Black-winged Stilt...

This gorgeous male Black-winged Stilt is currently gracing West Moor near Hambridge on the Somerset Levels and I managed to get out to see it today with Dave Helliar. They don't turn up this close to home too often and I always try to see them if I can, such graceful, beautiful birds - one of my favourites for sure! It certainly performed well and for most of the time it was just four of us there watching it, a private show! Exceptionally tame bird too, it didn't seemed to be bothered by people close by.

Black-winged Stilt, male, West Moor: R. Harris

Black-winged Stilt, male, West Moor: R. Harris

Black-winged Stilt, male, West Moor: R. Harris

Black-winged Stilt, male, West Moor: R. Harris

Black-winged Stilt, male, West Moor: R. Harris

Black-winged Stilt, male, West Moor: R. Harris

Black-winged Stilt: Dave Helliar

Black-winged Stilt, wing-stretching: Dave Helliar

Despite the heat haze I managed a little bit of video too for good measure - just look at those legs!

Black-winged Stilt: R. Harris

Sand Lizards...

Where do you take a visiting Canadian colleague (and their partner), who's into herpetology? Luckily for me the decision turned out to be fairly easy as Sand Lizard Lacerta agilis was high on their hit list and I knew just where to look for them.

Saturday looked promising from a weather perspective, so we headed off towards Dorset to start our search. It wasn't long before we found our first lizard, a large, if slightly faded male.

Sand Lizard Lacerta fragilis, male: R. Harris

This was closely followed by more males thermoregulating in the April sunshine. Those we found got progressively greener as the morning went on.

Sand Lizard Lacerta fragilis, male: R. Harris

Sand Lizard Lacerta fragilis, male: R. Harris

Sand Lizard Lacerta fragilis, male: R. Harris

We also found a Slow Worm Anguis fragilis and our last find of the day, a lovely young male Grass Snake Natrix n. helvetica, who was just starting to slough. That's all six native reptiles plus Wall Lizard seen so far this year.

Grass Snake Natrix natrix helvetica, male.
Just about to slough its skin: R.Harris

Grass Snake Natrix natrix helvetica, male: R.Harris

Grass Snake Natrix natrix helvetica, male: R.Harris

Always fun to see a person's reaction to Grass Snake musk the first time they smell it. I wasn't laughing though when I realised the hand wipes I carry for just such an occasion, were in the other car! Oh well, we'd just have to stop at a pub to wash our hands and quench our thirst.

Early Spider Orchids...

Although Roger and I have seen Early Spider Orchids many times over the years it’s been a long time since we saw them in good numbers. As its name suggests they’re one of the first orchids flowering in the year, so with the promise of good weather we decided to head to the Isle of Purbeck. This area along the south Dorset coast is one of the main strongholds of the orchid in the UK and also the place where we first saw them over 30 years ago. The Early Spider was one of the first rare plants we ever went in search of and certainly the first rare orchid that we ticked off.

Leaving early it was a little over an hour until we were driving through the lovely Dorset countryside. Purbeck is rolling hills running down to some of the most stunning coastline in England. Parking at Worth Matravers we headed off down one of the many footpaths that join up with the South West Coast Path. After about 45 minutes we were on the coast proper and walking along the beautiful chalky cliffs.

Purbeck Coast, home to Early Spider Orchids

Me (Duncan) adding to my botanical photo collection 

The grassland here is botanically rich and later in the year is a riot of colour, in April it’s a bit more subdued but that makes it easier to spot the orchids. Most are only a few inches high, once you have your eye-in they become easier to see, little green stems with dark brown blobs on them. Closer the similarity to a spider becomes evident, beautifully marked flowers with quite a diverse range of markings.

Early Spider Orchid, Purbeck: D. Harris

Early Spider Orchid, Purbeck: D. Harris

Early Spider Orchid, Purbeck: D. Harris

Early Spider Orchids, 3-4 inches of
velvety-brown rareness: R.Harris

Early Spider Orchid, Purbeck: R. Harris

Early Spider Orchid, var. flavescens
Purbeck: R. Harris

We were fortunate enough to see hundreds if not thousands in the two fields we walked and you have to remember that only a short walk inland and you lose them altogether. After a couple of hours we headed back to the car, the walk uphill a lot harder in the by then brilliant sunshine.

In addition to the orchids we had exceptionally close views of a Skylark, a couple of kestrels including this smart male, a single Wheatear, and singing Blackcaps. Noticeable by their absence were the expected Willow Warblers, Whitethroats and hirundines!  A short drive back to Wareham Forest provided good views of Sand Lizard Lacerta agillis as a nice way of finishing the trip.

Kestrel, male: R. Harris

Skylark, Worth Matravers: R. Harris

Skylark, Worth Matravers: R. Harris

Skylark, Worth Matravers: R. Harris

Sand Lizard, Lacerta agillis: R. Harris

Wall Lizards...

It's been a couple of years since I last saw the Ventnor Wall Lizards Podarcis muralis. You really have to see them on a warm sunny day to see them at their best and today reached the dizzy high of 15 degrees with clear blue skies, so it was time to take another look.

I was surprised to see so many males, at least 9 and only a couple of females - it's always been the other way around on previous visits. They showed very well indeed, these green-backed individuals are of the race P. m. nigriventris with their ancestral roots in northern Italy.

Common Wall Lizard Podarcis muralis nigriventris, male

Common Wall Lizard Podarcis muralis nigriventris, male

Common Wall Lizard Podarcis muralis nigriventris, male

Common Wall Lizard Podarcis muralis nigriventris, male

Common Wall Lizard Podarcis muralis nigriventris, male

Also had another large female Adder Vipera berus soaking up the sun this morning.

Adder Vipera berus, female 

Common Adder Vipera berus, female 

Common Adder Vipera berus, female 

With a couple of days of our holiday left, I wonder if there are anymore adders to be seen? I've also been running the bat detector at our holiday cottage and had four species on the wing this week: Common pipistrelle, Soprano pipistrelle, Brown long-eared and Serotine! I just love the Isle-of-Wight.

Adders...

I've been visiting the Isle-of-Wight regularly now for many years during the Easter holiday and this year's no exception. It's like stepping back in time, in more ways than one, and we always have a relaxing time here.

It's also one of the best places I know of these days for seeing Common Adders Vipera berus. In my part of the South West they have all but vanished but here I can almost guarantee sightings in the Spring. This visit yielded the first specimen within an hour of landing on the Island. 

Common Adder Vipera berus,  nr Freshwater, I-O-W
This one is just about to slough. 

And with the Nikon P900 I can get a decent shot without disturbance, nice to walk away and leave this one sunning itself - it's important not to disturb them, particularly when they have recently emerged and are gearing up for the breeding season ahead.

2nd April: Another female today near Blackgang Chine - what a beauty! This was about as big as you normally see in the UK.

Vipera berus, female- Blackgang Chine, I-O-W

Also had a Red Kite nearby at St Catherine's Oratory, which drifted in off the sea.

Red Kite, I-O-W

Sand Crocus, small, rare and blue...

I'd like to welcome my brother Duncan Harris to the Three Counties Blog. Botany has always been close to his heart and he has kindly sent me the following post from his recent visit to Devon to see one of our rarest native plants...


“In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love’, or if you’re middle aged like me and into nature your thoughts turn to small, rare flowers. I hadn’t seen the Sand Crocus for over thirty years despite living fairly close, so when the first really sunny day of spring was forecast I decided to head to Dawlish Warren in Devon.

In the early 80’s I’d been to see it with Roger and our cousin Alan, in those days it was only known from this spot in the UK and then only on the first tee of the golf course. You had to get permission to go out, crawl around on the ground and get photos before the next group teed off, all the while being laughed at by people in the clubhouse. It was subsequently found at another site in Cornwall but it’s still incredibly rare. It’s now very easy to see behind the nature reserve visitor centre.

Sand Crocus Romulea columnae, Dawlish Warren, Devon
Duncan Harris

Sand Crocus Romulea columnae, Dawlish Warren, Devon
Duncan Harris

The Crocus is about a centimetre across and only fully open in bright sunshine , after a few minutes searching I found the first one. A very attractive small crocus, once you’ve got your eye in you can spot the little blue gems at a distance and they’re well worth having a closer look at.  As we head into April they’ll number in the hundreds but only in a very small patch. Definitely a welcome splash of colour at this time of year, a true Spring flower, and a rare one.

You can also follow Duncan on Twitter @duncanharris5

Snake!!...

Great morning out on Tuesday with Nigel Marven, exploring Wareham Forest in Dorset. One of our prime targets on this lowland sandy heath were Sand Lizards but sadly the overcast skies denied us the opportunity to see any of those despite extensive searching.

Dorset's lowland sandy heaths are a rich habitat to explore.

A couple of Woodlarks were heard briefly calling but vanished and could not be relocated. There were plenty of other birds singing though and it was nice to hear Chiffchaffs, Meadow Pipits, Stonechats and see a few Dartford Warblers to remind us it was Spring. We turned our attention back to reptiles once again and discovered our first Slow Worm Anguis fragilis of the year before relocating to another potentially good spot for Sand Lizards. By now the sky had lightened a little and it was mild enough for activity but without a break in the cloud to get them basking, we were unable to find any. A thorough search of the area failed to turn up even a Common Lizard although these emerging Wood ants Formica rufa provided a welcome distraction. They were clumped neatly together warming themselves up - not how you usually see them. The slightest vibration close to the nest brought them erupting out like a volcano though.

Nigel capturing a close-up of the main mass

Southern Wood Ants Formica rufa, Wareham Forest

Another nest, another intriguing pattern of ant bodies

We made one last effort to search for herps in the hope of at least seeing an adder and instead were rewarded by this, a lovely male Smooth Snake Coronella austriaca my first snake of the year and what a great one to start with!

Smooth Snake Coronella austriaca, male
A real beauty and totally unexpected after the
general lack of reptiles.

Smooth Snake Coronella austriaca, male
Portrait showing the buffish throat, rostral and nasal scales, a
very smart individual.

Smooth Snake Coronella austriaca, male

The only way to celebrate such a find was a pub lunch!

Later in the day we checked my garden pond and added Common Toad Bufo bufo to the day's tally along with a few Palmate Newts.  The toad numbers have rapidly depleted over the last few nights falling from just over 300 at the weekend to about 80 now. A great way to finish off a great day.

Typically the weather the following day was just perfect for Sand Lizards...just means we'll have to pay another visit soon.

Common Toads...

Every year now we get an influx of Common Toads Bufo bufo to the garden pond in late February. They arrive to breed in ever increasing numbers and peak in early March, last year my peak count was around 150. Yesterday that record was shattered as a count of 206 stole the title for the highest count ever recorded in the garden (Note: this record was subsequently broken again with just over 300 counted on 11 March, two days after this post!). After dark they are everywhere, you really have to watch where you're treading. There were 27 on the patio just outside the back door and loads more on the lawn around the pond, not to mention those already in the water. I had to take a bucket and rescue another 16 from the road at the front of the house but at least 7 had sadly been run over.

Today they were still in abundance and allowed for some photos at lunchtime.

Common Toad Bufo bufo: R. Harris

Common Toad Bufo bufo: R. Harris

Common Toad Bufo bufo: R. Harris

Common Toad Bufo bufo: R. Harris

Common Toad Bufo bufo: R. Harris

They were making such a noise I managed to get a recording of them too.




In addition to the toads there were also a handful of Frogs, Palmate Newts and a couple of Smooth Newts. Not a bad collection.

Straw-headed Bulbul...a closer look.

Update at end of post.

Following my trip to Malaysia last year, I got a real interest to learn more about the Straw-headed Bulbuls we'd seen. They have become incredibly rare in the last 10-15 years. We were very lucky and saw at least 5 or 6 individuals (including a group of three) in Taman Negara, probably the oldest lowland rain-forest on earth. I have to say they left quite an impression with their beautiful melodic song and their showy plumage (for a Bulbul). All part of their downfall.

Straw-headed Bulbul - one of a handful seen in Malaysia
Very rare and sadly on the decline.

The reason they have become endangered (IUCN Red List sp the species raised from 'Vulnerable' to 'Endangered' in Dec 2016), perhaps not surprisingly, is because of man. We seem to have a habit of screwing things up in the natural world and the Straw-headed Bulbul is just one of a long list of species who are knocking on extinction's door because of our greed and ignorance. Once plentiful, there are now an estimated 600-1700 individuals left in the wild scattered over Peninsula Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. In fact Birdlife International estimates that because the existing populations are so fragmented, it is unlikely any one of them can support more than 250 mature birds and the entire population is decreasing. Collected for the cage bird industry and feeling the effects of habitat loss, one wonders how much longer the species will survive. Will the last Straw-headed Bulbul be a miserable specimen locked up in the cage of a private collection somewhere?

The saddest thing is that on the face of it there doesn't seem to be much that we can do to stop its demise. Everywhere I traveled in Malaysia there were palm oil plantations, some stretching as far as the eye can see. The only areas not effected are mountain slopes where the machinery to clear and plant cannot reach. Perhaps checking palm oil products come from sustainable sources will help but not growing palm oil would be even better, a big economic issue to be overcome. Whether palm oil or cage bird industry, it all comes back to money and greed and it seems we are prepared to wipe another species off the face of the planet to get it. Pulau Ubin and Singapore remain one of the species' best hopes for survival. You can see it, hear its bubbly song and learn more about the conservation efforts being made to save this incredible bird on YouTube.

UPDATE: Seems this post was very well timed and relevant. Shortly after publishing on 17 Feb there has been quite a lot in social media on this subject, including the following:

http://www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/v2/Content/TRAFFIC-Experts-devise-plan-to-save-Asias-songbirds.aspx?s_id=133927238

http://www.birdlife.org/worldwide/news/tiny-corner-asia-where-endangered-songbird-thriving

In addition, there is an interesting paper recently published by Muhammad S Khan on the defaunation taking place in Pakistan at the moment. It could just as easily be talking about the situation in many other parts of the world:
https://www.academia.edu/31718162/2017_Defaunation_Process_in_Pakistan.pdf