Bugboys mission

[bugboy]

Coming soon Trevor


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November 2022

Friday 11th. I went into Essex again, high tide was mid afternoon but when I got to the hide it was already full of birders and a little too cramped for my taste. Perhaps because of this and all the ‘whispering’ most of the waders where sitting on the far islands on the lagoon so not particularly good for photography. Large numbers of Little Egret roost on the Island at high tide, congregating mostly around some shallow pools, remains of an old sewage works. Today when I arrived I counted 50 and more were arriving by the minute. As usual in such high densities, squabbling was commonplace.

Brent Geese were here in numbers, moving up the estuary as the tide came in

Wader numbers in general still seem a bit low, perhaps the warm autumn slowing the southerly migration.

Grey Plover

Butterfly sighting of the day came from just a single Red Admiral battling into the wind.

When the tide turned so did the bird movement, geese and ducks heading back down and in the golden hour some Curlew.

Skein of Brents

[bugboy]

November 2022

Saturday 12th. The last couple of days of my short break looked to be brightening up and after seeing several postings on the Sussex sightings page from Lindsay Morris, a stalwart of the Sussex butterfly fraternity, from Lancing Ring (including a LTB) I decided to go and see for myself. A quick look the night before on google maps suggested the walk from Shoreham station was no longer than the walk up to Mill Hill. I tried for an early start, but various train related stuff meant it was an afternoon visit.

My first butterfly appeared before getting to the site, passing a horse paddock some Dandelions caught my eye and sitting atop one was a greenish/yellow triangle. A little too far away for the macro to get but the long lens did its job.

The forecast said it was going to be a sunny day, sadly it wasn’t true, some sunny spells came and went but this was enough for a couple of Red Admirals to be active when I arrived, one of whom had a slightly squiffy left forewing. Also watching them was another chap who turned out to be Lindsay himself, I’ve never knowingly met him before, Lovely to meet you Lindsay .

I got a little tour of this corner of the site, an old chalk pit, which is sheltered from the worst of the wind from nearly every direction. Lindsay also mentioned a couple of Comma were active, feeding on some late flowering Privet, before I arrived and when the sun decided to come out long enough, they duly reappeared. He also called me over when a fresh Peacock appeared.

After Lindsay left a trio of Brimstone appeared as well, and I ended my butterfly count with another 4 Red Admiral. 13 individuals of 5 species in the middle of November, it felt more like spring!

It became very overcast for the rest of the afternoon, but I took a stroll along the windy seafront, from Lancing to Worthing, stopping to watch some Oystercatcher and Turnstone.

Hmmmm, where to go tomorrow?

[essexbuzzard]

I’d call that success!

Given the time of year, that’s a cracking selection!

[Wurzel]

Clouded Yellow aside (in November! )that is quite a nice Spring collection Bugboy Cracking birding shots recently as well - good to see the Cattle Egrets taking hold

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Amazing. The not-quite-so-sunny weather probably helped in calming that Cloudie down - he looked in reasonable nick, too. Aside from that, you had a real selection of spring butterflies - pop down again in early March and you'll probably see them all again!

Cheers,

Dave

[bugboy]

Thanks Essex, there was more to come too!
Thanks Wurzel, November isn’t how I remember it as a kid !
Thanks Dave, yes it was during a cloudy spell that I got that Cloudie. It would be interesting to go there again in the spring and see if I am able to recognise any of them, although I’m not sure I’ll be able to afford to go anywhere next year the way things are going !

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November 2022

Sunday 13th. The original plan for the day was to start at Mill Hill (sometimes you get a surprise there late in the season) and then head over to Southwick Hill. However after finding nothing but a thick layer of dew at Mill Hill and starting the walk onto Southwick, I noticed lots of cloud rolling in from the east so I switched plans and headed west, ending up at Lancing Ring again where once again I bumped into Lindsay.

There was just the one Comma active today but it was a Small Tortoiseshell that first caught my attention, having not seen one for several weeks now.

Yesterdays squiffy winged RA was still around, as were at least six others

And the Brimstones had woken up again.

Adding to my November list were two more that didn’t settle, a couple of Speckled Wood flybys and the briefest glimpse of what could only have been a Holly Blue. Eight species in November, pretty sure that’s a new personal record!

[Wurzel]

"November isn’t how I remember it as a kid !" It's crazy that you were seeing such a range of species; 8 in November Great shots especially like the final Small Tort

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Even allowing for the extraordinarily warm weather that weekend, eight species in mid-November is almost worryingly impressive, Paul.

One is prone to wonder how much more bizarre this time of year can become. Late autumn has certainly become considerably milder and more benign these last few years.

[bugboy]

November 2022

Tuesday 22nd. My weekend in Lancing was my last hurrah as far as butterflies are concerned, as I write this, I’ve not seen any since. Last Tuesday I returned to Two-tree Island, hoping the hide would be a bit emptier this time. It was, I was the only occupant for quite some time which was nice, I could spread myself out a bit! The shallow lagoon was quite busy today at high tide, thirteen species of waders, Knot and Dunlin making up the bulk but there were sizable flocks of Black-tailed Godwit and Redshank and plenty of Ringed Plover, Lapwing and Grey Plover in the mix.

Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Lapwing, Dunlin.

Dunlin (forground), Knot (background) & a rogue Oystercatcher

Grey Plover

About half an hour into settling down to watch, something unknown spooked them and I was treated to the spectacle of them whooshing around for a bit before they decided to go over Hadleigh Ray, the channel that separates Canvey Island from this part of Essex and find somewhere else to sit out high tide.

Knot & Dunlin, mostly.

Black-tailed Godwit & Lapwing

Redshank

As they departed some Avocet arrived briefly but weren’t happy and they too flew off.

Avocet

There were also a couple of Greenshank, some Turnstone, Curlew and, closer to the hide but lurking in taller plant growth, some Snipe.

Lapwing and Greenshank (bottom right)

Snipe

Since it looked like they weren’t returning I wandered off to another freshwater lagoon on the island which often has plenty of ducks. There were the usual Teal and Mallard but at the far end an odd looking duck was swimming rather nervously around. I’ve only seen adults in breeding plumage before (in captivity) but I’m fairly confident it’s a juvenile Long-tailed Duck (the adult males are very impressive looking Ducks!) They breed on the northern tundra but spend the winter around the coasts of Northern Europe and North America.

Long-tailed Duck

I suspect my long wait till spring for my next butterfly has started now...

[Wurzel]

More cracking bird shots Bugboy and a great shot of the Oldsquaw It looks like a female that's still showing a bit of her breeding plumage The ones I've seen udring the winter have a lot more white on the heads - particularly around the cheeks

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

You must hold the record for the sheer number of species seen on a November day!
Meeting Mr Morris no doubt helped with your final tally.

Great stuff,
Trevor.

[David M]

You get some fabulous wetland birds round your way, Paul, probably better than we have here in south Wales. Those in-flight avocets are particularly impressive.

I guess the butterfly season truly is over when your posts begin to be exclusively birdlife.

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, its not a species I’m overly familiar with, took me a while to convince myself it was a Long-tailed Duck in the first place!
Thanks Trevor but I think Mr Morris probably pips me on that one, being lucky enough to have that site on his doorstep as he does! It was good to see them all though.
Thanks David, yes I think it’ll be a few months now before butterflies start appearing here again, I don’t even have my usual overwintering White Admirals to keep me occupied this winter either!

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December 2022

Tuesday 6th. Wrapped up in winter woollies with the summers heatwave just a faint memory, I didn’t expect to find any butterflies, and to make sure I get my monies worth from my annual WWT subscription, I headed off to Barnes in south London to have a look around the Wetland Centre. I got there early and in the first hide I entered the fellow occupant pointed out one of the wintering Bittern (the hide grapevine later in the day insinuated there were three currently in residence). I took a few snaps of the bittern shaped reeds, just his head poking out and mostly throwaway shots. Shortly after the chap left the hide leaving me by myself though, it decided to make a break from cover and fly rather ungainly (they don't seem to be built for anything except lurking in dense reed beds) across the lake until I lost it behind one of the many islands.

I’ve seen many a Barnes Bittern over the years but this 10 second bit of action is by far the most exciting thing I’ve ever seen one do (I think I did see one blink once, that also set my heart racing!).

Well after that bit of insane excitement, I needed to sit down somewhere else. I went over to the Peacock tower, a 3 storey hide, where I found another master of camouflage nonchalantly going about its business in plain view. This particular Snipe had obviously found a rich vein of earthworms and was chuffing them down like it hadn’t eaten for weeks!

There was nothing else particularly unusual, a small flock of Lapwing periodically did a few laps of the site, and a pair of Gadwall got a bit fruity.

a flock of Starling joining the Lapwings

Gadwall in cop

Goldfinch

Winter is definitely upon us now, but perhaps only 10 or 12 weeks until the first Brimstones venture from their winter roosts

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots of the Snipe Bugboy That view of the Bittern reminds me of the first ever time I saw. I was looking out over Radipole Lake and it just suddenly went up from the Reed bed and flew over the reeds further back into the bed - about 6 seconds in total burnt burnt into my memory Cheers for the reminder

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Wow. Those bittern images are something of a shock, Paul. As you say, they don't usually do anything in a hurry and prefer to stay still and blend into their surroundings.

I've always found it hard to reconcile myself with the fact that they are in the heron family, but those action shots you've got show their roots clearly.

[millerd]

Having once had a Bittern pointed out to me and totally failed to see it, they remain a bit of a mystery to me. It seems they are very reclusive and retiring in habit (with great camouflage) - perhaps the origin of the phrase "once bittern, twice shy"...?

Cheers,

Dave

(PS. Those are terrific shots of the elusive creature, by the way... )

[bugboy]

No problem Wurzel
Thanks David, they are indeed extremely adverse to doing much outside the depths of the reedbed
Don’t worry Dave, I’ve had them pointed out to me in the past and still failed to see them. It takes a week or so of freezing conditions to force them out into the open when they have to go looking for open water to find food, the kind of weather we’re in the middle off now might be enough.

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December 2022

Saturday 10th. I spent the day with a friend who lives on a boat on the River Lea up at Broxbourne. It was very frosty, but we were blessed with a clear blue sky and little or no wind, a perfect winters day. Butterflies were most definitely off the menu.

Snipe were found (in the same field as we found them last year) but with no hides, in flight shots after we spooked them were the only shots available.

Oak trees still in full leaf were a rather incongruous sight amongst the frosty conditions, just 15 days before Christmas!

We did look for a Bittern which apparently had been seen for several days along the edges of one of the larger lakes but despite much searching came up blank. We were of course informed by a birder that he had been seen earlier in the day in plain view right in front of the hide (of course he had !)

Kestrel

Grey Heron

Shoveler

I must start sorting out a highlights of the year!

[Goldie M]

Some fantastic Bird shots Bugboy, if I miss any thing with moving from the North it's got to be the bird sanctuaries , they were all within a few miles of where I lived and every Winter I took loads of shots . I don't think the Nature Reserves are open here yet because of the Bird flu, I visited a few this year but all were closed to the public, I wondered if you've found the same things happening on your travels. Goldie

[bugboy]

Thanks Goldie. There were several seabird reserves closed to the public over the summer. bird flu has hit these colonies badly this year. Inland nature reserves are open though (I visited Stodmarsh near Canterbury a few weeks back).

Time to have a look back over the year and to make sure my diary doesn’t become too bird orientated!

Spring 2022.

March
The first sighting of a male Brimstone still holds a magical spell as he flutters along the mostly lifeless looking hedgerows, still just hinting at the life about to burst forth.

The first Comma was also seen at Bookham at the beginning of the month and the other adult hibernators were also ticked off by the 15th, helped by a decent warm spell coinciding with a bit of time off work. I was very lucky to find a pair of courting Comma and managed to follow them into the edge of a bramble thicket where they settled down and gave me the opportunity to add that species to my 'in cop' list.

By the end of the month, I’d reached the dizzy heights of nine species. Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Small & Green-veined White and Orange-tip all putting in an appearance (although at this stage record shots were the best I was achieving)

[Wurzel]

Great start to the look back Bugboy - especially the Commas in cop - I don't think I've got an Aristocrat in my 'In Cop' collection

Have a goodun

Wurzl