Ham Hill Country Park - Sun 17 Jul

As I left Sutton Bingham I got a call from a bored Ellie who fancied getting out of the house for a walk, so I picked her up and we drove up to Ham Hill for a late afternoon stroll. As we crossed the meadows there were several Meadow Brown butterflies about and a couple of Common Blues, we were also treated to some splendid views of a Hobby as it flew past us several times. As we continued our walk the weather came in and for the second day in a row we got caught in a heavy rain shower. We decided as we got back to the car that it was time to get back home and enjoy a roast chicken dinner!

Sutton Bingham - Sun 17 Jul

Another day of showers but I dodged them for an hour after lunch and visited the reservoir. On West Pool a couple of Little Egrets were present but there was no sign of the Wood Sandpiper that had been seen on Friday and that I missed yesterday. A Mandarin was also present and unlike most of the birds present had plucked up enough courage to come to bread!
I then headed straight to the southern end and sat by the hide for about half an hour or so. At least four Common Sandpipers were feeding on the small pool that has been formed by dropping water levels, as were three Green Sandpipers. Three more Mandarin were seen and I finally connected with the adult Yellow-legged Gull that has returned for it's fifth or sixth year.

I first saw it opposite the hide as it caught and then devoured a Crayfish and it then sat opposite the hide for ten minutes or so. Interestingly enough I watch a Lesser Black-backed Gull attempt the same thing, but the Crayfish must have put up more of a fight and it scampered back in to the water.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 16 Jul

Heavy rain for most of the day finally let up for a while mid-afternoon so Ellie and I headed up to the reservoir for a walk and a breath of fresh air. As we walked from the hide towards the Canoe Club the heaven's opened and we got pretty much soaked, especially me as I was only wearing shorts and a T-shirt!
However, despite the rain I did see a couple of things of note, with a Common Tern being a somewhat pleasant surprise.

Two Common Sandpipers were also present and a Little Egret was seen flying north up the reservoir. A family party of Whitethroats were seen flitting between bushes.
We stopped briefly at the northern causeway where presumably the same Little Egret was feeding near the Sailing Club and another was on West Pool.

Lulworth Cove & East Holme - Fri 15 Jul

After spending the first part of the morning doing various chores around the house whilst Ellie was at work I decided at 11.00am that I needed to get out of the house as the weather was pretty fine. Having never seen a Lulworth Skipper I thought that today would be as good a day as any to try and rectify that, so I headed straight for Lulworth Cove logically thinking this would be my best bet to see this small butterfly.
I arrived just after midday and then had to walk up a very steep path to Bindon Hill, which left me feeling that I really must do something to shed some of the sixteen stone bulk I have amassed! Whilst there were several butterflies milling around, including my first Chalkhill Blues of the year and loads of Dark Green Fritillaries, I could not locate any areas of long grass. Fortunately I bumped in to a couple who had seen some Lulworth Skippers and they gave my directions, and ten minutes later after a steep descent I found two of these little beauties, though in strong winds they did not hang around long enough for me to get a photo of them.
With my target seen I set off back to the car, seeing a few Linnets and Stonechats along the way, and a Gannet passed by out to see.
I then set off for East Holme, a small village not that far from Lulworth in the direction of Wareham. There had been a report of a Ferruginous Duck on a pool just outside the village, and whilst I found the pool there was no sign of the duck! There were a couple of very flighty Tufted Ducks and half a dozen or so Siskins were flying between the conifers. I also saw a Woodlark and another new butterfly as I nearly trod on a Grayling. An amazing butterfly that allowed me to almost touch it before it flew as it was that confident in its camoflage. At one stage it flicked it's top wing to reveal a set of "eyes", quite something.
I then had to set off back home as I had an appointment at 4.30pm, so a mixed day, not that good for birds, but brilliant for butterflies.

Salisbury Plain - Thu 14 Jul

Leaving Winterbourne Downs we returned to Amesbury and headed north on to the area of Salisbury Plain between the A345 and A358. Finding anything in this massive expanse of land is always difficult and we were hoping that we may see some of the downland specialities. However, we did not really see an awful lot in the way of birds, but we did hear at least one Quail singing. As we parked up at another site a Red Kite drifted over the car, and we also heard a few more Yellowhammers and Skylarks but despite our best efforts we failed to see much more so we decided to call it day and headed back home after a good day out.

Winterbourne Downs RSPB - Thu 14 Jul

The first day in a four-day weekend as I struggle to use up holiday before the end of the month and an fairly early start as I had arranged to pick up my mate John en route at 9.00am. We drove east and made straight for the RSPB reserve at Winterbourne Downs just to the south-east of Amesbury, and as we left the A303 and took to the minor roads that led to the reserve saw at least half a dozen Corn Buntings along the way, perched on various posts and bushing, most in full song, and one or two allowing us to park alongside them.
Once we reached the reserve we decided to take the long walk and saw a few things of note along the way, the pick being a Stone Curlew which John managed to pick out somehow in a field! We also saw three Red-legged Partridge and several Skylarks and Yellowhammers were singing. Both Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat were present near the car park, three pairs of Bullfinches were seen and a flock of twenty-two Lapwings flew over.
But whilst we saw some good birds it was really the butterflies that stole the show and we managed to see fifteen different species, including my first Gatekeepers of the year. Other butterflies of note included a couple of Small Coppers, several Large Whites, and at least one Brimstone. We got back to the car just after midday and drove off to our next site.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 10 Jul

After a busy weekend I finally managed to get out in to the fresh air for a hour or so this afternoon. As dinenr was planned for 6.00pm I didn't travel far and simply made for Sutton Bingham and drove straight down to the southern end and sat down in front of the hide to see what was about.
The dropping water levels have certainly tempted in a few passage waders and with a bit of the luck the management guys will keep dropping the water level well in to the autumn. Today four Green Sandpipers and a Common Sandpiper were present. Two Little Egrets were working their way along the shoreline and at least ten Mandarin were seen. A small flock of thirty or so Sand Martins flew in from the north and kept heading south without lingering. A male Kestrel was perched on one of the pylons, less effort than hovering I guess.
Cloudy skies meant my butterfly expectations were not high, but saying that a few Ringlets and Meadow Browns were still on the wing, and a single Marbled White really showed well:

On the mammal front, a hind Roe Deer brought her foal to the water's edge and two Red Foxes were also seen.