Wall Lizard

This will be my last post about my recent holiday in the Isle of Wight (promise!), so I thought I'd finish with a post about a super little lizard that Jayne and I managed to see whilst down on the island.

As the title suggests, the reptile in question is the Wall Lizard, a reptile that is native in Jersey, but one that was released in the UK. Ventnor is a "hotspot" for this species and is found in good numbers in this part of the island, a particular hotspot being the Ventnor Botanical Gardens. More details about Wall Lizards can be found here.

Jayne and I saw our first lizard on our first day in Ventnor, with one sunning itself on a bench along the coastal path just below Ventnor Park.

Wall Lizard (Ventnor Park)

We then had a day in the botanical gardens and saw at least a dozen. The best area in the park for lizards, was the aptly named "arid area", which is in a very sunny spot. We did, however, see them in other areas. Here are a few photos.

Wall Lizard (Ventnor Botanical Gardens)

Isle of Wight Birds - Part 2

Since my last post about the bird life of the Isle of Wight (see here), Jayne and I have managed to see a few more species, and get a few more nice views of species previously reported.

New species seen were; Dartford Warbler (1 on Tennyson Down), Gannet ( 1 adult that flew past Ventnor Beach), Kingfisher (1 from the hide at Newtown NNR), Curlew (2 flying over the saltmarsh at Newtown NNR), Wheatear (3 juveniles on Tennyson Down) and House and Sand Martin (both seen in Bembridge, the first over the pub, and the second species over the beach).

Along with these new species, we also enjoyed good views of some other species. Highlights were a fishing Little Egret  seen on two occasions in Bembridge Harbour. 2 Greenshanks were also seen here on Friday 12th, up from the single bird seen earlier in the holiday.

Little Egret

After the sight of 2 Ravens flying high over Afton Down on 31st July, we enjoyed excellent views of 2 (possibly a pair?)  at The Needles. Both birds were flying around the New Battery for most of our visit, and eventually came down to grab some picnic left overs from the floor, before landing on a metal mast. Great views!

Ravens (look at those beaks!)

Also seen on Tennyson Down were Stonechats, including at least 3 juveniles.

The last bird of note has to be the juvenile Mediterranean Gull that was kind enough to land on the beach at Bembridge just in front of me, and stayed long enough for a photo.

Mediterranean Gull

Newtown NNR

One of the places I was very keen to revisit on the Isle of Wight was the National Trust's  Newtown National Nature Reserve, a large estuary on the north of the island. I last visited this reserve back in 2002, when I was last on the island, looking for a very special bird, the Little Egret. At the time, this was a new species for me, and still a relatively rare bird in Britain. We managed to see one then, after quite a lot of searching. This year's visit was much easier, with 4 birds seen.

Newtown Estuary and Little Egret

The tide was well in when we got to Newtown, so we didn't see too many other coastal birds, except a couple of Oystercatchers, 3 Curlews, Redshank (heard) and 2 Greenshank.

As well as the birds, we also spent some time looking at the insects on the reserve. Butterflies seen were: Comma (1), Peacock (1), Gatekeeper (dozens), Meadow Brown (dozens), Speckled Wood (3), Small Skipper (1), Common Blue (3 - 2 males and a female) and Marbled White (1).  

Common Blue (male)

Two other insects of note were both new to me and Jayne, namely Wasp Spider and a type of horsefly (nice!!) called Tabanus autumnalis.

The Wasp Spider is a relative newcomer to Britain, and is still confined mainly to the south of the country (see here).  We saw 3 webs within a small, 1m patch of grass near the public bird hide. The pictures show the upper and underside of a female. She sits in the middle of the web. The male is much smaller, and less colourful, and  is usually eaten by the female after mating.

Wasp Spider (upperside)

Wasp Spider (underside)

The final picture is of the horsefly Tabanus autumnalis. This "beauty", about 2cm long, landed on my bag, and then flew into a bush, where I was able to get this photo. Luckily, it didn't manage to take a bite out of me or Jayne.

Tabanus autumnalis

Isle of Wight Birds- Part 1

Jayne and I have been in the Isle of Wight for a week today, so I thought it was about time I wrote a post about birdlife here.

The first birds we saw this week, were, of course, gulls, with Black-headed, Mediterranean and Herring Gull all seen on the ferry trip over to the island. Great Black-backed was added when we arrived in Ventnor (1 adult and 1 juvenile), a Common Gull was seen in Bembridge and a single Lesser Black-backed Gull was on the seafront at Sandown today.

Mediterranean Gull (Ryde Esplanade)

Tern species seen so far are Sandwich (5 in Bembridge harbour - year tick), and Common Tern.

The crow family has also been well represented so far with Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Rook, Magpie and Jay all seen in and around Ventnor, while 2 Ravens were also seen flying over Afton Down.

Waders are a bit thin on the ground, but we have seen Oystercatcher, Redshank and a single Greenshank (at Bembridge on Thursday- year tick).

As far as birds of prey are concerned, we've had a couple of sightings of Peregrine Falcon (1 mobbing a Raven at Afton Down, and 1 over Osborne House). We've also had daily sightings of Common Buzzard, and a couple of Kestrel sightings (1 over the cliffs in Ventnor, and 1, which, judging by the state of the plumage, is a juvenile, perched on the cliff side below Afton Down yesterday morning).

Kestrel

Passerines seen include Stonechat (2 on Afton Down), Meadow Pipit (several birds, including one carrying food on Afton Down), Skylark ( 1 singing on Afton Down), Linnets (group of c.10 on Afton Down), House Sparrow, Starling, Yellowhammer, Swift (10 flying over Afton Down on 5th, and a large flock of c.30 over Sandown today), Swallow, Goldfinch, Wren, Robin ( seen daily, including juveniles in Shanklin Chine and Osborn House), Blackbird, Green Woodpecker (heard daily from bed (!) and seen around Ventnor Park), Great-spotted Woodpecker (heard in Osborne House gardens/woods), Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits.

Water birds seen are: Mute Swan (in Ryde), Mallard, Little Egret (1 in Ryde) and Coot.

This isn't bad considering we haven't been "bird watching" yet, so hopefully we can add a few more species next week.

Year List update:
163: Greenshank
164: Sandwich Tern

Two new insects

Yesterday, Jayne and I spent some time in and around Shalfleet, a small village on the north coast of the Isle of Wight. We went there to search for a new species of damselfly; Beautiful Demoiselle. This is a damselfly with a limited range in the UK, and, as far as I know, is absent from Derbyshire. Find out more about this species on the British Dragonfly Society's website here.

We managed to find 4 individuals (3 males and 1 female) flying around the churchyard, and I managed to get a photo of one of the males perched up.

Beautiful Demoiselle

The other new species of insect I've seen this week is a species of Bee Wolf, the European beewolf or Philanthus triangulum. This insect isn't a bee at all, but a species of solitary, mining wasp. It is mainly found in the south of England, but appears to be spreading north. The individual I saw was on the cliff sides at Compton Chine on Sunday. More information here.

European beewolf

Isle of Wight Butterflies - 31st July 2016

This morning Jayne and I spent a couple of hours at the National Trust's Afton Down reserve near Freshwater, on the Isle of Wight.

Afton Down

We went to see if we could catch up with some butterflies, including one that I've never seen before, Small Blue. As soon as we arrived, we spotted the first "blues" of the day, the Chalkhill Blue. There were dozens of these butterflies flying around, all over the hillside, including many mating pairs.

Chalkhill Blue (male)

Chalkhill Blue (female)

Chalkhill Blue (mating pair)

Along with these butterflies, we also spotted 1 Small Blue, a female that was egg laying on Kidney Vetch (thanks Jayne!), 3 Dark Green Fritillaries, 1 Marbled White, dozens of Meadow Browns, 10+ Gatekeepers, 2 Large Whites, 2 Red Admirals and a three species of day-flying moths; 6-spot Burnet,Yellow Shell and Silver Y.

Small Blue (egg laying)

Small Blue

We also walked down to Compton Chine, where we had another couple of 6-spot Burnets, dozens more "blues", and  a single Small Copper. All in all, a very good few hours!