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RSPB Basingstoke Local Group RSPB Basingstoke Local Group Outdoor Meetings Programme 2018 – 2019 23rd June 2019: Thursley Common N.N.R. Nine attended on a morning when the more clement weather than forecast drew many out to the reserve, another RSPB Local Group, Pinner & District, included in this. The pines about the full car park at The Moat held singing Goldcrest and equally vocal Coal Tit, Chaffinch also in song, also hidden in the conifer canopy. Moving off to the pond the sunless, but hazy, sky deterred dragon and damsels from taking to the air, thankfully the warming air however encouraging a few out and into sight – Downy Emerald patrolled the pond edges and the floating leaves of flowering water-lily allowed Red-eyed and Azure Damselfly to settle. Azure Damselfly Coenagrion puella One of the sky-coloured blues seen about the water’s edges, not that the sky was blue during the Group’s visit! John Hawke Moulting Mallard were on the calm waters, the lack of enthusiasm shown by seeing such birds soon changing as a Grass Snake was seen swimming, the excitement moving up an additional level as another was seen swimming in the opposite direction! Grass Snake Natrix natrix One was unexpected, two exceptional, and appreciated by most, though at least one ophidiophobic perhaps thought differently Dave. Levy & Doug. Kelson Following the second reptile in towards its preferred grounding spot on the bank many small and dark toadlets were swarming about the grassier edge, several having made themselves obvious as the group initially approached the water. Very cute, but an all too easy prey item for the likes of the snakes. Moving around the pond’s perimeter Siskin could be heard in the flanking pines, a Nuthatch less obvious. The Bracken on the woodland edge drew in a Scorpion Fly, underneath the floor yielding a Southern Wood-ant’s nest, almost shimmering with the activity upon it. Chiffchaff were in song in the deciduous trees edging the heath, a Buzzard circling high to the west, both Jackdaw and Feral-type Pigeon moving over closer to the canopy. Single Blue-tailed Damselfly, Banded Demoiselle and Common Darter pushed the odonata ‘list’ up as further pond-watching took place, a duck Mandarin, flushed Moorhen and far too secretive Grey Heron then being seen, all moving into cover on the far side of the pond. Stock Dove and Wood Pigeon were in song, House Sparrow ‘chirping’ and concealed in the deeper cover. Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans A male – the females appearing in at least five different colour forms, including violacea where the immature markings are not blue but a deep violet Doug. Kelson Moving off towards the heath a Reed Bunting was in song and a Brown Silver-line dropped into the sedges flanking a horse-beaten sandy track. Stopping to view a ‘pile’ of Dodder a female Stonechat was seen adorning overhead wires, several Emperor Moth flew erratically over the heather and a Tree Pipit’s song was picked up more distantly, a Whitethroat closer atop young conifers, but almost as elusive as it dropped all too quickly out of view. Both Curlew, ever rarer here now, and Pheasant were also calling, again more distantly and out of sight. Almost as soon as the Group took to the boardwalk Viviparous Lizards were seen basking about the edges, many gravid females being particularly obvious, as were a number where tail regrowth provided a mosaic of colours about the lizard’s nether regions – during the visit at least 14 were seen, not quite up to the ‘record’ of 38 on the Group’s previous trip, but a huge improvement on the singleton seen on the HOS visit that followed this! The lack of sunlight a big factor in viewing these, as was the case for so much of the other wildlife that might be anticipated on a summer’s day on the reserve. Viviparous Lizard Zootoca vivipara The reserve surely one of the best places to see this species, both well and in numbers Dave. Levy A Snipe was heard out over the boggier areas, a singing Whitethroat closer to hand and more obliging. Linnet and Carrion Crow also sat atop more skeletal branches, some of the smaller and closer of these adding further odonata, as did the motionless pools and their vegetation alongside the walkways. Both Small and Large Red Damselfly were seen, their more decorous colours mirrored by the flowering Marsh Lousewort, the Bog Asphodel however rather more extravagant with their spikes of glowing flowers. Bog Asphodel Narthecium ossifragum Many of these had already moved from flower to seeding, leaving ghostly shadows of their former colour about the marsh Dave. Levy Meadow Thistle and Southern Marsh Orchid added purples to the marsh, the flower and seed-heads of cotton-grass small wind-blown ‘clouds’ of white. Southern Marsh Orchid Dactylorhiza praetermissa Doug. Kelson A pair of Stock Dove passed over, a Great Spotted Woodpecker called on occasion and was then seen in looping flight over the more open marsh, heading towards the woodland to the south. A Chiffchaff was heard in song nearby, another sign of the summer being Swift, high and distant. Stonechat out amongst the bog included an immature, the mottled mantle feathering showing as it turned its back on the group. Moving off the boardwalk another dragon was found, that put in place by ‘Fire and Iron’ a few summers previous – this by far the easiest of the odonata to be seen about the reserve! The Thursley Dragon What’s now in place and what was originally there, the latter being turned into the former http://www.fireandiron.co.uk/thursleydragonfly An insistent territorial Tree Pipit atop a Scots Pine proved less easy to see! On heading south, through more open heath, a Willow Warbler could be heard in song about a stand of Scots Pine, both Stonechat and Whitethroat holding territories in the trackside Gorse and scrub. Irritated churring from deep in the latter provided the first Dartford Warbler, a mobile bird that flipped swiftly one from area to another, never really proving obliging, the time spent looking for this however allowing better views of male Reed Bunting, Stonechat and Whitethroat, a Red Admiral flying through the Group as they lingered. Dartford Warbler Sylvia undata This male captured just days before the Group’s visit, on a day of more clement weather Doug. Kelson The heath provided mobile Silver-studded Blue, Green Tiger Beetle and Mottled Grasshopper, all but the latter again very mobile in the enduring heat. The grasshopper drew comments re. the lack of grasshopper and cricket ‘song’ about the common and elsewhere – another sign of things happening beyond our current control perhaps? Silver-studded Blue Plebejus argus This male on the flowers of Bell Heather Doug. Kelson The stand of pines from where the Willow Warbler continued to sing also held singing Blackcap and Chiffchaff, a Redstart briefly interrupting their songs. This bird showed on an exposed branch before heading back into the coniferous canopy. Common Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus One of the more colourful of the summer visitors to Britain’s woodlands – this male captured on a visit to the site earlier in the week Doug. Kelson A suitable boardwalk ‘bridge’ here provided a resting / lunching spot for some, in fact most! A distant Red Kite was unexpected during the break, a moulting adult circling low over the treeline. A hunting Hobby was closer and alighted in the shade of a pine, before then drifting off over the heath, following the contours, and out of sight. Hobby Falco subbuteo This one, like the Dartford Warbler, seen and photographed just days before the visit Doug. Kelson Moving on once again Goldcrest and Tree Pipit were soon heard in song, walking the sandier paths disturbing a Green Tiger Beetle and many sand wasp. Keeled Skimmer kept low over the heath, often well away from any hint of standing water. A Silver-studded Blue was just as mobile, not lingering for photographs, or even good viewing. Red-banded Sand Wasp Ammophila sabulosa This one outside a burrow where it may already have stashed caterpillars for its young to feed upon, once out of the egg – a single being laid in each excavated burrow Doug. Kelson Common Ragwort trackside gave up larval Cinnabar, at least one very fresh-looking adult then being seen on the wing, briefly joining a deceased female Keeled Skimmer in a viewing pot. A bank of Wood Sage provided green and white amongst the purples of the heath, under the shading of encroaching Silver Birch. Small patches of Heath Bedstraw shined amongst the lower vegetation. Out from under the trees a showy male Stonechat sat atop further skeletal branches and a Blackcap was singing, in denser birch scrub. A prey-carrying Hobby moved out across the heath, proving easier to see than the earlier bird though lingering for no longer. A heathy crossroads flanked by pockets of Gorse caused a further stop, a pair of Dartford Warbler being present and, at times, showing nicely, though far more easily heard than seen. The lingering added another Silver-studded Blue, Common and Latticed Heath, the moths sheltering amongst the heather, the butterfly, as previously, passing through all too rapidly. The Gorse holding the warbler’s nest was seen to be covered in part by the webs of Gorse Mite. Common Heath Ematurga atomaria One of the commonest of the day-flying heathland moths Doug. Kelson Latticed Heath Chiasmia clathrata More striking than its close relative, but less frequently come across Doug. Kelson The woodlands flanking the southern side of the common were the next habitat to be explored, oak now prevalent with the change of habitat immediately giving up additional species – Nuthatch and Jay soon being seen, as was a Grey Squirrel; a beast spoken of earlier, as was the possibility of introducing Red Squirrel to such areas.
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