When I first started birding there was a definite close season. As soon as May ended, all prospect of seeing "new" birds seemed gone and the long wait for August began. Then, about ten years in, I realised that some other birders switched to butterflies. So I learnt the butterflies, and a few more years on, dragonflies. Recently I've taken on moths. I can never be bored.
This morning began grey and a bit chilly. A light north-easterly might be drifting continental rarities across the land. But not to Morton Bagot. Dave and I plugged away to no avail until at last the clouds drifted away, the sun came out and insects appeared.
It was great. The Large Red Damselflies were joined by the first male Beautiful Demoiselle, and Banded Demoiselle. Speckled Wood butterflies, Peacock, and Orange-tip were also on the wing in no time.
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| Beautiful Demoiselle |
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| Banded Demoiselle |
It wasn't long before a large dragonfly appeared. A Broad-bodied Chaser settled in the grass and defied my attempts of a clear shot. Still nice though.
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| Broad-bodied Chaser |
The dividing line between moths and butterflies is a man-made one. They're all the same thing really, its just that most moths fly at night, and butterflies rarely do. But some moths are day fliers, and I was pleased to see one of these this morning. The Small Yellow Underwing is a localised species which favours undisturbed natural and semi-natural grassland such as at Morton Bagot.
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| Small Yellow Underwing |
We saw two of them before we moved on. The birdy highlights were two pairs of Tufted Ducks, and the continued presence of a female Teal.
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| Teal |
A couple of odd notes from scrubland had us wondering. A Song Thrush, and a Blackcap sang continually as we listened in vain for the repeat of a phrase which had sounded Nightingale-like. We eventually concluded it must have been the Song Thrush.
Anyway, time for a little more moth action. On Friday night I put the trap out, and with temperatures overnight dipping no lower than 12 degrees, I was very hopeful.
The result was 23 moths, nearly half of which were unidentifiable worn Pugs. However, the one which wasn't worn looked subtly different from anything I'd seen before. I decided it was an Ochreous Pug and I'm now waiting anxiously for the recorder to look at the image and give me the thumbs up (or thumbs down). Thumbs up!
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| Ochreous Pug (sighting confirmed by expert) |
Rather easier to identify was a Cinnabar, new for the garden but very familiar as a day-flying moth at Morton Bagot.
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| Cinnabar |
Adding to the drama, there was a Common Wasp in the plastic bag containing bird seed, and a large black beetle, probably Black Sexton Beetle, in the trap.
There's never a dull moment.
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