Closed Red Admiral







A windy August day and I found the colourful Butterfly hiding on an old apple tree.

Just a flash of red and blue gives it away.

Using a bit of HDR brings the shadows to life.

Golden-Ringed Dragonfly

This is one of our largest Dragonflies and with its bright yellow and black banding is easy to spot.

Its often found on Southeren Heathlands but this is the first time I have seen one on the reserve.

It kindly decided to land on this post in my garden to eat what looked liked a hover fly or a small bee. The snack took about 10 minutes before it flew back over the fence to the reserve.



  

The close up picture below show its nasty looking mouth parts and the poor insect.

Dartford Warbler

Dartford Warblers are still about but are now flying around in pairs and I can only see 2 pairs. I am very conscious that the breeding season is about to start so I am observing from a distance and rarely stopping. They seem to have little interest in humans or dogs and this individual appeared very close to me as I walked by. Its now half term and a number of schools are close by. The heath will be busier than usual and I am hoping for no fires and minimal disturbance.

This week I saw a group of local school children on a field trip with 4 teachers. As the teacher was talking about the heath, a Dartford Warbler and a Stonechat were singing on the gorse just a few feet away from the them.

None of them noticed!!! 

Taken 26/3/2012 at Midday

Whos watching who?

Every time you take a walk along the Greenway path towards Bloxworth Road you may get that feeling you are being watched. Nearly every time I walk this way I see the fox up on the hill, peering over the bank of sand. It can be any time of day, even at noon in the hot sunshine.

I'm sure many people walk by him and never notice.

Long Tailed Tit

I often see long tailed tits all over the reserve. In the trees with great tits and blue tits and on the heath where ever there are small perching trees. I have often stood very still and these little gems will perch within a few feet of me totally ignoring me as they roam about looking for food. This shot was such an occasion where the bird was over my head in a tree. After I had taken a few pictures it just looked down to see what was making the clicking sound then carried on.

Common Lizard

At last my first reptile at Bourne Valley.

Actually this was the second of two common lizards today. Both sunbathing on the path, I didn't notice them until they scurried away into the undergrowth. This female thought it was safe sitting very still, just long enough for me to grab this picture for ID purposes.

Common Lizards hibernate between October and March and range from northern Asia across central and northern Europe and are the only reptiles found in Ireland.

The common lizard gives birth to live young in these northern climates and is a good swimmer.

February 2012 Summary

Stonechats (male & female)

Two females and one male Stonechat were in amongst the Dartford Warblers up on the heath.

After watching them for a while it was clear that the Stonechats stay use these perching sticks nearly all the time and they seem to stick to a smaller area than the warblers. They just like the same area and are often seen together.

These two pictures are not technically very good but I think they are useful for identifying males and females.

January 2011 Summary

January stayed very mild for the time of year and on a sunny day up on the heath I was treated to the sight of at least six Dartford Warblers enjoying the warm sunshine with a male and two female Stonechats. I watched them for over an hour and managed to capture some special pictures. At the other end of the reserve I managed to see a Treecreeper and several nuthatch in the wooded area by the Ringwood Rd. In the Wetlands where the ground is very wet I found a Grey Wagtail by the reeds looking for food in the mud. All in all despite being mid winter there is still lots to see.

Dorset Urban Heaths Grazing Project

These two New Forest Ponies graze the wetland area to reduce tree and scrub encroachment as part of the Dorset Urban Heaths Grazing Project.
Visitors are asked not to feed the ponies as it can seriously harm them.
The ponies quickly ate all the Common Reed which had been planted in the lagoons and Reed Mace now grows in its place.

The Dartford Warblers at Bourne Valley NR - My All Time Favourite Bird.

It was a sunny January day today so I decided to go and look for my favourite bird, the rare Dartford warbler is one of the species that is so special to the Dorset heathland. 43 years ago when I was 9 years old the warden at RSPB Arne nature reserve showed me this bird when it was much rarer than today and I have been hooked ever since.

Patience is the name of the game here. After spending a few days wandering around the reserve listening for their distinctive calls I have found 3 pairs but I think there are at least 4 to 5 pairs on the heath. Its important not to disturb these birds even though they are not nesting so I sat quietly on a path for over an hour waiting for a bird to perch on a gorse bush I had seen them use. I think the walkers using the path though I was either homeless or a bit strange sitting on a path getting slowly frozen.
Dartford warblers seem to go round in 2-3 acre circle as a group so I new they would come by sooner or later.

My patience paid off and this first image looks like a young female and the next image looks like an adult male. They don't have their spring plumage yet so I am finding it a bit difficult to be sure of the age and sex of these birds.

A different bird again by chance its on the same branch. To be honest this is the first time that I have photographed Dartford Warblers and had the luxury of being able to look at the difference in plumage. Normally a quick glimpse is all I get.

Again this looks like a different bird and I was surprised to see this when I got home and looked through the images from my camera. I have quite a few images to look at yet but i think these are 5 different birds taken in the same area in the same day.
I think today I have learnt that there is a difference between looking and seeing.

December 2011 Summary

This months summary totals 25 species and includes some new species. The best of these new sightings has to be the bright red Bull finches. Three males and a female were sat in the same tree in the middle of  Bourne Bottom. On a cold December day they stand out against the grey sky.
The male Blackcap was a close second.
My total species count is now at 42 which considering I only started counting in October bodes well for 2012.