Author: chrisbutton1
March 12th to 19th 2022
A period of settled light southerly winds looked hopeful, the most obvious migrants were singing Chiffchaffs with at least six around the reserve.
At the Sailing Club I arrived to see the male Peregrine dashing up the river. I then noticed the 2nd calendar year female on a favourite fence post below Exbury. Later the two joined each other on Gull Island and displayed, high stepping and neck lowering within a few yards of each other.
The two adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls were still in the river mouth, the darker bird with the small mirror on P9 and the paler bird with no mirror on P9 (see images from previous blog entry). A young gull came close to the Sailing Club with very dark secondaries and a very weak inner primary window. I initially wondered if this was a 2nd calendar year Lesser Black-backed Gull. However, reviewing the photos I think the chequered greater covert bar, the oak leaf pattered tertials and the very subtle primary window mean that this is within the normal range for Herring Gull. Olsen’s Gulls states that “there is large individual variation and some (mostly E Baltic Sea) may show…..almost uniform flight feathers (with much less window than expected)”
I had given up hope of seeing any spring Dartford Warblers and so I was really pleased to see one on Gravelly Marsh with a ring on its right leg. I got an awful photo but thankfully Ian got an excellent one of the same male singing a few days later. Last year I saw a Dartford Warbler near here on the 18th April but there was no subsequent evidence of breeding and I didn’t hear any singing. Will be interesting to keep an eye on breeding activity this year.
There are at least four female type Marsh Harriers on the reserve, often around the Venner area, but only one definite male, the three year old below.
Of the four female types there are three 2nd calendar year birds (hatched last summer). The shoulders on the bird below are fairly well marked but this is still a 2nd calendar year individual because of the buff tips to the primaries and secondaries, the buff coloured head and the chocolate coloured tail (not pale rufous).
The other recent young Marsh Harriers include the missing primary feathered bird and the modestly marked individual, both photographed in the previous post.
Three Garganey had been found swimming on De L’Orne Scrape, a female and two stunning males. This is just two days earlier than the female which was found at Mary Monts last year. I headed over to De L’Orne and luckily the Garganey were still there although now resting with Shoveler and Wigeon on the bank at the back of the scrape. It’s a changing of the seasons with these newly arrived ducks from North Africa swapping over with winter visitors who are about to leave.
Black-headed Gulls were gathering and displaying around the nesting platforms on De L’Orne and twenty nine Avocets were on the Scrape. Also present here were five Redshank and one of the wintering Greenshank.
One of the Avocets was colour-ringed – Green/Blue, Blue/Lime (G/B-B/L). It was ringed at Needs Ore (at De L’Orne) as a chick in July 2014. In September 2014 it was seen at Cliffe Pools in Kent and then not recorded until May 2018 when it was seen at Orfordness in Suffolk. It is thought to have bred there and was also seen there in May 2019. In May 2020 it was also thought to have bred in Suffolk this time at Hollesley Marsh . I saw it again at Needs Ore in May 2021. Nearly eight years old is a good age for an Avocet, a typical lifespan is six years.
There were 12 Spoonbill resting on the edge of Venner South and later there were three on the river. A little later a fourth bird flew in to join them and I noticed its black primary tips, this is a 2nd calendar year bird.
Once it landed the black primary tips were hidden and so it was the lack of head plumes, the washed out pinkish bill and the lack of vivid red-orange throat patch which separated it from the adult birds.
The Avon Valley 2nd calendar year Redshank was still present in its favourite spot near the Sluice Gate. Compared to when I first photographed it in the autumn you can see that it has now grown new anchor-tipped adult scapular feathers. I imagine that it will be returning to the Avon soon, they often breed in their first summer – I later heard from Lizzie that this bird had indeed returned to the Avon Valley field that it had hatched in. She saw it on Monday morning, I had seen it at Needs Ore on Saturday afternoon. The BTO say that only 43% of Redshank survive their first winter.
There were around 500 Brents on De L’Orne South and one of the Pale-bellied Brent Geese was with them. A pair of Red-breasted Merganser drifted off shore from Mary Monts and a single male Eider headed west.
I’m hoping to catch a clear recording of Grey long-eared bats this summer and so I’ve set up five detectors around Black Water and the Gins. If I get enough possible recordings then the County Recorder will help with possible trapping. While on the Gins the Spotted Redshank showed nicely before flying back past me towards De L’Orne.
Heading back home via the Reedy Ditch a juvenile Goshawk caused anxiety amongst the Crows and Woodpigeons before it headed off back towards Stagg’s Wood. The same juvenile was photographed at the top of Park Lane by Simon a few days later. Close by the resident breeding Kestrels were calling and displaying near Black Water House.
Ian had seen an Egyptian Goose pair with a single chick on the very early date of 18th March. I watched it feeding with its parents on Warren Flash. The Larsen Traps are now being set up and one was close by. Perhaps the Carrion Crows had already predated the rest of the brood.
March 5th to 9th 2022
In the first part of the week the wind was from the north-east and so it felt brutally cold especially at the Sailing Club. Sunday’s WeBS count from Inchmery Quay, where you look south and south west, was more sheltered.
At Mary Monts I was hoping to see the pink littoralis Rock Pipit again or the colour ringed Redshank which I saw only briefly on Tuesday. No luck with the pipit but the Redshank appeared again and I was able to confirm an orange ring and a white flag with ‘CEJ’.
This Redshank was ringed as a juvenile on 11th September 2021 at Freiston on the Wash and this is the first sighting since ringing. The project helps monitor the survival of Redshank and get a better idea of turnover of juvenile Redshank passing through the Wash in autumn. Interesting that this Redshank may be flying back to Scandinavia soon via the Wash when there is suitable habitat right here with up to 15 pairs breeding on the reserve.
There was almost nothing on the sea, a familiar story recently.
The Avon Valley colour-ringed Redshank was still on Sluice Gate Saltmarsh and the 1st winter Peregrine was sat on Gull Island, facing away into the biting north-easterly wind.
At this time of the year it’s difficult to ignore the aggressively loud display of the hunch-backed Oystercatchers. Fifteen pairs were recorded last year including seven pairs along the spit and two pairs around the Sailing Club.
At the Sailing Club a 3rd cycle gull drifted over, the darker grey mantle and large size looked interesting and so I got some photos. Although the mantle colour looked good for Yellow-legged Gull the wing pattern and scruffy head weren’t right, I think the brutish appearance and dark mantle indicates argentatus Herring Gull, the nominate race from Scandinavia.
Below is a similar aged British race argenteus Herring Gull taken at the same time. You can see that the Scandinavian Herring Gull above has a darker mantle (even allowing for lighting differences) is more retarded in its moult with a black tail pattern and no grey adult feathers across the wing coverts. Angles can be deceptive but the argentatus bill also looks longer giving a more pinched out snouty expression.
A largish bird dashed into view from over the river, it was great to finally see an adult Peregrine again, over three months since my last sighting. This was a male based on his size and proportions, he flew across in front of the Sailing Club and landed on the shingle just beyond the Warden’s Hut.
The 1st winter female Peregrine was still in view now on the other side of the river. She flew over and joined the male, sitting within a few yards of him. Although I didn’t see it Val confirmed that they subsequently mated at least twice on Gull Island.
Female Peregrines do occasionally breed at one year old and so there is a chance that they may be successful. Perhaps this is our original male and the new young female may be from Calshot or Keyhaven. I first saw the young female on 11th December.
Not a regular sight here so it was nice to see two separate adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls flying down the river towards Lepe. You can see that one has a darker mantle than the other demonstrating the considerable variation in mantle shade with British graellsii. The Scandinavian race intermedius is usually considerably darker than my darker bird. The paler bird may be the same individual that I saw on De L’Orne Scrape on 17th February.
On the walk to the hides I was surprised to see a large flock of Dark-bellied Brent Geese feeding on Droveway East and later on Droveway South. It is great to see them using these fields, there were 450 altogether. On the flooded fields the regular Greenfinch flock lifted up from the vegetation near the boardwalk bridge. There were also 11 Meadow Pipits here and my first singing Chiffchaff of the year was near the gate at Black Water.
The wintering Spotted Redshank was on the grassy fringe just in front of De L’Orne hide. I opened the window as slowly and as carefully as I could but as soon as the window angle changed the glinting of the glass flushed it sending it over to the roosting stones on the scrape. I later saw it on Gins East and given that this is a private area it may well explain why there can be long gaps in between sightings.
The numbers of Avocets continues to increase with 32 now on the reserve, 26 on De L’Orne and 6 on Great Marsh. Avocet AX was on De L’Orne scrape and at least two other Avocets were mating. There were two other yellow-flagged Avocets, probably VI and a newly arrived bird but they were too distant to read. Three of the Avocets flew over to De L’Orne giving closer views.
From the De L’Orne viewing screen I picked up a very distant Red Kite over Exbury. Ian and I later saw it on our WeBS count at Inchmery and we then had much better views as it came close over Venner. March appears to be the best month for Red Kite here with birds moving though in early spring.
Around Venner there were three female type Marsh Harriers. I had recently spoken to Graham about them, he has seen two female types together on several occasions here but my third bird today, a 1st year female type with a missing primary on the left wing is new. This bird can be aged confidently as a 1st winter by the buffy head (rather than whitish) and the primaries and secondaries which are clearly buff tipped.
Graham suspects that the two other birds which he has seen regularly are a sub-adult female who has extensive creamy shoulders and a 1st winter bird. Graham saw the younger bird well yesterday and it had a dark iris suggesting that it is also a female. Today I watched this younger bird (see photo below) interacting with the older female talon grappling and mock food passing and constantly flying closely together.
You can see this is also a 1st winter bird but with worn feathers so that only a few of the secondaries still have buff tips, these feathers are almost a year old. The buffy head has also bleached and is nearer to the blonde of an older bird, however, an older bird would show more extensive creamy shoulders and would show different ages of feathers within the wing. Also none of the primaries or secondaries would have buff tips and the tail would be paler rufous-brown as opposed to chocolate brown.
The three year old male Marsh Harrier I have seen on several occasions may be old enough to breed but we ought to have seen evidence of food passes and nest building by now.
While in Venner Hide a pair of Roe Deer charged down Gins West Bank, dived under the barbed wire in front of us and then disappeared down the track that runs along the southern edge of the Gins.
The Dunlin didn’t seem quite so active as they’ve been on previous WeBS dates and with the wind lighter and the sun behind the clouds conditions were good for counting. Dunlin numbers were still high at 726 and almost 500 Dark-bellied Brent Geese were still on the river.
An impressive 400 Mediterranean Gulls were settled in the river mouth and on the muddy islands as the tide rose. Along with my count of 405 in late July these are the highest ever counts at Needs Ore. There was also a site high count (for me) of 38 Common Gulls which is the highest count by anyone for over three years.
On the way back from Inchmery to complete the Needs Ore part of the WeBS count we stopped briefly at the Reedy Ditch. A Goshawk appeared suddenly over Warren Flash and then drifted up higher tussling with a Carrion Crow. The wide hips, bulging secondaries, protruding cuckoo-like head and heavy powerful chest were all good features. It was actually slightly smaller than the Crow and so almost certainly the male. There is a breeding pair in Stagg’s Wood and this is the best time of year to see them especially on sunny days with a breeze.
On Gins East several Black-tailed Godwit were roosting and they included a lovely summer plumaged bird. Most of the other godwit are nowhere near this advanced. The bill looks particularly short on this individual suggesting that it is a male, males are also more colourful. Black-tailed Godwits will be heading back to Iceland in the coming weeks. Some studies have suggested that Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits that winter in Portugal moult earlier than British wintering flocks.
There was also a good count of 12 Snipe hiding together and most of the remaining Teal also seem to be here. This is a private area but a key route on the Breeding Bird Transect which starts later this month and runs for 12 weeks. It was good to see that waders and wildfowl didn’t seem too perturbed by my presence.
Needs Ore Bat Survey 2021
Static bat recorders were set up at various places around the reserve – the Wardens Hut at Needs Ore Point, Black Water Hide, Pullen Hide, the fence line near Mary Monts Bungalow, the Viewing Gate overlooking the Flooded Fields, Shore Hide, Stagg’s Wood and Gravelly Marsh. I also set up a detector at Lepe.
More than 30,000 individual bat calls were detected during the nine month recording period (March to October). Software was used to interrogate the .wav files and initial automatic identifications were suggested by the software.
Where I have given a total of recordings for each species (e.g. Soprano pipistrelle 19,192) this is based on the automatic identifications suggested by the software. The auto ID is not 100% reliable, it’s not feasible to manually check these identifications but these auto ID totals do give a good idea of the abundance of different bat species across the reserve.
For the rarer species these automatic identifications were manually checked and discussed with the County Recorder, Nik Knight.
Eleven species of bat were recorded on the reserve including rarities Greater horseshoe bat, Barbastelle, Nathusius’ pipistrelle, Leisler’s bat and the intriguing possibility that Grey Long-eared bats are also here. Another three myotis species of bat were also recorded but are too difficult to separate on call alone.
Soprano pipistrelle
The two commonest bat species found in the UK are Common and Soprano pipistrelle. Pipistrelles appear fast and jerky in flight as they dodge about pursuing small insects which the bats catch and eat on the wing. A single pipistrelle can consume up to 3,000 insects in one night! They generally emerge from their roost around 20 minutes after sunset and fly 2-10m above ground level searching for their insect prey, which they catch and eat on the wing by ‘aerial hawking’.
Populations of pipistrelles have declined dramatically in the last few decades, partly as a result of modern agricultural practices.
Soprano pipistrelle is the commonest species of bat at Needs Ore with more than twice as many recordings (19,192) as the Common pipistrelle (7,443). This may well be because Soprano pipistrelles prefer wetland habitats including lakes and rivers as well as woodland edges, tree lines and hedgerows.
Soprano pipistrelles were recorded regularly from all of the detectors.
Common and Soprano pipistrelle were only identified as separate species in the 1990s. With a bat detector the peak intensity of the call is around 55kHz for Soprano pipistrelle and 45kHz for Common pipistrelle.
Common pipistrelle
The second most common species of bat at Needs Ore with 7,443 recordings spread across all of the bat detectors.
Compared to the Soprano pipistrelle they are more generalist feeders found in a wide range of habitats comprising woodland, hedgerows, grassland and farmland.
The peak intensity of the call is around 45kHz.
Nathusius’ pipistrelle
Nathusius’ pipistrelle is a rare bat in the UK.
It is a migratory species with the first confirmed record of Nathusius’ pipistrelle at Needs Ore flying past the Warden’s Hut on 9th April, six minutes later the same bat was recorded off the car park at Lepe, that’s 28kph for the 3km. They migrate back to their breeding areas in Latvia using this stretch of the coastline.
There were 30 recordings with most during the peak migration period of August to October (bats heading west) and with most recordings from the Warden’s Hut at Needs Ore Point reflecting their migration route along the coastline.
Echolocation calls of Nathusius’ pipistrelle are similar to those of the other pipistrelles, however, the peak intensity of the call is lower than the other two pipistrelle species (see above) at about 38kHz.
Noctule
The Noctule is the largest British species and is usually the first bat to appear in the evening, sometimes even before sunset. They have a characteristic powerful, direct flight on narrow pointed wings. They fly in the open, often well above tree-top level, with repeated steep dives when chasing insects. Noctule bats can fly at 50kph.
The Noctule is still a relatively widespread species in much of England and Wales but has declined owing to modern intensive agricultural practices resulting in the loss of suitable feeding habitat such as permanent pasture and woodland edge/hedgerows.
The recording software suggested 1,606 recordings during the survey period making it the third most common species at Needs Ore. Noctules were regularly recorded from all of the detectors.
They echo locate with a characteristic alternating of two call types with peak frequencies of 24kHz and 19kHz.
Serotine
Closely related to the Noctule the Serotine is one of Britain’s largest bat species and usually one of the first to appear in the evening, often emerging in good light. The serotine is far less common than the Noctule. 27 recordings were made mainly from around Black Water Hide and Shore Hide.
The spectrogram below was made near the Viewing Gate and in open situations like this the peak frequency is around 25kHz, unlike the Noctule it does not produce alternating calls of two frequencies.
Leisler’s bat
Very similar to Noctule but slightly smaller. Rare in the UK.
There were 455 Leisler’s bat recordings made during the survey with the bulk of the recordings from around Black Water Hide. This number significantly over estimates the population here as they are very difficult to separate from Noctule and Serotine by call and a good number of the auto identifications are probably incorrect and likely refer to Noctules.
Nevertheless it is possible to confirm Leisler’s bat with a long enough recording to show a clear alternation between two call types peaking at 27kHz and 23kHz, which are above those for Noctule.
Myotis species
The myotis genus of bats are very difficult to identify in the field. While it is possible to identify Daubenton’s bats and Natterer’s bats from echo location calls (see the next two species) it is more difficult to identify other myotis bats. There were many recordings which were auto identified as Bechstein’s, Whiskered or Brandt’s bats but these are best recorded as myotis species given how difficult they are to separate.
Daubenton’s bat
Also known as the water bat it has a steady flight, often within a few centimetres of the water surface where they take insects, sometimes directly from the water surface using their large feet as a scoop. Daubenton’s bat is fairly widespread up to northern Scotland.
There were 352 recordings making it the fourth most abundant bat on the reserve although there is the distinct possibility that some of these records may be other myotis bats. A positive identification of Daubenton’s is best confirmed by seeing the bat flying low over the water catching their insect prey. A classic echolocation includes a rapidly descending frequency modulation sweep from 81kHz to 29kHz.
Records were mainly from the water bodies at Black Water and Pullen.
Natterer’s bat
Natterer’s bats have a slow to medium flight, sometimes over water, but it is more often associated with woodland habitats. Much of the prey is taken from foliage and includes many flightless or day-flying insects. Sometimes larger prey is taken to a feeding perch
Natterer’s bat is one of the myotis bats and so identification needs to be made with caution. Natterer’s bats can usually be confirmed by the very low end frequency down to 20kHz and the high start frequency of 100kHz plus.
74 Natterer’s bat recordings were made from all areas of the reserve.
Barbastelle
The barbastelle is very rare, found in southern and central England and Wales. Very few breeding sites are currently known in the UK. They prefer pastoral landscapes with deciduous woodland, wet meadows and water bodies, such as woodland streams and rivers.
The first record for Needs Ore was an individual recorded from Pullen Hide on 26th June. The same individual (or possibly a small number of other Barbastelles) were subsequently recorded along Warren Lane in the early autumn with the main concentration being around Shore Hide.
The spectrogram shows the frequency modulation sweep from 44kHz to 29kHz in around 4.5ms. The records have been confirmed by the County Recorder.
Greater horseshoe bat
The highlight of the year was a Greater horseshoe bat recording flying past the Warden’s Hut at 11:30pm on the 19th September. This is a significant record for Hampshire and has been confirmed by the County Recorder.
The Greater horseshoe bat has shown a marked decline and it is rare in Britain confined to the South West and South Wales. It is estimated that the number of Greater horseshoe bats has declined by over 90% in the last 100 years.
The echo location is pretty unmistakable with calls at around 85kHz with a characteristic hoop shape and similar shaped harmonics at half the frequency, 42.5kHz.
Brown long-eared bat
Brown long-eared bats are gleaners, often flying slowly amongst foliage, picking insects off leaves and bark. They are known as ‘whispering bats’ because their echolocation sounds are very quiet. The difficulty in picking up these quiet echolocation calls may account for the relatively low number of recordings (49). You typically need to be within 5m of the bat to get anything useable.
Brown long-eared bats were recorded from all areas of the reserve but less so from the more open areas.
Their echolocation calls include two harmonics, the first a sweep from 55kHz to 24kHz and the second a sweep down to around 51kHz.
possible Grey long-eared bat
Perhaps the most intriguing record is the possibility that we have Grey long-eared bats at Needs Ore. This species is very rare found only in a few places in southern England.
There were 40 recordings which the auto identification software recorded as Grey long-eared bats. They are very difficult to distinguish from the more common Brown long-eared bat and no doubt most of these recordings will be the commoner species. However, several of my recordings were considered by others to be probable Grey long-eared bats, including the recording below, but given the rarity best recorded as a plecotus species.
Their echolocation calls are slightly lower than Brown long-eared bat (although there is overlap) and also include two harmonics, the first a sweep from 45kHz to 21kHz and the second a sweep down to around 44kHz.
The County Recorder has commented that as “Grey long-eared bats are so rare we have to be very cautious. However, we have DNA evidence from droppings recovered from roosts near Lepe so it is possible. Over the years we have had 6 verified records of GLE from the south of the New Forest from Ringwood to Lepe, although two of those were the same ringed bat taken into care on dates 5 years apart!”
If I can build up a substantial database of likely Grey long-eared bat calls then the County Recorder has said that he may commission some trapping to collect DNA, make in the hand measurements or to collect droppings if they can be found.
Chris Button, Natural England Voluntary Warden February 2022
Birding with a Sketchbook 