Sunday June 30

Yesterday's hot weather was cleared away by an overnight cold front leaving a cooler day of sunny intervals and a brisk south-westerly.

Another thing cleared away last night were some of the pages I have allowed to clutter this blog. They are now in temporary retirement while I concentrate on my listing mission, sad old chap that I am.

One bird not on my list this year is Feral Pigeon. In fact I made the decision not to count the species shortly after I started listing annual totals, although I had cause to regret that move when I entered the Patchwork Challenge competition as they regard it as countable. The main problem as I see it is that most apparent Feral Pigeons on the patch are clearly racing pigeons which are no more wild than domestic chickens. So to count one I need to know its not a racing pigeon. I have devised a criterion. If its ringed its a racer, if its not its a Feral Pigeon.

This morning a small flock of multi-plumaged pigeons circled a weedy field repeatedly. They did not bomb straight over on a mission to get home asap.

Eventually they landed. Every flipping one of them was ringed. So they were just Racing Pigeons doing what I used to do in the cross-country runs of my youth, slowing to a walk and buying sweets in the local shop. Disgraceful.

You'll probably have guessed from this long digression that I didn't see much today. The flash field contained two Green Sandpipers which were barely visible behind the grass, and four adult Little Ringed Plovers. An adult Shelduck was in full view, but the vegetation prevented me from establishing how many ducklings survive (I could only see one).

Eventually I spotted a Brown Hawker dragonfly which was the first this year. In fact odonata provided most of the interest as I finally got a shot of a Four-spotted Chaser, and added Common Emerald Damselfly to my year list.

Four-spotted Chaser

Common Emerald Damselfly

The butterflies were much the same as on my last visit, with more Ringlets. After grilling scores of Large Skippers I finally got my reward in the form of a Small Skipper.

Small Skipper

The strength of the wind made insect watching hard work and I was unable to find any interesting day-flying moths. The best I could do was a Yellow Shell, and a terrible shot of a Blue-bordered Carpet.

Blue-bordered Carpet

I'm not expecting to visit again until next Sunday as my Mum's house move hit another delay, and the back end of next week is the new deadline. It's starting to dissolve into a farce that rivals Brexit.

Friday June 28

A sunny morning with a brisk easterly.

The wind made photographing stuff a bit challenging, but I managed a few new species for the lens. I tried walking along the road for a change, and the log pile on the walk down the slope from Bannams duly got me a chance to see an adult Field Grasshopper. 

Field Grasshopper

The butterfly numbers are on the rise; approximately 80 Meadow Browns, 30 Large Skippers, and 40 Small Heaths were supported by a dozen Small Tortoiseshells, ten Marbled Whites, two Common Blues, and 20 Speckled Woods.

Marbled White

A male Common Blue

The best species on view were seven Painted Ladies. This migrant was reported in large numbers on the east coast last weekend, and I even had one in our garden, so I was pleased to see a few.

Painted Lady

When I got to the flash pool I was slightly surprised to see that the water level remains high. However, the Shelduck family are still intact and there was just enough edge to support a Lapwing, three Little Ringed Plovers, and the first returning Green Sandpiper. Winter is coming!

The Shelduck brood in fattening up

Green Sandpiper

Back at the Dragonfly Pools I could see at least three Four-spotted Chasers and two Emperors, but none of showed the slightest inclination to land.

Sedge Warbler

A Sedge Warbler swayed in the grass as I decided it was time to call it a day.

But not a night. I put the moth trap out in my garden overnight hoping to take advantage of a warm night. I was rewarded with 102 moths of 35 species. These included 21 new for the year, of which five were lifers.

The most spectacular was a Lime Hawkmoth (new for year).

Lime Hawkmoth

The lifers were; Small Ranunculus, Shark, Epogoge grotiana, Rhyacionia pinicolana, and Turnip Moth.

Small Ranunculus

Shark

Rhyacionia pinicolana

Epagoge grotiana

Turnip Moth

Of these, I thought I'd hit pay dirt with Small Ranunculus. It doesn't feature at all in Moths of Warwickshire (2006), and the Internet stated "thought to be extinct in the UK until a small population was found in Kent and Surrey", but it then added "has since been expanding northwards." I now know that the expansion has reached Warwickshire, for example nine in 2017, and 18 in 2018. It's still a good record though. I don't know the status of the micros (although I have no reason to think they are rare), while the Shark is also a fairly common moth.

I managed one controversial record, i.e. I probably misidentified it, with what I thought might be a Sloe Pug, until JS counselled that it was actually the much commoner Green Pug (just not a green one). He did suggest that I might let David Brown (County Recorder) double check, but I think, on reflection, that JS is correct.

Green Pug

I really must start trapping at Morton Bagot.

Sunday June 23

The morning began sunny but cloud soon took over. A very light easterly breeze kept the temperature cool.

Traditionally late June is a bit rubbish for birds, but today there was a surprise in store as we ended the visit. Before that, the highlights had been counting four territorial Lesser Whitethroats, glimpsing the Little Owl, confirming that the pair of Shelducks still have ducklings (although the exact number was uncertain due to sedge encroachment), and seeing a pair of Little Ringed Plovers.

So it looked like insects etc would keep us fully occupied. At least two newly emerged Marbled Whites refused to settle, and the number of Ringlets has increased. Various small moths fluttered in front of us, and we eventually added Green Oak Tortrix to the list. It was resting in the grass underneath an oak tree, appropriately enough. Later on, and almost forgotten, I glimpsed a Small Magpie moth, but failed to get a shot.

Green Oak Tortrix (it looked greener in the sweep net)

I was able to show Dave the Bee Orchid and the Pyramidal Orchid, and he later found a second of the latter species.

Dave spotted a small mammal in the grass which he said was a shrew (or voley thing) which rather undermined the identification. I only saw the grass move as it disappeared. We later spotted a Fallow Deer, and later still a Roe Deer.

The first darter of the year was an immature Ruddy Darter, and other dragonflies on the wing included many Azure Damselflies, at least one Common Blue Damselfly, a few Large Reds, Beautiful Demoiselles, Banded Demoiselles, and Blue-tails plus a Broad-bodied Chaser.

Ruddy Darter

Another common moth to appear in the grass was a Blood-vein (again the first of the year).

Blood-vein

As we approached Netherstead to complete the circuit I was focussed on trying, unsuccessfully, to relocate Friday's Chimney Sweeper moth. Fortunately Dave had his eyes elsewhere, and suddenly announced "is that a Lesser Spot?" I swivelled round in time to see a woodpecker taking off from a hedgerow elm where Dave had seen it alight. As it flew off I could see its barred wings and possibly back, but for a moment I still wasn't sure. Then it banked to the right and flew across the pools looking distinctly small. It really was a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.

We watched it fly off and then seem to drop into trees behind the barn. We put on a spurt and hurried to the place it had disappeared. There was no sign. We tried walking the hedgeline southwards, but nothing flew out. Next we tried returning to the pools. Still nothing. Oh well, we'd spent the time convincing ourselves we had got it right (Dave was absolutely certain), and decided it had got away. Then, returning to the cars, the woodpecker reappeared in flight and circled us looking absolutely tiny.

I tried for some "record" flight shots, but knew the bird was too small to give me much of a chance.

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (honest!)

Having failed to capture anything which could even pass as a recognisable image we headed to the far end of the dragonfly pools where it had last been seen. The hedgerows were densely leafed, the bird remained silent, and eventually we had to accept we weren't going to see it again.

Some context. When I first started birding here in 2007, Jonathan Bowley who had been surveying the site for English Nature (as it was then called) assured me that Lesser Spotted Woodpecker did occur. But for several years none crossed my path. One day in April 2011 I heard a "pee pee pee" call which I decided was the species, but never clapped eyes on the bird. Since then the years have rolled by without a sniff, until today.

Who says June is dull?

Postscript. During the evening I reverted to my traditional method of catching moths (leaving the bathroom window open) and duly caught a new moth for our garden, a Treble Brown Spot. Rather a dull name for quite a smart little moth.

Treble Brown Spot

The down side of the open window method is that come photography time, the early morning, the moth is generally quite frisky after a night in a nice warm house, and so can only be recorded in the pot before release. Well that's my excuse anyway.

I'm not sure of its status in Warwickshire. My most recent book stated it was local but increasing. No one in the Warwickshire Moth Group has mentioned catching one, but this may not mean much.

Friday June 21

A largely sunny morning with a very light breeze was ideal for a three Richards walk about today. My two companions thoroughly enjoyed the morning with several Hares and a young Roe Deer topping the bill as far as they were concerned.

We spent a very long time listening to a very annoyed tacker, which eventually showed itself to be a Lesser Whitethroat. Presumably we were near its nest. The Willow Warbler sang nicely, and a Reed Warbler somewhat more reluctantly.

As I had suspected the pool has again drained away. I tried to show them the Bee Orchid, but walked past it twice before finding it. In the process however I stumbled on another species of orchid, this time Pyramidal Orchid.

Pyramidal Orchid

So in the course of two visits the orchid list for the site has sky-rocketted from nought to two. Amazing.

We saw quite a few butterflies, including Large Skippers, Small Heaths, Small Tortoiseshells, Brown Arguses, Common Blues, and Meadow Browns. The only species to add itself to the year-list though, was a single Ringlet.

Ringlet

At the Flash field there was still plenty of water, and just enough of an edge to support a single Little Ringed Plover. The Shelduck family remain intact, and we heard a calling Little Owl.

At around this time we realised we were running late for our lunch date, and so we had to put a bit of a spurt on. I did however have time to discover a new day-flying moth for the site (I'm pretty sure) in the form of a Chimney Sweeper Moth, but the dratted thing refused to land and I had forgotten to bring my sweep net. So confirmation may have to wait for another day.

Sunday June 16

A morning of sunny intervals and only a very few light showers. A light to moderate southerly breeze.

We began well, finding a first for Morton Bagot on the way to the pool. A single spike of a Bee Orchid poked out of the grass, the first orchid of any species we have seen on the patch.

Bee Orchid

A few paces further on we confirmed that the pool was still full of water, and better than that, a Little Grebe. When the pool failed to fill over the winter I had lamented that I had no chance of this grebe this year. Happily it doesn't take much to attract one.

Little Grebe

The Shelduck family were huddling together on the bank at the nearest flash. Four Lesser Black-backed Gulls and three Black-headed Gulls loafed  menacingly, but the ducklings are growing well.

Shelducks

In previous years Swifts have built up to a hundred or so by the end of June. This year they have been noticeably scarce nationally, and so todays peak of six may be symptomatic of the overall situation.

Bursts of sunshine allowed us to see several damselflies and butterflies, but there was nothing definitely new for the year. Day-flying moths, though, included several distinctive looking moths which I misidentified as Small Yellow Underwings. They were actually Burnet Companions, a lifer for me.

Burnet Companion

Finally, a proper Springwatch moment as a calf Roe Deer froze after its mother (who made a sharp exit) led it into our path.

Baby Roe Deer

Unfortunately it bolted as I shifted position to get a better shot.

Friday June 14

What a dismal week its been. The rain which has been falling almost non-stop pretty much kept going this afternoon, although it was fairly light and showery. The sun tried to come out a couple of times and as the breeze was a light southerly it was at least warmer than recently.

Little Owl

A Little Owl defied the drizzle, probably sheltered by the oak tree above it. The six Shelducklings are still with us, and the flooded flash field probably suited them, and 23 Lapwings were present.

No muddy edge

The resurrected main pool

Although the pool has returned, I could hear water flowing out through the drainage pipe, so I'm sure it will be a temporary feature.

It wasn't as bad for butterflies and moths as I had expected, and I saw most of the usual suspects including Large Skippers, Brown Argus, Meadow Browns, and Small Heaths.

I wish I had a broader wildlife knowledge than I do. I have tried to get into bees, but they are hard to photograph and with a mixture of workers, queens, drones etc very tricky to identify. Today quite a few Buff-tailed Bumblebees were clinging to the tops of umbellifers, and I picked out a paler one which I think is a male White-tailed Bumblebee.

White-tailed Bumblebee

As for plants.

Not a clue about these two species.

Winyates East Mothing

The garden moth trap went out overnight and I caught 39 moths (one fewer than the same date last year) of 15 species. These included six new for the year: Bee Moth, Flame Carpet, Dark Arches, Yellow Shell, Coronet, and Brown Rustic. The last of these is highlighted because despite being a common moth, it was new for the garden.

Brown Rustic

Not the most attractive moth though.

Sunday June 9

Sunny with a very light breeze.

I thought my mammal list was going to get a boost when we saw Sue's cat with a rodent in its mouth. I believe it was some kind of Vole sp, but the cat eventually trotted off home and I was left none the wiser.

The grassland provided all the usual insect species, butterflies including about 30 Small Heaths, a Brown Argus, and a Common Blue, while moths included a Laticed Heath, a Silver-ground Carpet, three Mother Shiptons, and four Cinnabars.

We reached the flash field in time to see a Little Owl before it disappeared into its favoured oak. The Shelducklings are down to six and were again on the furthest flash. To our surprise, however, by the time we had walked to where we view the nearest flash they had beaten us to it. For a moment I thought it must be a different brood, but we couldn't see them on the furthest pool so had to conclude it was the same brood. Those ducklings can really shift.

Most of the Shelduck family

Under the trees I spotted a new damselfly for the year. The White-legged Damselfly is associated with riverine meadows, so its a bit surprising that they occur here, albeit in small numbers.

White-legged Damselfly

We continued along Morton Brook seeing about seven Broad-bodied Chasers, and two or three Beautiful Demoiselles as well as the usual damselflies.

Always on the lookout for day-flying micro-moths we saw several Garden Grass-veneers, and a moth I think is Cochylimorpha straminea, but I will need to check that.

Garden Grass-veneer

Cochylimorpha straminea

At the dragonfly pools we found more species including Black-tailed Skimmer, and several Emperors.

Black-tailed Skimmer

Emperor

As usual the Emperors would not settle and were all males, so I had to try for a flight shot.

Reed Buntings were feeding fledglings, and I will finish with a bird singing from wires. A Chiffchaff.

Chiffchaff

Thursday June 6

If there was any doubt that this morning would be mostly about insects, a late start due to a doctors appointment made sure of it.

The weather was a bit borderline, sunny intervals with a fresh south-westerly. So insects were on the wing, but were tending to be swayed around by the wind when they landed.

Briefly, the birding highlights were a calling Cuckoo, a Little Ringed Plover, the Teal, and the continued presence of the Shelducklings.

The first significant insect was a male Common Blue, but it was soon blown over hedge and away. Fortunately a female of the same species paused a little longer.

Common Blue

The same Common Blue

Several Brown Arguses were still flying, my score being B Argus 4 C Blue 2. Other butterflies included a Large White, a Peacock, a Red Admiral, a Brimstone, about three Orange-tips, and my first couple of Meadow Browns of the year.

Meadow Brown

Day-flying moths were even harder to pin down, but did include a little colony of the remarkable Longhorn moth Nemophora degeerella.

Nemophera degeerella

Needless to say I returned home to discover there was a scarcer similar species. This one I am sure is the commoner.

Dragonflies were also tricky. There were many mating Azure Damselflies, and I had to peer at a lot of them before finally finding a Common Blue Damselfly.

Azure Damselfly

Common Blue Damselfly

The only large dragonflies seemed to be Broad-bodied Chasers. that was until I spent some time at the Dragonfly Pools where eventually an Emperor, and a Four-spotted Chaser chased one another. I eventually gave up all hope that either would land in sight.

Finally, a mammal. A rather scrawny Red Fox was trotting across the ploughed field to the annoyance of a party of 13 Lapwings and several Brown Hares.

Red Fox

If it was looking for Lapwing chicks then it failed (as did I), and ran off when it noticed my presence.