Butterfies not birds are the order of the day!

A major invasion took place yesterday when hundreds of Painted Lady butterflies descended on the beach throughout the afternoon and evening. I have never seen so many butterflies..they were everywhere. Today despite the wind changing from a light Southeaster to a brisk North Westerly they are still very evident clinging to the pebbles on the beach and flying in small groups of 5 or 6. Although they are being battered by the wind amazingly they are still able to stick close together. I understand there has been an enormous migration over Italy and northwards during this past week and a major influx has been noted in many areas.

We have a lot of Little Terns present at the moment and they along with a few Common and Sandwich Terns are finding a good food supply just off shore...a fantastic sight and a wonderful sound!

Hebridean Holiday

Having just returned from 2 weeks in the islands of Colonsay, Islay and Gigha I am now trawling through the many images I managed to capture of the birds in these magical islands. My highlight was success in stalking a Corncrake and were it not for the help of local birder Ian Brooke at Kilchoman I would not have succeeded...even so I was only able to see it for less than a minute and even then it spent most of its time hidden in nettles....thank you Ian !!!
We were fortunate in seeing several parties of Whimbrel passing through the island heading to breeding grounds in the north and some allowed a reasonable close approach.


At Bruichladich on Islay there was a party of mixed waders which included a few Purple Sandpipers along with Dunlin in summer plumage and Ringed Plovers.


Another highlight was finding a Dipper on the River Sorn at Bridgend and even more so in getting a record of it it...my first image of this bird which never ventures down to the South Coast!
All in all a great holiday despite only having 4 days out of 16 with no rain and regetfully it was torrential when on Colonsay for the entire duration which did put pay to many photographs!
When time permits I will be posting a few more images on my Flickr site but that will have to wait a while!

A Whimbrel Week

Lots of Whimbrel arriving this week...they usually hang about this time of year for a few days before moving north to their breeding grounds.

Two Cuckoos heard this morning calling from opposite sides of the harbour.

Also two Grey seals in the harbour first thing at low tide....one hauled out on a mudbank, the other peering at me inquisitively at the harbour entrance.

April weather!

What a terrible day yesterday!...that is, until late afternoon when the sun appeared from behind the clouds as they moved away to the East whilst it was still raining.

It was almost worth being trapped in all day to witness this amazing rainbow.

A new arrival!!

Excitement along the North Wall yesterday with the arrival of a Pectoral Sandpiper...a very nice bird and still there this morning creating quite a bit of interest from the local birding fraternity! Just too far away for a good photograph but no doubt someone will digiscope it!

Sandwich Tern


Lots of Swallows arriving off the sea and a few Terns moving along the coast. Reed and Sedge Warblers now VERY noisy with Chiffchaffs and Lesser Whitethroats in good voice!

Just one Brent Goose in the harbour!

Spring has arrived

A wander from the Pagham Spit to the North Wall produced Whitethroats,Lesser Whitethroats, Willow Warblers,Swallows,House Martins and well hidden Reed Warblers. The resident Cettis Warblers and Reed Buntings were very vocal and the nesting Little Egrets were 'gurgling' whilst a Little Grebe was chattering in rife...a wonderful cacophony of sound.

...and yet there is still a Purple Sandpiper with the small Turnstone flock on the Little Lagoon...surely he must return to his Arctic home soon!

A Mega Tick!!!

Having been busy over the Easter weekend I decided to go to Old Winchester Hill to see if the reported White Throated Sparrow was still present. Fortunately it was and what a bird it proved to be! I waited with the assembled twitchers for about 20 minutes when it flew on to the path just 20feet in front of us. It stayed for about 30 seconds and my first attempt at phography was thwarted by a run of uncontrollable adrenalin making focusing impossible. However I remained a couple of hours and in due course when the initial excitement had subsided I managed to get a few acceptable shots.
A life tick and a memorable morning!