Ring Ouzel on Butser Hill.

Saturday 19th October 2024.

My first Ring Ouzel of the year.

There was a lot of overnight rain and so I left it till 8am to check the Moth Box. I am hoping to go to either Butser Hill or Portsdown Hill this morning with the guys, though today will be cut short. The poor weather finally dissipated and picking the guys up an hour later this morning, it was Butser Hill that we made our one and only destination this morning. Some of the ‘Lazee’s’ were already onto the female Ruddy Duck on Ibsley Water this morning, but my goal was to hopefully see the Ring Ouzels at Butser Hill. Both Emma & Matt Parkes were already at Butser and from the Cafe area, they had seen three Ouzels already.

Moth Boxes:

This Dark Sword-grass moth was a nice surprise.

From my Moth Box there were a total of 30+ moths present that included a few goodies, that included a Dark Sword-grass, Silver Y, 2 Jasmine Moths, Rush Veneer and a Rusty-dot Pearl of which were all probably immigrant moths. A smart Common Marbled Carpet was present also plus a good number of Light Brown Apple Moths.

One of two Jasmine Moths.

The moths present this morning included the following:

MACRO MOTHS:

• Common Marbled Carpet
• Feathered Ranunculus x6
• Double-striped Pug
• Silver Y
• Dark Sword-grass

MICRO MOTHS:

• Light Brown Apple Moth x15
• Jasmine Moth x2
• Rusty-dot Pearl
• Rush Veneer
• Ruddy Streak

Common Marbled Carpet.

Over at Andy’s house this morning, I found my first Red-line Quaker of the year, quietly perched on the inside door frame near the Moth Box. Just 9 moths present here but it did also included a Blair’s Mocha, 2 very smart Common Marbled Carpets and a very late Garden Carpet.

My first Red-line Quaker of the year near Andy's trap.

The moths recorded at Andy’s Moth Box included the following:

• Red-lined Quaker (New for Year)
• Common Marbled Carpet x2
• Garden Carpet
• Blair’s Mocha
• Common Plume
• Light Brown Apple Moth x3

Overhead, a flock of around 20 Redwing headed south-west high over the garden and a couple of Song Thrushes flew over.

Butser Hill, nr Petersfield:

Skylarks greeted us when we arrived at Butser Hill.

After parking the car just before the car park (the parking charges here are ludicrous), we slowly made our way to meet both Emma and Matt by the Cafe. Skylarks were flying all around us in the neighbouring fields and several flocks of Redwing flew high overhead. Andy pointed out our first Red Kite of the day flying to the north of us over the countryside. Emma and Matt had earlier seen at least three Ring Ouzels around by the Car Park area and so we slowly made our way overlooking the area known as ‘Grandfathers Bottom’; a huge ravine to the north where we had seen the Ring Ouzels over the past few years. Waiting patiently for the Ring Ouzels to show, we spent the next couple of hours or so with fellow ‘Lazee’ Graeme Loader and another chap.

Above, a Green Woodpecker was seen in the ravine to the north of Butser. Below, one of many Common Buzzards seen this morning.

A female Kestrel was one of a pair hunting around the Hill and below, one of the Bramblings flying over.

It took a while for one of the Ring Ouzels to show, but it was a very quick affair as I saw a male bird flying low up the ravine and landing out of view in the scrub on the summit of the Hill. It did sport the silvery upperwings and looked all the part for a Ring Ouzel. Happy with that, we did have a good variety of birds during our time at this particular spot. This included several raptors which included a pair of Kestrels, a male Sparrowhawk (that dived bombed a perched Kestrel nearby), several Common Buzzards and at least three Red Kites. Even a pair of Ravens came in and showed well, with one individual ‘tumbling’ to its mate. A Green Woodpecker was also seen flying over the short turf on the hill and then settled on the ground.

Above, a charm of Goldfinches flew over and landed on these plants. A pair remained and showed well. Below, this female Kestrel perched nearby.

Above, the male Ring Ouzel in flight and below, you can just about see the bird within the tangle of all these branches in the centre of the photo.

There were some interesting passerines around too that included our first Bramblings of the season. Two birds, quickly picked up by the call, flew north-west and were joined by a male Yellowhammer until the two species split up and went their own way. Song Thrushes and Redwings occasionally flew over and a nice ‘charm’ of Goldfinches flew north. A few Meadow Pipits flew over, but there was no further sign of any Ring Ouzels here, despite the sun now breaking through the clouds.

Earlier, Graeme had seen the Ring Ouzels further west around the Hill and so we all checked out this particular area, but again, there was no sign of the Ouzels. A Pheasant Shoot was going on in the fields in the distance (dickheads), but the noise of the guns going off did not help in finding the birds and so we decided to make our way back to the car. As I was leading the pack of birders, I, along with a few others, heard the distinctive ‘bubbling’ call of a Ring Ouzel somewhere in the scrub below us and sure enough, out popped a male bird that eventually showed very well to us all before flying off down into the valley below. Finally, a smart male Stonechat was flitting about on the hill in front of us while we watched the Ouzel to round off our morning here. Happy with that, we soon made our way back home. My wife has recently come out of hospital after an operation and so I had to get home early to look after her, which cut my birding short for today. A storm is due tomorrow, which has already had the Great South Run cancelled; so it must be bad! 

Above, Emma Parke's superb photos of the Ring Ouzels this morning.