April 26
WILDLIFE HIGHLIGHTS
April was an amazing month for wildlife moments for myself and Bob, so much so, it's been a struggle to narrow it down to just the encounters I've shared below...and there's still quite a few! The month was off to a great start with a new species for me - the Black-necked Grebe. One was seen for a number of days at West Rise Marsh, on the outskirts of Eastbourne. Bob had already been to see it during the week, but was happy to go again with me when I was free. Despite the very windy conditions, we had some lovely views of this stunning bird.
I love this next shot as you can see its legs in the water.
We enjoyed ourselves so much we went back the next day when the forecast was much calmer. The light was completely different and it was lovely having moments of stillness on the water.
We needed our long 600mm lenses to photograph the grebe because it was wary. Most of the time it wasn't particularly close to the edge of the lake. But with patience, it did venture a litlte closer. It was a job to take photos without the reeds in the foreground, but there were times it was more out in the open. Below you can see it looking at an insect on the water. We noticed it feeding quite a bit this way and not just diving down, as I'm used to seeing with Great Crested Grebes and Little Grebes.
It has such stunning red eyes.
Whilst waiting for the Black-necked Grebe to swim closer to us, we were treated to some courtship between a pair of Canada Geese. The male grabbed the neck of the female in its bill, and whilst it was standing on top of her, she was submerged in the water. This lasted more than a few seconds, and didn't look like a particularly pleasant experience for the female. However, this is common in the bird world and essential for the male to stabilise himself whilst balancing on the female's back and aligning their openings (the male lacks an external reproductive organ).
A few days later, we visited Rye Harbour. You could tell spring was in the air, because there was more courtship behaviour, but this time between a pair of Avocets. This is far more amusing to watch. The female will hold heself in this lowered horozontal position for some time to indicate to the male that she's ready to mate. However, he can spend quite a bit of time preening himself beside her, more often than not changing frequently from one side to the other. Patiently, she stays where she is until he is ready, and he finally jumps onto her back. Unlike the Canada Geese, the Avocet seems to do a much better job of balancing and doesn't need to hold on to its partner's head or neck feathers.
In fact, after the act is over, it's quite endearing to see how the male drops his wings over the female like a cloak, ever so briefly. It then turns its bill towards hers, as a bonding ritual, as it jumps off. They often both move away speedily in different directions. It's fabulous to witness.
The Avocet is such a beautiful elegant bird with quite an unusual upturned bill. I was thrilled to get this lovely photo of one in flight.
Our main reason for our visit to Rye Harbour was to see the Spotted Redshank in its much darker summer plumage (first photo). We'd already visited the nature reserve in the autumn for my first views of this UK rarity (second photo). The plumage was noticeably different.
Our visit to Rye was on one of those lovely warm sunny April days. Admittedly, it was windy, but we were able to eat our lunch on the beach sheltering in the lee of a groyne. We spotted some Turnstones running along the beach at the tideline nearby, so after lunch, I managed to get a few lovely photos.
I don't often see Common Toads on my wildlife travels, so I couldn't resist sharing this photo too. It was taken on another day at Abbott's Wood whilst walking with some friends. It was sitting right in the middle of the footpath. We were amazed it hadn't been trampled by dogs.
The next few photos were taken closer to home, on the South Downs in East Sussex. For a while now, Bob had told me about the unusual Small Eggar moth egg clusters that can be found on Blackthorn or Hawthorn bushes. The egg cluster is covered in hairs. On a few occasions I'd tried to see one, but not nearly as many times as Bob has. They are often predated - Long Tailed Tits will take the hairs for their nests. The window of opportunity to see them is small and sometimes Bob would only find a cluster later when the larvae had hatched and created they larval web. Bob was thrilled to finally find one this year, and so was I when he showed it to me a few days later. The hairs are from the female moth after she has laid the eggs. She plucks them from her own body, to cover the eggs and protect them. In doing so, she sacrifices herself in the process and dies. It's quite remarkable.
The second photo was taken a week later when another egg cluster was found in a different area, but close to where we'd discovered two larval webs.
Below is the larval web that I found, covered in little caterpillars with orange legs. A giveaway that they are Small Eggars.
Having now seen all the UK butterfly species, I'm eager to see other stages of their life cycle, including mating. One time, Bob spotted a female Orange-tip butterfly resting on a leaf and thought it was a little odd, until he realised that right behind her was the male and they were in the midst of mating. Notice how their attenae are both close together, which is usual when butterflies are resting/sleeping.
On that same day, I was lucky enough to witness another part of the life cycle, as a different female Orange-tip laid an egg on the Garlic Mustard. She was there for more than a few seconds, so it is highly likely she actually laid both the eggs that I found on the flower as soon as she had departed. It was interesting to see how the eggs were white when first laid, as I'd only ever seen orange ones before. Since the eggs are very similar in colour and shape to the Green-veined White butterfly, I decided to return a week later and see if both eggs had changed to orange. The flower was now open more, but having noted the location, I was able to identify the correct one and see that both eggs were indeed that of the Orange-tip butterfly.
We managed to fit another trip to Elmley Nature Reserve in this month and had a few different species to photograph, including this gorgeous Yellow Wagtail that we spotted on the safari drive leading to the car park. The colour of these birds is stunning, especially in the lovely morning light.
On this visit, the Brown Hares were noticeably more visible during the daytime and actively feeding. It was lovely to have more opportunities to photograph this wonderful species, so I couldn't resist sharing a few more photos. The first one I saw of the day, was in the field adjacent to the car park. We'd barely walked a few metres, when I noticed it was gradually getting closer to where I was standing. Since I was obscured from the hare by some machinery in the field, I stood by the gatepost and waited for the moment when it would run into view. I was thrilled to capture an action shot (bottom of page).
It's lovely seeing new life in springtime. These adorable little Moorhen chicks were walking around at one end of the car park, close to the pond. They seemed to be finding lots of things to eat. I love how they outstretch their tiny little wings when they're waiting to be fed by the adult.
They may have tiny wings, but they have massive feet compared to their body size. For something so young, it does look very old with those white little hairs beneath it's beak.
When one of the volunteers told me that some of the Lapwing chicks had already been seen running around, I was thrilled. I was so keen to see them again, having only done so once before. As luck would have it, whilst on the safari drive, we spotted an adult with three little chicks. What was fascinating to witness was how she instinctively went into protection mode when we stopped the vehicle on the safari track. She sat down and called to them. One by one, they scurried over to her and hid underneath her body and mass of feathers.
There wasn't much room underneath for the third one. It tried to push itself in to a gap, but without success. Retreating, it stood in front of the adult for a moment's pause before trying again. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again! Clearly, where there's a will, there's a way!
You can just about make out the legs of all three chicks that were hiding under the adult. Also, notice the lovely colours of the wings that only shine like this when the light hits the feathers at a certain angle. At other times, their feathers simply look black!
It was then a case of us waiting patiently for her to relax and realise that we weren't a threat to them, so we'd hopefully see the chicks again.
We only had to wait about 2 minutes, but it felt much longer than that. The adult called out to them once again, and one by one, the first two reversed from under their warm protective cover and ran off in different directions. The adult then stood up and quickly walked away, leaving the third chick seemingly abandoned and standing alone without the warmth of its parent's body to shelter from. For a few moments, it just stood there and then chirped. It was quite amusing to watch.
The colour of the Lapwing chick's feathers are particularly attractive. These ones were quite independent already, wandering off in different directions in search of food. They were lovely to watch and I could have stayed there for a lot longer. But, as it was close to 7pm, we needed to head off for food too.
On our way back from Elmley the following day, we stopped off at Old Lodge Nature Reserve for a walk. We heard a Cuckoo several times whilst we were walking around, and we even spotted it flying overhead too, which was lovely to see. But for me, the highlight of the day was hearing, then seeing, a Common Redstart high up in the trees. I've only ever seen this species twice before, so I was very happy to get this photo.
At the end of the month we enjoyed a walk around Rowland Wood, a Butterfly Conservation Nature Reserve. But, it wasn't the butterflies that stole my attention that day, it was a Crab Spider sitting on a bluebell. I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen this species, but bizarrely, the very first time was pretty much within 10m of where I saw this one! It was also sitting on a bluebell on that first occasion, but it was yellow. They can change their colour to blend in to their surroundings. It takes about 6 days to change from white to yellow. They can also change into a light green colour. That might have been the better option for the bluebell! They change colour so they can lie in wait and ambush their prey.
The following day we had a lovely walk in a private woodland in East Sussex that Bob helps monitor for butterflies. Though, once again, my attention was diverted from the butterflies for a while when we saw a pair of Red Poplar Leaf Beetles (Chrysomela populi) mating. It was interesting to be able to capture a photo side on, as you can actually see the reproductive appendage of the male (below) attaching to the female. It's worth pointing out that they have amazing sticky feet that allow them to cling on to surfaces without falling off. Nature is so remarkable!
The Grizzled Skipper was our main target for the day and we had some lovely sightings of a handful of different ones, including this lovely Taras form. It has attractive larger white patches on the upperwings compared to the usual checked pattern. What a beauty!
Bob was lucky enough to spot a female egg laying. Once she flew off, we crouched down really low and managed to get a photo of the miniscule egg sticking to the underside of a leaf. I've so seldom seen butterfly eggs, so it's always such a joy to see one.
I thought the day couldn't get any better, but I was wrong. We were standing together looking for any Grizzled Skippers on the wing in the location around us, but we couldn't see any. Then suddenly, Bob noticed a mating pair right below us! This was another first for me and made my day! It was the perfect end to a fabulous month of amazing memorable wildlife highlights!
