First Flight II - Three Good Terns

A calm cloudy night and so the moth catch was pretty good, the pick of the trap was a new species for Blashford, a Pyralid called Phlyctaenia perlucidalis a species that used to be considered very rare in Fenland areas, but which has spread in recent years, although this seem to be the first record inland on the Avon Valley.

Rather more attractive was a very fine burnished brass, a moth that is very common, the caterpillars feed on nettle, but which is not often seen unless you run a moth trap.

Opening the hides I was delighted to see that at least three of the common tern chicks are now flying and several more look as though they could if they wanted to. I also got a better count of the birds, it seems that there are sixteen pairs still actively using the rafts and they have forty -four chicks.

During the dry spell this morning we had another go at some of the ragwort, a favourite task, but in this case it had compensations. On the bank near the main entrance we came across lots of meadow brown and my first small skipper and marbled white of the season. I got a picture of the skipper but the marbled white would not stop.

It was not all butterflies though, I also found a soldier-fly, Oplodontha viridula, not at all rare but always good to see, the spotted eyes are something I don't usually notice, but they show well in the picture.

On the same bank we also came across a single pyramidal orchid these seem to crop up here and there on the reserve, often in otherwise very ordinary grassland.

The recently hatched lapwing brood near the Tern hide is still whole, with all four chicks surviving despite the wet weather. I am not sure if any of the little ringed plover chicks still survive, I could not see any of them today. The largest lapwing chick is certainly able to fly now, although it is still near the Tern hide with the female.

Thursday Magic

The day started with heavy rain, which got heavier before stopping just in time for the volunteers, the Thursday magic worked again. We worked in increasingly warm sunshine, path clearing, pulling ragwort and Himalayan balsam for a couple of hours. Having got back and put the tools away it started to rain again and then did so on and off for much of the afternoon.

The cloud overnight did not produce as many moths as I had hoped, but there were quiet a few "micros", mostly Tortrix moths. The smaller moths are often worth a closer look, some mimic bird-droppings, a good strategy if you want to avoid being eaten by a bird. Others go for getting lost in leaf litter and come in shades of grey and brown, like the Celypha striana below.

Some, however are little gems, but you do need to get in close to appreciate them, the one below has a tremendous mouthful of a name, Pseudargyrotoza conwagana.

At the end of the day we got down to the Ivy South hide and had a good look at the common terns on the rafts. I reckon there are sixteen pairs actively feeding young, I think there have been up to eighteen pairs, but the others either never laid or have abandoned the attempt. The sixteen pairs have done well though, there are still at least forty-two chicks, some of which should be flying in a day or two. Given that a tern colony is regarded as having a successful breeding season if they rear an average of one chick per pair, we will be well ahead if they fledge the majority of those still alive.

Elsewhere there was little to report, the mute swans on Ibsley Water have now built up to 65 and have a single black swan with them. The geese are gathering to moult and must number well over 300 now, although getting a good count has been impossible so far.

Hatchings

After not being in for a few days, as ever much had changed. The oystercatcher pair have got at least one chick running around, she had been sitting so long that I assumed they must have hatched. I suspect she was not willing to expose the chicks as the island they nest on often has a mass of herring and lesser black-backed gull on it. Oystercatchers feed their young, so unlike say a lapwing, it does not need to run around looking for food itself. On the subject of lapwing, the pair near the Tern hide still have at least one chick growing well and another female is still sitting on eggs.

On Ivy Lake the common tern chicks have been hatching for a week or so, some are now running around on the rafts, although several other pairs are still incubating eggs. So far things are looking good with lots of fish being brought in, so hopefully they will have another good year.

The moth catch was quite good, although the highlight, by some distance, was a male goat moth, only the second I have ever seen.

A Dewy Start and Late Arrivals

A cool, dewy autumn morning, the damp allows the slugs to get out and about in numbers, most are the large brown form of Arion ater a slug of very variable appearance and one of the commonest species. In very open habitats and in uplands they are usually black, in more sheltered habitats brown or reddish, in very sheltered yellow or even pale cream. The one in the picture is typical of the Blashford specimens and was by the path near the Ivy North hide as I opened up.
The dew also picks out the cobwebs and the many different types of web can easily be seen. The gorse bushes were covered with flat fine webs and between more open twigs there were lots of orb webs of the classic type with a radial design.

My first look round the hides turned up nothing of note, a calling water rail by the Ivy north being perhaps the most notable. The lack of hirundines was noticeable, the first morning I have seen none as I opened up since the early spring. The few people about reported very little for most of the day, a colour-ringed peregrine beside Ibsley Water and a couple of common sandpiper being the best. Then a visitor at the Centre pointed out there were 2 spotted flycatcher in the large oak next to the car park, always nice birds to see.

Whilst having lunch I at first thought there was a ruddy darter beside the pond, but the picture shows it to just be a very bright common darter, although it was a rather small one.

When I closed up the Tern hide I was not expecting much, the great white egret had been reported from Mockbeggar Lake, but nothing of note had really been seen on Ibsley Water. However when I looked out I saw a tern, an adult common tern, the first for a while, then I noticed more until there were twenty. They were a mix of adults and juveniles and were flying about, often quite high and calling a lot. I would guess they were a group of migrants, possibly pushed south by the approaching weather. I then saw a dunlin and as I followed that a redshank. Although not rare birds these would all seem to be migrants on the move that had arrived during the afternoon. With rain promised overnight there could be more in the morning.