Wednesday July 28 - a swift exit

 Yesterday afternoon was nice and sunny and I noticed some Swifts high above the house. It occurred to me that the summer was nearly over Swift-wise, and I'd better get out there and look at them. There were six or seven, which is all you can expect over our garden nowadays. Not only will the Swifts be heading to Africa very shortly, but fewer are making it back each Spring. I watched them with a mixture of pleasure and sadness.

This morning was cloudy, and showers were in the forecast. I got to the patch and was greeted rapturously by Paul and Anna's very affectionate cat. Once I had got it out of the boot I was able to start birding. I chose the road route in the vanishingly faint hope that I might find a Pied Flycatcher in the surrounding woodland. Like Swifts, the British population doesn't hang around and the chances of finding one reduce each year. Needless to say, my score remained on zero.

A flock of Tits, Nuthatches and warblers kept me interested, but I failed to chance on anything better than Blackcap, at least six of them. Eventually I was back at the flash field where the recent showers had at least increased the size of the puddles, not enough to encourage any Green Sandpipers to return, but there were at least nine Lapwings, three Mallard, a Black-headed Gull, and six Moorhens present. Before I moved on, the day's star bird appeared, the Lapwings and BHG taking off nervously as a large juvenile Peregrine  dashed across the field, my first here since March. Amazingly a very brave Lapwing rose and gave chase, seeing off the Peregrine for a while.

Shortly afterwards the rain started and any thoughts of looking for something to photograph had evaporated. Back at the car I totted up 43 species, none of them a Swift.

Sunday July 25 - Who needs wetlands?

Well the rain we were promised fell somewhere else, and Dave and I found ourselves birding in a pretty dry landscape. The almost constant cloud cover kept the temperature dial at comfortable.

The main question was whether the nearest flash had retained some water. 

A sea of mud

So with waders off the agenda you might think we'd had a rubbish morning. Think again.

As we approached the little pond we could hear a Grasshopper Warbler singing. Then one flew across the field and landed in a hedge, but it appeared to be a juvenile. Moving on to the Chat Field we located the singing adult Gropper surprisingly easily.

Grasshopper Warbler in classic pose

 This sighting alone would have made the day, but a little further on I spotted something I've never seen at Morton Bagot before, a perched Red Kite. In fact I can only recall seeing one standing in a Midland tree once before. Worth a shot or two then.

Red Kite

And just in case you think it's stuffed, here it is moving.

We suspected it was a juvenile and when it took off, the pristine flight feathers proved we were right. Even more intriguingly, we later saw two (both juveniles) circling over fields between Morton Bagot and Studley Castle. It seems highly likely that breeding has taken place locally.

Its very nice to be talking about birds this week, but I should mention we saw one or two migrant Silver Y moths, a couple of Holly Blues. and two Painted Lady butterflies before we headed home.

Painted Lady

I know I've titled this post "who needs wetlands" but the truth is we do. A little downpour this week wouldn't come amiss.

Friday July 23 - Stand by for more moths

 There was news of a Wood Sandpiper at Earlswood yesterday, and I admit I was tempted. But not enough.

It's been too hot to leave the house so we've thrown the windows open and have had the wildlife come to us. Yesterday a Small Tortoiseshell flew into the living room, somewhat impressive considering I only saw one among the hundreds of butterflies at Morton Bagot on Wednesday.

Small Tortoiseshell

Nice and easy. 

As for moths, well our bathroom has quite a good pedigree and there have been several species which have ignored the moth trap when its been out, but have readily flown through the bathroom window. Yesterday a Pug did just that and I spent hours poring over moth books eliminating everything on the grounds of size, date, wing pattern before deciding I had no idea what it was. MothIDUK took about a millisecond to tell me it was a Slender Pug. Its not even a tick! I identified my only previous one for myself back in 2018. 

Slender Pug

I thought it was too large, but it's just at or marginally beyond the top end of their size range.

Last night I had a moth that was a tick, and I knew immediately I'd need help. The dreaded tiny moth turned out to be from another new moth genus, Batrachedridae. Batrachedra praeangusta turns out to be quite common, and thanks again go to @UKMothID for saving me from hours of internet fun.

Batrachedra praeangusta

Cooler, damper days are just around the corner, but before that Friday night is moth night. I'm expecting a lot. To be continued....

Well it was a lot windier than I had expected, and an east wind at that, so my overnight haul of 101 moths of 46 species was pretty satisfactory. It contained one completely new species Chinese Character, and one which I had identified in the garden a few years ago (pre-moth trap) and hadn't caught since, Small Fan-footed Wave. Also getting a special mention is Buff Footman (first since 2018), Least Yellow Underwing, not recorded last year, and Sharp-angled Carpet, second for the garden and a very attractive moth.

Chinese Character

The full list is as follows:

Bird-cherry Ermine 2,    Bryotropha affinis 2,    Brown House Moth 1,    Crassa unitella 1 (nfy),    Ypsolopha sequella 1 (nfy),    Red-barred Tortrix 2,    Bud Moth 2,    Cydia splendana 2,    Celypha lacunana 1,    Gypsonoma dealbana 1,    Pammene fasciana 2,    Phycita roborella 5,   Euzophera pinguis 1 (nfy),    Eudonia lacustrata 2,    Eudonia mercurella 1,    Garden Grass-veneer 4,    Crambus pascuella 3,    Water Veneer 14,    Small Magpie 1,    Chinese Character 1 (nfg),    Small Fan-footed Wave 1 (nfy),    Riband Wave 2,    Sharp-angled Carpet 1 (nfy),    Dusky Thorn 1 (nfy),    Black Arches 3,    Buff Footman 1 (nfy),    Common Footman 10,    Scarce Footman 2,    Ruby Tiger 2 (nfy),    Coronet 3,    Poplar Grey 1,    Grey/Dark Dagger 1 (nfy),    Silver Y 1 (nfy),    Common Rustic ag 2,    Cloaked Minor 1 (nfy),    Marbled Minor ag 2,    Uncertain 3,    Straw Underwing 1 (nfy),    Heart and Dart 4,    Shuttle-shaped Dart 2,    Smoky Wainscot 3,    Bright-line Brown-eye 1 (nfy),    Large Yellow Underwing 1,    Least Yellow Underwing 2 (nfy),          Double Square-spot 2.

Wednesday July 21 - Counting butterflies

This morning, with the heat still firmly in the high 20s, I  decided to log all the butterflies I saw. I should do this more often, but it takes a lot of concentration and the birding suffers.

In fact a species of bird tried to elbow the butterfly plan out of the way as soon as I arrived. A Grasshopper Warbler was reeling from somewhere behind the dragonfly pools. This presumably implies a successful outcome of his first breeding attempt, and time to re-establish his credentials as a good bet to father a second brood.

Anyway I would not be distracted and amassed the following insects (butterflies and day-flying macro-moths) from the visit:

Small Skipper 98,    Essex Skipper 2,    Large Skipper 2,     Gatekeeper 85,    Meadow Brown 160,    Ringlet 77,    Speckled Wood 2,    Small Heath 4,    Large White 1,    Small White 26,    Green-veined White 1,    Brimstone 1,    Small Tortoiseshell 1,    Marbled White 24,    Shaded Broad-bar 9,    Silver Y 1.    

So lots of browns, a few whites, lots of Skippers, and nothing rare. The last two mentioned above are moths. Here is one of the Shaded Broad-bars.

Shaded Broad-bar

I have submitted my records onto the Warwickshire Butterfly Conservation website as you are supposed to, and as I rarely do (to my shame). 

I reached the flash pool and was pleased to see that there is now a lot of exposed mud which means it is possible to count all the Green Sandpipers present. There were eight of them. 

Five of the Green Sandpipers

My attempt to submit my bird records to the BTO's Birdtrack website is being hampered by their latest software update. Hopefully I will eventually succeed.

Having got that moan off my chest I'll carry on with the narrative. I often think that nearly every visit to Morton Bagot allows me to see something different. Today it was a strangely patterned wasp (or soldierfly) which got away before I could photograph it, and a newly pupated (if that's the right term) ladybird. 

Something you don't often see

The husk of the grub is back-on, while the new and as yet unspotted ladybird is next to it. I don't know what species it is, and it hadn't occurred to me that ladybirds take a few hours to gain their spots. I've googled it, and apparently that is the case.

The final twist to the day came as I was driving off past Bannam's Wood. A large orange butterfly caused an emergency stop, and after a few minutes I confirmed what I had suspected. It was a pair of Silver-washed Fritilleries caught in the act, as it were.

Silver-washed Fritilleries

A cyclist pedalled up in full gear, the only person I'd seen all morning. "Anything interesting?" he asked. "Silver-washed Fritilleries" I shouted back. "Great" - he pedalled on. Perhaps I should have said a dinosaur or Bradley Wiggins.

Sunday July 18 - Too darn hot

Phew, what a scorcher. Dave and I gamely set out into the mid-morning sun, and as temperatures rose to 29 degrees we attempted to record birds. 

The furthest flash is now invisible due to the long grass which the cattle in the field would be munching if they weren't all sheltering under an oak tree. The nearest flash is starting to dry out, but still has a healthy balance of water and mud. It also hosted the two Avocets, at least five Green Sandpipers, and not a lot else.

Our only highlights came as we sheltered from the sun in the lee of the hedge bordering the Kingfisher Pool, where Dave spotted a Kingfisher. I caught sight of a movement as it disappeared beneath overhanging trees, and later missed its reappearance entirely because I was concentrating on photographing damselflies.

The dragonflies in question were the first Small Red-eyed Damselflies of the season. Three or four were perching on the algae in the middle of the pool, and at least one had found a mate.

Small Red-eyed Damselflies

It was too hot for looking at butterflies. They wouldn't sit still for a second, and although there were plenty, we felt that numbers were lower than in previous years.

Which brings me to Friday night's moths. In contrast to the butterflies, there were an awful lot. 75% of them were micros, and I have spent most of the weekend cataloguing them for posterity. They including four which were nfg (new for the garden) and also lifers for me, and another 17 which were new for the year.

Although the lifers were all micros, one of these was very spectacular, one very rare (well probably cryptic would be a better description), and one from a completely new group bucculatricidae which all meant that I spent a very long time trying to figure out what I was looking at. As ever, @UKMothIdentification helped me out.

Spectacular first. This is a Box-tree Moth, an Asian adventive species accidentally imported into the UK on its food plant, Box, and now a major pest because of its caterpillars' voracious appetites. Although technically a micro, it is huge.

Box-tree Moth

I couldn't find it in my Micro-Moth Field Guide because its arrival post-dates publication, but I knew it was from the Crambidae due to its similar size and shape to Mother-of-Pearl, and I quickly found it on the Internet. The moth itself nearly gave me the slip, it had been resting on the outside of the trap and departed as I was carrying the box indoors, before I could get a good look at it. Fortunately it chose to land on the brickwork where I rediscovered it.

The "rare" moth was another one I couldn't find in my moth book. I also couldn't find it on the Internet, and ended up with a very tentative name for it based on something which looked similar.

Anarsia innoxiella

I thought my photograph was decent and the moth wasn't especially small as micros go, so I assumed it would not be anything special. It soon got frisky and I opened the back door to let it fly off. Later in the afternoon I decided to Tweet a picture of it captioned with the name I had assigned it. I was put right by @UKMothIdentification, being told it was actually Anarsia innoxiella. Looking up the status of this moth I was startled to learn it was only described for science in 2017. Alarm bells. Actually this was because a couple of experts had looked at specimens of another Anarsia species and had found some that were different. In fact it is apparently the case that innoxiella could be the commoner of the two. 

Needless to say I am expecting to be asked whether I retained the specimen. Doh ! Again !

The next new one spent a long time in the fridge while I waited to find out whether my identification was correct. This one was very small, and turned out to be what I thought it was Bucculatrix nigricomella. It still took me a long time to figure out (it also isn't in my field guide).

Bucculatrix nigricomella

The last new one was one of the huge tortricidae family, and caused me more headaches. I came up with a very tentative identification of Lobesia abscisana (this one was in the book), and was pleasantly surprised to find that the expert concurred.

Lobesia abscisana

I'm determined to keep putting the full trap list on the blog this year, so here goes:

Bucculatrix nigricomella 1 (nfg),    Bird-cherry Ermine 17,    Yponomeuta ag 2,    Brown House Moth 1,    Ruddy Streak 2,    Anarsia innoxiella 1 (nfg)    Coleophora ag 4,    Twenty-plume Moth 2,    Agapeta hamana 1 (nfy),    Aleimma loeflingiana 1,    Variegated Golden Tortrix 2,    Red-barred Tortrix 5,    Clepsis consimilana 1 (nfy),    Lobesia abscisana 1 (nfg),    Celypha striana 1,    Celypha lacunana 3,    Bud Moth 1,    Codling Moth 8,    Cydia splendana 3,    Pammene fasciana 2,    Phycita roborella 4,    Eudonia lacustrata 3 (nfy),    Garden Grass-veneer 103,    Crambus pascuella 14,    Water-veneer 28,    Small Magpie 1,    Mother-of-Pearl 3 (nfy),    Box-Tree Moth 1 (nfg),    Leopard Moth 1 (nfy),    Elephant Hawk-moth 1,    White Satin 1 (nfy),    Black Arches 1 (nfy),    Common Footman 9,    Scarce Footman 2,    Treble Brown Spot 1 (nfy),    Riband Wave 3,    Green Pug 3,    V-Pug 2 (nfy),    Double-striped Pug 2,    September Thorn 1 (nfy),    Miller 2 (nfy),    Coronet 8,    Knot Grass 1,    Heart and Dart 3,    Uncertain 1,    Marbled Minor ag 2,    Common Wainscot 2 (nfy),    Smoky Wainscot 1 (nfy),   Dark Arches 2,    Common Rustic ag 1 (nfy),    Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 1 (nfy),    Large Yellow Underwing 3,    Double Square-spot 1

So that's 264+ moths (some had to remain unidentified due to wear), of 54 species. Quite a night.

How not to be a twitcher

 I've become very bad at twitching lately.

Since the start of the year I have failed to see a Pied-billed Grebe (suppressed), a Lesser Yellowlegs (dithered too long), a Blyth's Reed Warbler (personal circumstances), and a Montagu's Harrier (heard about it too late). 

Yesterday I added to that list when I completely failed to check RBA, Birdguides, or Twitter, all of which were loudly proclaiming the presence of a Caspian Tern at RSPB Middleton. It seems to have headed off during the evening having remained eminently twitchable all day.

I will admit to having successfully twitched a Red-flanked Bluetail, a Bonaparte's Gull, a Melodious Warbler, and a Red-backed Shrike (on my own patch for goodness sake). The one thing these birds have in common is their proximity to our house. It seems my world is getting smaller, 10 miles is about my limit.

So it's a bit ironic that I travelled over 10 miles in the opposite direction to the Caspian Tern to complete my Turtle Dove survey yesterday. Spoiler alert, I didn't see any.

One the way back I checked Haselor Scrape, and Morton Bagot for signs of change. There were none. The Avocets and Green Sandpipers are still there, and Teal numbers have risen to the dizzying heights of four.

Tonight the moth trap goes out. I won't have to leave the garden, so that's all right then.

Sunday July 11

 I am always tempted to just ignore the bushes and head straight for the flash field at this time of the year. If there is going to be anything good it will be there, and sure enough it was.

Mind you, for "good" read "passable". The best birds were a pair of Avocets, probably the same as the ones present for most of the Spring.

Avocets

I soon got carried away and started filming one of them.

The rest of the nearest flash was much the same as last week; 63 Mallard, a Teal, a Sand Martin, and five Green Sandpipers (at least).

Green Sandpipers

The stroll back through fields of wildflowers was as pleasant as always. Both Lesser Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler were carrying food, proving that they have bred successfully again. Plenty of Chiffchaffs, and Whitethroats flicked in and out of view along the hedgerows.

All the usual butterflies and dragonflies were present, and I was pleased to see my first Four-spotted Chaser and Brown Hawkers of the year. Some discarded plastic tree guards proved attractive to numerous insects including a Meadow Grasshopper, and several Roesel's Bush-crickets. 

Meadow Grasshopper (I think)

Roesel's Bush-cricket

Back home I found a Mason Wasp in the front bedroom.

Mason Wasp Ancistrocerus ag

I was trapping moths on Friday night for the GMS. My total of 135 moths of 34 species contained none that was new for the garden, but several new for the year. The full list was as follows:

Pammene fasciana 4,    Garden Grass-veneer 35,     Phycita roborella 8,    Common Marbled Carpet 1,    Crambus pascuella 9,    Coronet 7,    Water-veneer 18,    Bird-cherry Ermine 8 (nfy),    Foxglove Pug 1 (nfy),    Green Pug 2,    Eudonia mercurella 1 (nfy),    Codling Moth 7,    Marbled Orchard Tortrix 2,    Variegated Golden Tortrix 1,    Celypha lacunana 1,    Cydia splendana 1 (nfy),    Common White Wave 1 (nfy),    Light Emerald 1,    Common Footman 3,    Blue-bordered Carpet 1 (nfy),    Heart and Dart 2,    Brown House Moth 1,    Uncertain 5,    Dark Arches 3,    Small Magpie 1,    Riband Wave 2,    Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 1 (nfy),    Bramble-shoot Moth 1 (nfy),    Marbled Minor ag 1,    Ruddy Streak 1,    Large Yellow Underwing 1,    Scarce Footman 1 (nfy),    Cydia fagiglandana 2 (nfy),    Aleimma loeflingiana 1.

Patching, Bioblitzing, and mothing - Early July

 Today's visit to the patch, with Dave able to join me, was the culmination of a few days of nature watching. Cloudy, with the odd shower and rather muggy, it was too quiet. Our 42 species beat the Bioblitz total (actually I don't know the final score so it probably doesn't) but contained rather less quality. Six or seven Green Sandpipers hid behind rushes at the deep end of the nearest flash, while Teal numbers had risen to four.

It fell to a dragonfly and a moth to attempt a mini rescue, as our first Southern Hawker and Blood-vein of the year allowed themselves to be photographed.

Southern Hawker

Blood-vein

So what's a Bioblitz when its at home? Well on Friday evening and Saturday the Heart of England Forest (HOEF) had organised various "events", each one hosted by an HOEF volunteer or staff member. I chose to join the bird walk in the morning and a dragonfly hunt in the afternoon. I could have picked moths, bird-ringing, mammals, reptiles, or plants. Maybe next year.

The venues were Middle Spernall and Alne Wood.

The bird walk was led from Middle Spernall by Sam McVie and the ranger Aaron. A pleasant surprise for me was the presence of a pair of Yellowhammers on telephone wires above the car-park. As they have gone from Morton Bagot I had not expected them at Middle Spernall just a mile up the road.

The male Yellowhammer

Early July is a typical time for a Bioblitz because of all the flowering plants and insects on offer. It's not so good for birds, coming in the lull between spring and autumn. Nevertheless there was plenty of interest. A Grey Wagtail flew over, and Common Swift numbers built to between 20 and 30 by the end of the morning. There were just enough warblers still singing to keep the punters happy, and these included several Willow Warblers (a species not yet regular on territory at Morton Bagot), and a singing Grasshopper Warbler. The latter seemed likely to remain unseen and the majority of the party had moved off when I spotted a small brown bird fly across the grassland and perch in a distant hawthorn. Through binoculars it could have been anything, but the power of my P900 allowed me to confirm that it was indeed the Grasshopper Warbler.

Grasshopper Warbler

Oddly, this was not the best bird we saw. That was saved for the afternoon when volunteer Alan was leading a group of would-be dragonfly spotters around. We were back at the pool where the now silent Grasshopper Warbler had been singing, and the dragonfly list was being assembled a little too slowly. I drifted away from the main group and disturbed a Robin-like bird from a bush. It shivered its tail and I knew it would be a Redstart. As it took flight I got a clear view of its orange tail and bellowed "Redstart" at the top of my voice. Sam came running just in time to see the bird fly to the left out of sight, but apparently also across the pool in front of the dragonfly spotters.

Getting back on message, I saw most of the dragonflies which had braved the rather gloomy weather. Damselflies comprised the majority of the species seen, while the Emperor and Black-tailed Skimmer seen refused to settle or come close. Fortunately a few immature Ruddy Darters did allow close examination.

Ruddy Darter

As the bulk of the party had to depart to be in time to start a guided butterfly walk, Alan and I sloped off to see what else we could find. In the end there were no more dragonfly species, but I did come across a nice day-flying moth, namely a Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet. 

Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet

Turning finally to moths, and going still further back in time, I put my garden moth trap out on Wednesday night. The result was a somewhat chaotic Thursday ultimately containing 73 moths of 30 species. Twelve of them were new for the year. This is the full list:

Green Pug 1      Elephant Hawk-moth 1    Brimstone Moth 1    Timothy Tortrix 1 (nfy)    

Crambus pascuella 17    Garden Grass-veneer 8    Common Footman 2    Lozotaenia forsterana 1 (nfy)    

Phycita roborella 1 (nfy)    Codling Moth 4    Red-barred Tortrix 1    Scoparia ambigualis 1 (nfy)

Celypha lacunana 1 (nfy)    Aleimma loefligiana 2 (nfy)    Carcina quercana 1 (nfy)    Marbled Orchard Tortrix 1    Riband Wave 1    Blotched Emerald 1 (nfy)    Buff-tip 2    Coronet 1    Uncertain 7    

Ingrailed Clay 1 (nfy)    Heart and Club 1    Vine's Rustic 1    Garden Carpet 1    Flame 1 (nfy)    

Heart and Dart 9    Large Yellow Underwing 1    Variegated Golden Tortrix 1 (nfy)     Pammene fasciana 1 (nfy).

Moth trapping is fun, but getting up at 04.00 to protect the moths from discovery by hungry garden birds takes its toll on your sleep patterns.