Nature Notes from SE Hants, w/e Oct 12th
15 October 2009
Nature Notes
Nature Notes from SE Hampshire for week ending October 12th
Portsmouth & Portsdown
A mistle thrush was in a Portsdown garden on Monday 5th.
Over 750 black-tailed godwits, 27 knot and a curlew sandpiper were at Farlington Marshes on 4th October. A jack snipe was there on 8th.
On October 4th there were 17 bearded tits at Farlington Marshes.
Thursday's Portsdown walk found a little group of hornets in Widley Walk and in the Cooper Hill fields west of Purbrook a spectacular pale tussock caterpillar.
Chiffchaffs are still about and singing. There were two in my Portsdown garden and two more in a central Havant garden this week.
Havant, Hayling & Emsworth
Flocks of 400 and 220 Brent geese were in Chichester Harbour and Langstone Harbour respectively on 3rd/4th October. A total of 53 pintail were in Langstone Harbour on 4th. One was on the Langstone Mill Pond on Saturday 10th.
A party walking round Thorney Island on 4th found 20 greenshanks and 6 whimbrels.
A single razorbill was off Sandy Point on Monday 6th October.
Common darter and southern hawker dragonflies were seen in Havant Thicket on 8th.
Painted ladies and a comma (left) butterfly were seen in Stansted Park on Saturday.
On Thursday a woodlark was heard singing near West Marden.
On 9th October there were 450 wigeon in the north of Langstone Harbour.
Also on Saturday redwings were heard flying over Havant shortly before midnight. Others were heard over Emsworth.
There was a flock of around 120 bar-tailed godwits resting on the mud off Warblington on Saturday morning.
Flowers in the Havant area this week included common fumitory in a garden; hairy vetchling still flowering on part of the Broadmarsh ‘mountain'; and field rose on Gipsies Plain.
Fleecy milk-caps and sulphur tuft fungi were seen in Havant Thicket on 8th. On the same day shaggy inkcaps and Tramates versicolour were found in the Watergate area north of Walderton. A shaggy inkcap was also seen in a Woodmancote garden.
Fareham and Gosport
On 5th October there were around 670 Canadian geese at Titchfield Haven.
A single pale-bellied Brent goose was in the Titchfield Haven area.
On 9th October 23 crossbills flew over Stubbington.
Five Sandwich terns were among 300+ oystercatchers at Cams bay Fareham on Saturday. Thirteen common terns were off shore on 6th.
Waterlooville and South Downs
A Waterlooville garden was visited by a hedgehog on at least two nights this week. Another small one has been feeding in a Havant garden.
A cauliflower fungus is doing well in Park Wood at Waterlooville.
