Tuesday May 7 - The Thrift

Returning to this year's tenuous woodland theme this morning I visited The Thrift, a wood just west of Redditch, to see what I could find.

Like all woodland in May it was a joy to visit and good for the soul, but seemed to contain nothing out of the ordinary. However a surprise was in store.

The Thrift

A couple of Common Whitethroats were singing from the hedgerows near the wood, but the only summer visitors under the canopy were Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps.

Blackcap

Photographing birds in woodland without the use of a hide is challenging, but can be done if you're prepared to put up with the vegetation spoiling the shot.

Anyway, on my way out I flushed a thrush from scrub. It flew up and landed in full view, not  the Song Thrush I'd been expecting but a very late Redwing. Sadly it was gone before I came even close to grabbing a record shot.

To add some context, this is only the third Redwing I've seen in May in forty-five years of birding. Annoyingly it isn't quite my latest, that accolade goes to one at Upton Warren on May 9 1984.

Finally, a bit of moth news. A little micro landed on the kitchen window yesterday afternoon. I managed to pot it, and eventually worked out it was a Sulphur Tubic (aka Sulphur Bark Moth in the latest edition of Parsons). 

Sulphur Bark Moth Esperia sulphurella

It always amazes how a tiny black moth (measured at 8 mm) becomes transformed under a hand lens, or with a close up photo. This was the second for the garden, but its a pretty common moth.