Peter Jones Wildlife blog

At the Somerset Levels, in addition to many good bird sightings, some birders ahead of me found a Palmate newt on the path. We warmed it up, and sent it on it's way! The area looks worth a visit next year for Great Crested Newt, and Variable Damselfly at the Levels, plus some rare butterflies: Large Blue and Heath and High Brown Fritillary sites within an hour or so.

A super weekend at the Somerset Levels. An area which seems to be improving year on year with some amazing breeding birds. This visit was fairly typical for the area with a number of Great White Egrets sighted, plus 3 Bitterns, Grey Heron and Little Egret. Other highlights were Water Rail, Marsh Harrier, Cetti's Warbler and Bearded Tit.

New Forest in early October. A Bog Bush-Cricket. It was in wet heathland habitat.

Late October camping trip to Holland. This was the only Insect highlight, found on the awning as we packed up. The extremely short wings confirm it is a Southern Oak Bush Cricket

Ran the moth trap on the back of strong Southern Winds which dragged Sahara sand and Portuguese dust into the UK for much of the day, but no Immigrant moths caught. I did however, see my first Merville Du Jour, one of our most spectacular coloured moths.

Nice footage of a Harvest Mouse this weekend. 150 triggers on the remote camera, just this one clip in the daytime, and therefore of good quality hd footage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idcUtpqcaRM&feature=share

I put the mammal camera out in a waterside location, deeply hidden under the bank, and scattered some bird food on the mud. Plenty of action with Wood Mouse ,and later Brown Rat. Also a Robin triggered the camera on numerous occasions. The most spectacular sighting was this American Mink which moved past just minutes before I retrieved the camera. An escape and widely regarded as a pest in the UK. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpv9eRp_10Q&feature=share

Some good bats around Calshot, with Common Pipistrelle, Soprano Pipistrelle, and Nathusius' Pipistrelle recorded, plus a probable Leislers' Bat. Also, during the daytime, some good flight views of Migrant Hawker Dragonfly. Originally shared by Peter Jones Ran the Bat detector overnight in the Calshot area. The detector was overlooking the Solent, and conditions were quite mild. I know there are Common and Soprano Pipistrelle in the area, and both of these species were recorded during the Evening, but later, two recordings looked pretty promising. The first, with a peak frequency of 35-36KHz matches Nathusius' Pipistrelle quite nicely. Only one call was close enough to show the typical hockey stick call shape, but the peak frequency and call lengths of all 4 calls looked good. Nathusius' Pipistrelle, is a highly migratory species which passes thru the UK each Autumn. The second, peaking in the mid-20's, looks good for Leisler's Bat, but some caution is needed wit

I am aiming to take advantage of the family membership of Calshot camping club, and devote some time this Autumn to vis-mig from the Calshot coastline. Previous vis-mig from nearby Badminston was ok, but nothing ever spectacular, and sadly the gravel pits are now converted to fishing and bird life looks to be much reduced there. This season will be interesting in comparison with 2015 which I spent watching from the Test Valley, inland. The inland viewpoint could just make out Fawley tower and the Isle of Wight, and many birds, mainly Woodpigeons, could be seen over the Calshot area. Will the numbers and species share some common ground? Calshot also has the advantage of sea, albeit, obstructed slightly by the Isle of Wight. This weekend paid dividends with a single Manx Shearwater the highlight, a bird not recorded anywhere else along the Hampshire coast the same day which is interesting. (My only better seabird seen in Hampshire was a Leach's Petrel, again from Calshot!). Other hi

No picture today sadly, but a walk around the woodland and marsh north of Calshot was memorable for two pretty good views of Migrant Hawker Dragonflies.

More Smooth Snake surveying in the nice weather. A female Adder disturbed at close range was a highlight. Also a Slow Worm and a few Common Lizards ,one of which sat tight for a pic. Also Meadow Grasshoppers in abundance.

Some bat detector outputs in the screenshot, but the highlight of this survey was a very close Otter swimming past me, right into the beam of my torch.. majestic! Originally shared by Peter Jones Completed my Bat surveys for the year with a Waterways survey of Daubenten's Bats at the River Test. amazing numbers with over 60 "passes" during the two surveys. Many will be the same bat, but even so, that's a lot of activity! Also, plenty of Natterer's in the area, and the screenshot below of Daubenten's (top) and Natterer's (bottom) illustrates the more curved sonograms of Daubenten's, compared to the straighter Natterer's calls. Not much in it though, and it is fortunate that their behaviour differs so radically, with Daubenten's hovercrafting over the surface, Natterer's taking head shots at anyone walking near them!

Northern Wall Brown, a new Butterfly for me, found in Kandersteg, Switzerland

A week on holiday in Switzerland, and aside from Nutcracker, Bonelli's Warbler, and Crag Martins, the area did have a strangely Scottish feel to it, with Crested Tit, Fieldfare, Golden Eagle, Crossbill, and Red Squirrel. What I wasn't expecting was to walk into a Scottish nightmare of trying to separate Scotch Argus and Arran Brown butterflies! As far as I can tell, the first two are Arran Brown, with prominant white lines under the hindwing; the second two are Scotch Argus with dark underwings.

Two Grasshoppers from the New Forest heathland this morning. The first, predominantly green, insect was a Meadow Grasshopper, the second, I'm pretty sure is the rare Heath Grasshopper. Should be able to find another in the same area in the coming weeks, and confirm 100%.

After a brief glimpse of my first UK Adder last month, I got a better look at one in the New Forest. This was found during my first New Forest Smooth Snake survey, for which I am now trained up as a volunteer. No Smooth Snakes seen, but this Female Adder (Brown zigzags, as opposed to black on a male) was a nice consolation.

Probably the rarest Moth that I have caught in the garden moth trap to date. A Cloaked Carpet. Nationally Scarce, with a few local records in the New Forest, and near the border with Surrey. Also a single previous record from a few hundred yards from my house, suggesting this species is present in local woodland, but eluding detection.

Found a very distinctive Caterpillar yesterday.. From a Vapourer moth, which is equally distinctive, being an orange day-flying species.

The finished moth trap.. runs on 16x rechargeable AAs! Has 8 LEDs across the UV spectrum and beyond. The box is a cheap plastic storage box and an even cheaper lampshade for the funnel. The egg cartons inside the box help the moths rest overnight once caught. Next morning they are identified, any interesting ones are photo'd, and all are released into the garden. This isn't quite as good as my mains operated moth trap which uses a Mercury Vapour bulb, but has the advantage of being portable and not restricted to the garden.

Singing Melodious Warbler on the Ile D'Oleron. Took a while to become familiar with the song. Was thinking Sedge Warbler initially, until I saw one. As the week went on, I realized they were quite numerous in the area. This one showed well, but distantly, and the grass was too long to use the ground as a steadier rest, thus the shake. https://youtu.be/ZXoA2qcIHrw

Often you don't see the beast.. but you know it was there. A Badger's latrine, in Wiltshire

An aged Giant Puffball, found recently in Wiltshire

Return to moth trapping! Moths have taken a back seat in the last few years, but modern LEDs have given me renewed enthusiasm. Especially if there is a chance of a lightweight, portable solution enabling me to go further afield than the garden. I bought a small book on building your own trap, which was useful for the electronics, but I couldn't get a UV bulb compatible with the design ( I did trap 3 moths with this method and a purple LED). Fortunately, I have now found a good supplier of UV LEDs (Future Eden), and my prototype suspended over my existing "Skinner trap" worked well on it's first evening. Despite the batteries running out in the early hours, the mornings results were more encouraging with a dozen or so moths. Also throughout the evening, you could see insect activity near the bulbs, which is a good sign. So my next step will be to replace the heavy wooden box with a lighter design, make it all a bit more robust and showerproof, then think about taking i

Plenty of mini-beasts on a recent holiday in France! Originally shared by Peter Jones Visited the ile D'Oleron in France for a family holiday. A lovely island on the west coast of France connected to the mainland by a fairly impressive bridge. The habitat on the island is dominated by ditches, canals and man-made ponds, quite unlike anywhere I have ever been in Europe, perhaps reminiscent of Israeli fishponds, and the wildlife was pretty cool. One highlight on the journey down was a brief glimpse of a Polecat in the headlights, plus a couple of Black Kites. The island was far enough South to have some nice birds including Short-toed Eagle, Hoopoe, and Night Heron. Melodious Warblers were numerous, and Scops Owl was heard most nights. The commonest birds on the Island were Serin, Black Redstart, Cattle and Little Egret, Nightingale, and Marsh Harrier. Cirl Bunting and Short-toed treecreeper being the other highlights. Best of the dragonflies and damsels were: Southern Emerald Damsel

Visited the ile D'Oleron in France for a family holiday. A lovely island on the west coast of France connected to the mainland by a fairly impressive bridge. The habitat on the island is dominated by ditches, canals and man-made ponds, quite unlike anywhere I have ever been in Europe, perhaps reminiscent of Israeli fishponds, and the wildlife was pretty cool. One highlight on the journey down was a brief glimpse of a Polecat in the headlights, plus a couple of Black Kites. The island was far enough South to have some nice birds including Short-toed Eagle, Hoopoe, and Night Heron. Melodious Warblers were numerous, and Scops Owl was heard most nights. The commonest birds on the Island were Serin, Turtle Dove, Black Redstart, Cattle and Little Egret, Nightingale, and Marsh Harrier. Cirl Bunting and Short-toed treecreeper being the other highlights. Best of the dragonflies and damsels were: Southern Emerald Damselfly, Scarce Emerald Damselfly Dainty Damselfly Southern Migrant Hawker Sc

No photos sadly, but a birdwatching weekend at RSPB Minsmere was memorable for two mini-beast sightings.. A walk thru Dunwich Heath got me my first UK Adder. Seen in slightly bizarre circumstances, as I looked up a side track then turned round to see it on the path about a metre behind me. It was a very dark Adder, and scuttled into the base of a birch tree. I staked it out for a while but didn't see any further sign. Nor did I see any others in the vicinity. Then, at the pond at Minsmere hoping for a Water Shrew, I was lucky enough to see a Water Vole swim out from under the boardwalk, giving excellent views before returning to cover. Water Shrew is probably my most-wanted now!

A brief recording of a singing Firecrest at Chilworth. One of my favourite bird songs, and they seem to be spreading fast across the County. I know of up to 12 territories in a 2 mile radius of my house this year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIpsU_xHheY&feature=share&list=PLu3NpdzVwJ9ll0VYae1mhKy53ytka9987&index=2

Chilworth Conservation area seems like a nice, often overlooked area. I had a good walk around over the weekend, hoping to find Adder which is mentioned on all the information boards.. "BEWARE Adders!" but I have yet to find one. Stock Doves were a nice bonus, presumably nesting in the woodland fringe, and at least 4 Firecrest territories was another sign of how this species is expanding. A walk around Chilworth Golf Course now would get you at least 8 Firecrests (if you had extremely good hearing!)

Singing Lesser Whitethroat (Audio only, unless you have incredibly good eyesight!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDDMHuQKAVw&feature=share

A good weekend locally with a small number of migrants touching down. Tree Pipits at both sides of the village plus Wheatear. Whitethroat and Blackcaps establishing territories along with Chiff Chaffs and a Willow Warbler. A Lesser White throat singing was also a nice find. One of the Tree Pipits photo'd below:

A couple of new additions locally with Grass Snakes now being seen in suitable hiding places, and a Common toad also. Plenty of frog tadpoles on the local pond too.

Out on foot first thing this morning, checking the local area. No rain, or reason for numbers of migrant birds to stop their journey North, but i did see one Wheatear. A few Blackcap were holding territory, and two or three Whitethroats. Rownhams wood had two singing Firecrest, and two Tree Pipits, plus a brief burst of Willow Warbler

Spent the Easter weekend at Whitegate, near Holmfirth, on the edge of the Peak District. Weather was mainly cold, windy, with frequent showers, but some nice bird sightings. Good to see breeding Lapwings, and Curlew on the moors. A Snipe, 2 Oystercatcher, and a few Golden Plover were also seen, plus a Red Grouse.

One that got away this week... My annual BTO breeding bird survey was going well. A few Lapwings the highlight of the first section, followed by a fairly quiet second half. Then on the final 100 metre section, I saw a bird high in the canopy flying away from me, then fly-catching high in the trees. I got dark brown above, white below, and what looked like a very broad white wingbar. Suspect a Pied Flycatcher, which I don't recall ever seeing in Hampshire before, although we do get the odd one. Sadly it flew further from the track and I couldn't relocate or confirm. These things happen from time to time. Elsewhere, a Great Black-backed Gull over the house was a garden first! Just waiting for a break in the weather, preferably with some overnight rain, to hopefully bring down a few spring migrants into the area. Swallow, Chiff-Chaff, Blackcap, and Willow Warbler, being the only arrivals close to home so far.

Excellent mini-beast hunting around the local nature reserve this afternoon. 6 Common Lizards, and 3 Slow Worms seen, (one of the Slow Worms photo'd). Also a Frog, and a Common Shrew. Plenty of Brimstone Butterflies on the wing with a Peacock and Comma also seen.

A typically slow start to the year. Tried my luck searching for Adder along the South West coast path in Devon, but to no avail. Did see the Humpback Whale off the coast though, which is more of a Maxi-beast!

Nice footage of a confiding Yellowhammer in Devon yesterday. Cirl Bunting in the background, which was also seen distantly. Also Stonechats were numerous along the coastal path, with Fulmar offshore. Further down the coast at Slapton, Great Northern Diver and Red-throated Divers were seen along with Common Scoter. The Humpback Whale, present now for three weeks, showed well in the scope later in the evening. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp8CC8dc2CA&feature=share

Noticed this very bright tree in a wild hedgerow in Chalk downs near Stockbridge. Certainly stood out with it's bright fruits in the otherwise bare December countryside. Thanks to the excellent "British Trees" android app, I have identified it as Spindle, often found in Chalk soils

A wish list for 2017.. 2016 exceeded my expectations, for finding small mammals and insects, thanks in no small part to the family holiday in the French Alps. 2017, I can be more selective in my target species.. top of the list has to be finding a UK Adder. I have seen one in Finland, but the UK Adders strangely elude me. Also, quite a few small mammals still elude me: Water Shrew, Dormouse, Harvest Mouse, spring to mind. It would be quite difficult to add any UK Bats to my list, armed only with a Bat detector, but I hope to maybe find scarce species closer to home. Leisler's Bat being perhaps the most likely. Also plenty of scope for some interesting species if I make it onto the continent for a holiday. As for Insects - must try harder! Dragonflies, and Damsels, and indeed Butterflies all involve travel if I'm to see new species... Brilliant Emerald, Norfolk Hawker, Variable Damselfly, Common Clubtail and the Fritillary restricted to Dartmoor (Heath Fritillary?) being the obv

So 2017 got off to a typically quiet start for me. However, a stunning Firecrest on a dog walk thru Toothill was a good start to the year. No winter Thrushes today, but a few Goldcrests in the hedges, and a Grey Wagtail outside the house completed a nice walk.