Mark Colvin

[ChrisC]

I really hope my son's interest continues as it gives me great pleasure being out with him and seeing him enthused by the things which mean so much to me.

from someone who spent 30 years fishing and birdwatching with his Dad, i hope it does too Mark. many many fond memories including seeing our first small copper together at Dungeness.

Chris

[Paul Wetton]

Hi Mark

I began bird watching and taking nature walks with my dad at the tender age of 4.

I've been out with my mum and dad today bird and butterfly watching along the Wash near Boston at the not so tender age of 46 but its still great.

[Mark Colvin]

Dear Chris and Paul,

Thanks for your comments.

from someone who spent 30 years fishing and birdwatching with his Dad, i hope it does too Mark. many many fond memories including seeing our first small copper together at Dungeness.

I began bird watching and taking nature walks with my dad at the tender age of 4. I've been out with my mum and dad today bird and butterfly watching along the Wash near Boston at the not so tender age of 46 but its still great.

We're definitely out of the same mould, being a fisherman and birdwatcher also. My parents were sadly not into any of the activities I pursue and most of my early years were spent in the company of like-minded friends. I really hope my interests rub off on my children.

I hope we meet in the field one day.

Good hunting.

Kind regards. Mark

[Mark Colvin]

Plaistow, 29 August 2011

A single specimen of the Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa) came to my bathroom light last night.

It was nice to get a 'big' moth for a change and I was particularly pleased with this specimen as I hadn't seen an Angle Shades for a number of years.

Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa), Plaistow (29 August 2011)

[Mark Colvin]

Wiggonholt and Pulborough Brooks, 31 August 2011

Today started and finished in the same place. An early and very short visit to Wiggonholt on my own, followed by a late afternoon visit with my son to Pulborough Brooks which ended in the rough pasture outside of Wiggonholt church.

My early visit produced just a single male Common Blue.

Common Blue (male), Wiggonholt (31 August 2011)

Common Blue (male), Wiggonholt (31 August 2011)

Common Blue (male), Wiggonholt (31 August 2011)

Our afternoon visit to Pulborough Brooks was far more productive and started with a tip off that a female Marsh Harrier had been seen on the southern brooks earlier in the day … a scarce spring and autumn passage migrant and very scarce winter visitor to Sussex. Armed with binoculars and cameras we set off in anticipation … maybe we’d strike lucky and see the Marsh Harrier and get a Brown Hairstreak (well you have to live in hope)!

I reality we saw neither of these but had a very pleasant walk around the reserve clocking up a number of bird and insect species along the way. Though I failed to get a good photograph, several worker hornets were observed stripping bark from an ash sapling for nest building. A single specimen of the hornet mimic hoverfly (Volucella zonaria) was also observed along with a male Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea).

We left the reserve by the public footpath, which leads to Wiggonholt church. The area surrounding the path is comprised of a mixture of rough pasture with numerous beds of bramble and nettle, stands of ragwort and fleabane along with various grasses. Our walk through this area produced a beautiful Small Tortoiseshell, a single Red Admiral and numerous Small Copper.

Species seen included:

Small White
Green-veined White
Small Copper
Common Blue
Meadow Brown
Gatekeeper
Speckled Wood
Red Admiral
Comma
Small Tortoiseshell

Comma, Pulborough Brooks (31 August 2011)

Small Copper, Wiggonholt (31 August 2011)

Small Tortoiseshell, Wiggonholt (31 August 2011)

Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea), Pulborough Brooks (31 August 2011)

[Wurzel]

That is a cracking shot of the Small Copper - I already said this on another post but I can't get them to open their wings like that - are you tickling them with a grass blade?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Ps - I don't think that I'm married to your wife...

[Mark Colvin]

Hi Wurzel,

Thanks for your kind comments.

That is a cracking shot of the Small Copper - I already said this on another post but I can't get them to open their wings like that - are you tickling them with a grass blade?

It is of course an old Sussex trick past down through the generations from father to son ... consequently I am not at liberty to spill the beans!

Good hunting.

Kind regards. Mark

[Mark Colvin]

Pulborough Brooks, 31 August 2011

Keen to get a better shot of the Comma I’d seen earlier in the day I popped back to Pulborough Brooks later in the afternoon and found what I believe to be the same individual nectaring on Fleabane.

Comma, Pulborough Brooks (31 August 2011)

[Mark Colvin]

Steyning and Mill Hill, 3 September 2011

Today was always going to be long shot … finding a Clouded Yellow in Sussex based on the very few records reported so far this season. My first port of call was Steyning Rifle Range as there is a field full of clover, one of the principal larval foodplants, just to the north of the Brown Hairstreak reserve.

Despite the temperature being over 20°C conditions weren’t great, particularly for a decent photograph, as it was very windy with the sun fighting its way through a cloudy sky. I spent several hours scanning the reserve from top to bottom. Needless to say I didn’t find my target though did find three species of reptile including grass snake, common lizard and several slow worms.

Species seen included:

Red Admiral
Small White
Green-veined White
Small Heath
Meadow Brown
Speckled Wood

Slow Worm (one of several), Steyning Rifle Range (3 September 2011)

Having left my packed lunch in the car I decided enough was enough and headed back down. Replenished, I decided to head across to Mill Hill. By the time I arrived the sun was shining under a clear blue sky with intermittent light cloud. It was hot and humid but still very windy.

No Clouded Yellow but numerous Adonis Blue (many still very fresh) and a scattering of Chalkhill and Common Blue (both past their sell by dates). I was particularly pleased to find at least six pristine Brown Argus on the lower slope and numerous Small Heath. Whilst heading back to the car I found a single female Adonis Blue sheltering in the long grass between the top track and road. Despite having slight wing damage she was a fairly fresh specimen and alighted on my finger for several seconds before flying off not to be seen again.

Species seen included:

Small White
Green-veined White
Common Blue
Adonis Blue
Chalkhill Blue
Brown Argus
Small Heath
Meadow Brown

Brown Argus (male), Mill Hill (3 September 2011)

[David M]

That's a particularly good Brown Argus shot, Mark. I like the snake too!

[Mark Colvin]

Hi David,

Thanks for your kind comments.

That's a particularly good Brown Argus shot, Mark. I like the snake too!

Snake?

Good hunting.

Kind regards. Mark

[Lee Hurrell]

Cracking Brown Argus, Mark.

Shame about the CY, any luck with the BH?

Cheers

LH

[Mark Colvin]

Hi Lee,

Thanks. I'm glad you like the shot.

Cracking Brown Argus, Mark.

To be honest, considering the conditions (bright sunshine and very breezy), I was surprised I managed to pull anything out of the bag yesterday.

Still no Brown Hairstreak!

Good hunting.

Kind regards. Mark

[Mark Colvin]

Kithurst Hill, 5 September 2011 - Part 1

My plan today was to pay an early morning visit to Cissbury Ring to photograph Adonis Blue. I arrived early, 7.15am, and was faced as forecast with very strong westerly winds blowing straight onto the side of hill I was planning to visit. I quickly decided that the walk up and over the hill to my planned target area was probably foolhardy and probably a waste of time. I sat in my car drinking a hot cappuccino and watched the clouds racing in the sky and the trees dancing in the wind. A few brave souls were already walking their dogs on top of the ring. I needed a new plan …

I arrived at Kithurst Hill some fifteen minutes later. The ground was wet and it was still windy but its main flower meadow faces north and is generally fairly protected by its wooded perimeter. This is one of my favourite sites on the South Downs and has been very productive in the past. I entered the gate to the meadow and walked west. Almost immediately I came across a stoat quartering the fields in hot pursuit of a rabbit. The chase over and the stoat left hungry it came running back through the wet meadow, stopping every now and again to stand up on its hind legs and smell the air and then move on.

A Red Admiral was the first butterfly of the morning followed by good numbers of Speckled Wood. Though I initially struggled to find a female Speckled Wood I managed a few shots when I finally did. She then flew to a higher level and landed, at which point she was immediately joined by a male. They never came down …

Species seen included:

Red Admiral
Small Copper
Small White
Green-veined White
Speckled Wood

Speckled Wood (male), Kithurst Hill (5 September 2011)

Speckled Wood (male), Kithurst Hill (5 September 2011)

Speckled Wood (male), Kithurst Hill (5 September 2011)

Speckled Wood (female), Kithurst Hill (5 September 2011)

[Mark Colvin]

Kithurst Hill, 5 September 2011 - Part 2

Before leaving Kithurst Hill I decided to try to get a photograph of the stoat I had seen hunting earlier. I sat down in what seemed like a suitable spot, camera at the ready and started calling. Within just a few seconds the stoat, now with evidence of a kill around its lips, appeared once again from within the thick bush it had disappeared into earlier, its den probably within. I managed four very quick shots of this fabulous small mammal before it vanished once again. At one point it came within two metres of me.

A great start to the day which wasn't yet over ...

Stoat (Mustela erminea), Kithurst Hill (5 September 2011)

[Nick Broomer]

Hi Mark

Great picture of the Stoat.

Do you actually ever work?

hideandseek

[Mark Colvin]

Hi Hideandseek,

Thanks. I'm glad you like the picture.

Great picture of the Stoat.

Work?

You know you can get chucked off the forum for using bad language!

Good hunting.

Kind regards. Mark

[Mark Colvin]

Pulborough Brooks, 5 September 2011 - Part 3

I arrived at Pulborough Brooks late morning in anticipation of a possible Painted Lady (one had been reported and photographed recently) and maybe a Brown Hairstreak … well you have to get lucky in the end! I started with a bacon butty and a coffee. Replenished I set off in my quest!

A good selection of late season butterflies were seen including two fabulous Comma’s feeding on ripe blackberries close to the Brown Hairstreak master trees. Both sat quite happily for photographs, maybe slightly intoxicated by the fermenting fruits as moths do when 'sugaring'. I watched them for probably twenty minutes or so before moving on. Both Small and Green-veined White were around is reasonable numbers though flighty and difficult to photograph in the breezy conditions. A Red Admiral alighted on a metal gate and a single Small Tortoiseshell was nectaring on fleabane nearby.

A little later I decided to head down to Nettley’s Hide as it is a good location for getting very close to the reserve’s fallow deer population and a possible photo opportunity. A large grass snake crossed my path as I headed down. The deer weren’t present in their usual spot.

The Painted Lady and Brown Hairstreak eluded me once again ...

Species seen included:

Small White
Green-veined White
Common Blue
Brown Argus
Small Copper
Comma
Red Admiral
Small Tortoiseshell
Speckled Wood
Meadow Brown

Comma (1), Pulborough Brooks (5 September 2011)

Comma (1), Pulborough Brooks (5 September 2011)

Comma (2), Pulborough Brooks (5 September 2011)

Comma (2), Pulborough Brooks (5 September 2011)

Red Admiral, Pulborough Brooks (5 September 2011)

[Lee Hurrell]

Lovely pictures once again Mark.

I love the stoat picture, it looks typically quizzical and is lovely to see surrounded by flowers like that.

Also, that second Comma image is a stunner!

Good work.

Cheers

Lee

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Mark

Good to see you have been getting out and getting some good shots, its not been too good round here lately, either rain or wind or both

I love the photo of the Stoat and the Comma shots have a real Autumnal look to them .

Cheers,

Neil.