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.