Category: Autumn 2021

Mist and dew made this morning feel very autumnal. I walked the fence line through the beach gorse and one of the first things I noticed was something caught on the barbed wire flapping and trying to free itself. As I got closer I could see that it was a Convolvulus Hawk-moth, a rare but regular migrant to northern Europe from southern Europe and Africa.

It was attached fairly strongly to the barbed wire but it wasn’t caught on the barbs. It was almost as thought it was caught in a spider’s web. I freed it and it seemed fine. I also considered that it might be a shrike larder but it was 6.45am about 3 minutes after sunrise, the moth was covered in dew and in perfect condition. It wasn’t skewered to the barbed wire and so I think it got stuck overnight somehow.

Once I’d freed the giant moth I turned to see a pair of Roe Deer watching me intently through the thick fog.

There was a large group of noisy Canada Geese offshore with 215 strung out from Mary Monts. Eight nervous Snipe were flushed from the pools.

Today was a Blackcap and Chiffchaff day with plenty of them on the move and lots of ‘chacking’ and ‘hueeting’ wherever I went. There were at least 20 Chiffchaff fly-catching in the large trees bordering Gravelly Track. On Great Marsh a Sedge Warbler appeared briefly.

My first Marsh Tit since May was eating berries near the Reedy Ditch.

A hirundine flock was assembling on the wires opposite Black Water House. It had become so foggy that it was difficult to tell what they were but there were roughly 275 birds with around 225 of them House Martins and perhaps 30 Swallows and 20 Sand Martins.  

In a hidden clearing of heather along Warren Lane Beach Scrub Ian had found a colony of blue butterflies. It was warm now so I had a look. The Common Blues were pretty fresh but a smaller Brown Argus was very faded, both species are double brooded and they can be seen in late September. Compared to Common Blue the Brown Argus lacks a spot on the underside of the forewing nearest the body and unlike Common Blue and Silver-studded Blue they also have two spots very close together on the hindwing which almost coalesce to look like a number ‘8’. Brown Argus is a patch tick.

There were also lots of fresh Small Coppers in this sheltered area and a Rush Veneer, a migrant moth which is often found at the coast.

I walked to the hides and noticed the Osprey heading over the De L’Orne area. A second Osprey was visible in its normal tree in the Calshot Tower direction.

As I reached De L’Orne hide I could see the Great White Egret stood on the top of the pines at the back of Black Water. After a few minutes he took off and headed back towards the Reedy Ditch area. August and September are good months for new egrets arriving and since the first sighting nearly three weeks ago the Great White Egret has ranged widely from Park Shore and Great Marsh to De L’Orne and most areas in between.  

The White-tailed Eagle appeared again having been seen returning to the Isle of Wight earlier in the month. He appeared from the Gins East direction and was immediately harassed by one of the Ospreys before landing in the fields on the Inchmery side and then later landing on the saltmarsh opposite the Royal Southampton Yacht Club.

Before heading home I chatted to Alan and Caroline. The Southern Migrant Hawker didn’t appear but while we were talking Alan noticed a Clouded Yellow heading eastwards along the ditch near the car park, only my second on the reserve.

There was a significant Chiffchaff movement today with ‘hueeting’ and tail pumping birds all over the reserve, at least 50 in total including five in one small bush alone. Blackcaps and Meadow Pipits were also highly visible in good numbers. I reached Great Marsh as the Great White Egret lifted up from the scrape.

There were several loud and low flying Yellow Wagtails and having patrolled the private areas around Gravelly Marsh I decided to walk from the Gravelly cattle grid to Flycatcher Tree north of the Reedy Ditch. In the Droveway opposite Black Water House a Garden Warbler appeared briefly and several Chiffchaff were fly-catching in a sheltered spot opposite.  My first Treecreeper for a while appeared nearby.

A Redstart was feeding and moving along the hedge bordering Droveway North gradually moving closer to the dead trees at Black Water Farm. All along the hedge line it would drop down into the field looking for insects, it did this at least four times.

A single Reed Warbler at the Reedy Ditch is getting quite late now. They had a good breeding season with lots of juveniles around and at least two broods. A singing male was the first long distance migrant of the year back on the 1^st April at Black Water. It definitely feels like the changing of the seasons when the last of them departs again. 

There were good numbers of Wheatears today with at least ten seen.

Next I wandered over to the hides where one of the Ospreys was hunting over the De L’Orne area. A single Whinchat was on the furthest post along Whinchat Fence.

High tide was at 3:40pm and so we headed over to Inchmery for my WeBS count. This month Ian and I are doing the two sectors together so that he sees my routine and I can see his, this will be handy if we ever need to cover each other.

At Inchmery highlights were building numbers of Oystercatcher and Redshank, 110 and 81 respectively before a juvenile Osprey flew right over our heads flying purposefully on to Lepe. Later a second individual was seen catching a fish off the Warden’s Hut. The splash was visible from our position nearly a mile away.

We headed back to Needs Ore to complete Ian’s sector. The Great White Egret was in the Reedy Ditch but took off as soon as we got out of the car, it eventually landed on the river beyond De L’Orne. On the walk over the flooded fields a young Hobby dashed over the boardwalk chasing Meadow Pipits. One of the Ospreys had caught another fish and had settled on the fence posts which run directly away from the new De L’Orne hide.

The flood area which spills over from De L’Orne lagoon towards the boardwalk has been good for waders and today a major highlight was finding nine juvenile Ruff feeding together, one of the highest Hampshire counts in recent years. One of them was much smaller and raised the heart rate temporarily although it proved to be a small female. I’ve been visiting Needs Ore for a full year now and Ruff is the 175^th species I’ve seen. A stretching year list target for future years.

Other highlights on the WeBS count included building numbers of Wigeon and Teal, 51 and 379 respectively, most on Gins East. Also 20 Pintail and a Jersey Tiger.

I ran my Robinson and Skinner MV traps overnight in the Pullen area and met up with Simon at 7am to go through them. Having Simon with me certainly speeded up the process! Highlights included Convolvulus Hawkmoth, Pinion-streaked Snout, Chilo phragmitella, Neglected Rustic, Heath Rustic, Mathew’s Wainscot and L-album Wainscot.

I arrived around sunrise and already there were several Migrant Hawkers on the wing. In fact over the first hour these dragonflies outnumbered the birds. Grey Wagtails continued to be vocal overhead with the odd Yellow Wagtail still moving through.

The early sun had just broken through as I checked the private areas around Great Marsh. I rounded the corner carefully to view the scrape and was pleased to see the Great White Egret feeding close by.  

Another place I approach very carefully is the area around the causeway at the eastern end of the Flight Pond. There are often nervous Black-tailed Godwit or Snipe here and today a regular Green Sandpiper watched me suspiciously before fleeing to the other end of the pond.

I headed past the low islands of blackberries and gorse with Whitethroats churring in good numbers. An olive-brown passerine flew across, rather weakly, in front of me. The long undertail coverts and rounded tail gave the bird a tapering pointed look at each end and together with a streaky back it definitely looked like a Grasshopper Warbler.    

It dived deep into the brambles. I walked around the other side hoping for a better view and eventually it flicked up briefly before disappearing again. I could then see it deep in the brambles and could see a longish pulled out acrocephalus-type bill with a plain face and a streaked crown confirming the ID. Graham has ringed four Grasshopper Warblers on Great Marsh this autumn but seeing them otherwise is almost impossible and my main hope had been to hear a singing male in the spring.

I didn’t have much time to visit the eastern end of the reserve but did manage to see the Osprey in its favoured tree  directly below Calshot Tower as you look from De L’Orne Hide/screen. A distant single Whinchat was perched on the bushes along the edge of Three Fields East.