Wednesday May 27 - mostly Morton Bagot

My plan this morning was to get away from moths and to head to Morton Bagot for an hour before going to the south end of the River Arrow to search for dragonflies. That was the plan.

Things started to change as soon as I got into the bathroom. A small moth was resting on the inside of the bathroom window. I potted it and took it outside for photographing before releasing it. A cursory glance suggested Small Dusty Wave, or maybe a very dull pug. More of this later.

I got to Morton Bagot and headed for the flash field from the church. On arrival I erected the scope and prepared to see what was there.

Spot the moth

I was quickly distracted by a small moth which landed on my scope. It was the first Garden Grass-veneer of the year. Here's a closer look.

Garden Grass-veneer

I would like to be able to tell you that at the other end of the scope some wonderful rarity was waiting for me. Sadly, a Teal and a Little Ringed Plover was the best on offer. In fact the rest of the site (which admittedly I only partly covered) produced nothing better than a Reed Warbler singing from reed-mace in the top pool, and no sign of the Stonechat family. I'm not sure what to make of that.

I started photographing flowers, a bad sign.

Yellow Rattle

Brooklime

The last two were growing in the damp margins of the top pool, while many Azure Damselflies, Large Red Damselflies, and Beautiful Demoiselles, were great to see, but played second fiddle to two patrolling male Emperor dragonflies. It was very pleasant. So nice in fact that I abandoned the plan to go elsewhere.

Once at the car I thought I had better go for the old token bird shot.

Swallow

Back home I uploaded my shots and took a closer look at the moth. It was definitely a Pug, but didn't fit anything I knew. After a while a suspicion formed that it might be quite a good moth. I tweeted UKmothID for assistance, and my thoughts were confirmed. It was a Sloe Pug.

Sloe Pug

This species was not detected in the UK until 1971 when it was realised that a few of the Green Pugs in collections were actually this species. It is described as local, but is probably overlooked. There are certainly plenty of Sloes in the hedgerows in Redditch and indeed at Morton Bagot. The best diagnostic feature is the shape of the penultimate white line towards the wing tip (straight on Sloe and wavy on Green). This particular individual, while not very worn, is rather faintly marked.

The trap will be out again tonight. Sorry birders.