Friday 5th August 2016 (b)

Martin Down, Hampshire

The meadows of Martin Down

Rockbourne village was only a few miles drive from the nature reserve of Martin Down, which is on the rolling chalk hills of the Cranborne Chase area. So, during our week there, I visited the site on three occasions and I loved the extensive wild flower meadows that were there. My first visit was on a very hot morning with the boys and I was actually quite overwhelmed by the number and variety of species on offer! I was seeing unfamiliar things every few minutes, but it was too hot to stay out for too long. So, I went back in the evening to the top part of the reserve with my dad, but it was rather blowy by then, and so few insects were flying. A few days later, I had another nice sunny hour or so there, but again it was quite breezy. I know that I only really scraped the surface of what was there and could have found a lot more. I had visited Martin Down years ago when I was a student with the BUBO lads and I remember seeing Adonis Blue and Stone Curlew there, but that was just a distant memory now of course.

The reserve isn't really there for birds but Buzzards were regularly soaring overhead and a Raven was also seen. We had what seemed to be a family party of Corn Buntings on the top, but the highlight for me was the calling Turtle Doves which were no doubt breeding in the little copses that dotted the meadows.

Martin Down

There was a good selection of butterflies seen although I only saw one species which was totally new to me - Essex Skipper. For this I had to look through the more common Small Skippers until I found one with jet black dots on the underside of the tips of the antennae. As well as the more common species that I also see in Guernsey, I saw quite a few Brimstones and some fast-flying Dark Green Fritillaries. My favourite though was a Marbled White, a species I had only seen once before and that was over 20 years ago!

Brimestone, Martin Down

Small Skipper, Martin Down

Marbled White, Martin Down

Marbled White, Martin Down

Moth-wise, I saw surprisingly few day-flying species, with Six-spot Burnet being the most obvious. I did flush the odd micro as I walked but I mostly ignored these. The other species recorded were Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet, Silver Y and, just sat resting on a leaf, my first Small Waved Umber.

Six-spot Burnet, Martin Down

Small Waved Umber, Martin Down

I saw a variety of other insects in the meadows, most being left unidentified of course. However, I did take some snaps of the obvious ones and so ticked off a couple of new ones shown in the pictures below. My nephew found a fabulous Bloody-nose Beetle on the track by the car park which he picked up and it promptly did what it says on the tin!

Meadow Grasshopper, Martin Down

Calocoris roseomaculatus, Martin Down

The biggest variety of new species came from the plants and flowers, quite a few of which I needed internet ID assistance with from photos after returning home. I saw plenty of species that do not occur in Guernsey but I was familiar with from the old days back in the UK. The new species I recorded were: Wild Parsnip, Yellow Rattle, Squinancywort, Wayfaring Tree, Common Rock-rose, Wild Mignonette, Common Valerian, Dropwort, Dwarf Thistle, Traveller's-joy, Small Scabious. I definitely saw other, less obvious species but I'll have to leave those for another time.

Dark Green Fritillary, Martin Down - not exactly what you'd call 'fresh'.

Friday 5th August 2016 (a)

Rockbourne, Hampshire

Manor Farm Holiday Cottages, Rockbourne, Hampshire

Our summer holiday this year was a week in the english countryside. It has been ages since I've been away from Guernsey in the middle of summer, as I usually take my trips in the Christmas or Easter holidays. So, even though it was a family holiday, I was looking forward to seeing plenty of new species of insects and plants - if the weather was fine. We had rented a holiday cottage on a farm in the village of Rockbourne in the far west of Hampshire - well it was more of a barn conversion than a cottage - and my sister's family were in the cottage next door, with my parents in a hotel nearby. It was smashing accommodation and the location was super, an old farm on the edge of the village, with a large courtyard for the kids to play in whilst we relaxed on the patio.

Manor Farm, Rockbourne

There was a little bit of birdlife on the farm. We had Buzzards circling overhead regularly, and every now and again one of them turned out to be a Red Kite. The grassy field behind the farm had large flocks of Mistle Thrush feeding on it and the odd Red-legged Partridge. As it was getting dark on the first night I had an owl fly past which I presume was a Tawny Owl as one could be heard most evenings. Once, at dusk a Little Owl flew in and perched on the barn roof opposite - the first I'd seen for years.

Red Kite, Manor Farm

Little Owl, Manor Farm, 31 Jul 16 - as usual with my owl photos, it was facing away.

Behind the farm was a sweeping valley which led north across the hill to the next village. There wasn't much of a variety of habitat here as the place was a huge Pheasant feeding location. The grass field shown in the pic below was very sterile although I did find the deep purple beetle Chrysoline sturmi strolling down the track there.

Field behind Manor Farm, Rockbourne

Chrysolina sturmi, Rockbourne

Above the field, there were belts of trees - no doubt for shelter for the Pheasants - but at least there were patches of bramble here. One patch had a heck of a lot of insects on it including my first ever Tree Bumblebee, as well as the distinctive hoverfly Cheilosia illustrata and the first Scorpian-flies I can remember seeing. Most of the plants here were not of interest but I found a small shrub which I later learnt was Box-leaved Honeysuckle.

Fields behind Manor Farm, Rockbourne

Fields behind Manor Farm, Rockbourne

Scorpian-fly, Rockbourne

Carder Bee, Rockbourne

More productive were the paths and lanes around the village of Rockbourne itself. On the first morning I went for a wander down a track to the churchyard, which was right next to the farm, and encountered many plants I had never seen before - Field Scabious, Agrimony, Hoary Plantain, Wild Marjoram, Vervain, White Comfrey. All these are clearly quite common round here but do not grow in Guernsey. On a umbellifer flower, by the church, I noticed a small 'longhorn' moth feeding on the nectar and managed to pot it up. I identified it as Nemophora metallica - not an especially widespread species it seems, so quite a good find. It was right next to its foodplant, the aforementioned Field Scabious.

Nemophora metallica, Rockbourne

Nemophora metallica, Rockbourne

Hoary Plantain, Rockbourne

Selfheal, Rockbourne

I also walked the lanes to the west of the village, by the stream, where Blue Water-speedwell was growing profusely, and I also found Wild Basil, White Bryony and Dark Mullein. There were lots of other plants growing around the village but I am just mentioning the new stuff.

A few times after dark I went out with the moth net, but I was reluctant to go far from the cottage as I didn't want to be creeping aroud outside people's houses at night time. Dingy Footman seemed very common here and most of the species I did catch were also common Guernsey species. The best macro moth here was the Black Arches which was attracted to the window after dark.

Of course, we did leave the village at various times during the stay, but I'll mention what we saw elsewhere in the next post.

Black Arches - Rockbourne