SE Nature Notes w/e 26 April
26 April 2010
Portsmouth & Portsdown
A black tern made an unexpected 20 min. appearance at Baffins Pond on Monday. There were 12 bar-tailed godwits on the mud off Milton Reclamation on Monday. Birds in the scrub included willow and sedge warblers, swallows, common whitethroats and wheatears. Early Thursday a redstart and a grasshopper warbler were here. A nightingale sang briefly early on Thursday evening. Two avocets were seen at Farlington Marshes on Tuesday evening. Earlier a yellow wagtail, lesser whitethroats, sedge warblers, wheatears, a whimbrel, greenshanks, a common sandpiper and a redstart were present on the reserve. The redstart was still there on Thursday.
The Portsdown Conservation volunteers enjoyed watching green hairstreak butterflies while they worked at the bottom of Compartment 4. There were also numerous orange tips. There were 6 Brent geese at Farlington on Thursday and a single bird has been seen off Budds Farm and at the oyster beds this week. On Thursday 21 dunlins and 10 or more whimbrels were seen in Langstone Harbour. Peregrines are nesting at Paulsgrove chalk pit and a lesser whitethroat was singing nearby. Holly blue butterflies made their first appearance in a Portsdown garden on Saturday.
Havant, Hayling & Emsworth
Common terns have been in the north of Langstone Harbour since at least Monday. A white wagtail was present with the cattle on Southmoors on Monday. A common sandpiper and 2 lesser whitethroats were at the oyster beds on Tuesday. North of the Inn on the Beach on Hayling Island there was a male Dartford warbler on Tuesday. At Northney a garden warbler was seen on Tuesday afternoon. Later in the week whimbrels were seen offshore here. Seven turnstones were seen under the Hayling bridge on Thursday. Four bar-tailed godwits were east of the bridge and over 100 black-tailed the other side of the bridge. Further down the Billy Trail there were 3 lesser whitethroats and a yellowhammer.
Cuckoo flower is flowering in Havant Thicket and Stansted Park. Wood sorrel is also in flower at Stansted. Little terns were seen at Sandy Point and in Langstone Harbour this week and the oyster beds island will be finally prepared for them early this week! At Sandy point other birds on Friday included greenshank, fulmar, common scoter and 83 sanderlings. A pomerine skua was seen on Saturday when lots of terns and gannets were passing all evening. On Saturday the Friends of Langstone Harbour work party watched one large and one small adder in their work area.
Waterlooville and South Downs
A walk in the Clanfield area on Saturday found lovely displays of wood anemone and some bluebells, toothwort, goldilocks buttercups, wood sorrel and a few early purple orchids. Birds included buzzard, marsh tit, nuthatch, swallows and house martins.
