A UK robin-sized chat, the wheatear is a summer visitor, arriving here in early March and leaving in September for its African wintering grounds. There were several of these good-looking birds on Hurst Spit today. They are mainly ground-dwelling birds. It hops or runs on the ground looking for food.
Along the River Hamble from Warsash, a favourite short walk for Sunday morning. Nothing new today but some old favourites
The tide was on the turn and starting to come in.
Blacktail Godwitts – there were good numbers of these waders, which have now lost their summer breeding plumage.
A high number of Little Egrets were on the river and in the surrounding areas.
Turnstone
Ring Plover.
Ring-necked Parakeets in Southampton Park, enjoying Beech nuts at breakfast time this morning.
Photo blog.
Photo Blog.
Gulls and Terns plus the odd fish.
Cattle Egret numbers in the UK are rising. These small white herons are mostly found in southern England and Wales. They often spend time close to livestock like sheep and cows and grab the insects and worms their hooves disturb. While watching Highland Cows in Titchfield Haven Nature Reserve, true to their name, 4 of these birds flew in to feed.
Back into the New Forest after a 10-day gap due to the large wildfire, which closed the A31, the main road crossing the forest. Although other parts were accessible, we chose to stay away, as many of the smaller roads were gridlocked with diverted traffic.
Today’s walk.
about 4 miles through some fairly boggy ground. Some of which would be impassable if we had not had a drought.
Marsh frogs.
Spotted flycatcher.
A first for me today, a Goat Moth caterpillar.
)As an adult, the moth cannot feed. The caterpillars live inside the trunks of a variety of broad-leaved trees, feeding on the wood. They overwinter three or four times as larvae and a final time as pupae. The caterpillar can grow to 10 cm (about 4 inches), and the moth has a wingspan of up to 9.5cm (about 3 1/2 inches).
Stock image of a Goat Moth.
Up on the South Downs, west of Winchester, for an early morning walk.
Quite a few Hares on the corn stubble some distance off.
Flocks of Greenfinches also visit the stubble to feed on grains left after the harvest.
Kestrel sitting high on a pylon wire looking for mice in the stubble.
The harvest is over, but the end-of-season usefulness to support wildlife of what looks like barren fields is high.
The Common Scoter is a dark-coloured sea duck; the male is totally black with yellow on its bill. I have seen this duck a few times, normally far out at sea off our coast through a telescope.
These birds were at Arundel and were born in captivity there last year.
Continued Reflections from my World. 