A Scottish Grand Tour...

Andy Grinter has just finished a mega trip across the border to Scotland where he caught up with many of its iconic birds including Golden and White-tailed Eagle and stunning views of Corncrake, Dotterel and Ptarmigan...not to mention a wee dram of Highland malt!

Hebrides

Corncrake on Iona; Andy Grinter

Iceland Gull, Iona: Andy Grinter

Oystercatcher, Mull: Andy Grinter

Common Sandpiper, Mull: Andy Grinter

Otter, Mull: Andy Grinter

Black Guillemot, Butt of Lewis: Andy Grinter

Fulmar: Andy Grinter

In the Highlands Andy caught up with a few crackers on Cairngorm Mountain:

Dotterel, Cairngorm: Andy Grinter

Ring Ouzel: Andy Grinter

Ptarmigan: Andy Grinter

 What a fantastic trip! Andy saw plenty of other great birds too including hen harrier and short-eared owl. Add to that the stunning scenery and Scotland is hard to beat.

Hudsonian Whimbrel...

Dave and Andy managed to get over to Pagham Harbour in West Sussex on Sunday to see the Hudsonian Whimbrel that's been present since 9th of June. Not an easy bird to catch up with as it happened and it gave them the run-around for five hours before flight views were obtained. On their way down they stopped off to look at the rare bee x fly orchid hybrids at the Somerset border:

Bee Orchid Ophrys apifera: Dave Helliar 

Bee x Fly hybrid: Dave Helliar

Bee x Fly hybrid: Dave Helliar

Though the Hudsonian whimbrel proved too fleeting for photos the following were easier to get to grips with...

Bishop's Mitre Shield Bug: Dave Helliar

Willow Woodwasp Xiphydria prolongata: Dave Helliar

The Great Pretender...

I came across this male Grass Snake Natrix natrix this morning, clearly about to slough (note the milky white eye). It was quite cool to the touch and immediately 'played dead', initially hiding its head in its body coils but soon decided to go for the Oscar and dangled its head, mouth open, tongue lolling and saliva drooling in the hope that I would put it down so that it could move away. It stayed like this for about three minutes before deciding the deception hadn't worked at which point it made a miraculous recovery and made off for the nearest piece of cover.

Grass Snake Natrix natrix, 1st attempt to play dead: R. Harris

Still trying and keeping an eye on me: R. Harris

The full works, I'm dead...honest!

Ok, maybe not. He stops after a few minutes: R. Harris

A couple more reptiles present this morning:

Common Lizard, Zootoca vivipara, female: R. Harris

Slow Worm Anguis fragilis, female: R. Harris

Big 'n Blue...

The Large Blue is on the wing again right now and what stunning butterflies they are too. I saw them a couple of years back and the thrill of seeing one never diminishes. Unfortunately the native Large Blue became extinct in 1979, following that a major reintroduction programme was started with Swedish stock being introduced to 11+ sites, mostly in the south-west of England.

Thanks to Dave Helliar for supplying the photos below. Apparently reluctant to open its wings Dave got these beautiful underside shots instead:

Large Blue Maculinea arion: Dave Helliar

Large Blue Maculinea arion: Dave Helliar

Large Blue Maculinea arion: Dave Helliar

Dave also had a Hummingbird Hawk-moth feeding in his garden on the same day...

Hummingbird Hawk-moth Macroglossum stellatarum: D. Helliar

Hummingbird Hawk-moth Macroglossum stellatarum: D. Helliar

Those are great shots for a bridge camera.

Snake in the Grass...

Well, ok timber pile maybe. Dave Helliar sent me these great shots of a female Grass Snake from his patch near Chard. What a great looking snake and she appears to be recently sloughed and carrying eggs too!

Grass Snake Natrix natrix: Dave Helliar

Grass Snake Natrix natrix: Dave Helliar

Grass Snake Natrix natrix and she looksready to lay eggs any day: Dave Helliar

Grass Snake Natrix natrix - portrait: Dave Helliar

Fingers crossed for lots of young grass snakes by the end of the summer.

Herp Heaven...

The weather on Sunday was pretty warm, one of the warmest days so far this year I would think once out of the breeze. So, with a plan in mind and one or two target species to see, Dave Helliar and myself set off to Dorset with a view to doing a bit of herping and a bit of birding...we weren't to be disappointed!

Within minutes of arriving at our first stop, target species number one was found - a beautiful melanistic, Smooth Snake Coronella austriaca. A particularly rare and stunning animal. This is the same individual I'd seen earlier in the week but having completed its slough the eyes were now amber instead of milky white. Note the shiny keel-free scales, slighter build and round pupil differentiating it from melanistic Vipera berus.

A stunning beast! Adult female Smooth Snake
Melanistic individual: R. Harris

Melanistic Smooth Snake: Dave Helliar

Melanistic Smooth Snake: Dave Helliar

Showing head scales: R. Harris

Another characteristic trait of this species can be seen in the image below where the 3rd and 4th supralabials touch the eye.

Showing the amber eye with round pupil - markings faintly
discernible behind the head: R. Harris

It's funny how loosing the typical pattern and colour changes the whole look of the animal. There were times when it looked almost cobra-like in profile! This encounter was followed by a couple of unexpected Woodlarks and a handful of Dartford Warblers, including a very active family party, which gave fantastic views. A further search revealed more surprises - yet another large female Smooth Snake! This one more typically patterned and a full 60cm long. What a stunning snake...

Smooth Snake Coronella austriaca: Dave Helliar

Smooth Snake Coronella austriaca: R. Harris

Smooth Snake Coronella austriaca Showing the 
strongly curved rostral scale: R. Harris

Smooth Snake Coronella austriaca - showing the
red tongue: R. Harris

Smooth Snake Coronella austriaca - showing the
red tongue: R. Harris

A few dragonflies seen as well including Emporer Dragnfly, Black-lined Skimmer and Keeled Skimmer.

Keeled Skimmer (Orthetrum coerulescens): Dave Helliar

We couldn't have asked for more. To see two Smooth Snakes in one day was fantastic to say the least - very pleased indeed. But it wasn't over yet. With the heat of the day rising we decided on a bit of raptor viewing and were rewarded with at least three red kites, minimum of ten buzzards and a fantastic Goshawk. Not bad for a morning out :-)

Dave continued his day on his local patch and added a few more species too, including:

Large Skipper: Dave Helliar

Common Lizard: Dave Helliar

Family party of Mandarin Ducks: Dave Helliar

Dolycoris baccarum: Dave Helliar

Black, White and Smooth...

I went on a guided conservation walk a few days ago in Dorset, just to see what sort of work they are doing at the moment and to discover a new piece of heathland that I hadn't ventured onto before. Despite perfect conditions we had very few reptiles (in numbers) although all the natives except adder were present. Sand lizards dominated the figures with half a dozen seen throughout the morning but the highlight was undoubtedly a single large female smooth snake. This individual was extremely dark, verging on melanistic, which is fairly uncommon in austriaca, in fact I assumed at first it might be an adder as melanism is far more common in that species - it's also just about to slough as can be seen by its 'milky' eye colour.

Smooth Snake, Coronella austriaca: R. Harris

Showing the curved rostral scale and milky eye colour

There were also good numbers of Green Hairstreak, Broad-bodied Chaser, Four-spotted Chaser, Black-lined Orthetrum and an Emperor dragonfly.

After the walk finished I couldn't resist zipping off to Wareham, where a summer plumaged White-winged Black Tern had shown up the day before. It had just disappeared before I arrived but thankfully returned 15 minutes later to give incredible views. I didn't get any decent photos as the bird never stopped moving - the only limitation of a bridge camera. At least you can see what it is.

White-winged Black Tern: R. Harris

White-winged Black Tern: R. Harris

White-winged Black Tern: R. Harris