Sunday April 28

Cloudy and chilly with a light westerly.

It definitely felt as though normal service had been resumed today. The only birds new for the month were a pair of Gadwalls which flew onto the nearest flash.

Gadwalls

Also present were a Shelduck, two Little Ringed Plovers, about 10 Lapwings, and a pair of Teal. The cold weather resulted in about 20 Swallows, six House Martins, and a Sand Martin sweeping backwards and forwards over the water in search of flies.

Neither the Cuckoo nor the Grasshopper Warbler was singing, but there were plenty of warblers singing including two Willow Warblers, and two Sedge Warblers. The only signs of ongoing migration being two male Wheatears in the horse field, and a female Wheatear on the strips behind the  former pool.

Normally when the birds fail to excite, I can fall back on insects. But this morning was so cold that very few were on the wing. One which we did see see was a "fly" with ridiculously long antennae. My attempts to photograph it were pretty abysmal which was a shame because I later established it was actually a male moth called Adela reaumurella.

Adela reaumurella

I'll have to hope I get another chance.

Another insect which is likely to remain unidentified was a hoverfly (or maybe a soldierfly).

Thought to be Eupeodes luniger

Here the problem is that there is a profusion of fly species, and they usually can only be confirmed under the microscope. However, I've found a possible match on the internet in Eupeodes luniger.

Also, last night I had a moth fluttering against our kitchen window in Winyates East. I caught it when I realised it was a Waved Umber. I only trapped one last year.

Waved Umber

After catching it I thought I should put the trap out. Two hours of wind, cold, and rain later I decided to shut it down. Nothing was caught in that time.