Back to Dorset and on the catchup again

We came back to weather that was hotter than we had in Portugal and we noticed that our British year list was definitely getting behind so we had some work to do to catchup. Unfortunately I had a little trip-up and pulled my calf and strained my achilles so walking was little painful so resting and taking it easy for a few days was the best thing to do.  So for a couple of weeks all Jackie and I did was do our stint watching over the Osprey at Careys Secret Garden and a very gentle walk at Durlston CP. which in fact gave us a new bird for the year in the shape of a 1st summer Kittiwake that cruised along the cliff edge heading west which was somewhat unexpected.

Unfortunately I had a bit of a relapse prior and aggravated my injury when on the 19th May the Red-footed Falcon seen at Holt Heath the previous day was relocated.  So Jackie and I drove out to Holt next day in the late afternoon to see if we could see it, unfortunately we couldn't find where it was supposed to be.  Though we did record our first Hobby and Nightjar which put in a little early churring.  As we were leaving without seeing the falcon we met Peter Moore who had just left seeing the Red-foot and he explained where to go on the heath to see it.  We thought as we were both slow walkers that it would be best to return next day when we could do the walk in daylight.  So not to waste our time we decided to go and search for Barn Owl in the Cranborne Chase area and were successful which made a nice finish to the day.

Barn Owl - North Dorset © Nick Hull

Next morning - 21st May Jackie and I were back out on Holt Heath this time in the correct place.  It was a long walk, well for us with me limping because of my dodgy calf/achilles and Jackie not able to use her scooter, anyway we made it to the area where we ran into a number of our birding friends.  We found out that it had been seen earlier but had flown off and that it usually returns so it was just a waiting game.  

Well during our wait we saw Goshawk, Red Kite, Hobby, Kestrel, Buzzard, Curlew, Stonechat and Dartford Warblers.  After about  two hours we saw two falcons have a bit of a dust up, one was easy to identify it was a Kestrel but the other look different,  We first thought was is it a Hobby but there was no white around the head it was all dark as was the underside and we quickly realised it was the Red-footed Falcon.

Red-footed Falcon © Nick Hull

It's always nice to see a Red-footed Falcon both males and females are cracking birds to see in all plumages.  

Due to the fact Jackie can't get down and backup to Dancing ledge the only way for us to get Dorset Puffin on our list is by taking a a coastal boat trip and it so happened that on the 23rd Birds of Poole Harbour were doing just that and we were lucky to get tickets.  Heading out from Poole Quay we had a brief stop to look over Brownsea Lagoon the Sandwich and Common Tern colony was very busy and birds were flying to and fro with sand eels.  We could hear Whimbrel calling and we located them just as they lifted off the lagoon perhaps heading off to Iceland to breed.  Out in Poole Bay we saw a couple of Mediterranean Gull and terns plunging for sand eels and fish off Pilot's Point.   

Sandwich Tern paid Pilot's Point © Nick Hull

As we rounded Handfast Point, probably better known these days as Old Harry which refers to the chalk stacks, we had nesting Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls.  Ballard Cliffs still holds a number of natural nesting sites for Swift and House Martin and we saw a good number flying around.  The cliffs here have become very smooth due to weathering and that affects the number of ledge nesting species such as Cormorant, though we did find a few dotted over the cliff in suitable places for nesting.  

We then headed across Swanage Bay, I had a distant Gannet and a view of our first auks flying towards Durlston.  As we rounded Durlston Head towards Anvil Point Lighthouse the boat paused for a while to view the Guillemot and Razorbill colony.  This was crammed with birds and very noisy and most probably smelly if we were closer with the amount of guano that whitewashed the cliff face. Further up the cliff a Fulmar was seen cruising round by its nesting site.

Main Guillemot colony Durlston Cliff © Nick Hull

As we moved off we scanned out to sea and along the cliffs and you could see the small colonies of Guillemot and a few pairs of Razorbill, also Shags that were nesting in suitable sites along the cliff.  

Pair of Razorbill off Durlston © Nick Hull

We had another pause adjacent to Blacker's Hole, this is a shallow cave which is more or less the only location on Purbeck to see breeding Kittiwake now and we did manage to see a few pairs of this very attractive gull.  Then we had a shout from Humphrey (BoPH) from the back of the boat "3 Poms going west" Pomarine Skua are not the commonest skua to see off the Dorset coast at best of times and I was lucky to just get a brief rear view from where I stood on the boat, Jackie did get aslightly better from the back and thanks to Joe from BoPH for his shot of two of the birds moving away to the west.

Kittiwake at Blacker's Hole © Nick Hull

Just a little further along the coast is Dancing Ledge and the boat stopped so we could look for Puffin though this very small tenuous population is down to just 6 birds, we think three pairs but over the last few years it has been noted that they do not seem to fledge any young and the National Trust on Purbeck have set up a project to find out why and try and reverse this decline.  We waited for a while before the first Puffin was seen coming in to the cliff from out to sea, it circled the boat and then landed on one of the ledges.  A while later another followed suit and we then had two eventually, we had one on the ledge and two bobbing about on the sea a little way off the boat giving good views to all on board.

Puffin No.1 flying by the boat. © Nick Hull

Puffin N0. 2 sitting on the sea © Nick Hull

After leaving on our way back to Poole we had several Swift over the boat a few of these certainly still use the cliffs crevices to breed in which would be the traditional natural sites to breed.

Common Swift over the boat © Nick Hull

Two of Three Pomarine Skua heading west off the boat © Joe Parker (BoPH)

This was a good addition to our year list and the rest of the trip was more or less a repeat of the birds seen on the outward journey except for Peregrine which we managed to see sat on the top of the Asda Building as we were heading into Poole Quay.

On the 28th Jackie and I went to an old friend's wake, unfortunately he passed shortly after we arrived home from holiday.  Keith Powrie was a font of all knowledge when it came to botany, dragonflies, butterflies and both Jackie and I learnt a lot from Keith over the years so it was a sad day.  Afterwards we decided to pop to Blashford on the way home to see if we could add Garden Warbler to our year list which we did without too much problem. This brought our year list up to 171 which is 6 less than this time last year so we still have some catching up to do, lets hope June is kind to us.

I think I have faired better with the Lepidoptera overall so far in May as by the time we went off to Portugal we had just seen 9 species.  We added Large White and Green Hairstreak on twitch to see the Red-footed Falcon but we really needed to up our game.  So we arranged with friends David and Fran to meet at Cerne Abbas and visit the Butterfly Conservation reserve there which we did on the 27th.

We chose a good day our main aim was to try and find Duke of Burgundy and Marsh Fritillaries and we were successful with both and added Large, Dingy, and Grizzled Skippers, Small Heath and Painted Lady and Common Blue to the year list.

Grizzled Skipper © Nick Hull

Dingy Skipper © Nick Hull

Marsh Fritillary © Nick Hull

Duke of Burgundy © Nick Hull

Duke of Burgundy © Nick Hull

On our way back to the car we had a bit of luck, I had seen one earlier but it didn't stop,  we came across a much more obliging individual a Forester Moth.  A day flyer which is a pretty scarce species and in recent years I've only seen them here at Cerne though have seen them at Martin Down to in the past.  They are a stunning metallic green colour which the photograph doesn't do it justice really a real bonus.

Forester Moth © Nick Hull

It didn't stop there as my moth traps have produced some nice moths many of them being migrants though there are a few that have been caught by others that hasn't made it to my traps as yet but there is still hope they might drop in.  The night of the 23rd May was a pretty good trap. 

Diamond-back Moth is one of the commoner migrants that I catch most years.

Diamond-back Moth © Nick Hull

Small Mottle Willow is I've only caught twice before in 2015 & 2017 so was a very nice addition

Small Mottled Willow ©

Portland Ribbon Wave has only been trapped regular on Portland and Weymouth area with the odd one turning up at other locations but since 2023 seemed to have expanded with records being recorded further away and this is my third year in a row catching this species.

Portland Ribbon Wave © Nick Hull

Now this one is for me on a different level this is a Red-belted Clearwing. Previously most of the clearwings have been considered nationally rare but since pheromone lures have been developed it has been found that they are not so rare but they are still hard to find.  I have been trying to record various clearwings over the last few years as they are such stunning species.  A fellow moth trapper Phil Saunders lives not far from me and has caught this species in his garden so I thought why shouldn't I get them as well.  So I put out the lure trap and waited for several hours and checked periodically to see if I caught anything.  It wasn't until Jackie came in around tea time and said I think there is something in your trap. A quick check and she was right there was this stunning Red-belted Clearwing.

Red-belted Clearwing © Nick Hull

I addition to the above moths on the night of the 25th again I had a good size trap and again added a few more migrants.  Again I had several Diamond-back Moth and another Small Mottled Willow but added Rusty-dot pearl, European Corn-borer, Bordered Straw and best a Blair's Mocha a species I caught for the first time last year.

Blair's Mocha - Bordered Straw
Small Mottled Willow - European Corn-borer - Rusty-dot Pearl

On the night of the 29th though I didn't catch so many moths I did add some very good species first was Flame Wainscot a Nationally Scarce species which I usual catch a few most year so it good to know they are still present in the local seedbed.  The next is a species that I was catching regularly until an area of willow and alder was cleared which was encroaching on the reedbed.  When I stopped trapping them and I had a six year break but then in 2024 I caught one and again last year and this Nationally Rare and now red data species turned up in the trap again another Mocha species this time a Dingy Mocha.

Dingy Mocha © Nick Hull

A real surprise was the finding of a Current Clearwing in my office, I'd put out the lure trap in the afternoon and thought I hadn't caught anything.  Then when I was releasing a few micros which I had to check id's on I noticed sat on the window cill was a clearwing, I quickly potted it and id'ed it as a Current Clearwing.  How did it get there the only explanation I think is that it was in the trap when I opened it to see if anything was inside and it flew out and I didn't notice it until later.  Anyway it is another good record for the garden.

Currant Clearwing © Nick Hull

That's bring us to the end of the May wildlife blog, lets hope June can produce more of the same.