Sunday July 30 - What a difference a bird makes

The last few days have been pretty dire at Morton Bagot. I slogged around on Friday without seeing anything of note, and I gather John C was equally unsuccessful yesterday. So this morning I was fearing it would be more of the same, but you can never tell.

An early mini boost came from a showy Sedge Warbler sitting in a hedge while I waited for Dave to join me.

Juvenile Sedge Warbler

Once we got going, a further upside was a singing Grasshopper Warbler, and two Little Egrets in the pool field. The latter had also been present on Friday.

As we approached the flash field Dave's phone pinged with news of a Black-tailed Godwit at Marsh Lane. I could tell he wasn't happy. So it was all the more uplifting when I scanned through the trees screening the nearest flash and spotted an adult Black-tailed Godwit standing in its shallow centre. The first here since 2021.

Black-tailed Godwit

Aside from this bird we could only see a couple of Green Sandpipers and a few Lapwings, but that one arrival was all it took to elevate the spirits.

In fact there was a little extra to see. On the Kingfisher Pool (still being scraped away by the land-owner for purposes unknown) we spotted a Kingfisher. I have subsequently noticed it is ringed, and as Tony K caught one at Netherstead last weekend, it is likely to be the same bird.

Kingfisher on the muddy bank

Our return along the Morton Brook brought us a few more warblers and plenty of butterflies, particularly Commas, Peacocks and Red Admirals, but the best was saved for Netherstead where a Holly Blue posed, uncharacteristically showing its upper side to good effect.

Holly Blue

This may be my first here this year.

Our morning was curtailed by my desire to get back home to watch the fourth day of the Ashes. Right now that is looking like an unnecessarily hasty decision.

Wednesday July 26 - time to wean myself off identification apps?

 I'm going right off tech. Around this time last year I was introduced to an identification app called Obsidentify. It came with plenty of warnings about over-reliance on it, but once you start using you think you can handle it.

Come the moth season I found myself checking everything using the app, even when I knew perfectly well what I was looking at. It was always gratifying to have that 100% certain (or anything over 90%) backing up your identification. 

The trouble is, it makes you lazy. Why trawl through hundreds of images looking for a match when app tells you straight away? This week, some sobering app misidentifications have shaken my faith.

Tuesday night was too cold for mothing really, but I needed a moth fix and I ended up with an OK figure of 74 moths of 26 species. It was mostly species I'd seen already seen this year but I still found myself using the tech on obvious things like Canary-shouldered Thorn.

Canary-shouldered Thorn

Now to be fair to the app, the first properly small micro I looked at would have taken me a very long time to work out. Also, I should have been mindful of its 75% certainty. Nevertheless it really did look like a Plum Fruit Moth when I checked the books.

Plum Fruit Moth Grapholita funebrana...or is it?

It was only later that I realised there was a lookalike from which it can only be distinguished under a microscope. Never mind, it probably is one.

But things took a turn for the worse when I potted a rather worn moth which didn't ring any bells at all. Lazily I Obsidentified it, and was told it was definitely Crambus perlella. This is a fairly common grass moth, but I had only ever caught one before. I let it go, and moved on. Later, I checked the photograph and wondered how come it was that. It didn't even look like a grass moth. I sent the image to an on-line expert and he confirmed my worse fears. It was not Crambus anything, but was a worn Phycitodes species which could not be identified from the crap photo I'd sent him. He didn't actually say that, but I'm sure he was thinking it.

Not a clue.

On the bright side I did see three Black Arches and no technology was needed.

Black Arches

But it gets worse.

Today, after a rather uninspiring walk around Morton Bagot (Kingfisher new for the year, hardly any Green Sandpipers, an adult Peregrine and not a lot else) I joined Leigh K to help her with any tricky identifications on a butterfly transect at College Wood.

The adult Peregrine

Leigh was particularly concerned about distinguishing Essex and Small Skippers. I was pretty confident we would find some, having seen at least one at Morton Bagot earlier. The task was to prove harder than expected. A couple of good candidates was seen, and I made the call. Then I took another photograph, and backed down. They are not easy, but I was quite sure one at least was a Small Skipper.

Orange at the tip of otherwise black antennae tips, Small Skipper surely.

When I got back to the car I decided to run them past Obsidentify. The photo shown above was described as 100% Essex Skipper. What? So back home I checked on-line to see if I could find anything to support the app. I couldn't.

So apart from dodgy Skippers we saw relatively few butterflies as the cloud cover increased, but did at least see a very smart Small Copper.

Small Copper

No need for any technical support this time, or perhaps ever again!

Full list: Small Skipper 4, Small White 12, Small Copper 1, Red Admiral 5, Small Tortoiseshell 1, Peacock 8, Comma 1, Speckled Wood 11, Gatekeeper 13, Meadow Brown 15, Ringlet 1.

Sunday July 23 - Morton Bagot

 This post is an amalgamation of two visits, Friday and today. The earlier visit was largely disappointing and only gets a mention at all because it included the highest count this year of Green Sandpipers. A total of 11 were lined up along the back edge of the nearest flash. The Avocets and Little Ringed Plover seen earlier in the week had departed and had not been replaced by anything new.

On Saturday it rained and rained, but this morning dawned bright with just a couple of very brief showers. Dave joined me, and within five minutes the star bird (or birds) flew over. "Kyip kyip" calls announced the presence of at least one Common Crossbill flying south (judging from the calls). We scanned above us but were unable to latch onto a single bird. Fortunately the calls were distinctive enough to claim our first of the year. Also on the move were a few Swifts. We counted 10 or so, which is better than recently.

Buoyed by this start we made our way to the flash field where, scanning from the distance, we could see something new. There is a certain frisson of excitement when you lock onto a new wader, one that is clearly not a Green Sandpiper. Names go through your head, Greenshank, Ruff, err...oh Common Redshank. We got closer and confirmed it was just a Redshank, although at least it was a juvenile and therefore definitely different from the adult earlier in the the month.

Common Redshank (Green Sand in the background)

As for Green Sandpipers, it is highly likely that the eleven from Friday were still here, but the recent rain has raised the level a little and we could only see three. Most of the Lapwings were also out of sight. Birding at Morton Bagot can be a frustrating business. Eventually a Little Egret and a Grey Heron flew in (probably disturbed from the pool field).

The walk back was hi-jacked by insects.

A male Dark Bush-cricket

A male Roesel's Bush-cricket

A male White-legged Damselfly

Udea lutealis

They were all insects we were familiar with, and only a micro moth Udea lutealis was new for the year. However, we did get some more new stuff at the dragonfly ponds. A Common Darter was to be expected, but the highlight was a male Common Emerald Damselfly. 

Common Emerald Damselfly

They were probably here, but we managed to miss the species entirely last year. 

I probably should have spent more time counting insects, but as July edges towards August my focus returns to birds. Mind you, a moth-trapping session is overdue.

Tuesday July 18 - Mostly still flogging the patch

 I've actually been out birding three times since I last posted anything. Friday was an Earlswood Lakes washout, and Sunday was a wind blown stroll around Morton Bagot with Dave. We confirmed the continued presence of the handful of waders (except for the Common Sandpiper) seen previously.

Today was a little bit better. For a start the farmer has released his cattle into the flash field and has put the strimmer into action so that it is now possible to see all the waders which are present on the nearest flash. Good man.

I counted nine Green Sandpipers, 25 Lapwings, three Teal, and a Little Ringed Plover. Also a pair of Avocets has returned. There was also unexpected evidence of passerine movement. A Reed Warbler was singing from the hedge adjacent to the nearest flash. There has been no evidence that they have bred here this year, so this bird had probably dispersed from elsewhere prior to commencing southward migration.

Avocets

The same thing happened last July. I'm guessing these are from Upton Warren, but I don't know really.

It's obviously the mowing season because the HOEF tractor was also being driven around, scything the grass in the field behind the pool field. This proved a draw for an opportunist Kestrel and also attracted the attention of the local Red Kite. 

Red Kite

I took the opportunity for a long-range snap as it waited for the activity to die down.

Sunday had been the better day for insects. Dave added Essex Skipper to his year-list, and we also noticed one or two Shaded Broad-bar moths on the wing. 

Essex Skipper

Shaded Broad-bar

If I'm honest though, it feels a bit like I'm treading water at present.

One bird I didn't see on Sunday was the White-tailed Eagle which was reported over Redditch while I was watching the Wimbledon Men's Final on the tele. Still, it will have been captive bred, probably like the Tundra Bean Goose which continues to hang around Arrow Valley Lake (but apparently is occasionally absent).

Wednesday July 12 - What's changed at Morton Bagot?

After Monday's upbeat post about the waders at Morton Bagot I was keen to get down there again to see if there was anything new.

One obvious difference became apparent as I entered the old pool field. The cattle are back. This is actually a good thing, particularly as I don't own a dog. The large horned beasts eyed me with suspicion, but were not tempted to trot over.

Dog owners beware

The actual scrapes remain largely bird-less except for a Little Egret which quickly relocated to the flash field. Also present, but invisible, was a singing Grasshopper Warbler.

So far, so similar. The flashes still look good but autumn migration is slow and there wasn't much difference. The adult Redshank and Little Ringed Plover have both gone, but the latter was replaced by two juveniles.

Juvenile Little Ringed Plovers keeping their distance.

Still present were at least six Green Sandpipers and the Common Sandpiper, but like the Little Ringed Plovers they were feeding at the back of the nearest flash. The Teal are back to just two female types.

Six Greylag Geese have turned up. The Tundra Bean Goose has now thoroughly blotted its copybook by slouching around Arrow Valley Lake with the Greylags. I can't quite bring myself to go and look at it, now that it's pretty certainly an escape. But if it turns up at Morton Bagot its poor provenance will be conveniently forgotten.

It's too early in the return passage season to be looking for passerines with any optimism, so its waders or bust until August.

Monday July 10 - Encouraging signs at Morton Bagot

Whisper it very quietly, but the condition of the nearest flash at Morton Bagot is just about perfect. I went there today, and counted 30 waders of five species. OK 19 of them were Lapwings, but that still left room for eight Green Sandpipers, a Common Sandpiper, a Little Ringed Plover, and best of all my first Redshank of the year.

Redshank

Green Sandpiper

Little Ringed Plover

Common Sandpiper

Lapwings

This is about as good as the flash gets, 50% water, 50% mud. If only it would stay that way. The weather forecast for the next week is pretty rainy, so it shouldn't be drying out. But too much and the mud will disappear.

Also present were three Teal, two Little Egrets, and two Grey Herons.

Before I even reached the flash field (where the viewing is still a bit restricted) I counted two or three singing Grasshopper Warblers, and lots of butterflies. These included my first Essex Skippers of the year and a lot more Gatekeepers than last week. The year turns, and different insects peak in numbers.

Essex Skipper

Counting butterflies takes a lot of concentration and diligence, two qualities I do not really possess. So although I got some counts, these will be far below the actual numbers present. As for moths, I soon tired of looking at the grass moths but did catch one to confirm that they now include Agriphila straminella as well as numerous Garden Grass Veneers.

Agriphila straminella temporarily detained.

I can see my wandering away from Morton Bagot being curtailed in order to take advantage of the temporary perfection of the habitat.

Sunday July 9 - weekly update

 My only visit to Morton Bagot this week was a brief check of the flash field on Thursday. It contained a Common Sandpiper, which was new for the site this year, at least three Green Sandpipers with probably more hidden from view, and a pair of Teal.

Common Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper

The reason for the brevity of the visit was that I focussed on Bannams Wood in another failed attempt to see Purple Emperor. I did at least see a Silver-washed Fritillary and a Southern Hawker, both of which were my first of the season.

Southern Hawker

Another highlight was a calling Red Kite, the strongest evidence yet that they are breeding in the wood.

So on Friday night I was trying to decide whether to pay another visit to the patch or to put the moth trap out on what was clearly going to be a warm, still evening.

The moths won, and consequently I experienced my highest ever trap total of at least 472 moths. I say at least because several escaped as I was hauling the trap into the utility room, and subsequently I lost count as more and more Garden Grass Veneers came out of the woodwork.

Those little grass moths dominated in numbers, and I got at least 275 of them, plus 60 Water Veneers. Much of the morning was spent catching and removing them from the house. 

Fortunately there was a little bit of quality and so new for the garden were a Wax Moth (a micro that is as large as any macro), and Tischeria ekebladella (a tiny moth Lyn spotted in the toilet bowl in time to allow me to rescue it).

Wax Moth

Tischeria ekebladella

Other noteworthy ones were Gypsonoma oppressana (second for the garden), Mottled Beauty (first since 2019), and Latticed Heath (first since 2020).

Gypsonoma oppressana

Mottled Beauty

Latticed Heath

Having not trapped moths for a couple of weeks there were also plenty new for the year.

Sunday July 2 - Morton Bagot

 After a week of doing very little birding (a visit to the river Arrow and Arrow Valley Lake yesterday delivered only an American Mink, about five Little Egrets which looked like newly fledged birds, and a Common Tern) I met with Dave for another bash around Morton Bagot.

I suggested we start in Bannam's Wood as there was a chance of Purple Emperor, but under cloudy skies and even a few spots of rain that proved to be a poor idea. The highlight was what we took to be a Common Spotted Orchid.

Once on the patch our luck improved slightly. We had good views of one of three singing Grasshopper Warblers, and very good views of one of the singing Skylarks which should remain on site as long as the last piece of grassland is not converted to plantation.

Grasshopper Warbler

We also saw our first recently fledged Sedge Warbler and the usual butterflies including our first Gatekeeper here of the year.

The nearest flash looks in good nick. It contained a few Lapwings and at least six Green Sandpipers.

Two of the Green Sandpipers

I can see myself being tempted to come back here during the week.

Our outbound journey was a bit hurried because I wanted to watch the Test Match (another defeat, but it had some exciting moments) but we did notice a female Long-winged Conehead in the scrubby grassland bordering the brook.

Long-winged Conehead

This impressive little cricket is now resident here, it shares the habitat with numerous Dark Bush-crickets.