Hengistbury - 25th May

A sunny, but cool day. Highlights were Reed Warbler, Wheatear and good views of Blackcap.

From the car park the Skylarks were singing as usual and we also heard a Cuckoo singing over towards Wick Fields. We walked to Barn Field and the resident Swallows were whizzing around. As Tracy was not with us, John took over as the finder of the Wheatears and scanning across Barn Field found one. Altogether there were also 5 Wheatears on Barn Field, so some migration was still ongoing. Linnets and Greenfinches were also singing around Barn Field and a Whitethroat sang on the other side of the track. Turning round and looking over Wick Hams we saw a few Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Woodpigeon, Starling, a Pheasant, Little Egret, Meadow Pipit and a couple of Reed Bunting on the reeds at the far end. On the nearby water in the harbour there were a few Coot and Shelduck and many Mute Swans. As we walked towards the wood we saw more Whitethroat singing. The wood was pretty quiet just a few singing Chiffchaffs and Wrens and the occasional squawk from the young Herons and Egrets. A little pishing did bring out a male Blackcap that gave us good views. We walked up a track in the wood to the Quarry Pond at the top. On the way we saw a few Common Blue Damselfly in scrub on the path edge. The pond had several male Mallard and a pair of Little Grebe with young. Some of the Sand Martins from the nearby cliffs were also feeding over the pond. We also saw a Broad-bodied Chaser dragonfly at the pond.
After evicting a couple of dogs from the pond (whose owners were more trouble than the dogs!!) we walked back down the track and some people got great views of a singing Whitethroat. We had a quick look at the large pool near the beach huts – just some Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls and Little Egret. We decided to walk back and see if we could find the Cuckoo that had been singing around Wick Fields. On the way we saw a few Speckled Wood butterfly and Jonathan found a Buff-tip moth on the path edge.
Back at Wick Fields we took the board walk through the reeds behind the fields. The Cuckoo did sing a bit, but very distantly. However we saw a couple of Reed Warblers singing and an Emperor dragonfly.
Simon Curson