Peter Jones Wildlife blog

A good way to find out about local wildlife would seem to be to join the local facebook, dog walkers' group! One week after joining, and I have been told about a few Adder basking sites, and an unusual mushroom seen in the nearby Baddesley Common. This is a pretty unique species as it is one I can identify from the photos that were posted! so I thought it only right to go and see one for myself. They are fairly numerous in the damp woodland by the look of it. Baddesley Common is a fairly small remnant New Forest area. Think New Forest without the wildlife! though this is slightly unfair. Woodlark and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker have been recorded here in the last 10 years, and it can be a good migrant spot with Whinchat and Wheatear in particular. Today was fairly quiet. A Woodcock the highlight, plus two pairs of Stonechat, possibly the last around the village now as my local pair on the west side of the village seem to have gone very elusive.

Pic: Corn Bunting, Huawei mate 10 / Swarovski atx95 at 70x! Haven't had much enthusiasm recently, February can be a quiet birding month in the UK. Did, however, manage to get up reasonably early for a walk around farmland in the Northern Test Valley. The area can be good for Raptors in the winter. In the past I have recorded Long-eared Owl, Hen Harrier, and Peregrine. A White-tailed Eagle spent a winter nearby a few years back. This morning had more of a Spring feel. No Lapwings or Golden Plover, but plenty of Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting in full song against a background of Skylarks. A Merlin was the highlight zipping past, plus a Red Kite. Called in at a sewage works on the way home. Again, this fairly small area has been kind to me previously, with a Water Pipit, and likely Siberian Chiffchaff in the past. Unfortunately you have to deviate off the footpath to see the best bits which never goes down well in these parts. However, I didn't get seen! And in the sunshine was a d

Or just outside to be precise. The fence makes for a nice screen to get close views of birds in the bushes beyond the garden. Also 4 Greenfinch was a surprise.

A mixed day today! Could have been better maybe, could have been a lot worse! Started in the New forest. A few Crossbills, Marsh Tit, thought I heard a Hawfinch. Then onto Blashford where the Bittern was showing nicely, though obscured, in the reeds, and a Water Rail ran across the path in front of me. Then someone tried to break into my campervan, not knowing I was sitting inside (windows are very tinted). Police now have his number plate, but sadly it shows that even in a busy nature reserve car park, if your number is up, then you are going to return to a smashed window, and all the hassle and inconvenience that entails.

Wildlife watching can be funny at times. I remember on a family trip to Brownsea Island many years ago seeing that Lesser Celandine was a flower to look out for round the island. I was unsuccessful that day, and never saw one subsequently, which isn't surprising, I'm not the most prolific when it comes to flowers. Then this afternoon, I noticed a flower next to the garden gate, a Lesser Celandine just starting to flower. The garden gate that I have walked past daily for 12 years! And close to the Hart's Tongue fern I first noticed last weekend!

My photos from last year's trip to Goa seem to have been the victim of the Google+ closure, and various failed attempts to port them onto other platforms. Here they are, in hopefully their final destination, in Google photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ux5ot57PfZTchpBz6

2018 was my best wildlife watching year for  a long time. Starting in March, with a week in Goa, at the excellent Nature's Nest resort, and seeing a lot of species. So good, I would struggle to justify going back in terms of seeing new species! Later in the year, my Smooth Snake survey square was packed with Reptiles, including a single Smooth Snake, before our hot summer brought the sightings crashing down to earth. A family holiday in Eastern France was good for butterflies and Dragonflies in particular, and my foray into wild flowers was also a success with many good finds, including quite a few Orchids at known sites. 2019 is looking to be a quieter year with a few Orchids to look for in Spring, and hopefully a few days in the Alps searching for Rock Partridge and yet more Orchids.

A selection of photos from two holidays, Corsica and Lesvos. Holy Orchid, Komper's Orchid, and Violet Limodore from Lesvos,  plus Balkan Terrapin and Tree Frog also from Lesvos Italian Wall Lizard and Red-footed Falcon from Corsica

Photo gallery of some of the birds seen in Ecuador, Choco region. January 2001. https://photos.app.goo.gl/Y5c7hGSdUehZh4T99

Animals photographed in Kenya, 2002 https://photos.app.goo.gl/3TjGqinwvGt7fnKHA

Photos from two trips to Scandinavia 2002 and 2003 https://photos.app.goo.gl/YmSqb2UzJCxUiNRUA

Some photos from Picos De Europe, Spain https://photos.app.goo.gl/53tU3CRmJtVeA1ee9

A small collection of trip reports in word format. all from 1990s/2000s. Norfolk, Scotland, Spain, Kenya, Ecuador, Israel, Poland, Lesvos Google Drive - trip reports

Hadn't been on a Marinelife survey for many months, so it was nice to spend a day on the Newhaven-Dieppe route. Iissed the only Porpoise of the crossing, but a few Divers near the French coast plus Great Skua was good. Details in the link below: http://www.marine-life.org.uk/newhaven-dieppe/2019/01/12

Butcher's Broom, another pretty unmistakable plant, which I must have walked past dozens of times without noticing! Plant-blindness really does exist. Quite impressed that the plantsnap app got this one right from this pic.

Some ferns identified locally this weekend. Hart's Tongue fern is actually quite common outside my house along a ditch, and along the main road, but I'd never have noticed until I went specifically  searching. Soft shield fern with its distinctive mitten like leaf, and Hard Fern also seen in nearby woodland.