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| Broad-billed Sandpiper - all Luke Harman |
No sign of any Curlew Sandpiper over the evening high tide amongst the 85 Sanderling, 22 Ringed Plover and 10 Dunlin in The Bight. Also present 38 Oystercatcher, nine Grey Plover, two Knot, a Whimbrel, a Kittiwake and a Red-legged Partridge.
Elsewhere the Eider was off the beach with 30 Manx Shearwater, 30 Black-headed and a Common Gull further offshore.
A single Curlew Sandpiper was in The Bight over high tide with 43 Sanderling, 39 Ringed Plover, 15 Dunlin, nine Grey Plover, eight Turnstone, eight Whimbrel and two Knot also in the estuary.
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| Curlew Sandpiper - both Lee Collins |
Elsewhere the first fledged House Sparrow and Linnet were on site and 40 Manx Shearwater were offshore along with eight Sandwich Tern, 12 Black-headed, a Common and a 2CY Mediterranean Gull.
Ringing News: A Dunlin colour-ringed in Spain was in The Bight, details awaited.
Dunlin & Curlew Sandpiper - Lee Collins
Other Wildlife: A good selection of insects today with solitary wasps becoming more evident including new for the year White-lipped Digger Wasp Lindenius albilabris in the Entrance Bushes and the nationally scarce Silver Spiny Digger Wasp Oxybelus argentatus on the Back Path.
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| White-lipped Digger Wasp Lindenius albilabris - Alan Keatley |
The Hemlock Water-dropwort continued to attract nectaring insects including Figwort Blacklet Cheilosia variabilis and Glowing Cuckoo Wasp Hedychridium ardens, plus a hunting Common Awl Robberfly Neoitamus cyanurus.
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| Figwort Blacklet Cheilosia variabilis - Alan Keatley |
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| Glowing Cuckoo Wasp Hedychridium ardens - Alan Keatley |
Most notably an increasing emergence of Broad-bodied Chaser with at least 18, with only a couple of blue males. Also on the wing various butterflies including the now less than annual Small Tortoiseshell as well as several Painted Lady and Red Admiral. Also emerging several Silvery Leafcutter Bee Megachile leachella near the Dune Pond.
A small patch of Yellow Loosestrife by the Crocus Compound was a new plant for the Recording Area, whilst nearby a rarely encountered and quick moving Water Shrew was near the Main Pond.
The two Curlew Sandpiper reappeared in The Bight over the afternoon high tide with 22 Ringed Plover, 15 Dunlin, 10 Whimbrel, eight Grey Plover, four Bar-tailed Godwit, four Black-headed Gull, three Knot and a Sandwich Tern also in the estuary.
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| Curlew Sandpiper - Kevin Rylands |
Elsewhere the female Eider remains offshore and the first fledged Chiffchaff were being fed below the station.
Other Wildlife: At least half a dozen freshly emerged Broad-bodied Chaser and Meadow Brown were on the wing, with three Painted Lady and a couple of Red Admiral having travelled from further afield. Other new emergences included Striped Slender Robberfly Leptogaster cylindrica, Two-banded Spearhorn Chrysotoxum bicinctum and Small Signal Fly Rivellia syngenesiae.
Minimum counts over the afternoon high tide included 85 Oystercatcher, 75 Sanderling, 18 Black-headed Gull, 18 Dunlin, 12 Whimbrel, eight Ringed and six Grey Plover, three Turnstone and two Knot.
Elsewhere a late migrant Willow Warbler was in song in the Entrance Bushes and offshore the female Eider, 630 Herring Gull, 20 Manx Shearwater, three Sandwich Tern and a Great Crested Grebe.
Other Wildlife: Overnight mothing produced over 100 different species to light, including three new for Recording Area, Channel Islands Pug, Poplar Kitten and Spotted Shoot Moth Rhyacionia pinivorana. The latter was most likely a migrant, the others likely breeding onsite.
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| Poplar Kitten - Luke Harman |
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| Spotted Shoot Moth Rhyacionia pinivorana - Luke Harman |
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| Channel Islands Pug - Luke Harman |
Other migrants included 50+ Diamond-back, 30 Small Mottled Willow and single Rush Veneer, Rusty-dot Pearl, Silver Y and Dark Sword-grass.
Local specialities included White Colon, Sandhill Knot-horn Anerastia lotella and Yellow Belle, with others such as Lime Hawkmoth, Mocha and Marbled Coronet rarely recorded on site.
White Colon - Luke Harman
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| Mocha - Kevin Rylands |
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| Lime Hawkmoth - Kevin Rylands |
A range of other taxa were also attracted to the lights, including several Cockchafer, a Hornet and two new beetles for the Warren, a rove beetle Deleaster dichrous and a hide beetle Trox scaber.
On a low high tide two brick-red Curlew Sandpiper were the pick of the few waders, although they didn't linger, part of several small flocks that visited the beach or Bight before being disturbed on a very sunny and busy bank holiday weekend. Minimum counts of other species included 38 Dunlin, 33 Sanderling, 16 Ringed Plover, 12 Whimbrel, 10 Curlew, nine Turnstone, five Grey Plover and two Knot.
Offshore the female Eider, three Black-headed Gull, two Sandwich Tern and a Common Scoter tried to dodge the many boast and paddle-boarders.
Little to report with no news received from high tide although the female Eider remained offshore.
Around the bushes the breeding season remains in full swing with Magpie, Robin and Great Tit joining the ranks of newly fledged species and several broods of Moorhen on the two larger ponds. The Moorhen nests at the First and Dune Pond both failed, likely due to predation after the dropping water levels left them high and dry.
Other Wildlife: The warm weather is certainly stirring up insects in to action with several species of digger wasp, both on vegetation and in bare sandy areas, including increasing numbers of Minute Black Wasp Diodontus minutus and Common Spiny Digger Wasp Oxybelus uniglumis, plus the year's first Armed Crabro Digger Wasp C. peltarius.
Common Spiny Digger Wasp Oxybelus uniglumis - Alan Keatley
Also, on the wing Fan-bristled Robberfly Dysmachus trigonus, the hoverflies Bolete Blacklet Cheilosia scutellata and Common Twist-tail Sphaerophoria scripta and the fly Graphomya maculata in the Entrance Bushes, a Small Magpie moth near the carpark and the first Meadow Brown of the year in Skipper Meadow.
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| Bolete Blacklet Cheilosia scutellata - Alan Keatley |
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| Common Twist-tail Sphaerophoria scripta - Alan Keatley |
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| Small Magpie - Alan Keatley |
There has been a sudden increase in the number of Honey Bee with large numbers especially during the heat of the early afternoon when many other species are seemingly absent. presumably feral colonies unless hives have been moved near the SSSI. Good numbers of bumblebees are also on the wing including Vestal Cuckoo Bumblebee.
There was no sign of the Little Stint over the morning tide, although at least 130 Sanderling, 41 Dunlin, 20 Ringed Plover, 12 Whimbrel, five Grey Plover and a Knot.
Elsewhere eight Sandwich Tern, five Black-headed Gull, a Great Crested Grebe and the female Eider were offshore and a migrant Reed Warbler was on the Golf Course.
Other Wildlife: Migrants included a couple of Painted Lady, five Silver Y, a Diamond-back and the first Rush Veneer of the year. Other moths included at least ten Alexanders Straw Aethes deaurana around the car park, Portland Ribbon Wave, Common Carpet, Large Longhorn Nematopogon swammerdamella and Common Marble Celypha lacunana.
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| Alexanders Straw Aethes deaurana - Kevin Rylands |
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| Portland Ribbon Wave - Kevin Rylands |
Also appearing for the first time this year the wasp Small Shieldbug Stalker Dryudella pinguis and the ichneumon wasp Amblyteles armatorius.
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| Stripe-legged Robberfly Dioctria baumhaueri - Kevin Rylands |
Flowering plants included hundreds of Southern Marsh Orchid, the first Bee Orchid, Blue-eyed Grass, Clustered Clover and the first Warren record of Corn Spurrey for over 50 years,
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| Corn Spurrey - Kevin Rylands |
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| Clustered Clover - Kevin Rylands |
There was no sign of the Temminck's Stint over the morning tide, although a fine summer plumaged Little Stint was present, the second of spring. Also in the estuary at least 110 Sanderling, 70 Dunlin and 50 Ringed Plover, four Grey Plover, four Turnstone and, flying high north, a Great Northern Diver.
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| Little Stint - Luke Harman |
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| Little Stint & Sanderling - Luke Harman |
Elsewhere the first Marsh Harrier of the year headed north midmorning with the first two Spotted Flycatcher around the Main Pond and offshore the female Eider, 12 Common Scoter and four Great Northern and a Red-throated Diver.
Year List additions:Other Wildlife: Summerlike weather conditions encouraged more insects to make their first appearance of the year including Minute Black Wasp Diodontus minutus, these hyperactive digger wasps were numerous around their nest holes in sand hollows along the Back Path. Sharing the same location the tiny dune fly Trixoscelis obscurella, with the first Red-banded Sand Wasp Ammophila sabulosa on the Dune Ridge.
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| Trixoscelis obscurella - Alan Keatley |
Other hymenoptera on the wing included five species of bumblebee, a Hornet, several species of Andrena mining bee including Black, Catsear, Short-fringed, Ashy A.cineraria and Grey-patched A,nitida, the last two first emergences, both often late here, and the spider-hunting wasp Agenioideus cinctellus.
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| Ashy Mining Bee Andrena cineraria - Kevin Rylands |
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| Agenioideus cinctellus - Alan Keatley |
Beetles included the first Warren record of the tumbling flower beetle Mordellochroa abdominalis, a couple of Wasp Beetle Clytus arietis and Garden Chafer Phyllopertha horticola, five species of ladybird and increasing numbers of Swollen-thighed Beetle.
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| Mordellochroa abdominalis - Kevin Rylands |
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| 14-spot Ladybird - Dean Hall |
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| Wasp Beetle Clytus arietis - Dean Hall |
Hoverflies included Pied Plumehorn Volucella pellucens, Superb Ant-hill Hoverfly Xanthogramma pedissequum and Large Stripe-back Helophilus trivittatus, with several Azure Damselfly across site and an Emperor Dragonfly at the Dune Pond, the first of the year.
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| Pied Plumehorn Volucella pellucens - Alan Keatley |
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| Azure Damselfly - Dean Hall |
An early morning seawatch saw the year's first Balearic Shearwater and Pomarine Skua head south along with six Great Northern Diver and four Fulmar. Also offshore 28 Black-headed and a 2CY Mediterranean Gull, seven Sandwich Tern and the female Eider.
The highlight was however the Warren's fourth Temminck's Stint in The Bight late morning, the first since 22 May 2013. It remained separate from the large flocks of waders and flew off as the tide dropped, returning with the rising tide early evening.
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| Temminck's Stint - both Luke Harman |
Also in the estuary circa 160 Sanderling and 130 Dunlin, with 62 Ringed Plover, 20 Whimbrel, nine Turnstone, five Knot and four Grey Plover.
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| Sanderling - Luke Harman |
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| Ringed Plover - Luke Harman |
Elsewhere a Wheatear and the two Red-legged Partridge were on Warren Point and the Yellow-legged Gull was on the beach.
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| Yellow-legged Gull - Dave Jewell |
Other Wildlife: In overcast conditions fewer insects on the wing but there included Parsley Blacklet Cheilosia pagana, the cranefly Nephrotoma quadrifaria and several Sandpit Blood Bee Sphecodes pellucidus,
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| Sandpit Blood Bee Sphecodes pellucidus - Alan Keatley |
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| Parsley Blacklet Cheilosia pagana - Alan Keatley |
