female at Green Dene. Absolutely fantastic mammals and surely strong contenders for the cutest animal on Earth?

Female Hazel Dormouse in torpor, Sheepleas

Female Hazel Dormouse, Sheepleas - cuteness at the highest level!

Female Hazel Dormouse, Green Dene

Also noted today were 2 Roe Deer and a Roman Snail Helix pomatia at Sheepleas.

Roman Snail Helix pomatia, Sheepleas

Migration still slow: 24 April

Light SE winds produced a few more migrants at the patch today, though numbers of most are still very low.

At Staines Moor 1m Whinchat, 2 Cuckoo (1 NE corner, 1 over high W), 1 Garden Warbler, 1m Lesser Whitethtroat (NE corner), 2(H) Reed Warbler are all site year firsts. 5 Yellow Wagtail (inc. 4 (2m, 2f) around the livestock), 1+ Hobby, a 1st summer m Northern Wheatear, 1 House Martin and 5 Barn Swallow were also logged and 4 Common Whitethroat, 5(3H) Sedge Warbler and 4 Common Tern are all increases.

One of four Yellow Wagtail around the livestock today

Male Northern Wheatear today

Also noted at Staines Moor were 3+ Red Kite (including one landing beside the Colne briefly), 2+ Common Buzzard, 2(1m, 1f) Eurasian Sparrowhawk, 1+ Kestrel, 9 Greylag Goose (circled moor then off SW), 3+ Little Egret (Colne), 1 Pied Wagtail, 16-25 Linnet (a good count for this time of year), 2 Redshank, 3+ Northern Lapwing (inc. a territorial pair), 10(8m) Reed Bunting, 7 Skylark, 24 Meadow Pipit, 9(3H) Blackcap, 10(8H) Chiffchaff (inc. a pair nest building) and 3(H) Cetti's Warbler and a Mistle Thrush.

One of at least three Red Kite over Staines Moor today, this bird in heavy moult

My first Common Swift of the year flew over Stanwell Moor Village first thing, as well as a Red Kite, and Stanwell Moor added another Lesser Whitethroat (H), 1 Common Whitethroat, 3(2H) Sedge Warbler, 2(H) Cetti's Warbler (inc. new territory along Colne Valley Way near Stanwell Moor Village), 4(1H) Blackcap and 5(4H) Chiffchaff.

Thursley NNR: 22 April

A really pleasant day at Thursley Common in Surrey today (I couldn't face the prospect of seeing bugger all at the patch). My main aim was to look for reptiles and early dragonflies, but a cold fresh NE from mid-morning wind was far from ideal and I only managed one species of each - lots of Common Lizards Zootoca vivipara on the wooden boardwalks (both adults and young), and just a single female Large Red Damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula.

Common Lizard Zootoca vivipara - the boardwalks at Thursley Common are a great place to see them

Common Lizard Zootoca vivipara - note how this one has flattened its body to maximise surface area facing the sun

Today's female Large Red Damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula. The black legs help separate from Small Red Damselfly Ceriagrion
tenellum. Note the pterostigma is yellowish and not blackish - perhaps because newly emerged?

Some good birds seen today. Summer visitors noted were 2+ Hobby (hunting insects overhead), 2 Eurasian Curlew (presumably a pair on the peat bog), 1(H) Common Whitethroat (bog), 1m Common Redstart (singing around the Moat), 1 Tree Pipit (singing) and 1m Common Cuckoo. 5 Barn Swallow (mainly NW) constituted the only vis mig overhead.

Other species logged were 2 Woodlark (pair, with a male watched singing, in display flight and feeding on the fire breaks), 1m Yellowhammer (bog), 4(3m) Stonechat, Red Kite E, 2 Common Buzzard, several Linnet (a couple seen but mainly heard), 2 Tufted Duck (pair on the bog), 2+ Kestrel, 1(H) Dartford Warbler, 1(H) Siskin, Coal Tit (H), 2 Greylag Goose N, 1 Grey Heron (Moat) and a Canada/Barnacle Goose hybrid with a Canada Goose on the Moat pond.

Also, lots of Devil's Matchstick Cladonia floerkeana lichen growing on the sandy soil amongst the heather.

Devil's Matchstick Cladonia floerkeana