A Summer's Day at Thursley Common

30th June 2019

Our annual visit to Thursley Common a few weeks later than normal. After a short walk from the car park and Moat we were far from the madding crowd and walking along a boardwalk through an acid bog with its specialist plants such as Bog Asphodel and Common Cotton-grass. Also a few spikes of what I believe to be Southern Marsh Orchid.

The site was a blaze of colour due to the two species of heather present, the purple Bell Heather and the pink Cross-leaved Heath.

Lizards were basking in the sun on the boardwalk, although butterflies were rather scarce with mainly blues travelling at high speed. The one that settled for a photo shoot was this Small Tortoiseshell. Dragonflies were also quite scarce, although we were away from the main dragonfly trail, and the only one that posed on the heath was this female Keeled Skimmer.

So what about the birds? Well, I fear that we had left it a bit late this year. There was no sign of any Redstarts around the Moat area where we had photographed them in the past and not a sight nor sound of any Tree Pipits or Wood Larks up on the heath. In fact it was fairly quiet generally. The first bird we came to was this male Reed Bunting singing its heart out from a Sallow.

Up on the heath most of the action was around a small mound that has been good in the past. Here a pair of Stonechats were fairly obliging, but sadly no sign of any young.

But the stars of the show today were an adult and juvenile Dartford Warbler. Isn't it strange the affinity that Dartfords have with Stonechats and are often found together even in the winter when away from their breeding grounds?