The Warblers in the Willows

Today, at last, a summer's day - warm, dry, with sunshine and a slight breeze. It would be a good time to have a quick look in the afternoon for butterflies, before the clouds moved in.

Sure enough, there was plenty of activity on the river banks with butterflies and dragonflies patrolling their territories without having to fly low to shelter from the wind or hang up under a leaf to shelter from the rain, or in the case of dragonflies, not bother to emerge at all.

Banded Demoiselle Damselfly male, resting on a favourite perch 

overlooking the river - a nettle leaf

Concentrating on the river bank damselflies and butterflies, looking down in all directions at the patrolling colours, brilliant orange, red, blue, green and more subtle shades of camouflage brown and buff, I became aware of soft calls from the direction of a river bank willow and - there being no wind to blow the leaves, slight movements in the branches must indicate the presence of birds. These proved to be a family party of long-tailed tits, mainly juveniles, busy collecting insects. They never stay to feed in one place for long and soon followed their leader to another, larger willow leaving me watching the first tree. A very smart adult willow warbler appeared and proceeded to feed on aphids on the undersides of the leaves with meticulous precision. It was finding plenty on each leaf, especially near the base stems, finishing with each leaf then moving on to the next, aphids still on its beak. Another movement, another willow warbler foraging, then some short 'hwit' calls indicated the presence of chiffchaffs nearby... and a glimpse of a whitethroat in the thicket, it may still have a nest with young down in the brambles below.
Still watching the same tree when suddenly more birds started to arrive,  flying out of the oak and ash trees, not together but singly, one after the other all landing in the willows on the bank. More and more, the total must have been around fifty, mainly blue and great tits and more long-tailed tits, intent on a share of the insects. They moved off again, leaving the willow warblers and chiffchaffs. Blackbirds and wrens were seen but not heard low down on the river banks.
Looking up, a common buzzard in moult leisurely glided on the thermals, with depleted feathers, it wouldn't fly so easily in bad weather.
Butterflies seen on the riverbank today were:  numerous Gatekeepers patrolling, keeping others away,  Meadow Browns, Red Admirals, Commas - more that usual,  Holly Blue, Common Blue, Small Heath, Speckled Wood in the shade, Large and Small Skippers in the sun, Red Admiral and Large White.
Damselflies on the river and bank nettles were: Banded Demoiselle, males still chasing low over the surface of the water, females on the bank vegetation and over the water,  Emerald Damselflies and some freshly emerged quite colourless damselflies perching on leaves whilst they gain strength and colour, a fast flying Brown Hawker dragonfly and a Migrant Hawker dragonfly perched on the tip  of a nettle in the sun, making sorties over the river, frightening off butterflies and hoverflies,  returning to the same high perch then flying off high into the trees.

A summary of the days since the previous record on 11th July and before the record on 9th August above:

Blackcaps were still singing during the second half of July but with songs reduced to short snatches and swifts were seen most days flying high over the river course catching insects carried up in the thermals with house martins flying at lower levels.
During sunny intervals butterflies, especially Red Admirals were seen flying strongly over the river bank vegetation, together with Meadow Brown, Small Heath, Small Copper, Holly Blue, Comma and Ringlet, 6 spot Burnet moths and Gatekeepers, the latter becoming more numerous. Certainly, when the sun shone, butterflies have been more numerous than last year along the river banks and Damselflies far more numerous. This in a summer where butterflies in general throughout the country have been scarce, due to the bad weather. Large numbers of Damselflies emerged on fine days, Banded Demoiselles especially numerous and a rare surprise on 20th July (see special report on Insects to come soon). The protection of the River bank vegetation here this summer has made a big difference. 

Rain, rain, thunderclouds and more rain

Since June, sunny intervals have been short and the river has been running fast and at high levels. Wildlife of all kinds have been affected, some doing very well and others having numerous setbacks. An account of recent days follows:

10th July 2012 - no change in the weather, dull with intermittent drizzle but chiffchaffs were singing together with 3 blackcaps and an elusive garden warbler.  A moorhen was busy in the river under fallen branches still with leaves - an ideal hideout. Swifts were wheeling fast over the river accompanied by house martins and a Comma butterfly was seen basking on nettles in a brief spell of sunshine. A yaffle indicated the presence of a green woodpecker in the wild grasses.

The Day of the Ringlets
11th July 2012 - yet another cloudy day but with some blue sky followed by threatening clouds and the ground very soggy. The river was quite high and fast-flowing.
Starting with the birds, those making the most noise today were magpies, some giving alarm calls whilst clumsy large juveniles were falling off branches trying to attract the attention of the adults. Several more were finding plenty to eat in the long wet grass (9).  Woodpigeons (20) were sheltering, hunched up, under the tree canopy as if expecting the deluge from the south west soon. Only 6 crows were seen, they favour the open spaces - but will take to cover when moulting starts.
The abundance of insects in the damp weather has been beneficial to the blackcaps, some giving very short songs but most busy 'fly-catching' amongst the Hawthorn and Blackthorn (5). Whitethroats too, after a late start are doing well and still singing (4), as was a single chiffchaff.
 As I walked along, lots of small (micro) moths emerged from the grass and nettles - all excellent food for birds which can spot the moths under the nettles - these are not day-flying moths which are usually more brightly coloured - but the well camouflaged brown moths. Robins, some singing (7) and wrens (10) also singing or busy catching some of the numerous midges close to the water - the wrens still feeding young together with blue tits (about 20) and great tits (about 12), mostly juveniles were seen all along the river. The hedges were full of chattering house sparrows but blackbirds remained hidden, except for adults flying low into the base of the trees and hedge rows, beaks full of food for young.
Looking up to the sky, 2 skylarks could be seen singing strongly, the only birds in the sky, no gulls or swifts today.
Flying silently across the river a great spotted woodpecker visited its nest then flew back to adjacent trees to collect more food for its growing young. A grey heron was seen flying south along the river and a common buzzard came into view, flying directly into the dark thunder cloud to the west, making its way home to shelter in the oaks.

Ringlet butterfly in the damp grass

This threatening and increasingly windy weather meant only a partial survey was possible but large numbers of insects were observed in sheltered places on the riverbank. It was good to see so many Ringlet butterflies, some flying rapidly along the riverbank nettles and amongst the grasses, with some even basking when the sun appeared. Ringlets favour damp places so are quite scarce during dry summers, they are certainly more numerous here this year.

Hoverfly feeding on Hogweed flowers

Bees and hoverflies were covering the large umbels of the flowering Hogweed (not Giant Hogweed, aptly named Heracleum mantegazzianum but just the ordinary plant Heracleum sphondylium) and some 16 spot ladybirds were seen on the nettles.
Several Red Admiral and Comma butterflies were also seen in the shelter of the river thickets during sunny intervals.
What will it be like when the rain stops and the clouds clear? We'll have to wait some time.

No, that's not blue sky, it's a dark thundercloud approaching over

the field of flowering linseed in the distance.

After the Flood - riverside inhabitants recover

Sunday 17th June and it's life as usual on the river but with a sense of urgency, making up for lost time.

 Birds with nests that were destroyed by the floodwater started building anew the day after the floods receded which meant breeding activity had to start from scratch, with males perching on prominent branches, singing loudly - a second April.

The day was windy with sun and cloud alternating. Dog roses all along the river banks were now flowering together with Elder with buds and flowers just appearing on the brambles. The rich hawthorn blossom that dominated the riverbanks only a few days ago had disappeared, leaving small green berries which will sustain our winter migrants when they arrive.

There was abundant insect activity amongst the nettles, brambles and wild flowers on the river banks with the river flowing swiftly. In some areas the sound of the wind tearing through poplar leaves drowned out birdsong but poplars are not so popular with most birds - given a choice, oak, ash, willow, hawthorn, blackthorn, field maple, hornbeam, pine and all the hedgerow plants are preferred.  

Rosa canina - Dog rose - excellent for wildlife.

Heres a summary of wildlife seen on 17th June 2012:
Birds which were most likely to have been affected by the floods were busy singing or building new nests - wrens (17) were singing and rebuilding on the banks dashing across for moss and grasses - higher up this time; they had been used to low river levels during the months of 'drought' and have been caught again by the river in flood. Whitethroats (4), summer visitors, were late this year and had only started nesting recently here, with probably more to come. Blackbirds (17) were singing strongly and others were carrying food for young in hedgerow nests whilst numbers of robins (8) were singing too
with some thin calls from speckled fledged juveniles asking for food. House sparrows (54) were doing very well with large numbers of juveniles still being fed. Lots of chattering in the riverside bramble thickets and some expert 'flycatching' action over the river indicated that all was well with them.
Chaffinches (9) were calling and singing loudly and 2 goldfinches were singing from the top of an oak but only one greenfinch was heard. Appearing well before the whitethroats this year was another summer visitor, the chiffchaff (7). It's always audible as soon as the sun appears and never seems to give up during its season here. Much less easily distinguished, a garden warbler was singing, with only glimpses of it seen, also late to arrive this year. Blackcaps (9) arrived in very good numbers and have settled in well along the river, the males just giving very short snatches of their varied song as most adults were very busy feeding fledged juveniles or still busy carrying food to nests on the banks.
In a conifer where a blackcap family was foraging for insects, two goldcrests were also feeding - characteristically never still for a moment. Nearby a noisy racket broke out - a magpie had just flown into the tree - was it a fight to the death perhaps? A nest being raided?  No, just an adult bringing food to some hungry magpie nestlings. The small birds in the same tree continued foraging, unconcerned.
Keeping very quiet in a quiet bend on the river were 3 mallard, the female well camouflaged in the debris under the bank and close by a dunnock flew across to sing a short quiet song. The weather was  not ideal for the treecreepers (3) but one was seen flying from one tree to another more sheltered from the wind where two juveniles were calling.      
 Song thrushes (2) were quiet, flying low to collect food in the muddy banks and a single nuthatch was heard - a soft contact call to juveniles. Although they have several calls, the green woodpecker is always unmistakable - one flew across between the trees, giving a short yaffle and became visible.
Blue tits (43) and great tits (15) were very unlikely to have been affected by the floods, with numerous fledged youngsters being fed by exhausted-looking adults. With all the recent rain and very damp weather there would have been no shortage of caterpillars for the nestlings in the oaks and now some of the more daring fledged youngsters were seen foraging for themselves low down on the banks amongst the undergrowth and in the willows.
Each tree seemed again to have its own sentinel woodpigeon (28) which would fly out with a commotion of flapping wings when it spotted danger, alerting the smaller birds which would instantly take cover.
They all play their part in the diversity of the river habitat and although large, have predators seeking them out. A pile of woodpigeon feathers under a tree indicated a recent successful attack, probably by a sparrowhawk  - shortly afterwards a sparrowhawk was seen darting across the glade, perhaps the culprit.
The song of skylarks (3) alerted me to happenings in the sky where several swifts were flying extremely fast and low in the wind, catching insects and starlings (45) flew towards the riverside trees in groups. 4 crows followed and there was a fine view of a common buzzard, gliding over its territory, using the thermals created by the ground warming up in the sun.

Female Orange-tip butterfly of riverbank flowers

In a stretch of the river sheltered from the wind some Beautiful Demoiselle damselflies,

Banded Demoiselle damselflies and Large Red damselflies were flying low, settling on the nettles that had been well submerged only a few days ago. There were some micro moths low down amongst the grasses , 7 spot ladybirds amongst the nettles and bumblebees (white tailed) and hoverflies were busy on the newly flowering Elder.  It seemed too windy for butterflies but soon several Speckled Wood and a Red Admiral appeared together with a number of female Orange-tip butterflies flying strongly over the riverbank.

Dragonflies and Drama on the Riverside

15th June 2012
A fine male bullfinch flew across the recently reopened section of the Riverside and a silent green woodpecker was also seen flying across. Numbers of chaffinch, chiffchaff, robin, blackbird and 2 song thrush were singing and visible and three mallard, 2 male and one female appeared on the river in the dappled  shade where some Speckled Wood butterflies were chasing.
A fine rainbow appeared in the North East - it may have signalled the end of the floods - but more trials  were soon to beset the Riverside...

After the floods

13th June 2012 - 2 days after the floods and the river is flowing along its normal channel again, and the sun is out. To a female mallard 'it's all water off a ducks back' - well not quite. Although mallard pairs here almost certainly successfully reared several broods of about 13 ducklings each and sent them off down the Arun to fend for themselves, who knows what happened to them? This mallard has sought out a sunny spot and started to preen, exhausted after the floods - but the river is still very fast flowing and it seems that preening and paddling cannot be done at the same time, so it's preen, paddle against the river, preen again, then paddle again in order to stay in the same sunny and relatively calm waters.  

The vegetation on the river banks is now torn and muddy, stems lying flat and debris caught up everywhere.
Spent quite a long time removing debris caught up in the young trees we planted last year. Fortunately they were saved from being washed away by the dense grasses and nettles and brambles that surrounded them. The term for these are 'nursery plants' meaning plants that are allowed to grow amongst newly planted trees in order to protect them from being eaten, to prevent the the earth around the roots form drying out and cracking, to attract insects and - as in this case to prevent them being washed away by the force of the water. It certainly worked!

Contractor's work continued on the old oaks either side of the bridge, with ivy and dead branches removed from the oak on the left. I again observed before and during the work.
In addition to the female mallard, wrens and robins were seen singing and three blackcap families, adult males and females very busy feeding 'browncap' young were seen, one family close to the fallen oak, successfully finding insects in the enormous upturned root system - which has quickly become a favourite foraging location for many birds.
Further along, a whitethroat was singing - and a garden warbler singing, many house sparrows, a song thrush, blackbirds, starlings, several chaffinch, a jay, a magpie, woodpigeons and a male mallard floating downstream, calling softly. A moorhen on the river was also heard calling and finally three treecreepers were seen in different trees, their nests and young safely well above the flood level. It was a fine day with no wind or rain giving a chance for wildlife to recover from the deluge.

12th June 2012 - The floodwaters had subsided. Last-minute notice was given at a meeting yesterday with the developer and HDC planners that work on 2 old oak trees either side of the new bridge was to be carried out from today - The meeting was informed that the timing of this work was inappropriate -it being in the middle of the bird nesting season - so spent just about the whole day observing the work - which was to remove ivy and a few dead branches. An hour spent observing the tree before work commenced revealed wrens building a nest under overhanging shrub adjacent to the oak. The contractors were informed  and avoided any disturbance and removal of vegetation here. Blackbird, blackcap, more wrens, robin, chaffinch and dunnock were all seen collecting food for young in the adjacent riverbank area, with some robin, chaffinch, chiffchaff and wrens singing.

During the floods

The river on 11th June 2012 flowing along its natural river bed

11th June 2012 - My simple rain gauge recorded 35mms rain overnight but it's possible it overflowed.
The river was in flood, filling and swirling down its natural river bed, many metres wider than its usual channel, carrying debris and large tree logs with it. By 10.30am it was just about to come over the road and still rising. The flow was attenuated by the abundant riverside vegetation in parts where it spread out - but where the grass was short it washed across with great speed and force.
(more photos will appear on the River News page.)

4th June 2012 - 7mm of rain overnight left the ground very wet, an overcast day with a cold North wind. Growth of vegetation along the river seems to have suddenly doubled, with newly planted trees across the river doing well.
A quick look along the river revealed many birds: loud chaffinches singing from the trees, much wren activity and song, some collecting food for young. Chattering house sparrows were busy amongst their Bramble colonies and a few robins were singing. Blackbirds were also collecting food, others were singing and a silent song thrush was seen carrying food found on the damp river bank. Starlings were off on a survey of the fields and there was a great view of a common buzzard chasing a kestrel low down over the trees.
A 'nursery tree' held many newly fledged blue and great tits together with several juvenile goldfinches. The small tree, between oaks,  made it easy for adults to forage in the oaks then fly to the young lined up on the horizontal branches. A great spotted woodpecker called from its nest tree and two treecreepers, probably juveniles, flew across, A pair of collared doves kept together amongst ivy - they are less numerous now than in recent years whilst woodpigeons are always present and faring well.
Blackcaps are certainly thriving this year, busy building nests or singing. Just a single willow warbler was singing in a willow whilst a nuthatch called but quietly. It was good to see several swifts and house martins flying lo over the river, close by and three skylarks singing over their territory.

31st May 2012 - Banded Demoiselles and Blackcaps today.  Although overcast, there were numerous Banded Demoiselle damselflies about, low on the nettles on the banks of Boldings brook flowing well but shallow, indicating that we need more rain soon. Blackcaps were singing, foraging in the trees and thickets, with plenty of chaffinches and wrens, their songs louder than the Blackcaps song. Chiffchaffs were singing too and there was a fine view of a treecreeper in an oak.

A quiet  damselfly 'pond' in the river.

One of the many locations on the river favoured by damselflies which use the waterlily leaves to perch on. Blossom from an overhanging Hawthorn tree has fallen here, soon to be washed away. Damselflies once dried off and strong, will be flying high amongst the Hawthorn, Hazel and Oak trees or resting in the sun on nettle and bramble leaves on the banks.

Could it just be Summer?

 27th May 2012 - A fine sunny day becoming very warm. Towards midday the butterflies were out, together with the damselflies. Chiffchaffs , blackcaps and chaffinches were singing with a green woodpecker seen and lots of house sparrows and blackbirds busy foraging. 

Red Admiral, Holly Blue, Common Blue and madly spiraling Speckled Wood butterflies were seen along the river with many Beautiful Demoiselle damselfly males chasing each other, sometimes almost colliding with Orange tip butterfly males patrolling the river. More Speckled woods were also caught up with the damselfly antics. Some pairs of Beautiful Demoiselles were mating on riverbank leaves; Hazel, nettle, bramble - all form fine perches for damselflies and butterflies. More Large Red damselflies were flying today together with a few Banded Demoiselle damselflies. A Downy Emerald dragonfly was seen patrolling, looking far more aggressive and dangerous.

The Day of the Water Snake Natrix natrix

Much warmer today with continuing fine weather, so returned for another study of the damselfly emergence along the river - but as soon as I looked into the water, there, swimming leisurely along downstream in Boldings Brook, was a very fine large Grass Snake. If it had not been swimming it would have been very well camouflaged amongst fallen twigs and pieces of branch on the river bed. Its beautiful markings also gave it away - raising its head it showed a smart light yellow collar and the dark bands along the whole length of its body were clearly visible under water in the sun. It was well over one meter long, probably a female. Click on the photo below and scroll to the bottom of the page for a larger view. You can count the dark bands along its length.

Grass Snake (Natrix natrix) 

It then swam out of the deeper river into a pile of twigs in the shallows and seemed to look at me with a bright beady eye, the round iris clearly visible. It turned and swam across to the other bank and started to wind its way up the bank taking a zigzag route and pausing now and then to soak up the sun, its tongue flicking continuously. It then quickly moved downstream, through the bank vegetation about a meter above the water and disappeared under overhanging nettles and dry grasses, still muddy from the high water.

 Grass Snake takes the Zigzag route up the steep river bank. 

If its a female it may well be searching for a nice dark warm spot in which to lay its eggs.

 Above - probably a freshly emerged Large Red Damselfly,

its vivid colours not yet evident, perching on a blade of grass whilst it transforms.

There were many Beautiful Demoiselle damselflies and Large Red damselflies again on the river but surveying along the Arun upstream there were fewer than on Boldings Brook, the nature of the river being different in character. 

The Day of the Damselflies

Today, warm sunshine at last, with a slight breeze, perfect for the emergence of Damselflies on the river which is now running lower and less swiftly than of late.

Damselfly emergence is an important occasion on the river, it can tell us more about water quality and the all encompassing health of the river than observance and sample testing.

It is so good to see them emerge as they are very sensitive to pollution and would not be found here if the river water quality and ecology was poor.

A fine male Beautiful Demoiselle damselfly (Calopteryx virgo)

on river bank nettles, its metallic blue-green body shining in the sun. 

The dark brown wings have iridescent blue-green wing-veins.

(click on the photos and scroll down to the bottom of the page for a larger view)

 Another Beautiful Demoiselle damselfly about to fly - there were so many males flying over the river (Boldings Brook) and perching on nettles - will they all find mates?

Above is a female Beautiful Demoiselle damselfly - it has lighter brown wings and a metallic green body, not as easy to see as the male - it's perching on a bramble leaf, all the others choose nettles.

Another very hansom damselfly is the Banded Demoiselle - (Calopteryx splendens). Above is a male

showing its truly blue wing-veins and 'kingfisher blue' body but the characteristic dark 'thumb print' on the wing is not visible here - will have to find one perched side on.

Here again, its presence is a sign of well-managed unpolluted riverine ecology.

Here is a Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) which prefers ponds and slow moving water - it could be the first to colonise the new ponds very close to the river banks where these were seen although today the Beautiful Demoiselle species were by far the most numerous.

May on the Riverside after the rain

Sunday 13th May brought some bright sunshine with small clouds increasing in size as the morning advanced, becoming breezy, the rivers flowing fast and still high through banks full of Cow parsley and  wild garlic in flower and buttercups on the grass.

Hawthorn flowering in profusion on the river bank, a great attraction for insects and birds seeking insects to feed to their young.

Hawthorn flowers - May

and Willow catkins now blowing away like snow in the breeze

On this Sunday, 13th, there was plenty of spring activity with many fledgling starlings noisily taking their first flights together to and from the oaks, hawthorn thickets and hedgerows (69) and large numbers of blackbirds, mainly adults collecting food for their young from the damp grass (26). Blue tits were also intent on foraging, some adults accompanied by fledglings still being fed in the safety of oaks and willows (32). A crow made a clumsy landing near them but they were not frightened off by its noisy flapping. Large numbers of wrens (20) were singing all along the river bank, perhaps making a second start on nesting after losing nests when the rivers were in flood. Many had built nests quite low on the river banks after many months of low water levels during the 'drought', only to have them washed away in the unseasonable heavy rains.

House sparrows had obviously been successful with early broods as there were numerous juveniles and singing adult males in hedgerows and brambles (79) with adult chaffinches (10) singing loudly, somewhat later in raising young. Just a single male greenfinch could be heard. Goldfinches (10) were seen in ones and twos, some singing. Great tits (15) were foraging in the Hawthorn blossom, some with large juveniles still asking to be fed. Just one dunnock was seen low on the river bank, well hidden whilst a treecreeper, also well camouflaged was busy foraging for insects on a willow trunk in the sun. Three more treecreepers were seen in other river trees, two of them juveniles.

Robins were probably quietly busy raising young but 6 were seen, with 3 singing. Carrion crows (9) and rooks ((3) could also be seen carrying food for their young across the fields whilst swifts (2) flew overhead after insects and 2 skylarks could be seen, both singing over their territory.  A group of herring gulls (9) sailed high above the trees and woodpigeons (25) were flying over, searching for some dry grass on which to forage whilst two green woodpeckers called loudly from different grass areas. A third was yaffling loudly from its nest site in an old tree, no doubt fending off a prospecting magpie; several large magpie juveniles were hopping around in the trees with adults nearby. Glimpsed through a gap in a hedge - an unusual sight of a red fox foraging in the middle of a field for earthworms in the short grass, surrounded quite closely by 7 magpies hoping for a share of its find. Two pied wagtails bounced around on some bare earth, catching insects.

Warblers were now more numerous, with 7 chiffchaffs, all singing, in trees along the river, a willow warbler singing and 4 smart male blackcaps all singing in different thickets. A whitethroat could be heard but was invisible in brambles on the river bank. 

Further along a pheasant could be heard calling in the background whilst a song thrush sang loudly under the tree canopy.  

The spring scene would not be complete without butterflies - 11 Orange-tip butterflies over the river bank nettles, Holly Blue high amongst the hawthorn branches, Speckled Wood amongst the oak leaves,  Bumblebees and Ladybirds, many Mayflies over the river and best of all, Beautiful Demoiselle damselflies over the river undergrowth and some higher in overhanging branches.