Kingfishers Galore

Bird News:

Ibsley Water - A juvenile common sandpiper near the Tern hide all day and a dunlin on one of the islands at the end of the day. There were at least 10 Egyptian geese and large numbers of greylag, mute swan and the single black swan. The little ringed plover pair still have their two chicks. A redstart was in low willows beside the southern end of the lake in the afternoon.

Ivy Lake - At the Ivy North hide reed warblers are frantically feeding young and as I locked up I had really good views of kingfisher perched and fishing from the reedmace stems. I also saw a kingfisher on the falled trees outside the Ivy South hide.

Other Wildlife:

Moths were few, but there was a good moth related find, Sam, who is doing work experience with us, found a goat moth pupal case in the same area as larvae were found last year.

Other Stuff:

The Lower Test volunteers were cutting the tall vegetation along the western shore of Ibsley Water and did really well, clearing about half the length, despite the persistent rain. The carp removal from Mockbeggar Lake continued with numbers depressed by the weather, something over 200lbs of fish were caught though, once again all between 8 and 14ibs in weight. I realigned the "Badgercam" today so it should give a better view, I will certainly give it a look tonight

What a Catch

It actually rained today, not much but it has become such a rare event that I could not let it pass without mention.The overnight cloud kept the temperature up and so the moth catch was quite good, nothing rare but there was a small clouded brindle, a species described in the books as "common" but one we rarely see.
Being Thursday it was Volunteer Day, however we did not do a task today, instead they went pond-dipping. It is always interesting to see just what is caught and it is often not the big things that really catch the eye.

One of the most looked at finds today was this humble midge pupa.

Jim pointed out a bees nest in one of the bird boxes yesterday, at the time I could not see what species they were, so I had another look today and found they were woodland bumblebees, they way they have closed down the entrance hole is particularly interesting and something I have not seen other species of bumblebees do.

I did have one other interesting sight today, as I returned from the Ivy South hide a kingfisher flew up onto one of the dead trees in the silt pond, it had a large fish, about as long as the bird's body. After about three minutes beating it against the branch it flew off. However it was not quite that simple. In beating the fish it repeatedly turned it so as to beat it on both sides, it also held it both on each side and upright, which meant the bill was open at a very wide angle. Finally, with the fish at least stunned, it flipped as though to swallow it tail first and flew off. This meant the head was pointing straight ahead, presumably much the easiest and most aerodynamic way for a kingfisher to carry a large fish.

A Sexton Flies In

A mild drizzly night produced a good catch of moths, but not only moths, there were two small dung beetles and one black and orange burying beetle. It was carrying a number of small mites, one or two of which can be seen below the thorax. The red spot is a club end on the tip of the antennae. These beetles are also known as sexton beetles after their habit of burying small carcases on which they and their larvae feed. They will probably also feed on the larvae of other carrion feeders and in some the female beetle stays with her off-spring even feeding them when they are very small.
The great white egret was around for much of the day on Ibsley Water as were yesterday's group of 5 dunlin and 2 ringed plover. There were still good numbers of hirundines about over the lakes, especially early on when the drizzle was still falling. House martins were most numerous, but there were over 50 sand martin over Ivy Lake, a good number for so late in the season.

A flock of small birds near the Ivy North hide in the morning was made up mainly of chiffchaff, with at least twenty, but also included 2 blackcap and a small number of blue tit, great tit and long-tailed tit. However the real surprise was when I realised there was a kingfisher sitting in one of the bushes, these were not bushes on the lake shore, but on the raised bank to the north.

At the end of the day 2 juvenile common tern had turned up on Ibsley Water and the great white egret was still present.