August 2019

This month will hopefully see an increase in waders on the reserve. Green sandpipers have already been a feature from mid July onwards. The last of the swifts will be on their way south and other early migrants might include a few passerines.

The last swifts of the year.

It's not only birds that migrate, insects so too. Look for migrant hawker dragonflies, hummingbird hawk-moths and perhaps clouded yellow butterflies.

Great dodder at the river view.

If you have never seen one, leaf emerald damselflies could be a good "tick" as these are relatively scarce and a newcomer to the Pits.

We have not had a lot of records for wasp spider this year, but they are still around if you look carefully. I have had two reports from the meadow.

Wasp spider from underneath.

Wasp spider upper side.

1st August: Green sandpiper and little egret on Heronry South, Chiffchaffs, blackcaps, common whitethroat x 2, reed warbler x 4, kingfisher, yellowhammer, b-h gull x 63, g-c grebe x 21, linnet x 5, buzzard.
Great dodder at river viewpoint.

Common buzzard.

August 1st: Here is an excellent sighting from John McDonough  It's aRed-tipped Clearwing (Synanthedon formicaeformis) photographed on the Meadow Trail.

Red tipped clearwing moth.

This species imitates a small wasp and uses various willows as food plants, of which there are many around the area.


5th August: 25 species on Heronry South including 7 lapwings. (TG)

6th August: Blue tit x 2, great tit x 3, collared dove x 2.

Green-veined white.

7th August: Very quiet on the lakes, b-h gulls, grey heron, cormorant, moorhen. Emperor, ruddy darter, common darter, brown hawker and migrant hawker dragonflies. green-veined white and gatekeeper butterflies. (JAS)

Ruddy darter.

8th August: Young blue tits, coal tit?, great tit x 2, greenfinch, magpie, rook, pied wagtail, wood pigeon, wren. All the Visitor Centre.

11th August: Great spotted woodpecker at the Hayden Hide. Greenfinch x 2, blue tit x3.

Blue tit.

12th August: Grey squirrel x 2, blue tit x 3, great it x 3, wren.

15th August: Third Thursday Walk:
B-h gull, blue tit, crow, chaffinch, cormorant, dunnock, gadwall, goldfinch, g-c grebe, great tit, green sandpiper, grey heron, little egret x 5, magpie, mallard, moorhen, mute swan, robin, stock dove, wood pigeon, wren, Canada goose (22spp.) David Wilson.
Small white butterfly in garden.
Good selection of dragonflies including common and ruddy darters, brown hawker etc.

Goldfinch.

16th August: Little Egret x 2, new baby moorhens, large flock of mixed hirundines, all on Heronry Lakes. (JAS)

August 18th: Otter in the Heronry Lakes 4-5 pm.

August 20th: Flock of long-tailed tits in VC garden, wasp spider in meadow, c25 gadwall on Heronry lake, willow emerald damselfly.

Willow emerald, Cloudy Pit.

22nd August: Flock of long-tailed tits at the Hayden Hide, Buzzard over, green woodpeckers at river view, green sandpiper at Kingfisher Hide.

23rd August: Lots of sightings of willow emeralds this week. Also two otters on Heronry Lakes, wasp spider in the meadow and a skulking young birds in the bushes including blackcap, garden warbler, lesser whitethroat, whitethroat, reed warbler and long-tailed tits. Tawny owls and coal tit calling in Gordon Road. (Mark Brandon). Herons "sunbathing" and panting at the same time.

Grey heron, Heronry South Lake.

27th August: Brown, southern and migrant hawkers, common and ruddy darters. Willow emeralds on the meadow trail and a wasp spider. Water rail at the beach on Cloudy Pit. Water shrew and wood-mouse at the beach. (JAS.)

Mating willow emeralds.

28th August: Little egret x2, green sandpiper x 2, gadwall x 40, wigeon x 5, grey heron x 5, lapwing x 5 all on Heronry South. (TG)

29th August: Mute swan x 36, g-c grebe x 13, cormorant x 18, gadwall x 88, teal x 5, mallard x 27, wigeon x 3, tufted duck x 17. moorhen  x 13, kingfisher, green sandpiper x 2, little egret x 4, heron, blue tit, collared dove, magpie, goldfinch, wren, robin, greenfinch, b-h gull x 94, dunnock, reed bunting, great tit, green woodpecker, jackdaw, l-t tit, stock dove, crow, g-s woodpecker, chiff-chaff x 4, treecreeper. (Terry Brown).

30th August: Green sandpiper x 2, common sandpiper x 2, lapwing, teal, shoveler, widgeon, gadwall, kingfisher. (Heronry Lakes) JAS. Small white, red admiral, painted lady. Collared dove x 11.

31st August: Great white egret on Heronry South. (Stephen May).

Paxton Pits Nature Reserve: Constant Effort Site (CES) Ringing Newsletter
Visit Twelve: 26th August 2019
Summary:
The twelfth and final CES ringing session of the monitoring season was conducted on a very warm and sunny morning on August Bank Holiday Morning. The session was dominated by Blackcaps with this species contributing almost 50% of the new birds ringed. After a good breeding season last year, the numbers of Blackcaps ringed in 2019 has not quite met our expectations. The poor weather in June probably affected early nesting success, but the warm end to the summer will have improved this for later broods. The other highlight of the session was the first Great Spotted Woodpecker ringed in 2019, we often see them around the sanctuary but in most cases, they are not flying low enough and avoid our nets, so they are always a welcome addition to our catches.
The CES season has finished, over the next few weeks I will collate all our data and produce a report on how 2019 compares to previous years. It appears that 2019 has been a pretty good breeding season for common resident species such as Robins and Blue Tits. Now we have completed the standardised monitoring the we now plan to visit the sanctuary and ring some remaining migrant birds in September and October, with Blackcaps again being one of the main targets.
Ringers for this session in my absence were: Maureen Reeves, Alan Garner, Andy Stanbury, Chantal MacLeod-Nolan and Viv Ward.

Totals
The table below gives details of the number of birds ringed and recaptured

Species	New	Recaptures	Total
Great Spotted Woodpecker	1	0	1
Wren	0	1	1
Robin	0	6	6
Lesser Whitethroat	1	0	1
Whitethroat	1	0	1
Blackcap	12	0	12
Chiffchaff	1	0	1
Blue Tit	1	1	1
Great Tit	1	2	1
Bullfinch	7	0	7
Total	25	10	35

July 2019

Please email me your sightings or write them in the log-book at the Visitor Centre.

July marks the end of the breeding season for birds but that doesn't mean there is nothing to see. Insect life is abuzz over the lakes and in the meadows and some of our most colourful flowers do not appear until late summer.

Comma butterfly.

If it's birds you are after, then be on the look out for migrants that do not breed here but are already heading south, think of ospreys, waders and warblers.

Watch out for horse-flies this month as they can give you a pretty nasty bite.

A white pyramidal orchid at the Sailing Lake.

July 3rd: Brown hawker dragonfly on the garden pond and emperors on the wing with common darters. Meadow brown, common blue, large and small skippers and ringlet butterflies in the long grass, speckled woods in the trees chasing off the red admirals and tattered and worn painted lady butterflies and the first gatekeepers of the year.

Grass snake in Rudd Pit. Many young birds including tits, blackcaps, garden warblers, lesser whitethroat and chiffchaff, all gleaning insects from the leaves.

Bee orchids

July 5th: White throat x 3, chiffchaff, willow warbler, garden warbler x 2, black-cap, stock dove, grey heron, b-h gull, herring gull, common tern x 30, mallard, tufted duck, wood pigeon, oyster catcher.


July 6th: Red-eyed, azure, common blue and blue tailed damsels, Norfolk hawker, 4 spotted chaser and broad bodied chaser.

Common tern, willow warbler (fam), grey squirrels and brown rats.

Re-eyed damselfly.

Pyramidal orchids.

July 7th: Grass snake in the Hayling lake. Whitethroat x 4, chiffchaff, willow warbler, garden warbler x 2, black cap, stock dove, heron, b-h gull, herring gull, common terns x 30+, mallard, tufted duck, wood pigeon, oyster catcher. Kingfisher at the Kingfisher Hide.

July 9th: Black cap, mistle thrush, song thrush, reed bunting, buzzard and red kite.

July 10th: Hay cut in the meadow and bailed. Common darter dragonfly, gatekeeper, small skipper and small white butterflies.

July 12th: On a guided tour in the evening we failed to find any wasp spiders but had good views of many insects and did a bit of botanising. The highlight for me was finding a willow emerald damselfly at the beach. (I tried again on the 13th but without luck)
The starlings are back! A walk on the meadow trail at dusk should provide decent views and the chance of a sparrow hawk or two.

July 13th: Another guided walk produced a good flower list and some obliging insects, including this giant belted hoverfly. It is a hornet mimic that preys on common wasps.

Belted hoverfly.

July 14th: Pyramidal orchid and blackcap on the River Trail.

July 15th: At the Hayden Hide, little egret, lapwing, kingfisher, tufted duck, heron. OTTERS x4!!

July 18th: Third Thursday Walk: 

Blackcap, b-h gull, blue tit, buzzard, crow, chaffinch, common tern, great spotted woodpecker, cormorant, dunnock, gadwall, goldcrest, g-c grebe, great tit, green woodpecker, greenfinch, gret heron, greylag goose, house martin, lapwing, little egret, l-t tit, magpie, mallard, moorhen, mute swan, robin, collared dove, tree creeper, sand martin, wood-pigeon, wren. (D Wilson)

July 20th: Baby blue-tit, Jay.

July 21st: Black squirrel, blue tits, brown rat.

July 23rd: Water Rail and barn owls . (Jacqueline Hill).

Barn owl at dusk.

Barn owl in the meadow.

July 24th: Willow emerald, brown hawker. migrant hawker, emperor etc. Gatekeeper and small white butterflies. A stoat cross the path between Kingfisher hide and River view. At least 7 common tern chicks on Diddington Pit. (Neal Parkin)

July 25th: Baby blue tits, great tit x 2, young blackbird, Vole at the Hayden Hide. Sparrow-hawk took a blue tit from the feeder.

July 27th: Little egret x 2 at the Hayden Hide.

July 28th; OTTER x 4 on Heronry South, two came out onto the island.
Green sandpipers. Sparrow hawk.