Saturday 10th October 2026.
The amazing view overlooking Grandfathers Bottom.
It was time to visit Butser Hill today for a spot of ‘Rouzeling’
(looking for Ring Ouzel) as they had been seen earlier this week at this site. The
weather was looking reasonable throughout the day and judging on how cold it
was this morning when I gave the dogs their early morning walk, I came very
much prepared for a cold trip to the north of the county.
There were some excellent birds around the UK for the ‘twitchers’
and ‘listers’ to get their teeth into, but it was the Ring Ouzels I was desperate
for today, especially due to the fact we tried FOUR times to see one last year
and failed.
Firstly, there were two Moth Boxes to go through and where mine
had the numbers, Geoff’s Moth Box had the quality.
My Moth Box:
Lunar Underwing and a Feathered Ranunculus.
Though there were no new species for the year this morning
and despite being a clear sky overhead, 40 moths of 11 species weren’t too bad
for this time of year. Up to 9 Feathered Ranunculus was the highest total of this
species for this year, but there was only the one Lunar Underwing.
Blair's Mocha.
Other notable moths included 3 Turnip Moths, a Blair’s Mocha
and a Clancy’s Rustic. My first Beautiful Plume for October was sitting on top
of the rain guard. The following Moths were present this morning:
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MACRO MOTHS
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MICRO MOTHS
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Feathered
Ranunculus x9
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Light Brown
Apple Moth x11
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Lunar
Underwing x1
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Rusty-dot
Pearl x6
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Turnip Moth x3
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Beautiful
Plume x1
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Large Yellow Underwing
x5
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Lesser Yellow
Underwing x1
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Double-striped
Pug x1
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Blair’s Mocha
x1
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Clancy’s
Rustic x1
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While checking the Moth Box, a Chiffchaff was flitting about
calling in the large tree in my neighbour’s garden and seen flying south into
the Sycamore tree two gardens down. Both Pied Wagtail and several Meadow Pipits
flew over.
Cowplain Marsh and Geoff’s Moth Box:
An excellent selection of Moths at Cowplain Marsh which included a Chestnut, Merveille du jour, Red-lined Quaker, Green-brindled Crescent, Lunar Underwing and a Vestal.
An incredible morning at Cowplain Marsh today (Andy Fisher’s
back garden) with not only a superb array of Moth, but a good selection of
birds in and over his garden too. So, over a couple of cups of coffee, Geoff
and I got down to business and started checking the Moths.
A close up of the Merveille du jour.
While going through the egg trays outside the Moth Box, we
discovered up to THREE species of Moth that were new for the year for me and
two of those were ‘Lifers’ for Geoff! The icing on a gorgeous, tasty cake was
the Merveille du jour, which was sat on one of the outside egg trays. This was
a ‘first’ for Geoff and only my 4th one ever as we stood there in
disbelief. Apparently, while checking my Blog from four years ago, there was
one in Andy’s garden too; also, in October!
One of two Green-brindled Crescent.
More ‘year-ticks’ were discovered when we came across TWO pristine
Green-brindled Crescent moths; another ‘Lifer’ for Geoff and it didn’t end
there. It was when I was checking the Moth photos on my mobile that I was curious
on how dark one of the Lunar Underwings looked and on closer inspection, it
dawned on me that I was looking at my first Chestnut moth of the year! This is
a species I don’t think I have ever had my garden, and I have seen so few over
the years too.
This Chestnut was unexpected.
A supporting cast of Vestal, Turnip Moth, Cypress Carpet and
Red-lined Quaker was also very impressive and although Geoffs Moth Box didn’t get
the numbers so much, the quality was superb. A total of 10 moths of 9 species were
recorded:
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ACRO MOTHS
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MICRO MOTHS
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Green-brindled
Crescent * x2
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Common Plume
x1
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Lunar
Underwing x1
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Vestal x1
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Chestnut * x1
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Merveille du
Jour x* x1
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Turnip Moth
x1
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Cypress
Carpet x1
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Red-lined Quaker
x1
|
|
As per usual here, there is a wealth of birdlife going on at
Cowplain Marsh as the feeders attracted around a dozen or so Goldfinches; Blue,
Great, Coal and Long-tailed Tits and even a few House Sparrows and Chiffchaffs dropped
in!
Overhead, a calling Siskin flew over heading northbound over
the houses as did a Greenfinch and several Jackdaws. The Great Spotted Woodpecker
flew over twice over the garden into nearby trees and best of all, a Grey Heron
flew low over the gardens to the south and headed off westbound.
Sadly, Geoff Farwell never came with us today at Butser Hill
as he was asked to attend the Farlington Marshes / Langstone Harbour monthly WeBS
count (Wetland Bird Survey) and so it just Andy and myself to try our luck
again at Butser Hill. Andy told me that he has already had 45 bird species this month for Cowplain Marsh!
Butser Hill, Meon Valley:
Above, a Common Buzzard trying to avoid a mobbing Carrion Crow over the Hill.
Sadly, though spending around 5 hours at this site, Andy and
I could not find one Ring Ouzel to add to our year list. Though a tad windy and
rather cold at first, we persevered as we made our way overlooking the
traditional area around ‘Grandfathers Bottom’! Up to three Stonechats were seen
along the way there and several Skylarks took flight as we made our way to the
viewing point.
Above, a cracking view looking west from the Car Park.
Above and below, these were 2 of 3 Stonechats on the Hill.
Above, one of the Red Kites over the valley.
A pair of Red Kites could be seen over on the other side of
the Hill drifting slowly high overhead and were joined by a Common Buzzard and
at least three Ravens soaring over the vast gulley in front of us. We could see
fellow ‘Lazee Birder’ Graeme Loader in the distance walking in our direction
along the footpath and once he had caught up with us, to our dismay, he told us
that he had not seen any Ring Ouzels this morning.
Above, a male Kestrel hovering on the Hill and below, one of many Clouded Yellow butterflies at the site.
However, from our vantage point, as well as the raptors and Ravens,
we had several Song Thrushes flying over and at least one Blackbird seen down In
the valley below. Up to two Chiffchaffs flew past and a Green Woodpecker flew across
the valley below to then disappear behind some small bushes. Another raptor species,
a male Kestrel was joined by a female bird as they soared over the valley so
impressively with the wind underneath them.
Above, three Ravens going over the valley and below, Andy, Matt and Emma negotiating the steep descend down the Hill.
We decided to walk back to an area where we had seen Ring Ouzels
in the past, but to no avail and so made our way to the small Café for a hot
drink. While enjoying our drinks, both Emma and Matt Parkes arrived and gave us
the news that they had been here a lot earlier and had seen not only a small
flock of Redwing, but they were convinced they saw a flying Ring Ouzel over the
other side of the Hill! So after a good long chat, Graeme headed off home while
the rest of us tried out luck again in search for the elusive Ouzel.
At the bottom of the Hill, we had this amazing view where we saw Bullfinches and Yellowhammers. Below, another cracking view looking south towards Grandfathers Bottom.
On our way to the location where the saw the Ring Ouzel, at
least four Vapourer Moths were spiralling over the bushes, and we also came across
at least 6 Clouded Yellow butterflies over the short turf. The footpath took us
down one of the steepest footpaths down the Hill where we rested for a while
and took in the amazing view. This was an area I have never been too before as
we found the likes of Bullfinch and a few Yellowhammers lurking about in the
small bushes. A small flock of Starlings were roaming the area and seen several
times on our walk. Then we came across this footpath leading back up a hill. I
am starting to remember on how old I am and at nearly 63 years of age, climbing
very steep footpaths at my age was proving very difficult. OK, we took several rest
bites to get our heartbeats to calm down and to get our breath back and praying
the Air Ambulance could land at the top of the hill should the worst happen. Poor
Andy sounded like ‘Ivor the Engine’ behind me! He was taking in big gulps of
air as we not only reached the top of the footpath, then discovered we had to
walk further up the hill to get to the main footpath where they had seen the
Ouzel. And of course, there was no sign of the bird! Rhymes with ‘Clucking Bell’!
For our strenuous efforts, we did see a male Stonechat and a couple of distant ‘Black’
Pheasants in a field, which luckily for these birds, there was a 'shoot' going on to the north of the Hill! While enjoying the Red Kites while walking up that horribly steep path, a female Sparrowhawk was also seen briefly overhead until disappearing over the ride of the Hill.
Above and below, and now for that horrible climb up that footpath. Gulp!
Despite the dreaded climb up that hill, this Red Kite entertained us.
We finished off our trip here with another visit to the Café
as I grabbed a hot Sausage Roll for my lunch and finished off the coffee from
my flask. I did plan to go to Portsdown Hill should we not see any Ring Ouzels
at Butser, but Andy suggested ‘Vis migging’ at Cowplain Marsh instead with food
and drink to hand. Oh yes! So, Andy kindly paid the extortionate parking fee as
we said our goodbyes to both Matt and Emma and made our way back to Cowplain Marsh.
Cowplain Marsh again:
All this morning’s birds were enjoying the feeders in Andy’s
garden this afternoon and while enjoying another nice coffee and a few biscuits,
a pair of Grey Wagtails flew over as did a Linnet and Andy then saw a Common
Buzzard soaring high over the garden before I left to make my way home to my
loving wife. OK, no Ring Ouzel yet again, but apart from that horrible hike up
that steep footpath at Butser Hill, it was a good days birding with some excellent
company again.
Geoff sent me text late in the evening to say he saw the following
birds at Farlington Marshes today that included the following: Marsh Harrier,
Peregrine, Curlew Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, 22 Greenshank, Water Rail, 2
Kingfishers, 2 Chiffchaffs and a Stonechat.
