This morning was bright and sunny, so I decided to give Morton Bagot another look. It was immediately apparent, and unsurprising, that most of the warblers etc from Sunday had moved on. However I did get a rather soft Morton Bagot year-tick when I heard a Grey Wagtail call as it flew over.
There were still some Blackcaps and Whitethroats about, but the best find came when I spotted some Whinchats on the ridge which usually attracts them. Before long they started to fly towards the old pool field, and one seemed to lack the white tail base despite otherwise looking Whinchat-like. I tried to find it again, but all I could get on were Whinchats.
Moving on to the flash field I was pleased to find the gallery occupied by Martin Wheeler. I hadn't seen him at all this year, so it was good to catch up. He was hoping to see the Garganey, but was having trouble picking it out. After about half an hour's fruitless searching I discovered the problem. The Garganey was asleep with slumbering Teal in an awkward spot among the sedges. Fortunately it briefly woke up, allowing us both to identify it. The supporting cast was just a few Green Sandpipers and Snipe, while I could only count 29 Teal.
Martin was keen to see the Whinchats so I offered to accompany him to where I had last seen them. We duly spotted one without difficulty, and eventually another two. Then I saw my mystery chat again, perched on a tall piece of vegetation. It was between us and the sun, but through the scope I became more certain it was a Stonechat as I couldn't see white tail bases when it preened. Slightly worryingly the rump looked orangey. At one point the sun went behind a stray cloud and I got a better impression of it. It seemed to be a female Stonechat with a white throat and a bit of a whiteish supercilium.
I decided to get a better view with the sun behind us, and this time there was no doubt at all it was a Stonechat.
I would have like a bit longer with it, but my time was up and I had to get home.
Sunday night moths
I caught 62 moths of 15 species, most of which were Large Yellow Underwings. However, two of them were garden ticks. The one I was most pleased about was a Red Underwing. It was resting on the side of the trap late in the evening, so I managed to pot it and photograph it in the living room. It was so large, it almost didn't fit in the pot.
These are supposed to be common moths, but they are not all that attracted to light which is why, apart from a fly-through of a probable one last year, I hadn't seen one before.
Another good moth found that night was a Cypress Pug resting on the window. This was only the third for the garden.
The rarest moth was saved for the following morning. While Cypress Pugs are getting commoner, the Hedge Rustic is becoming very scarce. So scarce in fact, that I'd never heard of it. The find thus owed a lot to luck. I could see it resting in the trap, and nearly logged it as an unusually dark Square-spot Rustic. Fortunately I decided it was worth checking with Obsidentify. That offered me Turnip Moth or Heart and Club as a fifty fifty, and I knew it wasn't either of those. I potted it and put it in the fridge to wait for the light to improve. When it did so I tried Obsidentify again, and this time it said 100% Hedge Rustic. So I checked the index of my field guide and found it did exist.
It was a rather worn example, but just about fit with on-line images. The Moths of Warwickshire described it as rare in the county and declining. I suspect I've been fortunate to see one before they die out altogether.
Incidentally they are a moth of grassland, and apparently never spend any time in hedges. Another example of a dodgy name.
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