Monday 9th May 2022.
A Carrion Crow among the Starlings on the rooftop of a nearby house by the Cemetery yesterday.
It was back to work today and an early start meant I was making my way to our Rose Green branch around 7.15am this morning and hitting the horrible Chichester traffic en route. Not only do I hate early starts, but also getting through that damn Chichester traffic is a bloody nightmare. Sadly, the lovely town of Chichester has virtually become a car park and it can only get worse it seems. Anyway, enough ranting about the roads, I did keep an eye out for anything interesting, but my previous rant brings me to the huge queue I joined trying to get to the roundabout at the end of the A27. While traveling at approximately 5mph, one can see all the road kill on the side of the road and my heart dropped when I saw a male Kestrel in pristine condition, laying dead on the edge of the road. Foxes, Deer, Badgers and countless numbers of birds lay dead along the A27 and it is only going to get worse as mentioned before.
Yesterday, I took Isabelle for an afternoon stroll around Highland Road Cemetery and although she was riding her bike again, I did keep an eye out for anything interesting. There was nothing that spectacular to raise the pulse within the Cemy, with about 11 species being seen or heard during my walk round. I think the insects and plants were more interesting with both Small White and Holly Blue butterflies on the wing and good numbers of the Batman Hoverfly, Myathropa florea which were sunbathing either on some leaves or on the sunlit bough of a tree. Another cracking little Hoverfly, Epistrophe eligans, showed well too in the bright sunshine and one nearly landed on our Isabelle’s hand!
The Batman Hoverfly, most certainly a name that stands out, but the experts would rather say Myathropa florea.
Wild flowers are starting to be more prolific with the likes of Common Vetch, Cinquefoil, Birds-foot Trefoil and Creeping Buttercup all showing well. The lovely blues of Common Speedwell stood out well against the rich greens of the grass and I had a job to keep my eyes off the sky rather than checking the ground for plants and insects. We came across a group of foraging Starlings in search of food for their voracious youngsters. One of the nest boxes opposite my house has a hungry brood within it as does my next door but one neighbour; so I am glad the Starlings are doing well. On the subject of my near neighbours Starlings, I heard the distinctive alarm call of a Starling as a female Sparrowhawk sped low over the houses in search of prey. Unfortunately, no Sparrowhawks were heard or seen within the Cemy.
It is about time the Swifts returned to Southsea, but there were none seen at all during the afternoon here, however, that was about to change today. Though I was working, occasionally I had the chance to check my mobile phone and though superb for some, it was a nightmare for me. As early as 7am, Pomarine Skua’s were being reported all along the south coast and would you believe it, at least three went past Gilkicker Point! Absolutely bugger all yesterday and today, the Solent was to be awash with decent seabirds going through including both Roseate and Black Terns. I think Selsey Bill got the cream of the crop with at least 35+ going through though Cut Bridge (Millford-on-sea) had a staggering 53 reported (plus 12 Arctic Skua, 3 Little Gull and a Roseate Tern! There is some superb video footage of the birds passing Selsey Bill on their website. Jealousy doesn’t even cover it.
Mind you, on my travels today, I experienced a decent Swift invasion and finally, Southsea has its Swifts back with at least 5 seen over my house this evening. My birding pal, John Goodall, who is working near where I live text me this morning to say that he had seen one over Albert Road, Southsea and literally half an hour later, I saw a bird flying over Portsdown Hill along with 2 Red Kites and a hovering Kestrel! Two more Swifts were seen flying over Chichester and once back in Southsea, they seem to be abundant. My day did not end too well, when a bird (I never saw it happen) landed on top of the bird feeder and knocked off the feeder on the newly laid paving slabs and broke the feeder! Bugger!
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