SE Nature Notes for w/e August 7th
9 August 2010
HAVANT, HAYLING & EMSWORTH
Butterflies and dragonflies were abundant during the periods of sunny weather this week. A silver washed fritillary put in a brief appearance in a Langstone garden on Friday, followed the next day by a second brood male brimstone. Common blue and small heath butterflies were spotted at the west end of Langstone on Sunday 8th August.
Once again the leaves of many of the horse chestnut trees in the Havant area are heavily infested by the leaf miner Cameraria ohridella.
19 serotine bats where counted emerging from the Havant maternity roost on Sunday 8th, indicating that this colony
continues to thrive.
The roe deer living in the Northney area of Hayling Island have evidently bred, with one doe seen with twins and another with a single kid. As the kids age the families will be able to roam further.
Both pied and spotted flycatchers were recorded from there on Sunday.
Round-leaved fluellen and field forget-me-not were flowering in Warblington cemetery on Friday.
Central Havant plants in flower include soapwort, pigweed, wall lettuce, wild radish, annual mercury and perennial wall rocket.
Violet helleborines have started flowering in Stansted Forest, where a marsh tit was seen and heard on Saturday, together with common blue, gatekeeper, meadow brown, marbled white and silver washed fritillary butterflies.
At least three purple emperors were seen in the previous week.
Barn owls have nested there in a box this year and produced three young.
A painted lady was on Thorney Island on Saturday.
PORTSMOUTH & PORTSDOWN
Soapwort plants were abundant in flower at Milton Locks this week. The resident family of 11 mute swans moved out into Langstone Harbour on 4th August, to be replaced immediately by another family of 2 adults and 4 cygnets.
A walk on Portsdown Hill on Monday 2nd revealed lucerne in flower with variable shades of blue petals. Close examination of the short turf was necessary to see the minute lesser centaury plants.
Yellowhammers and stonechats were heard singing.
Bastard toadflax, pale flax, blue fleabane and black mustard were seen in the Paulsgrove Chalk Pit area.
Fully-grown wasp spiders are another Portsdown speciality that can be seen now.
Many warblers have been spotted at Farlington Marshes this week with lesser whitethroats being particularly noticeable in the bushes. Other sightings on Tuesday included bearded tits and common sandpipers.
A juvenile peregrine was being pursued by a common tern.
WATERLOOVILLE & SOUTH DOWNS
The rare and attractive Moth Mullein (pictured) has appeared in a Horndean garden, in its even more unusual white form (rather than having yellow petals).
A red kite was seen circling a West Meon garden on Monday.
GOSPORT & FAREHAM
Two glow worms were seen at Browndown on 31st July.
