Thursday May 30

A cloudy but warm morning with a moderate south-westerly.

A wander around produced a family of recently fledged Nuthatches, Skylarks carrying food, and recently fledged Magpies. All very Springwatch. The flash field contained three Little Ringed Plovers but no wader chicks. At least three Reed Warblers are now singing in the reed bed.

Nuthatch

Reed Warbler

The insect tally included a couple more Brown Arguses, Banded Demoiselles, and a buttercup full of tiny Cocksfoot Moths.

Brown Argus

Banded Demoiselle

Cocksfoot Moths

I gave my new sweep net its first outing. It produced numerous small insects, but I couldn't identify many of them.

Small Tortoiseshell caterpillar

Stenodema laevigata

Thanks to the expert who has supplied a name for the above captioned bug.

Moths in the garden at Winyates East - May 26/27

Last night the first field trials of my new battery operated compact Skinner trap took place in the garden, the battery having finally been charged.

To my relief the light censor worked and the bulb switched itself on at dusk and off at dawn. The trap itself is smaller than my usual wooden one, it is described as a compact trap after all, and I found it a bit fiddly to put together.

I sited it in the middle of the lawn and was up at 05.00 am to see what it contained.

The answer was 17 moths of eight species. However, two of them were new for the garden, and therefore lifers. They were a Seraphim, and two Treble Lines.

Seraphim

Treble Lines

Admittedly not the most exciting moths to look at, but a tick's a tick. As far as I can tell these moths are described as fairly common in Warwickshire.

The remainder included five new for the year; namely Flame Shoulder, Common Swift, Green Carpet, Common Pug, and Green Pug. The only species I haven't mentioned being the very common Heart and Dart (nine in the trap).

Flame Shoulder

Green Carpet

Green Pug

Common Pug

I plan to do one more test, this time in my sister's garden. After that it's Morton Bagot.

Sunday May 26

A cloudy morning with frequent showers and a light westerly breeze.

The disappointing weather heralded a less than thrilling visit. There was no sign of the Garden Warbler, which was a pity as I was hoping to improve on the brown blur photograph taken last time I was here.

The Willow Warbler is still mixed singing, although a second bird at Stapenhill Wood was singing normally. The flash field still hosts single pairs of Teal and Gadwall plus a single Little Ringed Plover. There are still no Lapwing chicks.

A Cuckoo called a few times in the distance, while the local House Martins now total at least 15 individuals and were visiting the dragonfly pools to collect mud.

House Martins

It was relatively warm and muggy between the showers at first, and we saw several Small Heaths, a couple of whites, and a Red Admiral. The dragonflies on the wing were just ones recorded in previous visits, so it was left to day-flying moths to give us something different to look at.

The first Cinnabar Moth of the year was a welcome distraction.

Cinnabar Moth

The same field produced quite a few insects including a tiny moth which I think is Elachista argentella, my first anywhere, although this is more a reflection of my past ambivalence regarding the identity of micro-moths here than any suggestion it is scarce.

Elachista argentella

Even further out of my comfort zone are plants. However the field was full of an inconspicuous vetch which, with the aid of a field guide, I have concluded is Hairy Tare.

Hairy Tare

So there we are. making the best of a dull day.

Garden Moths - Winyates East

My first trapping session for a fortnight produced a modest 23 Moths (including two unidentified micros).

Due to the gap since my last effort I recorded some pretty common moths as new for the year: Small Dusty Wave, Heart and Dart (nine), Pale Tussock (two), and Common Marbled Carpet (two), plus a slightly less common one; Vine's Rustic.

The highlight though was my first Puss Moth. A mightily impressive moth.

Puss Moth

Also in the trap were the usual collection of flies, a Common Wasp, an alarmingly large Hornet, and a Tree Bumblebee (the first bee I have ever caught).

Hornet

I have also taken charge of my new moth trap. It was a bit fiddly to put together, and field trials will begin as soon as I get the battery charged.

The plan will be to start discovering what moths occur at Morton Bagot.

Thursday May 23

A warm and sunny morning with a very light south-westerly. I decided to do my duty and complete my now biennial census of the breeding birds.

It could be seen as a bit of a chore, but must have gained me some good karma because I was rewarded with an unexpected year-tick. Between Bannams Wood and the village there is a thick copse, and as I approached I heard a rich warbling song. I knew I needed to see the bird to be sure, and was delighted when it popped into the open for a second and confirmed my suspicion that it was a Garden Warbler. This species, if it occurs at all, tends to appear early in May and then moves on. I can only recall one autumn record, so I had thought my chance had gone for this year.

I did try to photograph it, but only managed a shot of the bush. Except that on closer inspection there is a brown blur which could be the bird flying back into cover. I'm too embarrassed to show it here, but ... oh go on then.

Brown blur

Birdwise that was pretty much the highlight. The pair of Teal and a pair of Gadwall remain on the evaporating nearest flash, and I could see a single Little Ringed Plover.

As the day warmed I became increasingly distracted by insects, and added Banded Demoiselle and Broad-bodied Chaser to the dragonfly year-list, Silver-ground Carpet to the moth list, and saw the second Red Admiral and Brown Argus butterflies of the year.

Mother Shipton moth

Female Beautiful Demoiselle

Male Beautiful Demoiselle

Broad-bodied Chaser - female

Azure Damselfly - adult male

I saw a lot more Mother Shipton moths than usual, maybe half a dozen without really trying, and Beautiful Demoiselles were also in good numbers (about seven).

Then there were the Gnats.

Every dot is a Gnat

Sunday May 19

A largely hazy sunny morning with cloud building later, and virtually no wind.

As expected, bird migration is now tailing off. A third Reed Warbler singing in the reed bed represented the best count since they first occurred. I had them down to die out because of the dryness of the reed bed, so what do I know?

A few more Swifts occupied the air space, and the Greenshank was still present. A remarkable seven Gadwalls are present on the flash pool along with two pairs of Little Ringed Plovers and around five pairs of Lapwings.

Lapwing

None of the above appear to have produced young yet, but there are at least five broods of Greylag Geese which is easily the best season to date. A new brood of Mallard was also present.

The best find today was a Brown Argus, the first I have seen here in Spring. The underside of the forewing lacked the extra spot near the base which a Common Blue might have shown, and the black dot on the upper forewing is also meant to be diagnostic.

Brown Argus

An insect which I had not knowingly seen here before was a longhorn beetle called Stenocorus meridianus. This is a very big family of beetles, but some of them seem to be pretty distinctive.

Stenocorus meridianus

Other butterflies seen comprised Orange-tips, a Brimstone, Large, Small, and Green-veined Whites, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Small Heaths, and a Speckled Wood.

Although we saw several Large Red Damselflies, and a Beautiful Demoiselle before the sun went in, cloudier conditions restricted our tally at the Dragonfly Pools to three teneral damselflies which may prove to be Azure Damselflies.

Azure Damselfly

The Azure damselflies have been accepted as correct by the County Recorder.

Friday May 17

A cloudy and rather cool morning with a few spots of rain and a moderate easterly. Definitely a day for looking for birds and not insects.

It didn't take me long to add to my patch year-list this morning as I watched three Swifts from Netherstead as they hurried towards Studley in the distance. The reed bed contained two singing Reed Warblers, a Sedge Warbler, and a Reed Bunting, but there was a surprise awaiting me in the little copse on the way to the pool. The Willow Warbler which has been singing perfectly normally until now, has started mixed singing.

Continuing on to the pool another surprise was in store. A Common Sandpiper was feeding around the puddle which is all that is left of it.

Common Sandpiper

I certainly didn't see this species here last year, and I have a feeling the last one was in 2016. The flash field just doesn't attract them, but the tiny bit of mud that is all that is left of the pool has done the trick.

Moving on to the flash field itself, there was more interesting stuff to see. The pair of Shelducks was back, and also two pairs of Gadwall. Three Little Ringed Plovers remain, and have been joined by the second Ringed Plover of the year.

Ringed Plover

Panning left from that I discovered that the Greenshank (presumably the same) seen on Wednesday evening was still present, and better still was now a lot closer.

Greenshank

Gadwall

I was trying to count singing birds along a transect this morning, so I retraced my steps back to the car. At the end of the season I'll share the full results of this year's breeding survey.

The Common Sandpiper was my 108th species for the year here, which equals the total number I saw on the patch last year. It really has been a special Spring.

Wednesday May 15

Sunny with a very light easterly.

Today has seen a pair of White Storks circling over Earlswood, a Temminck's Stint at Upton Warren, and a pair of Garganeys at Grimley. Seemingly more relevant to Morton Bagot were Swifts flying around my Mum's house in Moseley. It is starting to irk me that I haven't seen one on the patch yet this year.

Against this backdrop I set out for Morton Bagot with some optimism this evening. And it wasn't misplaced. With little time left after work I chose to route march to the Flash field and was almost there when I heard the lovely bubbling song of a Curlew. Sure enough, one was flying in and duly landed on the nearest flash.

Curlew

The light was poor, so ...usual excuses.

A pair of Little Ringed Plovers was still present, as was a pair of Gadwall. The waterlevel had dropped considerably since the weekend and no doubt it was this that had attracted the Curlew.

A young couple approached rather noisily with their dog. They were apparently trying to find Studley Castle. I gave them directions, but doubted they would find their car before dark. As they departed, I noticed a movement on the furthest flash. Turning my attention there, I realised it contained an energetically feeding Greenshank.

Greenshank

I then saw that there was now a pair of Curlews on the furthest flash, and a quick check confirmed that the closer bird had flown to join its mate. Sadly, these are certainly a pair of failed breeders, perhaps the pair seen at Salford Priors Gravel Pits in March.

Curlews and Greenshank in the gathering gloom.

What an evening. I had given up on Curlew for the year, they used to hold a territory until about 2010, but nowadays if you haven't seen one by mid April you've probably had it. Rather like the Midland Curlew population I'm afraid. I normally see a Greenshank in autumn, and they can stay for weeks, but its great to get a Spring migrant.

Still no Swifts though.

Sunday May 12

A beautifully sunny morning with a very light breeze. Dave was back, so the team was back up to full strength.

It didn't take us long to add a year tick to the bird list as we spotted a pair of Hobbies catching insects above the church. Unfortunately we were by the former pool at the time so the views were distant. A pair of Little Ringed Plovers had taken refuge in the puddles that remain, and they may have been flooded out from the flash field where the recent rain has left very little mud. A pair of Teal has reappeared though.

Earlier we had heard at least two Reed Warblers in the reed-bed at Netherstead and had good views of a calling Lesser Whitethroat. Two pairs of House Martins were flying down to collect mown grass and mud for their nests.

House Martin

As this was the first sunny day on the patch for a while we were playing catch-up with insects for the year. Several Small Whites were present along with a probable Large White, a few Orange-tips, Brimstones, Speckled Woods, Peacocks, and a Small Tortoiseshell.

Small White

Also new for the tear were at least eight Small Heaths present across most of the rough grassland areas.

Small Heath

We saw about a dozen Large Red Damselflies and one Beautiful Demoiselle which annoyingly vanished as soon as it appeared to land in a large bramble patch.

We flushed a small moth which did its best to elude the camera until I managed to get a shot of it on the underside of a leaf. The fact that I was unable to identify it until I got home and checked the books (even though it turned out I had caught one in the garden last year) doesn't reflect well on my identification skills. Anyway, it was a Clouded Silver.

Clouded Silver

We also spotted an interesting caterpillar in the hedge, my plant identification is abysmal so I can only say it might have been on Sallow. For this one I will be phoning a friend. Martin Philip from the Warwickshire Moth Facebook Page has supplied the answer captioned below. Thanks Martin.

Yellow-tail moth caterpillar

On my way home I stopped to chat to George about the possibility of moth-trapping on his land, and in the course of a very affable conversation I spotted a Holly Blue flying, appropriately enough, around some holly in his garden.

Holly Blue

So a reasonably productive visit.

Friday May 10

After one or two heavy showers during the afternoon, I couldn't resist an early evening visit. The sun was out and the wind was a very light westerly.

To be fair I probably needed a reality check after the excitement of the last few visits. It was very much back to normal. Three Little Ringed Plovers remain in the flash field, and I suspected one of the Lapwings could be brooding chicks.

The drake Mandarin was still present, as was a drake Shelduck.

The highlight was probably a non avian event. A swarm of honey bees was in the hedge near the hives.

I was too cowardly to get very close.

The first bit of warmth for several days had encouraged quite a few flies out, but the only butterfly i saw was a Large White.

I suspect the blog will drift into insect recording as the Spring turns towards summer.

Thursday May 9 - ANOTHER RED LETTER DAY

It had rained for most of the day yesterday, and this morning began damp, drizzly, and with a hint of east in the breeze. Time to buy some new wellies.

After doing that I arrived at Netherstead and had a brief chat with one of the guys who feed the horses every morning. I told him what a great spring it had been, and that miserable weather often produced rare birds. I don't think even I believed it would happen at Morton Bagot though.

Anyway, at the reedbed there were numerous Sedge Warblers singing (five for the whole site), and I could hear my first Reed Warbler of the year.

Reed Warbler

Sedge Warbler

Typically the first Reed Warbler of the season was very hard to see let alone photograph, but the Sedge Warblers have abandoned their former reticence.

A little further on I flushed a Fallow Deer, and got a shot for the mammal year-list. At the former pool  a pair of Canada Geese was leading a creche of youngsters to the top ponds which remain full.

So I finally reached the point where I could scan the flash field. Initially all seemed quiet, there were at least three Little Ringed Plovers, a pair of Gadwall, a Black-headed Gull, and a pair of Shelducks. After about 30 minutes I decided to move on, but had only gone a few steps when I noticed a dove flying north. I got on what I expected to be a Collared Dove, and noticed it was a bit orangey brown. I stayed on it. A flick of its wing gave me a hint of black underwing, and just before it disappeared a second chance, definitely a black underwing. TURTLE DOVE. There was no chance of a photo because I had to be sure what it was.

Some context. The last Turtle Dove here was on 26 April 2008, and I didn't see it. After Jonathan Bowley's sighting I waited year after year as the species got rarer and rarer. It is now almost lost to the county and I thought my chance had gone. So I was just a bit PLEASED.

Once it had gone I resumed my walk, but soon heard a "chooee" call. Surely a Ringed Plover. I hurried back to the viewing spot and sure enough, a Ringed Plover had dropped in.

Ringed Plover

Well I was as pleased as punch, Ringed Plover cannot be guaranteed to occur in any given year. I had barely finished congratulating myself on my good fortune when things got even better. A flurry of wings over the nearest flash, and I realised there were terns there. What's more they were BLACK TERNS. There were two of them, the first for the site. I desperately tried to photograph them for the record, they were only present for about a minute but as they headed north-east I managed to record them for posterity.

Black Terns

The only other species of tern that has been seen here is Common Tern, and there have only been three of them. Despite this, I have always had a sneaking hope that the little pools here might be large enough to tempt one of these beauties to take a look.

Around this time the number of Swallows and House Martins seemed to increase, and I scanned them enthusiastically for a Red-rumped Swallow...or a Sand Martin, or even a Swift. One thing that did drop in was a Little Egret, the first for over a month.

House Martins and Little Egret

At this point I realised I had omitted to top up my phone, so I was unable to call anyone. I did however manage to flag Mike down as I drove off. He was on his way to Salford Priors GP and told me there was a Turnstone at Bittell, a Sanderling at Upton Warren, and goodness knows what else at other sites.

Gloomy weather really does produce the goods.

But not always for moths. I put the trap out in the garden last night, but it poured down for an hour after dusk and the temperature never peaked over six degrees C. As a result i caught just two moths; an Early Grey and a Shuttle-shaped Dart.

Early Grey

At least the Early Grey was new for the year. I also caught a Common Wasp and a caddis-fly sp.