Sunday August 1

 It's a quiet time of year for birding, so I was pleased to receive notice that the ringers were back in action at Morton Bagot on Saturday morning. I couldn't join them because I was identifying moths in our garden for the GMS, but they have kindly shared their results.

Whilst sitting around waiting for birds to enter their nets they heard Grasshopper Warbler and saw Barn Owl. It pays to start early. Their catch was:

Chiffchaff 2,    Blackcap 1,    Sedge Warbler 1,    Lesser Whitethroat 1,    Wren 1,    Robin 1,    Greenfinch 3

Lesser Whitethroat - per T Kelly

Sedge Warbler - per T Kelly

This morning Dave and I arrived in steady drizzle, but fortunately it only lasted an hour. It was pretty hard going, and although we did find a party of four Lesser Whitethroats we were unable to match the ringers' success. One curiosity was the transformation of the nearest flash from a muddy slick to a lagoon with barely any edge. The 18 Lapwings and one Green Sandpiper were all standing up to their haunches in the shallow end. I suppose it may have been the recent rain, or possibly the farmer can control the water levels.

With few birds on offer, the humid conditions once the rain stopped did at least allow close examination of any insects that crossed our path. The first Essex Skipper we found being content to sit on my finger (later transferred to Dave's to allow a photograph).

Essex Skipper showing black tipped antennae

It's the best time of year for looking for crickets and grasshoppers, and I can still just about hear their rasping songs.

Meadow Grasshopper

If my hearing was more sensitive I'm sure they would have been deafening. 

I wish I knew more about plants. Among the few I can name are many that I can't. But you can always take a picture and then thumb your way through a Field Guide until you see something similar. I believe this is Yarrow. Probably.

Yarrow

As for moths, we saw several Shaded Broad-bars, Silver Ys, and hundreds of grass moths (all the ones I looked at were Agriphila straminella), but the best way to record them is by catching them.

Which brings me to Friday night's efforts. It was a shade cooler than recently and the garden catch was consequently down to a more manageable 59 moths of 29 species. None were new for the garden, but I did find a Canary-shouldered Thorn, which was my first since 2018.

Canary-shouldered Thorn

My full list was:

Bird-cherry Ermine 16,    Diamond-back Moth 1 (nfy),    Blastobasis adustella 1,    Bryotropha ag (thought to be terrella) 1,    Acleris forsskaleana 1 (nfy),    Celypha striana 1,    Cydia splendana 2,    Codling Moth 1,    Phycita roborella 3,    Eudonia mercurella 2,    Eudonia lacustrata 1,    Garden Grass-veneer 1,    Agriphila straminella 1 (nfy),    Riband Wave 4,    Brimstone Moth 1,    September Thorn 1,    Canary-shouldered Thorn 1 (nfy)    Black Arches 2,    Swallow Prominent 1,    Dingy Footman 1 (nfy),    Common Footman 3,    Scarce Footman 1,    Coronet 1,    Common Rustic ag 5,    Dark Arches 1,    Heart and Dart 1,    Dun-bar 1,    Bright-line Brown-eye 1,    Shuttle-shaped Dart 1,    Small Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 1.