13th March to 20th March 2019

Wednesday 13th March:
Today, Mike Lomax and I undertook a large circuit around the Common to plan a possible future walk for Butterfly Conservation. We took in a mix of habitats and covered many of the site's different areas (Upper Terrace, Terrace Embankment, Lower Terrace, Lower Heath and Lower Poolands area).

It wasn't really butterfly weather but this was a recce to plan the route. That said we still saw a good mix of wildlife.  Highlights included 2 Ravens, 1 Meadow Pipit (flyover), a Scarce Footman moth caterpillar, Pine Ladybirds, a 7-spot Ladybird, Yellow Dung Fly, a queen Buff-tailed Bumblebee going into its nest hole and an area of Turf Mottlegill Fungi.

Scarce Footman (Eilema complana) larva

Sunday 17th March:
I only had time for the briefest of visits today so I decided to spend some time down at Hillditch Pool.  It was quite a dull, cool day with little of note on the invert front.  Bird wise I didn't fair much better, that was until I had all but returned to my car and, in the wooded area next to the 'dog dip' pond I picked up on a Chiffchaff that was busily flitting about and fly-catching non stop as it feed back up following it's long journey from Africa.

Tuesday 19th March:
This afternoon i undertook a walk around the Lower Poolands ad Upper Terrace areas of the common.  Once again the cooler weather kept the inverts at bay but it was a productive visit on the bird front as there were now 2 singing Chiffchaffs present. Linnets had also started to return back to the reserve for the breeding season with 2 Linnets seen (one of which was singing).  In the winter months the Common's Linnets move away to arable areas where they join other Linnets in sometimes quite large flocks (in the hundreds) searching the fields for food.

Linnet (Linaria cannabina)

Wednesday 20th March:
Finally the weather had started to improve and as this afternoon was sunny and mild my hunt for inverts was on.  I decided to walk part of the Lower Terrace and the Terrace Embankment and this really paid of as I saw my first few Early Colletes (Colletes cunicularius) bees active near their nest aggregation site.  This species is a rare species in Worcestershire and a scarce resident species on the Common. They are usually found at coastal sand dune locations in the UK but have started to colonize a few inland sites (the inland dunes and sandy soils of Hartlebury Common are perfect for them).  At their peak last year I obtained a maximum count of c.40 at the nest area so not exactly numerous there.

Early Colletes (Colletes cunicularius) 

Also of interest during the walk were a small number of female Clark's Mining Bees .  On the butterfly front a Peacock and 3 Small Tortoiseshells were present on the sunny slopes of the embankment.

Clark's Mining Bee (Andrena clarkella)

Peacock (Aglais io)

One of the day's biggest highlights though was hearing a Yellowhammer back singing on the Common.   As with the Linnets that breed at the site the common's breeding Yellowhammers also move away to arable areas in the winter months.  It is always a joy to hear one again in the following Spring as they regale us with their "a little bit of bread and no cheeeeese" song.   Two Chiffchaffs were heard in song on the Lower Terrace.

27th February to 10th March 2019

Wednesday 27th February:

The warm spell continued and today's visit to the Lower Heath area of the Common was a productive one on the invert front.  A single Comma was noted there and I also observed my first Orange Underwing moth of the year flitting about around the top of a stand of Silver Birch.

Comma (Polygonia c-album)

As well as the aforementioned Lepidoptera I also recorded 3 species of ladybird:  Pine Ladybird, 7-spot Ladybird and 24-spot ladybird.  The latter being my first sighting of this species for the year.

24-spot Ladybird (Subcoccinella 24-punctata)

Friday 1st March:

The unseasonably warm spell had come to an end and cold strong winds were now very much in effect as with it many of the inverts seen over the previous week had gone back into cover.  So, I decided to spend some time visiting the water bodies starting with The Bog and Rush Pool.  

Sadly The Bog remained dried out and there was very little of note there.  Rush Pool on the other hand was far more encouraging.   It was great to see that, since Worcestershire County Council and Hartlebury Common Local Group volunteers had cleared the trees/shrubs growing within Rush Pool, not only has the water level increased considerably but also Frogs had returned and spawned there successfully.  Also of note near to Rush Pool was some nice clusters of Scarlet Elf Cap fungi.  A ♂ and ♀ Mallard were also present on the pool.

Common Frog (Rana temporaria) spawn at Rush Pool

Scarlet Elf Cap (Sarcoscypha coccinea)

From Rush Pool I headed over to Hillditch Pool.  On arrival a Great Spotted Woodpecker was drumming from the coppice.  A Grey Wagtail flew over the pool and headed towards Titton Brook and 2 Ravens flew over 'kronking' heading West.  Also of interest was an empty Duck Mussel shell that I found at the edge of the rear pool there.

Duck Mussel (Anodonta anatina) shell

Saturday 9th March:

It was very quite visit to the lower terrace of the Common today and the strong cold winds meant that most things, birds included were sat up taking shelter.  I did, during an all too brief sunny spell, see a rather nice male House Sparrow perch out and start singing from the Gorse next to the Bog Car Park.

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) ♂

Sunday 10th March:

The weather was slightly better today with blues skies and occasional sunny spells but the strong cold wind remained.  Starting with a walk on the Lower Terrace I was pleased to see that the seasonal pond had a reasonable amount of water within it.

The Seasonal Pond - Lower Terrace

From the Lower Terrace I headed over to Hillditch Pool.  There were two Mistle Thrushes present in the paddock adjacent to the pool and a Sparrowhawk flew through the coppice.  On the pool itself the leaves of  Yellow Water-lily were just beginning to break the surface.

Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus)

 

Monday 18th to Monday 25th February 2019

Monday 18th February:
I only had time for a brief visit to the Common today so I decided to check out Rush Pool and The Bog.  There was no sign of any Frogs or spawn on Rush Pool although the water levels are returning nicely since the work parties to cut back the trees and shrubs there.  Sadly, the same cannot be said for The Bog which had all but dried out again.  Whilst walking the length of The Bog I was treated to the sight and sound of a ♂ Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming.

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)

Wednesday 20th February:
This afternoon I decided to have a mooch about around the Oak wood and heath on the SE side of the Common.  The weather was quite mild and Spring like so I thought there may be the chance of an invert or two.  I wasn't disappointed as I saw two queen bumblebees:  a Tree Bumblebee and a Buff-tailed Bumblebee.  There were also a few active Honey Bees visiting the Gorse flowers.

Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum)

It was quite a productive visit on the bird front as I added two more species to my site year list.  A Cormorant flew over heading SW and a single Lesser Redpoll was feeding in the Silver Birch trees.

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)

Lesser Redpoll (Acanthis cabaret)

Friday 22nd February:
As the week progressed the weather became warmer (unseasonably so in fact) with temperatures in the mid-teens as opposed to around the usual 7 or 8°C.  This meant that more inverts were likely to emerge (and yes I do like my invertebrates!).  I undertook a walk on the SE area of the Common again and started checking the gorse bushes for any ladybirds that may have been tempted out of hibernation.  I was in luck and found a pair of Pine Ladybirds that not only had emerged but decided to start mating too. 

A single Raven that flew over 'kronking' heading SE was another site year tick.

Pine Ladybird (Exochomus quadripustulatus)

Saturday 23rd February:
The warm sunny weather continued and more Pine Ladybirds have emerged.  On one area of Gorse on the Upper Terrace of the Common I counted 14 of these diminutive ladybirds.

Else where on the Common there were good numbers of Redwing present in the SE Oak wood, with a number of them being in sub-song.  It was really great to hear this warbling vocal.

Redwing (Turdus iliacus)

Monday 25th February:
The unseasonal temperatures kept rising and today was official the hottest UK February day on record with the temperature reaching  20.3°C in West Wales.  On the Common it was an amazing 18°C. 

For my visit I decided to focus on the Lower Terrace and the Terrace Embankment and was soon treated to my first butterflies of the year in 2 Commas that were flitting about over the lower area.  On the embankment itself I recorded 3 Small Tortoiseshells, all of which were basking on the warm bare sandy areas.  I also observed my 2nd species of ladybird, a 7-Spot Ladybird.  A small number of Pine Ladybirds were also present on this area of the site.

Comma (Polygonia c-album)

Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)

7-Spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata)

Pine Ladybird (Exochomus quadripustulatus)