Monday June 29 - Oldberrow

 I spent an hour this morning wandering up and down the lane where the Wryneck had been reported yesterday.

A juvenile Green Woodpecker was calling in the exact spot which was the focus of the report. I also saw Nuthatches, and Kestrels. 

It's actually a really nice area. I heard a distant Lesser Whitethroat and a singing Yellowhammer which was at the Morton Bagot end of the lane.

Birdguides report

I would just like to make it clear I don't know who put the Wryneck onto Birdguides. I do not approve of reporting potentially breeding rarities on Social Media.

So, not at Morton Bagot, and not seen by me. I know who said they saw and heard the bird, but I don't know whether he made the report.

I will go and have another look at the site tomorrow in case the bird (I was told there might be more than one) is still there.

Sunday June 28 - Morton Bagot and garden moths

 Although this year I have tried to steer a course back to birds and away from moths, I'm still trapping in the garden and Friday night's events were so remarkable that I have to start there.

Obviously the warm night would mean a decent haul was likely. I was up before dawn and sure enough there were lots of moths. My final count was 276 moths of 50 species, but it was one moth in particular which deserves top billing.

Micro moths can be very confusing, and some cannot be identified in the field. Even the identifiable ones are a challenge. Their tininess means that either a hand lens, or in my case the camera lens is necessary to bring out their true beauty. It also helps that ID apps can provide an irresistible shortcut.

So pointing the camera at a little moth clinging to an egg box I was impressed by a startling combination of black, white and orange which looked completely unfamiliar. I pointed the phone at it and was told it was Cydia interscindana. My reaction? Never heard of it. I potted it for further study.

Cydia interscindana (Beautiful Juniper Piercer)

I had a whole lot of other moths to sort through, so the strange moth was placed in the fridge to cool down. I posted a message and image on the Bluesky app and carried on counting. 

During the morning my computer battery needed powering up, so I watched some cricket. By about 14:00 I had started to suspect it might be a County first, and the recorder confirmed that that was the case and that a specimen would not be required. 

I decided to take some more photos, and in the absence of anyone expressing the wish to come and see it I allowed it to escape. Maybe micros the size of a grain of rice weren't as desirable to pot-twitchers.

Two hours later I discovered that they were, and my name was mud. It turned out that the species was only discovered in the UK in 2014 when one was found at Lydd in Kent. Originally assumed to be a migrant, further records from the London area and some of the home counties led to the belief that the species was adventive (in insect terms that means accidentally  transported to the UK on its food plant, in this case Juniper, as an egg or caterpillar). However it got here, there have been none any nearer than Berkshire and Hertfordshire, so this was the first for the whole Midlands let alone Warwickshire.

The rest of the catch produced three more garden ticks: a beautiful July Highflyer, a Minor Shoulder-knot (hot on the heals of several at Spernal STW which had been my first), and a micro called Gypsonoma aceriana.

July Highflyer

Minor Shoulder-knot

Gypsonoma aceriana (according to Obsidentify)

Including the garden firsts I added 21 species to the garden year list. 

Back to today. Morton Bagot is in the grip of summer. Even the reappearance of some welcome mud added only three Little Egrets (two of which were recently fledged juveniles and had no doubt come from Arrow Valley Lake), a Green Sandpiper, a Little Ringed Plover, a returning pair of Teal, and on Saturday a pair of Avocets courtesy of John Chidwick.

Adult Little Egret flanked by its juveniles

Butterflies on the wing included several rather bright Painted Ladies which I suspect were part of the new generation, and a couple of fresh Gatekeepers.

Gatekeeper

This year's birthday presents included A Field Guide to the Grasshoppers and Allies of Great Britain and Ireland, and I was keen to try it out.

Common Green Grasshopper

Meadow Grasshopper

I can't promise birds will feature prominently over the next few weeks, but I'll do my best.

Thursday June 25 - Morton Bagot and Spernal STW

 After a week's non-birding (mostly) holiday in the Cotwolds I was back on the patch today, keen to see what I'd been missing. Dave and John had each visited Morton Bagot at the weekend and had seen the usual stuff, with Dave's drake Shoveler being the nearest to something unusual.

I can't really say I managed to beat that. My best birds were a first summer Peregrine back on the pylons, a singing Garden Warbler (Dave had recorded two), a single Green Sandpiper on the nearest flash which remains largely full of water thanks to the farmer's efforts, a pair of Stonechats again, and proof that the pair of Lapwings in the scrape field have bred successfully. A single well-grown chick, large enough to be seen.

I didn't count them, but even on my early morning visit it was apparent that there were lots of Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns on the wing.

Speaking of insects, I took up Leigh and Tony's invitation to join them at Spernal STW on Friday morning to see what moths Leigh had caught overnight in the inaugural moth-trapping session for the site. As it was Leigh's trap, she will have the burden of reporting the findings to the recorder, while I was just free-loading and hoping to add to my personal moth list. Not that I know exactly what moths I've seen. But I know what I've seen in my garden, so the following were new to me:

Minor Shoulder-knot

Dark Umber

Silky Wainscot

Calamotropha paludella (Bulrush Veneer)

Many of the moths caught were reed-bed specialists, with lots of Smoky Wainscots, many Obscure Wainscots, some Common Wainscots, a Drinker, and several Scarlet Tigers in the haul of about 45 moths. Quite a lot escaped before we could examine them.

I'll be trapping in the garden tonight.

Tuesday June 16 - Earlswood Lakes and Morton Bagot

 Any thoughts of easing off on the birding have been temporarily shelved due to a continuing trickle of birds of interest.

While we were enjoying the delights of Morton Bagot on Sunday morning, an Osprey put in an appearance at Lower Bittell. You may recall I went there on Saturday afternoon on the off chance the Earlswood bird had gone there. Evidently it had. Unfortunately an Osprey was seen over Belvide Res in Staffs an hour or so after the Bittell sighting. It may not have been the same bird, but has made me think twice about a second visit to Lower B.

This morning, as I returned from a relatively fruitless visit to Morton Bagot (three Avocets, 46 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and 10 Herring Gulls), a Whatsapp message caused me to dash to Earlswood.

Ok I admit Redshank is not a bird most people would twitch, but in this corner of Warwickshire/Worcestershire it could be the only one of the year. It was a bit flighty, but eventually it settled on the shingle spit where close views revealed it to be a juvenile.

I wonder how far it had travelled before discovering Earlswood? Probably not far.

I've had a nice garden tick this week. The micro White Plume is not a rare moth (I've even seen one at Morton Bagot) but a spot of gardening yesterday was paused as I rushed for a pot.

So it's back to catching up on football highlights and lost sleep for me for the next few days. Probably.

Sunday June 14 - Morton Bagot and Lower Bittell Reservoir

This morning I was back at Morton Bagot with Dave. Considering we are now in deepest June it was a pretty successful visit. Most birds are mid-breeding season, which means that recently fledged juveniles abound. But there is still room for the odd surprise, and the oddest of these was a female Gadwall which flew past us apparently accompanying a male Mallard. The Gadwall was the first here for a couple of years.

This was close to the nearest flash, where we went on to hear Cetti's Warbler and Sedge Warbler. More surprising was a party of 34 large Gulls, mostly Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and with them six Avocets.

Although there was virtually no muddy edge, up to three Green Sandpipers and a Little Ringed Plover appeared from time to time, mainly in flight.

Continuing with birds, as we returned to our cars we located a pair of Stonechats. This suggests a pair may have been present this spring in one of the less visited fields.

There was no sign of any juveniles so I suppose their breeding attempt had been unsuccessful.

New butterflies and dragonflies for the year comprised several Marbled Whites, a Ringlet, a Small Skipper, and a Black-tailed Skimmer.

I also spotted a new moth for the site as a Scarlet Tiger hurried away over the dragonfly pools near Netherstead. Unfortunately I couldn't get Dave on it.

Speaking of moths, my moth-trapping in the garden on Friday night produced 60 moths of 29 species headlined by my first ever Obscure Wainscot, one of a number of reedbed specialists which are hard to find and harder to identify. I'm guessing the gusty wind on Friday night may have blown it towards our garden from Arrow Valley Lake, the nearest reeds.

Sorting through the moths in the trap took much of Saturday morning, and I was soon ready for lunch. Preparation of which was interrupted by a message that there was an Osprey at Earlswood Lakes. Evidently it hung around just long enough for Joe and Yvonne to see it (John had found it of course), but it was soon seen gaining height and heading north-west.

That's why I decided to pay a rare visit to Lower Bittell. It was a long shot, but perhaps it had gone there. Well it may have done, but I didn't see it. Instead my constant scanning produced something else.

Several Black-headed Gulls were flying over the reservoir, and a pair of Common Terns chased anything that came close. I presumed they were nesting, or thinking of nesting, on a purpose-built raft which the Bittell birdwatching group were presumably responsible for. After about half an hour I noticed two pure white black-headed Gulls high above me. They chased one another briefly and circled away to the west. They appeared to be adult Mediterranean Gulls, I could see no trace of any black under their primaries at any stage. Unfortunately when I say high above, I really mean high. Too high to attempt a photograph? Well I had a go, literally seeing nothing but sky through the lens. Two shots were of just that, but one did contain a gull. 

I think I can see a tiny smudge of grey near the tip of the left primary which possibly indicates the bird in the shot is a second year, rather than adult Mediterranean Gull.

Tuesday June 9 - Earlswood Lakes and Morton Bagot

 In strictly chronological order I will deal with this morning's visit to Morton Bagot first. I slipped out early, and it turned out to be time well spent. The Cetti's Warbler was singing again, but I was stunned to discover a male Stonechat as I walked back to the car. There have been no sightings since April 5, and I can't think we've overlooked such an obvious species since then. So what was it doing here in early June? I did photograph it before it disappeared, but the shot is a bit of a shocker so I'll see if its still there tomorrow. Oh what the heck (it wasn't seen next day).

Stonechat

At about the same time the first Sand Martin here this year showed very well, but eluded the camera. Some House Martins were more co-operative as they gathered mud for their nest.

House Martins

This afternoon I was back out again, this time to Earlswood. 

Sometimes local places have a purple patch. This year Earlswood is excelling itself. This time John Oates was the finder, and the bird I needed to see was a Little Tern. 

I arrived within fifteen minutes of its discovery, and thankfully it was still there. The last one was in 2012, and more typically it had been in and out.

Little Tern with Common Tern

Perhaps the shingle spit, no longer an island, off the causeway encouraged it to stick. It's a tiny little tern compared to a Common Tern, and much less regular in the Midlands than it used to be due to a national decline.

Little Tern towered over by Black-headed Gulls

As with the Spoonbill a couple of days ago it caused a mini-twitch for the local birding group.

Some very happy birders

Perhaps June isn't such a bad month for birding.