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Our hands were peppered With thorn pricks, our palms sticky as Bluebeard’s.

As the title suggests, I went blackberry picking this week! If you attended school in the UK you are likely to have read the poem from which I’ve taken my title – Blackberry Picking by Seamus Heaney. If not, do go and read it – it’s one of my favourites. Anyway, the blackberry picking was late in the week, so shall come onto that in a bit!

Earlier in the week, I was based down at the Chesil Beach Centre. A mixed bag in terms of weather, but I managed to take some nice photos after work. Sadly I can’t get out much during work as the centre tends to be quite hectic, and I usually end up gulping down my lunch!

A day at Lorton mid-week, no groups in so I was getting on with work in the office. Thought had a stroll had to be taken of course.

This week was a bit topsy turvy, as I was then back at Chesil again! As before, busy during the day. I had an unplanned wander after work – the weather was very calm, with no wind for once, and the sunshine was glorious. I popped across the road to Hamm Beach and photographed the Turnstones (Arenaria interpres) for a while. They are such wonderful birds, and as the name suggests, they turn stones!

I also filmed them for a bit as their stone-turning is brilliant to watch, plus they call – I think to each other. Using an educated guess, I would say they are contact calls? I.e. letting the other(s) know they are still there?

I also saw this massive bumblebee – I think it may be a queen? She really was huge!

Despite being the end of September, I literally took the plunge and went paddling. The water was actually a decent temperature, once I got used to it!

Some others photos from the evening:

Back to Lorton again for the weekend and the theme of Pond Life, which means … pond dipping! Woohoo! One of my favourite activities! We discovered a myriad of insects, molluscs and other invertebrates within the pond, as well as seeing some adult dragonflies zooming about above it.

Saturday evening I went blackberry picking – even though the freezer is already full of fruit thanks to Matt’s foraging efforts. And on both days, I had someone else at the centre with me (membership recruiter, then a volunteer) so we peered at wildlife together during a couple of quiet moments.

The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent Dorset Wildlife Trust’s positions, strategies or opinions (or any other organisation or individuals for that matter).

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Birdfair – Day One

It has taken me a couple of days to come to terms with Birdfair. And by that, I mean the sheer amount of awesomeness packed into just three days. I’m going to attempt to describe my experience of Birdfair, but I really don’t think I’ll do it justice!

Day One

I travelled up from Cambridge with Matt and Tom, who had to put up with my growing excitement. Though they were partially to blame – both of them had been to Birdfair previously and were telling me what, and who, they had seen before. Following the signs directing us to the Fair, we found the queue to get in. As naturalists we used the opportunity to look out the car windows at surrounding wildlife (no photos I’m afraid).

We drove past the shiny new Volunteer Training Centre that had be opened by Sir David Attenborough last month for the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust. Apparently “the centre will provide support and training for volunteers in conservation, countryside and heritage skills.” I shall keep an eye on what they get up to, it sounds interesting!

And then, it was Birdfair itself and all that comes with it! We were soon bumping into familiar faces and meeting some faces who were familiar from the internet but now appearing in the real world, and the planning which events to go to across the weekend.

11.15am – Bug Walk, Brian Eversham & Ryan Clark (the Wildlife Trusts)

Prior to even arriving at Birdfair, I absolutely knew I had to go on this Bug Walk. I often talk about insects and invertebrates with Brian on Twitter, and wanted to support Ryan as this was his first Birdfair event he had assisted with (I think?). Armed with sweep nets and pots, we headed out into a nearby meadow where Brian demonstrated how to use the net before letting us loose! It wasn’t the warmest of days, but there were plenty of invertebrates to be found – spiders, ladybirds, bees, beetles and more! I haven’t labelled the species on any of my photos as Ryan is putting together a bugs at Birdfair ID quiz for A Focus On Nature.

Post-bug walk provided an opportunity to do some wandering and the beginning of working out how to decide what to buy. There was SO MUCH – whole libraries’ worth of books, optical equipment, exquisite illustrations, clothing, stunning photographs, carvings, memberships, holidays, and more! Matt and I began with a couple of books – Inglorious and Behind the Binoculars, as Mark Avery and Keith Betton were both doing signings.

1.15pm – Moth Trapping – Live on the big screen, Phil Sterling & Richard Lewington

A glance at the time and it was time to head over to the Events Marquee as moths were in the limelight (well spotlight). Phil Sterling and Richard Lewington were opening a moth trap at the front, and they had some lovely species – Dusky Thorn (Ennomos fuscantaria), Canary-shouldered Thorn (one of my favourites! Ennomos alniaria), Eyed Hawk-Moth (stunning! Smerinthus ocellata), plus some escapees (particularly the Large Yellow Underwings (Noctua pronuba), surprise surprise!).

Exiting out the side of the tent, we found the craft beer, woohoo! I’ve come across From the Notebook on social media as various naturalists excitedly tweet about beer that has wildlife on it!!!! Sadly, I still don’t like beer, but I liked the designs, and both Matt and Pete liked the beer.

 

More wanderings, including via the Butterfly Conservation stand  of course – cue a good chat with Martin Warren, Tony Davies, Douglas Boyes, and Nick Baker! I was wearing my H&M moths shirt and Nick Baker was very impressed with it, which was rather awesome. Also at the BC stand, I picked up a copy of the latest Moths Count newsletter, in which I have an article!

I also went via the Art Mural (which was being added to across the weekend) and, of course, the Children’s Art Mural that A Focus On Nature run. Just before the last event of the day, I managed to meet up with Phil Sterling. We live just around the corner from each other in Dorset, but hadn’t managed to meet up yet this year, so it was good to catch-up. He had brought some cool caterpillars along, and my query to get better lighting on them (for taking photographs) led to a bit of a gathering just outside the marquee as passerbys noticed the caterpillars!

6pm – RSPB Birders Lecture in association with British Birds

Crikey, 6pm already! Time to run over to one of the lecture marquees in order to catch the RSPB Birders Lecture in association with British Birds! Introduced by Stuart Housden (Director of RSPB Scotland), four birders were competing for the title of ‘Best ever day’. We heard from the marvellous Bill Oddie, the ever-inspirational Lucy McRobert, the wonderful Adam Rowlands and the legendary Ian Wallace. I was slightly biased towards Lucy winning of course, but was blown away by Ian Wallace’s account. He had made it into a spectacular play, which he performed with flair and style. As to be expected, he won.

A drinks reception afterwards, hosted by RSPB, provided another opportunity to chatting with fellow A Focus On Nature members, and other Birdfair attendees. I even spoke to Bill Oddie without getting too starstruck! And so, the end of the first day, and I was exhausted, bewildered and overwhelmed. What would the second day bring?

The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent Dorset Wildlife Trust’s positions, strategies or opinions (or any other organisation or individuals for that matter).

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Pain, but no gain (only partially true)

Strictly speaking, the title is not true. I’ve had very little pain this week, and a lot of gain, but you’ll see later why the title. As I write, I am in a sickeningly “I love life” mood. I want to take a moment to examine this mood. As a sufferer of both Seasonal Affective Disorder and, more recently, bouts of depression, spending time outdoors in the sunshine and talking to people (aka my job!) is bound to have a positive effect on me. People can often underestimate how much nature can help us, not least with our mental health. We are intricately connected with nature, even with today’s technological distractions. Taking a moment, even just a little one every now and then, to appreciate nature can benefit you.

Back to my week. It began with paint. An odd beginning to the week one might say, but I work in environmental education (/community engagement) and my tasks are varied! For the first couple of days this week, I was tasked with ensuring that a big roll of white fabric got covered in handprints! I relished the task, and got involved with an appropriate amount of enthusiasm (i.e. getting my hands covered in paint and encouraging others to do as as well). Soon enough, and with help from volunteers, centre visitors and even Taste* cafe staff, the sheet was covered. And my hands were blue no matter how much I scrubbed them! And the purpose of this? Well, that shall remain a surprise until the next blog post.

A midweek lunchtime stroll on Chesil Beach resulted (as usual) in a quick beach clean! I just hate seeing litter on the beach (and elsewhere!). So I am continuing well with that wildlife resolution!

We sailed off into the sunset, almost literally, when The Fleet Observer took some centre volunteers (and a couple of DWT staff) out on a trip. I know, I know, I went on a trip only a couple of weeks ago! But I do so love going out on the boat and we always see something fun. This time I even managed to get some good photos of the hares (Lepus europaeus), and some sunset photos too, so I was particularly pleased.

Inland to Lorton, and I was leading our Caterpillar Kids session on grasshoppers and crickets! What great fun it was, and we had some children that were absolutely brilliant at catching them! I have realised that there aren’t actually that many grasshoppers and crickets, so I didn’t feel too daunted in trying to identify a couple. I got them wrong mind, but I gave it a go and I shall continue to try, which is the important thing!

I must apologise here to the residents of Weymouth and the surrounding areas. The torrential rain on Friday was my fault. I had a day off you see. However, I wasn’t too put out as it provided me with a decent opportunity to sort through some photos and the like. The weekend dawned bright and clear, but Weymouth did soon cloud over (unlike Portland which stayed sunny all day, grr!). I was meant to be leading a reptile walk at Lorton, but the slight chill in the air made me dubious that we would find any. So I turned it into a general nature walk and we had a fantastic time! A good variety of wildlife was seen, including my first Wasp Spiders (Argiope bruennichi) which are incredibly awesome! I also picked up a bush-cricket and much to the amusement of everyone there, yelled in startlement when it bit me! The cheeky thing (though I don’t blame it)! I can’t say which species it was, as the unexpected pain caused me to throw it into the grass. Oops! Note to self – it isn’t just Great Green Bush Crickets (Tettigonia viridissima) that bite! The end of the walk ended on a reptile sighting, as we found two baby slow worms, but they slithered away before I got photos. I caught one the following day, prompting it to defecate on me – charming! – but again no photo I’m afraid.

A quick evening dash up to Portland Bird Observatory as Josie Hewitt was visiting and I wanted to say hi. I also got to see this lovely Painted Lady  (Vanessa cardui) which was very obliging with letting me take photos. I even persuaded it to sit on my finger, but naturally it flew off before I could actually take a photo of it doing so! I also saw a Hummingbird Hawk-Moth (Macroglossum stellatarum), but that was not at all obliging and disappeared before I could even grab my camera.

The weekend, and thus the week, drew to an end. With sunshine above, and no big plans for the evening, I just had to go for another wildlife wander in Lorton. I looked for the Wasp Spiders again, and found two, as well as some galls on oak (presumably caused by a parasitic wasp?).

A note on Wasp Spiders. It is actually only the female that has the stunning stripes. The male is smaller and brown, I think there is a male in one of the photos above. Apparently, the male has to wait until the female reaches her mature form, make the most of her soft jaws, and then go into mate with her. Even so, a number of them do get eaten still! As one of the orb-weaving spiders, you can see the white zig-zag in her web, which is called a stabilimentum. According to the Wildlife Trusts webpage on them, there is no known function to this stabilimentum.

Next week’s post is likely to be delayed as I shall be travelling back from BirdFair (which is going to be amazing!). Let me know if you’re going and would like to meet up!

The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent Dorset Wildlife Trust’s positions, strategies or opinions (or any other organisation or individuals for that matter).

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Fly My Pretties! (Actually don’t cause I want to take photos)

This week at Lorton Meadows Nature Reserve has been less about the butterflies (but they’ll appear later in this post don’t worry), and more about returning my attention to the pond. I LOVE the pond at Lorton. It is a source of constant fascination, there is always something happening. Whether it is dragonflies zooming about, the skittering of a pond skater across the surface or the slow and steady progression of snails along the bottom, I never get bored! The sun was casting some beautiful light as well, resulting in some nice photos I think.

Also of note at Lorton this week, I saw a number of Migrant Hawker dragonflies (Aeshna mixta), spied a Great Green Bush Cricket (Tettigonia viridissima) in a tree and filmed a Marbled White butterfly (Melanargia galathea) clinging on desperately to the grass (in a windy and not sunny spell). Plus some intriguing unidentified creatures …

Ever wondered what butterflies do when it's really windy? I managed to film this Marbled White butterfly in the grasses at Lorton Meadows, clinging on desperately by the looks of it!Discover butterflies whatever this weather at Lorton Meadows Nature Reserve & Conservation Centre this weekend. We have plenty going on: a butterfly walk, the children's trail, craft activities and more! See our events website for details, or phone 01305 816 546.~Megan

Posted by Dorset Wildlife Trust on Friday, 7 August 2015

The sun set on the working week and I joined some fellow young moth-ers on Chesil Beach for a spot of moth trapping. A female Oak Eggar moth (Lasiocampa quercus) almost took me out as she flew into the trap, Amy Schwartz and I enjoyed a good catch-up (talk consisted of butterflies/moths, and dead things), and Jack Oughten found a roosting Clouded Yellow butterfly (Colias croceus). The latter was my first of the year! When I left to pick up Matt from the station, it seemed to have decided to roost on Sean Foote‘s hat.

The weekend proper begun bright and clear, already warm when we set off in the car. We were off on an adventure to the north! Of Dorset anyway. Having heard about my amazing visit to Alners Gorse Butterfly Reserve, Matt was keen to visit as well, and I wasn’t going to say no to a second visit! Alternating between watching butterflies in the hot sunshine, and cooling back down in the shade, we made our way around the reserve. It started well, with a Brown Hairstreak (Thecla betulae) and Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) almost immediately, followed by a Purple Hairstreak (Neozephyrus quercus) only a little further on. A wander through the woods saw us getting dive-bombed by fiesty Silver-washed Fritillaries (Argynnis paphia), followed by the gentler flutterings of a Marbled White (Melanargia galathea) and a Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) in the meadow (plus some other species too, but they were the highlights there).

In total, we saw 16 species – 2 of which were lifers for Matt (Brown Hairstreak and Essex Skipper, Thymelicus lineola). I dipped again on seeing White-letter Hairstreak (Satyrium w-album) and the valezina form of the Silver-washed Fritillary (seen only in the females). We also bumped into Megan Lowe, who was a trainee at the Chesil Beach Centre before me and is a fellow Lepidoptera enthusiast, now working for Butterfly Conservation.

Late afternoon and the sun was still beating down strongly. Feeling buoyed by Alners, we set off for one of my favourite spots – King Barrow Quarries Nature Reserve on the Isle of Portland. Straight away we saw my favourite butterfly, and another lifer for Matt, the Chalkhill Blue butterfly (Polyommatus coridon). With its powder-blue wings and distinctive spots, it really is a superb butterfly, and I saw my first female of this species!

A lazy Sunday lie-in, and we decided to stick with the butterfly theme and crossed the causeway again to visit Tout Quarries Nature Reserve. I took a wrong turn trying to find the spot where I saw the Grayling butterflies (Hipparchia semele) last time, but I am glad I did as it resulted in seeing a Wall butterfly (Lasiommata megera)! I hadn’t seen this beautiful species, with such a wonderful patterning, since May! Bonus – it was another lifer for Matt. Onwards and I found the right turning, and we had soon disturbed a Grayling (pretty much the only way to spot them, they are excellent at camouflage). And guess what, it was a lifer for Matt! We saw a few in all, but I bet there were plenty about that we couldn’t see. Strolling further, I took Matt to see my favourite carving in the quarry, ‘Still Falling’ by Anthony Gormley.

On the way back, I had to stop and question – “what’s that?”. Initial thought, it was too dark for a Kestrel or a Jay, but too light for a black corvid (e.g. Crow, Jackdaw, Raven). Quick zoom with the camera and snapping away to get some reference photos. Upon further thought and comparison to ID books, we reckon it is a Common / European Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), but a slightly odd-coloured one!

The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent Dorset Wildlife Trust’s positions, strategies or opinions (or any other organisation or individuals for that matter).

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A Merry Dance

I had so much fun leading a family activity on Tuesday. The theme was butterflies, so I got to train some young children (the oldest couldn’t have been more than 7) in the art of identifying common butterflies. By the end, they were getting quite confident at their Gatekeepers, Speckled Woods and Meadow Browns. Future lepidopterists/naturalists in the making! I also challenged the families to become citizen scientists and do a butterfly count.

Mid-week and I was down at Chesil. I was out of the office and away from my computer much of the time, so naturally that’s when the kestrel chicks at Lorton decided to begin fledging! At least two chicks hopped out, and when I returned to Lorton the following day, I managed to get a photo of one in the nearby trees. On Saturday, the last one was seen leaving the nestbox! Though you can still hear them nearby, and they have occasionally popped back in.

I was dashing back to Chesil again soon enough, as Dr Martin Warren (the CEO of Butterfly Conservation) has been doing a 100-mile long Big Butterfly Hike (#ButterflyHike on Twitter) along the Jurassic Coast to raise money for butterflies (particularly Wood White, Duke of Burgundy and High Brown Fritillary). He has asked if I was working there that day, which I wasn’t, but I went down after work to say hello. As well as generally chatting about butterflies, moths and the Jurassic Coast, I had to ask a couple of questions. It turns out that (a) he has seen all the British butterflies, and (b) his favourite is Red Admiral as it was the species that got him interested in butterflies as a child. You can read back on his hiking blog on the BC website.

Upon bidding farewell to Martin, I had a small ponder. It was early evening, sunny with plenty of hours left. Do I go to look for wildlife or head back and prepare dinner? Well, there’s no real choice and so I was soon at Tout Quarries Nature Reserve, wandering about with my camera. I wasn’t expecting to see much, the wind was a touch chilly. But I decided to try and look for suitable Grayling butterfly (Hipparchia semele) spots. I didn’t really know where they preferred, but I figured a slope in the sunshine and out of the wind would be a good start.

Now I should say here, that the Grayling is my “bogey” species. I.e. it’s one that I have gone looking for a number of times, and never found it! Hence the title of this blog post – this butterfly has led me on a merry dance! Imagine my joy (and yes, I exclaimed out loud) when I saw one. And then triple it, because there were actually three of them fluttering about! Then increase it again as one of them landed on me, and again when two begun their courtship (see video below). I felt like I was going to burst from the happiness.

To give you an idea of how brilliant the camouflage of this species is amongst the quarries, I took the photo below. Taken without a zoom, so that you can see exactly what I was seeing! Can you spot the Grayling butterfly?

On my first day off in a while, I gave myself the luxury of a lie-in before heading out to watch wildlife, only to be texted by a friend (at the reserve I was heading to) saying that he had achieved the hairstreak hat-trick there. Time to get up and out there! So I drove on up to Alners Gorse Butterfly Reserve, one that I had been meaning to visit for ages. I hear and see a lot about this reserve, not least on Twitter from the aforementioned Martin Warren. What better way to spend a sunny day off than exploring somewhere new and (hopefully) seeing some new butterfly species! And indeed, it was a stupendously fantastic afternoon!

I didn’t get the hairstreak hat-trick (brown, purple and white-letter), but I did see 17 species of butterfly in one afternoon, so that’s not bad if I do say so myself. Highlights were: Brown Hairstreak (Thecla betulae), Purple Hairstreak (Favonius quercus) – both new species to me!, Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia), Essex Skipper (Thymelicus lineola) and Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni, my first ones in ages!).

I just had to include lots of photo of the Brown Hairstreak (above) as it is such a gorgeous species, don’t you think? Although I am likely to say that about all butterflies/moths/wildlife in general! A few more butterfly photos from Alners Gorse:

At one point, I sat in the lush grass of a woodland ride, content to look about and allow myself to notice the wildlife around me. When sitting in such a way, you gradually become aware of creatures, their behaviours and sounds that you might otherwise pass by.

I watched as a male Silver-washed Fritillary patrolled his territory, dive-bombing and chasing off any intruders – be they the same species or not! He even chased off a dragonfly, and I believe he attempted to chase me off, flying in close to me. Luckily I’m made of stern stuff! Or something like that. A grasshopper crawled onto my backpack to investigate it. Nothing of interest apparently as it wandered off again. I could hear rustling in the bushes, most likely a blackbird foraging for food. They are surprisingly noisy on dry leaves. I was taken by surprise after 10 minutes of sitting there, when I suddenly realised that a dragonfly was resting motionless in a bush nearby – I just hadn’t spotted it until then!

The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent Dorset Wildlife Trust’s positions, strategies or opinions (or any other organisation or individuals for that matter).

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Follow that Frit!

Who needs to jump in a taxi and have a car chase, when one can dash after butterflies on a nature reserve (and elsewhere)? Not me, that’s for sure!

The week began in Cambridge with a moth trap and Matt leaving for work, reminding to go through the moth trap before the wasps got it. I believe that my response just a grunted. I don’t really do communication when I’m still mostly asleep. Nonetheless, I managed to get up and go to the moth trap at a reasonable hour.

There were some absolute beauties in and around the trap – including my first (and second and third!) Swallow-tailed moths (Ourapteryx sambucaria). They really are gorgeous! I have been hoping to see one ever since I properly got into moths last year, particularly when my mother found one in the bathroom at their house. There was definitely some moth-jealousy going on that day (not helped by the fact that she had also recently seen two Jersey Tigers (Euplagia quadripunctaria) in the garden, and I hadn’t seen that species yet!).

A return to RSPB’s The Lodge was a lovely day out for me. Whilst Matt was busy doing his work stuff, I had a couple of meanders around the reserve – counting butterflies, watching wasps and generally having a nice time. I also met up with fellow AFON member, Lizzie Bruce, who has just started her new role as Warden for the Lodge. It was fabulous to finally meet her in person and we had a lovely chat about AFON, nature and, of course, the reserve.

I also took the opportunity to sit down and finish off working out my pan-species list! This is a list of all the species (across all taxon groups) that I have seen in the UK, from spiders to snakes, from lizards to leptidoptera. It has taken quite a while to go through all the groups, and I have to admit, I have left out bryozoans, mosses and lichens – because I honestly can’t remember which ones I have seen! So I am starting again with those. As of today (26/07/15) my list stands at 661 (661 = Common Toadflax, Linaria vulgaris), though I know that I have a couple of moths left to identify. In calculating my list, I have half-ticked off one of my 2015 Wildlife Resolutions! The other half being to set myself a target to reach by the end of 2015. It’s ok if I don’t reach the target, but the act of setting the target will tick off that resolution completely. Thus I am thinking that the 1k mark would be good one to aim for and break through. Can I reach 1000 species in the remaining 5 months? That’s around 15-16 species per week I think. You will just have to keep following my blog to find out!

Despite having ticked off the resolution to see 2 new butterfly species this year, and then seeing a couple more new species, I still wanted to try and see more. I am rather getting into this butterfly spotting lark! Though of course, to me, butterflies are basically moths, ha! I was tempted to try and see some hairstreaks species in some Cambridgeshire woodlands. We didn’t go to the reserve recommended by the local wildlife trust, but ended up stopping off at Gamlingay Wood on the commute home. It was such a wonderful stroll, examining flowers in the dappled sunlight and listening to the birdsong above.

Ambling down a woodland ride, I suddenly stopped. An orange butterfly! My inner pessimist said gloomily, “It’s probably a Comma” (not that there is anything wrong with a Comma of course). But wait, it had landed on a leaf some distance away … I quickly zoomed in with my camera, and then excitedly called to Matt: “It’s a Fritillary! And it’s not a Comma!!” With no butterfly guide to hand, I wasn’t sure of the species but luckily Matt knew it – a Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia)! A lifer for me! And what a beautiful lifer to achieve! Such a large butterfly, and there were at least 6 of them flitting about and feeding on the bramble. At one point, two of them flew along the ride – one looping and circling around the other, a courtship ritual perhaps. I declare, I was so full of happiness then. There is something about butterflies, and in fact, nature as a whole, that enables me to forget my constant exhaustion and associated mild depression, which drag behind me every day.

Back at work and the rain had set in – just in time for a family activity at Lorton! Luckily the families who came along were up for heading out despite the weather. We didn’t have to go far, just across the track to the pond. Sheltering in the open barn, we dashed out every now and then to dip in the pond. The theme of the activity was dragonflies, so we were concentrating on the dragonfly and damselfly nymphs. However, we also caught a water stick insect (Ranatra linearis), which we don’t catch very often, and plenty of the usual suspects such as freshwater hoglouse (Asellus aquaticus) and whirligig beetle (Gyrinus substriatus). I made up a game off the hoof – each family had to replicate the movement of a dragon/damselfly nymph/adult, and the others had to guess what it was. It worked surprisingly well! Once we were thoroughly soaked through and pond dipped-out, we came in to dry off and for a cuppa, and some craft activities. Vicky had recently shown us a neat dragonfly craft activity and I showed the children (and parents) how to make it.

The kestrel chicks were unimpressed by the weather, spending the day fluffed up and huddling together, with only a couple of food drops from the parents! (NB, in the video you can only see two of the chicks, but there are still four) The kestrels can be viewed LIVE, but be quick if you want to watch them, I think they will fledge in the next week or so!

Kestrel chicks at Lorton

The kestrel chicks don't look impressed by today's rain! This weekend at Lorton, we will be celebrating birds with our Bird Bonzana Wild Weekend! If you can't join us, you can still celebrate our birds by watching the kestrels on our LIVE webcam, thanks to support from Dorset Tea!Bird Bonanza Wild Weekend: http://www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/bird-bonanza-wild-weekendKestrel webcam: http://www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/raptorcam.html~ Megan

Posted by Dorset Wildlife Trust on Friday, 24 July 2015

The weekend dawned clear and sunny, blue skies above and sunshine filling the reserve. After the day before, it was a welcome weather change. During the quiet moments, I popped outside to watch the butterflies. The reserve as a whole is superb for butterflies, but even just by the centre there are a couple of excellent spots. A large buddleia bush by the picnic benches, and a sunny patch of bramble just by the lane. Again, the very act of observing these creatures and being outside filled me with joy. I felt like my heart was going to burst out of my chest. Particularly when a Comma butterfly (Polygonia c-album) landed on me – I hardly dared breathe! Fortunately for my lungs, it darted off again after a couple of moments.

Taking advantage of the sunshine, with the knowledge that more rain was on its way for Sunday, I headed over to Portland after work. I wanted to visit somewhere new, the Perryfields Quarry, a nature reserve owned by Butterfly Conservation. A small but sweet little reserve, it was full of flowers and flutterings. A bit of breeze swept across the reserve, so the butterflies were keeping a low-profile. I still spotted a fair few as they rested in the grasses. No new lifers, or even year ticks, but I was happy nonetheless as I wandered about and photographed them. I’m repeating myself, but gosh I love having my camera back!

As the evening started to draw to a close and the sun sunk lower in the sky, I made my way to my usual Portland hangout – the Portland Bird Observatory of course! I do so love to spend a bit of time there, discussing recent wildlife sightings with staff and visitors. As you may remember, last week’s venture there resulted in directions to see a Puss Moth caterpillar (Cerura vinula)! This week it was advice on a good nearby spot for seeing the Grayling butterfly (Hipparchia semele) – a species I still haven’t seen despite spending plenty of time in the quarries. I went down to the advised spot, the eastern cliffs of the Isle, just below the lighthouse. However a chill was setting in, so I didn’t have much luck. Mind you, I saw plenty of birds and flowers, so I can’t complain. More so as I was joined by local naturalist and good friend, Sean Foote, who is a very useful person to have around as he can identify lots of things – resulting in two new plant species to add to my pan species list! Maybe soon I’ll be able to add Grayling to the list, or maybe I’m destined to forever dip it (i.e. miss it).

The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent Dorset Wildlife Trust’s positions, strategies or opinions (or any other organisation or individuals for that matter).

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Here Be Tigers And Dragons

A blustery Monday at Chesil (which is pretty much always windy by the way), and we were heading out onto the beaches to recce a butterfly survey walk. Minimal Lepidoptera seen this time, just one Small White in fact, but plenty of other wildlife about including bumblebees and Wheatears (Oenanthe oenanthe). Other notable birds seen at Chesil earlier this week have been Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea) and Little Terns (Sternula albifrons).

My favourite part of the aforementioned walk was when we came across a mass of fluffy caterpillars, initially thought to be around 50 or so. I started counting … and kept counting … and still counting … there were 157 of them in a small patch of land (a couple of square metres roughly)!!! 157!!!!! Crazy numbers! And then I found a further 11 not too far away – I wonder how many are actually on Hamm / Chesil Beach? Anyway down to identification – not too difficult with this species, it is very distinctive: Garden Tiger Moth Caterpillar (Arctia caja, I found two a couple of weeks ago as well). Since I found a total of 168, and they are a relatively common species – though declining like many – I decided that it would be safe to take 3 of them to raise up. They are now living in a (large) pot with plenty of food. Naturally, I shall be keeping track of their progress and will update you as well.

A second type of caterpillar was later found at Lorton … but no clue as to what it is! Green caterpillars are rather difficult to identify, so I am also going to raise that one into an adult and shall let you know what it turns into!

I had cracking views of the local kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) one morning, it was hovering near the centre then dropped down on its prey and stood on the path for a while munching away / ripping it apart. A little grim, and unfortunate for the small mammal being eaten, by fascinating nonetheless.

I am very lucky to be paid to do what I love, which to put it shortly is talking to people about wildlife. This week had a special highlight as we had a class from local school come to Lorton to do pond dipping, which is absolutely one of my favourite activities! The underwater world is just fascinating! This session was no exception; with water boatmen, damselfly nymphs and snails galore! The highlights for me were finding the exhuvia (skin) of a dragonfly nymph (left behind when the adult dragonfly takes to the air), and two different types of water snail eggs – you can tell the difference between the species by how the eggs are laid onto the surface.

A typical conservationist, I went for a walk on the reserve after work as I had been informed that the Early Purple Orchids (Orchis mascula) had started to bloom. So I duely headed off to find them, and of course, saw plenty of wildlife along the way. The dandelions (Taraxacum) are going over now, which is great fun for blowing the seeds. I even saw a couple of Long-tailed Tits (Aegithalos caudatus), and finally managed to take some decent photos, after mixed attempts previously!

The weekend saw me adventuring to somewhere new – the lovely Worcestershire county, particularly the Malvern area. Matt was leading a dawn birdsong walk with the local WI and I tagged along, the highlights for me were: Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla), Garden Warbler (Sylvia borin) and Goldcrest (Regulus regulus). Moving from birds to botanical, a visit to a nearby nature reserve meant that I could practice my wildflower ID.

Matt has spent quite a lot of time here photographing the wildlife. Below is one of a Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea), a pair of which breed under the bridge.

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Now this looks like a job for me

As the title suggests, I am no longer unemployed! However, before I get onto that good news, I would like to take a detour over to Kent where my parents and I headed out onto the river on their boat. Mind you, before even got onto the boat, I was distracted by a daisy! The sunlight was shining on it in particularly lovely way and I just had to take a couple of photographs! It was a stunning day, warm and blessed with sunshine – I could hear Chiffchaffs (Phylloscopus collybita) and Greenfinches (Carduelis chloris) on the riverbanks, and we saw plenty of waterfowl including Mute Swans (Cygnus olor) and a rather handsome Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata). There were huge swathes of blossom ladening the air with their sweet smell.

Naturally, I got a little distracted by insects – I managed to get a decent photo of a bee-fly (Bombyliidae) before we took to the water, and once on the water it seemed like the insects wanted some attention! A number of beetles landed on the boat, as did a wasp and an (as yet) unidentified creature.

Onto the job. Do you remember that I spent six months with Dorset Wildlife Trust last year before I was snapped up for a job at Radnorshire Wildlife Trust? I was a trainee, funded by the Heritage Lottery, based at their Chesil Beach Centre. Well, now they’ve taken me back as an employee for 6 months, based jointly at Chesil and Lorton Meadows. And I get to do what I love, talking about wildlife to people (and seeing wildlife at the same time of course)! What a thrilling summer it is set to be!

My first day back immediately set a high standard. Vicky and I were asked to find the Barrel Jellyfish (Rhizostoma pulmo) that had been reported on Hamm Beach – which we did. But being naturalists, we also took note of the other wildlife about! I was trying to remind myself of the specialist coastal plants about, and getting distracted by bees and butterflies!

I even found my first moths for Dorset this year – three hairy caterpillars! The first was an unknown to me initially, but using an educated guess, I went for Ruby Tiger (Phragmatobia fuliginosa). The other two were both immediately recognisable – Garden Tiger (Arctia caja).

Now that I’m back in Dorset, I’m afraid you’re going to be seeing a lot of stunning landscape photos. I hope you can put up with that.

The evening of my first day back saw me heading up to the Isle of Portland on my first twitch of the year, a Hoopoe (Upupa epops) had been reported at one of the quarries. Meeting up with Sean, we made our way to the area in hope. Chatting away (quietly) as we approached where it was last seen, I suddenly said “Is that it there?” Just on the path in front, maybe 20m away, a Hoopoe! These birds fly up from Africa to southern Europe, and some always overshoot and end up in the UK, but I’d never seen one before. What a fantastic bird it is! Just look at that plumage!

And on a related note – I’ve completely now ticked off another of my 2015 Wildlife Resolutions: to go one at least one twitch!

I’m not always out and about looking for wildlife, sometimes I look for wildlife in the garden too. The species below were all seen in my landlady’s garden – the Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus) and Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines) butterflies were my first for the year! As was the Ashy Mining Bee (Andrena cineraria), which was rather amusing as I was on the phone to Matt when I saw it, causing me to put him on hold. Fortunately he understood and was ok with that, phew!

At the weekend, I went on a busman’s holiday and visited Butterfly Conservation‘s Lankham Bottom reserve (I still can’t help giggling at that name). That was exciting too – as well as being a stunning reserve, I saw a Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) and a Red Kite (Milvus milvus)!

The highlight however came in the form of (very) small butterfly, darting about in a blur among the grass. My initial thought (whilst it was still a blur) was perhaps a day-flying moth. However, as soon as it landed, I knew what it was – a very distinctive butterfly species, the Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus malvae). My breath caught in my mouth, I almost froze in astonishment / excitement. My first new butterfly species of the year! And what a beauty it was! Much smaller than I thought it would be (it really is tiny!), and unfortunately a species whose distribution is declining. Such as treat to see it. Could I manage to get a photo? It was rather restless, but it did land every now and then. Luck (and perhaps a little bit of photography skill on my part?) was on my side and I got a few satisfactory shots. Crikey!

Wait a moment, that means that I’ve half-completed another wildlife resolution of 2015 – to see 2 new species of butterfly! And what with offers to help me see at least three more, it looks like I’ll be ticking off that resolution as completed soon!

Just before I sign off, I would like to direct you to over to the A Focus On Nature blog, where there are a series of posts being published in the run-up to the general election as members of the network discuss their Vision for Nature (also on Twitter using the hashtag: #VisionforNature). As well as pointing you in that direction because the posts make for very interesting reads, it’s also because I’m co-ordinating the publishing of these blogs (so a little bit of self-interest I won’t lie). I am partway through drafting my post, which shall be published in due course and will appear on my own blog of course.

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Springing back into action

Spring is well and truly underway – birds are nesting, butterflies are fluttering and flowers are blooming. However, before I get on to all that, I’m going to take this blog indoors as I recount a recent event I attended. You may remember that I went to the National Moth Recorders’ Meeting back at the end of January. Well, last weekend I attended a very similar event – the National Butterfly Recorders’ Meeting. There were quite similar talks to NMRM, but with a butterfly slant instead (obviously – it does what it says on the tin); an update on the recording schemes, what the data has been used for, some of the practical work being done to conserve species, and the like. All incredibly interesting, and it was lovely to catch up with various Butterfly Conservation staff and other people I’ve met round and about the place. Despite the achingly-early start (up at 5am, I still shudder thinking of it), I definitely don’t regret spending my birthday there!

As you can see in the last photo, I chose an epic t-shirt to wear for the day – it’s designed by Beth Aucott, and I requested purple because I dislike white clothing for the most part (I’m too pale to wear white). She does a variety of awesome designs, but naturally my choice had to be Lepidoptera!! PS – don’t you just love my earrings too? Thanks Ellen for agreeing with me when I deliberated about buying them!

On the way back through Birmingham New Street Station, I couldn’t resist stopping to take a photo of the signs about the renovation works taking place. I had admired them previously, and they were perfectly matched to the theme of the day! Kudos to the designer for (a) making it nature themed and (b) the general awesomeness of them!

Back to my local park in north London – I had taken my camera along on a dog walk, hoping to snap a photo of the Ring-necked Parakeets (Psittacula krameri) that had been investigating a tree. However it seems they haven’t gone for nesting here just yet, no squawking green parrots about! I’ll check back of course, but for now, you can have a photo of the hole they had been in and out of previously. Whilst checking out the trees, I noticed some birds circling high up – Buzzards (Buteo buteo – which by the way, is an awesome scientific name and appeared recently on an episode of University Challenge)! Yes, relatively common birds I know, but I had not seen them from the park before so I was pleased (remember, I’m normally looking down for insects, not up for birds of prey!).

I found another fallen tree to dig into, much to the chagrin of its occupants. As before, my dog wasn’t too fussed by this pause – he loves having a wander round sniffing everything and chewing sticks. He was little annoyed when I made him stay still so I could take a photo of the micro-moth (possibly Diseriocrania subpurpurella) on his head!

A day trip to Dorset (yes you read that right, I was mad enough to drive to Dorset and back in a day) ensued later in the week, and whilst it wasn’t wildlife-focussed, I managed to squeeze in a quick walk at RSPB’s Radipole Lake where I ticked off a lifer! Very distant, but definitely a Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus)! Nice one! And what a lovely looking bird!

As you may have noticed in recent posts, I’ve been visiting Cambridgeshire a bit, and this week was no exception. A gorgeous sunny Thursday afternoon resulted in Matt spotting a Comma butterfly (Polygonia c-album) – a first of the year for both of us, though he is claiming the record. Fair enough since he spotted it first. As you can see from the photos, it was a very obliging individual allowing me to take a number of photos in a variety of positions. The last photo is particular useful – take a look at its legs. You’ll see that a pair at the front, resting on the wooden surface of the bench. I believe that those are actually its middle pair of legs. The family (Nymphalidae) that this species is in have smaller front legs (naturally there are a couple of exceptions, but not in the UK as far as I know), though I haven’t discovered why just yet. You can see those reduced pair pressed against the front of its body.

The garden being so lovely here, there are plenty of birds about. There were even four Greenfinches (Carduelis chloris) at one point! This species has seen a dramatic reduction in numbers, recently due to a parasitic disease called trichomonosis that means the birds cannot feed properly. More information (thanks to the Wildlife Trust for Bedforshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire) at this link here.

NB – if you have bird feeders – make sure you clean them out so as to limit the spread of this disease.

Talking of dead birds (kind of), I had an incredibly romantic gift from Matt … a dead Great Tit (Parus major)! Most people would be repelled by such a gift I know, but dead creatures are very useful for learning more about anatomy and the like, and for education purposes. And naturally I wouldn’t kill a bird myself (btw, Matt didn’t kill it either, he found it dead nearby) – I make use of natural / accidental deaths.

Very excitingly, we did some gardening! Mainly sowing some wildflower seeds –  as neither had done much of this, it was a bit of guesswork, but I do believe we’ve done it right! And whilst the photo published is of Matt digging, I also contributed to the hard work. Mind you, in my typical fashion, I did keep getting distracted by what we were digging up – there were lots of little beasties in the soil! And yes, my trousers have crabs on them – they are awesome trousers and I love them.

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The Present is the point at which time touches eternity

AKA, this blog is finally up to date again!

The start of this week was spent in a different line of work than my usual chatting to people about wildlife. However, it very much still involved chatting with people. I was assisting at the International Food & Drink Event, held at ExCeL London Exhibition and Conference Centre, exhibiting instant teas – both the yummy and refreshing YumCha iced teas, and a new exciting (and still unlaunched) product that is instant hot tea. Sounds a bit odd, but produces a fantastic cuppa!

When not chatting, I was staying in Surrey and very happy as there were two gorgeous Labradors to fuss over. As I’m sure you’ll agree, they are just beautiful!

Anyway, back to the subject that this blog is focussed on. There was plenty of wildlife seen / heard. My second morning there had me hearing and seeing my first Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) of the year – a very distinctive call indeed. A walk with the dogs mid-week resulted in my first Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) of 2015. Whilst the workers are indistinguishable in the field from White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum), the Buff-tailed queen has (as it says in the name) a buff-coloured tail! Whilst she was too fast for a photo, I did manage to track her behaviour – she seemed to be investigating holes in the ground, on the lookout for a nesting site I imagine. The walk also saw me admiring various plants, as you can see in the photos below. I’m sure that the last photo is showing something odd … it’s a twig from an ash tree, but the bud looks to have grown weirdly!

Heading nearer to the river, I had a good wander about – looking at prints in the mud, keeping an eye out for otter spraint (as ever!) and finding interesting things (such as shells). I wasn’t on the lookout for anything in particular (except the spraint of course), when suddenly something marvellous happened. A bright flash of blue along the river, accompanied by a distinctive cry … could it be?! Did that just happen?! Did I … did I just see a Kingfisher?!?! (Alcedo atthis) Why the excitement you might ask … it’s a common enough bird, and I’ve seen rarer ones. However, I have never ever seen a kingfisher in the UK! I’ve seen at least 3 species over in South Africa, but never one here! That’s why it appears on my 2015 Wildlife Resolutions! And now I’ve seen one!!!! I immediately phoned Matt / posted on Facebook / tweeted about it.

Not long after, I found a fantastic spot where I could sit right by the water’s edge. I was hoping the kingfisher would reappear of course. No joy, but I did see one of my favourite small birds – the Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus), and when you see one, you know that you’ll soon see another as they stick together in groups. Sure enough, I saw at least 5. A little while later, I was intrigued by another bird … it looked a bit like a Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita), but it did not sound anything at all like it! For one thing, it was singing its little heart out – Chiffchaffs have that distinctive “chiff chaff” call (hence the name!). I wonder perhaps if it was a Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus – note the similar name, they are of the same Genus)? I’ve since had it pointed out to me that is a Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes), how I didn’t spot that I’m not sure. Most likely because I was completely exhausted from a couple of days of very intense tiring work. Additionally, I’m not sure I’ve ever taken stock of what a wren’s song sounds like – bird ID from calls / song is yet another skill I want to improve upon! The photos aren’t great; it was a bit of a distance away.

As I walked back towards the house, my eye was caught by something on a dandelion. I didn’t expect it to be much, and figured it would fly off straight away, but decided to try and take a closer look. Kneeling in the grass, I snapped a few shots whilst wondering what it was … a hoverfly perhaps. Hm, but no, it doesn’t look right for a hoverfly – maybe some sort of bee? There are 200+ species of bee in the UK after all, and I’ve only tried to learn the bumblebees so far. It was being very helpful and remaining still, likely the chilly air hadn’t inspired it to be very active. I have since learnt (thanks to Ryan Clark) that it is in the Lasioglossum genus of bees, also known as sweat bees, and that it could be 1 of 4 species – L.morio, L.leucopus, L.smeathmanellum, L.cupromicans (who are all very similar and need a microscope to find the differences!).

Back in London again, and I soon ticked off another species for the year – Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum). This queen was buzzing about in the garden, and I managed to catch her and have a small photography session. What a beauty she is! Thanks to Ryan Clark (again) for confirming the identification!

The week was finished off with a visit to Capel Manor. I’ve actually spent a lot of time here in the past – it’s quite nearby, absolutely stunning and a brilliant place to spend much of my childhood. Being there as a littl’un, amongst the plants and the animals, has likely contributed to my enthusiasm for wildlife and the outdoors – and thus to where I am (and who I am) today. Despite the miserable weather (it was definitely a waterproofs day!), the gardens and buildings still managed to look fantastic. And Matt saved a worm from being trod on as well.

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