Wildlife sightings for 12th September 2014
1 Buzzard - high over main lake 1400hrs
2 Hobby - hunting very low over the marsh
1 Kingfisher - wader scrape
2 Pintail - wader scrape
22 Wigeon - main lake
71 Teal - wader scrape, main lake
12 Snipe - wader scrape, grazing marsh
2 Yellow Wagtail - flew South
40 House Martin - over reserve
August/early September bird highlights: Hobby, Peregrine, Buzzard, Garganey, Ruff, Greenshank, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Little Ringed Plover, Arctic Tern, Whinchat, Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, Nuthatch.
With autumn migration well underway this is a great time of year to find some exciting migrants. Summer birds like Chiffchaff, Whitethroat and Blackcap are starting to leave their breeding territories on site, while other summer visitors such as Wheatear, Whinchat, Yellow Wagtail, Swallow, Common Sandpiper and Redstart are passing through from other parts of the country heading southwards. At the same time there’s wildfowl like Shoveler, Wigeon and Snipe arriving or passing through to spend the winter here. Any species of migrant wader could turn up now, recent species this autumn including Ruff, Whimbrel and Greenshank. September and October generally turns up some more unusual or rarer birds so keep watching the scrub, scrapes and marsh for something a bit special this month.
Flowering plants: Wild Parsnip, Wild Carrot, Black Medick, Buckthorn, Cut-leaved Crane’s-bill, Dog-rose, Globeflower, Greater Celandine, Horseradish, Meadow Clary, Yellow Iris, Common Stork’s-bill, Goat’s-beard, Hairy Tare, Hoary Cress, Adder’s-tongue fern, Common Spike-rush, Dogwood, Germander Speedwell, Glaucous Sedge, Hedgerow Crane’s-bill, Red Clover, Round-leaved Crane’s-bill, Solomon’s Seal, Star-of-Bethlehem, Tuberous Comfrey, White Water-lily, Beaked Hawk’s-beard, Bird Cherry, Bistort, Bogbean, Bugle, Clustered Mouse-ear, False Fox-sedge, Field Forget-me-not, Garlic Mustard, Greater Stitchwort, Greater Tussock-sedge, Guelder-rose, Lesser Pond-sedge, Ox-eye Daisy, Pendulous Sedge, Red Valerian.
Butterflies and day-flying moths: Butterfly transect (end July 2014): Gatekeeper (82) > Common Blue (51) > Six-spot Burnet (50), Meadow Brown (50) > Small White (13) > Speckled Wood (9) > Green-veined White (7) > Holly Blue (4) > Large White (3), Red Admiral (3), Peacock (3), Comma (3) > Small / Essex Skipper (2) > Clouded Yellow (1), Small Copper (1), Vapourer Moth (1).
Notable site records for this summer so far: Mother Shipton, Barred Yellow (1st recorded at in 2008), Green Hairstreak, Red-tipped Clearwing (1st site record. Nationally scarce), Cinnabar Moth, Ringlet, Small Heath (UK BAP Priority species), White Admiral.
Dragonflies and damselflies: Dragonfly transect (29th July): Common Blue / Azure Damselfly (90) > Small Red-eyed Damselfly (58) > Blue-tailed Damselfly (20) > Emperor Dragonfly (15) > Common Darter (6) > Red-eyed Damselfly (5) > Black-tailed Skimmer (4) > Ruddy Darter (3) > Migrant Hawker (2), Brown Hawker (2) > Southern Hawker (1).
Bush-crickets and grasshoppers: Roesel’s Bush-cricket, Dark Bush-cricket, Common Green Grasshopper, Field Grasshopper.
Hoverflies and other flies: Tropidia scita, Parhelophilus frutetorum and Eupeodes luniger.
Reptiles: 3rd August survey: Common Lizards: 1 adult (f) – pond zone canopy; 1 adult, 4 juvs – Dulverton Hide bridge; 1 juv – main reedbed channel (wildside) on the culvert over the sluice from the ‘grebe pool’; 1 adult, 1 juv – 4th bridge into wildside; 1 juv – 1st bridge into wildside.
