Peter Jones Wildlife blog

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!)