Late May butterflies and day-flying moths - 27 May

We are now in the transition from spring into summer.
Orange Tips are still hanging on...

... while Speckled Wood never really stop, being continuous-brooded ...

Green Hairstreak near Alresford:

At the same site - Five Spot Burnet Moth, ssp plustrella - presumably this species/race, on the basis of the early date. A few newly emerged.

Also Burnet Companion moth, and Common Blue butterfly:

Long-horn moths along a woodland ride near Dummer. Most likely Nemophora degeerella - female with the shorter antenna mostly sitting quietly with the males more active. 

Long-horn beetles now starting to appear

Alton Natural History Society Woodcock Walk - Chawton Park Wood

On the evening of 8 May, Alton Natural History Society did a walk in Chawton Park Wood in the couple of hours up to and past dusk. It was fairly cold so there were few warblers singing. However a Firecrest could be heard in the tall conifers at the top. There were plenty of Song Thrushes and Blackbirds in song, with the "last to sing" being Robins with at least 10 singing along the main climb. A total of 6 Tawny Owls were heard - 4 hooting and two ke-wicking.

The main purpose of the walk was to see roding Woodcock. The first seen were at 20:57 with two flying low together. We then had a total of approx 10 sightings flying over low, patrolling. Impossible to tell how many different birds were involved.

Itchen Abbas, 5 May 2019

I visited a small reedbed along the Itchen to the east of Itchen Abbas. From one spot I could hear eight different warbler species singing:
Blackcap
Whitethroat
Chiffchaff
Reed Warbler
Sedge Warbler
Cetti's Warbler
Garden Warbler,
Willow Warbler

A small pulse of Swallow and House Martins included a couple of Swifts, and a Cuckoo was also singing.

There were many Water Avens along the footpath:

Another warbler was added a mile or so to the north where Lesser Whitethroat was singing from a dense hedge high on the chalk.

At Alresford pond, a Hobby was hawking insects. A cuckoo was perched on the edge of the reed-bed, occasionally dropping down. It was not clear whether this was a female looking to lay in a Reed Warbler nest, or a feeding bird.

This Red-legged Partridge was perched on the top of a hedge:

Binswood, 30 April 2019

Binswood is between East Worldham and Oakhanger. It is managed by the Woodland Trust. I have always found the most interesting part for birds to be the perimeter, where there is some excellent scrub habitat. Sadly there seems to be a policy at other nature reserves to try to obliterate scrub. It is of enormous value for birds in major decline. At Binswood the star bird was Garden Warbler, with seventeen singing around the perimeter and another close by - and this at lunch time.

Garden Warbler:

Three cuckoos were seen - with a presumed pair chasing each other about, and a third bird singing.

My first dragonfly of the year was this Large Red Damselfly at King John's Hill:

A hoverfly on spurge:

Roe Deer in the wood:

Alice Holt Forest, 28 April 2019

We took a looping walk from Bentley, across the Wey valley and then via the Butterfly Conservation meadow.
Nine lapwing were in a bare field near Bentley Station - a really good count these days.
Orange Tip on Lady's Smock:

Plenty of orchids now in leaf in the meadow.

This parasitic wasp Gasteruption jaculator was investigating dead wood. An impressively large insect.

At the other extreme, this Dark Bush Cricket (?) nymph was tiny. It was found along the footpath from Bentley to the Wey.

Sycamore in flower with the first keys coming through - first sign on Autumn ?

Hairy Shieldbug, Dolycoris baccarum: