Peter Jones Wildlife blog

Originally shared by Peter Jones Plans for 2016 I'm aiming for something a little different in 2016. Almost a break from Birding, although I'm sure birds will feature heavily at some point. Instead, I am going to attempt to find as many "#mini-beasts" as I can, especially those which I have never seen before. So Grasshoppers, Dragonflies, Ladybirds, Amphibians, Reptiles, Bumblebees, and Mammals (in particular the small Rodents) are all on the hit list. Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of the species are insects, and present only in the summer months, so this year is likely to get off to a slow start. I can start the year looking for likely places for the rodents though, and maybe setting the trail camera in mild spells. The full and very long wish list is below... Butterflies: Chequered Skipper - Carterocephalus palaemon Large Blue - Maculinea arion Northern Brown Argus - Aricia artaxerxes Heath Fritillary - Melitaea athalia High Brown Fritillary - Argynnis adippe Bu

2015 review For me, 2015 was a superb year, with many highlights. As in recent years, the bird highlights were not so close to home. Hampshire seems to have stopped giving me unusual bird sightings for the last few years, but this was made up for with some excellent sightings abroad.. Portugal: A trip to Donana was a brilliant day with Savi's Warbler and all the classic Donana birds showing well. Even better for me was a trip inland and a brief sighting of Polecat in the car headlights. Scandinavia: My 2015 trip to Lapland was the best so far for me in terms of self-found species. Only White-billed Diver eluded me from my wish list, and I had plenty of bonuses too: Ural Owl, Hawk Owl, Pine Grosbeak, Siberian Tit, Siberian Jay, Little Bunting, Jack Snipe, the stand out birds, along with Orca plus Sperm Whale. 100 in a day: Finally broke this barrier with an exhausting romp around Hampshire. No surprises, but most of the regular birds showed up for me, and I crept over the finish lin

Had a good look around the pond in Rownham's Wood during the hottest part of the afternoon today. Two Southern Hawkers were new, and the Emperor that had previously been patrolling the pond looks to have gone. Also a couple of Common Darters. Two Dragonflies along the brook near my house this afternoon too, but I wasn't able to identify. They appeared quite small, possibly Darters

The Autumn migration seems to be slowly getting underway... Hurst Beach on Saturday morning had a good trickle of Sand Martin heading West, and Common Tern seemed to be purposefully heading out South into the Channel. Closer to home, I started my regular vis-mig watch this morning. A few House Martins and Swallows moving South were the only true migrants. Woodpigeons heading North , and two Red Kites more likely to be local commuters. Looks like the Swifts have gone already, while I was busy checking Dragonflies.

No pics again, but a couple of areas visited over the weekend. Keyhaven / Pennington had plenty opf birds, but I was surprised not to see any Dragonflies, round the main lakes. I didn't check the inland ponds though. Balmer Lawn is renowned for Southern Damselfly, but no joy for me. Did see a Golden-ringed Dragonfly, and Common Darter. A decent sized pond at Dunbridge, surrounded by woodland, and hefty wire fencing. The water was covered in Damselflies though. I needed the scope to eventually identify them as Large Red-eyed Damselflies, which was cool. Even better was proper flight views of Brown Hawker. At least two patrolling and fighting over the water. I ended up near Mottisfont, a stronghold for Southern Damselfly, but couldn't even find suitable habitat.. Back to the New Forest for them I suspect.

Common Dolphin during the Marinelife SWSurvey, 18th August, 2015. Also seen: Harbour Porpoise, Sunfish, Manx Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, Balearic Shearwater, Mediterranean Gull, Kittiwake, Fulmar, Great Skua. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwVPO-oyMGU&feature=share

Originally shared by Peter Jones An excellent couple of days looking for Dragonflies.. Friday Lunchtime in Rownham's Wood, where a new pool has been dug: 1 Beautiful Demoiselle, a Brown Hawker briefly swooped in from the canopy, several Common Darter, a Golden-ringed Dragonfly, and a Hawker that evaded identification (probably a Migrant Hawker). Saturday at Shatterford was superb with my first Small Red Damsel, and my first Black Darter. Also present were Emerald Damselfly, which for some reason I'm finding impossible to photograph. Common Darter, Emperor, many Keeled Skimmers, Azure Blue Damselfly, and Blue-tailed Damselfly.

No photos today. A quick venture to the local lily pond at Chilworth at lunchtime. Two Emperor Dragonflies were fairly prominent initially, and it was when one of these landed in the reeds that I caught a glimpse of my first Emerald Damselfly thru the scope. A pretty smart insect, and I'd have liked a better view, but couldn't relocate. A Common Darter was on the bank, and a few Azure Damselfly. Also a good view of a Hobby overhead.

Saturday morning at Blashford was quite productive with a few birds close to the hide overlooking Ibsley Water.. As well as Common Tern, Lapwing, and Egyptian Goose were Turnstone, Common Sandpiper, and Dunlin,  Egyptian Goose numbers seem to be exploding at this site with a decent sized flock.. 30 or 40 birds?

Originally shared by Peter Jones Headed to Blashford Lakes for mid-morning, but despite plenty of Common Blue Damsels, and Azure Damsels, it was pretty quiet. Not helped by the only decent sized Dragonfly flying before I had clocked it.. Looked like a Brown Hawker, and certainly headed into the tree tops. Midday, and it was good to see more species emerge in the sunshine. Common Darter, a Female Emperor, egg-laying. Then best of all a definite Brown Hawker swooped by the pond, called out by a man to his Wife, or I'd have missed this one. Then I headed to Eyeworth Pond, where both Red-Eyed, and Small Red-eyed Damselfly were present on the lilypads. Also present were Emperor Dragonfly, Black-tailed Skimmer, Keeled Skimmer, and another Brown Hawker.

Originally shared by Peter Jones Visited Hatchett Pond, and Hawkshill in the New Forest on a very hot, but windy Saturday lunchtime. Initially I was just seeing Emperor and Black-tailed Skimmer at Hatchet, but later found Blue-tailed Damselfly, Broad-bodied Chaser, and Keeled Skimmers which appeared smaller than the Black-Tailed Skimmers, and quite easy to distinguish with a little practise. I then headed to Hawkshill where I saw my first Golden-ringed Dragonfly, Large Red Damselfly, and more Keeled Skimmer.

Originally shared by Peter Jones Ruddy Darter and Southern Marsh Orchid from Baddesley Common and Emer Bog. Also 2 Black-tailed skimmer seen.

Best of the Butterflies from Rownham's Wood

A surprisingly good walk through Rownham's Wood after work on Friday 10th July..  Siskins were calling overhead, as they have been calling over my house half a mile North, for much of the year. Have yet to work out exactly where they are breeding and commuting to, but nice to hear them so frequently. One mystery solved was the Kingfisher which was regularly seen along the brook outside my house overwinter, looks to have a territory further downstream in the wood. I got a nice view as he shot past. Best was yet to come with a Tree Pipit singing in the cleared area, and a Firecrest singing nearby. Both of these are new for me in this wood, and I don't see any previous records for either in the wood. Also, a few Beautiful Demoiselles, and a White Admiral. https://soundcloud.com/pjnaturesounds/firecrest

More #bat detecting in the New Forest last night, with a visit to Pig Bush. An area famous for Leisler's Bat, but no joy for me on this occasion, sadly. I did, however, hear a distant Nightjar, and good views of both Common and Soprano Pipistrelle. Then towards the end of my search, in dense woodland, a small Bat flew very close in front of me with the faintest of calls being picked up on the bat detector. Even at less than 2 metres, the signal was incredibly faint. More likely a Brandt's due to the habitat, but will have to go down as a Whiskered/Brandt's due to the similarity of the two species. https://soundcloud.com/pjnaturesounds/whiskered-brandts

Some #Bat analysis from this week. The top spectogram is a presumed Bechstein's Bat from the New Forest. At a known colony. Note the restricted frequency range from 40KHz to 80KHz, and slower call rate than the Natterer's Bat in the lower Spectrogram. Soundcloud files: https://soundcloud.com/pjnaturesounds/probable-bechsteins-bat https://soundcloud.com/pjnaturesounds/natterers-bat

This Pied Wagtail perched close during my hunt for Dragonflies at Badminston over the weekend

Originally shared by Peter Jones Went to Badminston Gravel pits this lunchtime. This is a venue I know well form Birding and Vis-mig, bit which also has a good track record for Dragonflies.  Sure enough it didn't take too long to see the local stars.. Red-veined Darter, and also got a good look at Azure and Common Blue Damselflies, Emperor Dragonfly, and Black-tailed Skimmer. Further into the New Forest, I added Southern Hawker, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Common Darter, Ruddy Darter, and Scarce Chaser (which I was apprehensive about, until googling that they have started occurring at Mopley Pond, some 50 yards from my sighting, in the past few years.. This is twice now that I have stumbled across a prime location!)

Good to see two Spotted Flycatcher at Skidmore this evening.

Originally shared by Peter Jones Female Emerald Damselfly at Fishlake Meadows

Plus Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle after work at Skidmore Originally shared by Peter Jones Fishlake Meadows this lunchtime, the highlight being plenty of Banded Demoiselle. Didn't go all my own way today as I missed a Water Vole, A Hawker went un-identified, and I saw, but couldn't photograph a Beautiful Demoiselle. Did however, see Black-tailed Skimmer, Azure Blue, Blue-tailed Damselfly, and Large Red Damselflies, plus an Emerald Damselfy, posted Separately.

Juvenile Damselfly sp. at Fishlake Meadows