Thursday July 23 - Morton Bagot

 Maybe it was the later start (09:20), but the birding was rather less exciting than on my last visit. I did manage to see a Lesser Whitethroat among the numerous Common Whitethroats but the Whinchats and Redstart seemed to have gone.

The nearest flash remains dry, so it was left to a combination of the furthest flash and the Kingfisher Pool to supply the only waders, five Green Sandpipers and the usual Little Egret.

Fortunately there was enough interest among the insects to make it worth banging out a post. One species that is common at Morton Bagot is the Emperor dragonfly. Seeing them is quite easy, but they rarely settle so I don't get to photograph many. Today my luck was in.

Butterflies too were on the wing in reasonable diversity (although I wouldn't have said the numbers were anything special). On Sunday I had seen my first Clouded Yellow here and attempted a shot of it. Today I saw another one, and this time it perched in a place where it was easy to see well.

This is certainly the year to connect with one.

Tuesday July 21 - Morton Bagot

 One of the best things about birding is that you can never quite predict what you are going to see. I had the opportunity to get out early this morning, and decided on another visit to Morton Bagot. I didn't expect to see much, but for once I had underestimated the patch.

I gave myself a metaphorical pat on the back for the first good find of the day. As I walked along the hedge leading away from where the ringers set their nets I noticed a lot of small birds, mainly Whitethroats calling persistently. I wondered whether they had seen an Owl, but I was on the wrong side of the hedge to give the favoured tree stump a look. It would have been easy to be lazy and just keep going, but no, I opted to clamber over the gate at the end and backtrack. A Barn Owl was my reward.

Before I could work out how to get a clearer shot, the Barn Owl jumped up the tree and exited out of the back of the hedge. This was the first I'd seen here since January, although I was aware that a pair was still in the area.

I continued to the Flash field, but was disappointed to see that the nearest flash was completely dry and occupied by just two Lapwings and a Black-headed Gull. I decided to walk back up the slope to scope the furthest flash, which at least still contains water. It also harboured four Green Sandpipers and a few Mallard and Moorhens.

On the walk back a helicopter flew directly overhead and rather did me a favour because it flushed three more Green Sandpipers proving that there must still be some water in one of the HOEF scrapes.

I was just passing the line of small bushes which stretch over the ridge away from the scrape field when I noticed a Whitethroat flit into one of the shrubs. I raised my bins to look at it, and found that the bush also contained a male Whinchat. Now I have seen Whinchat here in July before, but not often. It seems that the ringers theory that passerines had started to migrate was right. Adults tend to leave first, leaving the youngsters to work it out for themselves once they're strong enough.

It looked a bit scruffy, and was rather distant (the photo was taken at maximum zoom). I edge closer hoping for another shot, and found a second Whinchat. This time a female type.

Further attempts to get a decent shot were largely unsuccessful, but I did manage one with both birds in frame (albeit at either end of the shot).

I was very pleased to see these birds, although I suppose it could signify a failed breeding attempt somewhere in northern Britain.

How cool would it be to also see the Stonechats. So I headed back to the dragonfly pools at Netherstead, and sure enough a male Stonechat was still there.

But I wasn't done. The hedge in front of Netherstead Farm can be good for passage Redstarts, so I gave it a scan with no real expectation. And blow me, I was standing directly opposite a male Redstart busily preening its rather scruffy plumage.

I'd seen both a Whinchat and a Redstart here in spring, but it was great to find both in July. There's no doubt that for birds the autumn has arrived.

Sunday July 19 - Morton Bagot (and some garden moths)

 The long period without any rain continues, although this morning there were periods of complete cloud cover. The wind was a light northerly and there was enough sunshine to make it worth looking for insects.

The ringers were in action for the second day running, and Dave and I arrived in good time to see a first-year Garden Warbler they had just caught.

At this time of year ringing is far more effective at surveying bird populations than fieldwork. They had just had a surge in Whitethroats and were wondering whether they were indicative of the commencement of autumn migration. 

These are their results from two days ringing here (re-traps in brackets):

Blue Tit 21 (10)

Great Tit 13 (6)

Whitethroat 26 (2)

Grasshopper Warbler 2

Blackcap 3

Chiffchaff 4

Garden Warbler 1

Lesser Whitethroat 1

Robin 4 (3)

Blackbird 1

Dunnock 3 (1)

Wren 4

Greenfinch 6 (1)

Goldfinch 1

As far as passerines are concerned Dave and I saw lots of Whitethroats too. We also recorded a Reed Warbler, a Sedge Warbler, a Marsh Tit, and the regular pair of Stonechats.

The nearest flash is virtually dry, but on the plus side the rushes which hide most of it have been strimmed, so once there is a bit of water in it we'll have a decent chance of seeing any waders present. As it was, we counted eight or nine Green Sandpipers and three or four Lapwings on the damper areas of mud.

The main interest was provided by insects. The Big Butterfly Count organised by Butterfly Conservation requires just a fifteen minute count (as often as you like), so I did that. Gatekeepers (37) outshone all the other species counted. Our best find was outside the count slot, and was a patch tick. Yes we finally added a Clouded Yellow to our patch list. I'd like to say we were the first, but I understand one of the ringers saw one here earlier in the week.

Unfortunately our insect cowered in the vegetation when I tried to photograph it, so apologies for the disappointing shot.

Normally this species turns up in small numbers, and mainly only to south coast counties. But this year is a good one, and they're turning up all over the place.

I brought my GMS forward a day this week. So on Thursday night I counted 285 moths of 58 species. Disappointingly there was very little particularly noteworthy in a garden context, and I would say my best moth was the micro Clavigesta purdeyi a species which is a Pine specialist. I had previously caught two in 2022, but none since.

I appreciate it is difficult to give a true impression of size when showing pictures of moths. The one above is just 5mm long in life. 

Morton Bagot and Earlswood

 Morton Bagot

Oh dear, it's not coming home. In an attempt to shrug off the post-match blues I went to Morton Bagot this morning.

Very warm and sunny, the heatwave has once again evaporated most of the water from the nearest flash leaving a substantial area of mud. This was being exploited by at least 14 Green Sandpipers and a Snipe, and these had attracted an opportunistic juvenile Kestrel which attempted to swoop onto several waders. It also disturbed a Mistle Thrush causing it to reveal its presence through its call. A couple of Teal could just about be identified in the heat haze as they swam around the furthest flash.

A number of Clouded Yellow butterflies have been seen in the West Midlands recently, so I was hopeful I might find one these scarce migrants here for the first time. Sadly, although there were plenty of other butterfly species on the wing, my search was unsuccessful.

Earlswood

On Tuesday I'd spent a couple of hours at Earlswood where there is now a broad margin of compacted stony mud around both Engine and Windmill Pool. It had been a cloudy early morning, but the only wader I saw was a single Oystercatcher.

There had been up to three Oystercatchers in the days running up to my visit, and my photograph demonstrates the reason for the attraction. I believe it was attempting to break into a freshwater Mussel, although I can't tell which species was involved. 

Sunday July 12 - Morton Bagot (and garden moths)

 I recently read an on-line article by a guy (I couldn't work out whether he was Finnish or Irish) explaining in great detail how to be proficient in finding rare birds. It reminded me that any hopes I might have that I could be that person are entirely delusional. Getting away from all the - go birding at the right place, know your birds, keep looking up, scan every bush, check the weather stuff, the absolute killer was keep going all day, every day. Those days are gone.

Today's two hour effort comprised a mooch around Morton Bagot, and my birding highlight was a toss up between discovering that the juvenile Lapwing was still alive on the scrape field, and counting four Green Sandpipers and two Little Ringed Plovers on the nearest flash. They were shimmering in the heat of yet another hot sunny day, so the only chance I got to photograph a bird came courtesy of the pair of Stonechats still present at the dragonfly ponds.

Female Stonechat

However, I did find something good. Just not a bird. Back on 10 July 2022 I had added Red-eyed Damselfly to my site list, and now almost exactly four years later I spotted another. It was resting on vegetation on the surface of the Kingfisher Pool, most of the floating leaves and other detritus being occupied by Small Red-eyed Damselflies. The latter were also my first of the year, but are much the commoner Red-eyed species here since they first appeared about ten years ago.

Red-eyed Damselfly

Small Red-eyed Damselfly

For the main difference between the two species look at the back end of the abdomen.

While researching my blog for the last time I photographed Red-eyed D at Morton Bagot I was reminded that 10 July 2022 was also the day Dave and I found an adult Honey-buzzard here. So even old duffers like us occasionally get lucky and become rarity finders.

As for moths, well as you'd expect the hot nights have delivered. I brought forward my most recent GMS night by one day so that I wouldn't be semi-comatose when the football was on.

Thus on Thursday night I was witness to a deluge of at least 409 moths of 68 species, many of which were new for the year. Three species (maybe four) were new to the garden, although the first of these was not in fact a moth. While Lyn washed in the bathroom I couldn't help noticing a monstrous cricket clinging to the ceiling above her head. I potted what proved to be a Long-winged Conehead, a species I have seen at Morton Bagot, but not in our garden before.

Long-winged Conehead

Among the actual moths the following morning from dawn, I gained for the garden a Common Purple & Gold Pyrausta purpuralis and a Twin-spotted Wainscot.

Common Purple and Gold (Similar to the much more common Mint Moth, this individual seems to have had its wings clipped by a bird. It still flew off before I got a second chance of a photo)

Twin-spotted Wainscot

Other moths included two Least Carpets, six Tree-lichen Beauties, a remarkable 30 Broad-bordered Yellow Underwings, a Maple Pug, another four Small Mottled Willows (bringing this year's total of what was thought to be a scarce migrant to eight), another Cydia interscindana (the previous one a fortnight ago was the first for Warwickshire), a possible Cryptic Ash Bud Moth Prays ruficeps (this would be a garden first if the moth recorder considers my rather poor photos sufficient evidence), a Scarce Silver-lines (only my second, and for me the best looking moth of the night), and five migrant Rush Veneers.

Scarce Silver-lines

As usual the full list of moths new for the year has been updated on the appropriate page.

PS: The Cryptic Ash Bud Moth Prays ruficeps was accepted by the recorder on the basis of the images sent.

Prays ruficeps

Tuesday July 7 - Morton Bagot

I went to Morton Bagot yesterday to buy some eggs from the farm. In the lane I bumped into Martin who was planning to walk down to the flashes to see what was there. 

We both achieved complete success. I bought my eggs, while Martin found a Great White Egret. Unfortunately for me it was on the Kingfisher Pool which meant it flushed immediately, along with two Little Egrets. Twitching it would likely be a waste of time because previous birds had generally disappeared never to be seen again.

This morning I was nevertheless back at the patch. Well, you never know. What I found was that the nearest flash had been reflooded leaving just a small amount of exposed mud. Two Green Sandpipers were occupying it, but the only herons were a Grey Heron and a Little Egret.

Little Egret

I'd taken my scope in case the GWE had been on the furthest flash, and this paid off to a degree because enabled me to relocate the Gadwall we'd seen briefly in flight in mid June. Too distant for a photo though.

Sunday July 5 - Mostly Morton Bagot

 There was quite a gathering at Morton Bagot this morning, mostly a ringing team, plus me and Dave. We timed our visit quite well because just as we started to saunter off Leigh called us back to see a juvenile Grasshopper Warbler they had just caught.

Earlier in the morning they had caught an adult female with a brood patch, while another bird had unfortunately escaped before it could be ringed.

Our tour of the site produced a vocal couple of Kestrels suggesting recently fledged juveniles, and at the nearest flash 14 Lapwings, two Green Sandpipers, a Little Egret, and the first returning Snipe of the "autumn".

I had paid a visit on Thursday when I'd counted 11 Green Sandpipers and four Little Ringed Plovers including a fledged juvenile, but today they were nowhere to be seen.

Back to today. The remainder of the circuit confirmed the presence of five Red Kites, all of which seemed to be adults. A couple of the pairs seemed to be testing their territorial boundaries, while another was visible over Bannams. Another indication of how times have changed was that we were quite pleased to count a mere six Swifts. 

The pair of Stonechats was still present at the dragonfly pools as we completed the circle.

Naturally we were also on the lookout for insects. It's the cricket season, and Dark Bush Crickets are now reaching their final growth stage.

Another common cricket here is Roesel's Bush Cricket, but of more interest to me was one in our garden yesterday. I'm fairly sure I haven't seen one there before, so I was keen to pot it to show Lyn, before releasing it into the no-mow section of the lawn.

Moth trapping in the garden on Friday night had produced 172 moths of 40 species, only six of which were new for the year. None was particularly unexpected, but the best looker was probably a Swallow-tailed Moth, a species I missed last year.

Bringing the subject back to birds, another part of Thursday morning had included a brief visit to Shortwood Roughs hoping to see the Tundra Bean Goose which I've heard has now bred at this site with a Greylag Goose and produced hybrid young. I say "this site" but I must have got something wrong because there was no sign of any Geese and nothing but various cereal crops "by the canal" which is where Birdguides suggested the bird had been. However, I did see an adult Hobby as I made my way back to the car.

And finally, today's team ringed the following:

Grasshopper Warbler 2

Sedge Warbler 1

Reed Warbler 1

Blackcap 1

Chiffchaff 8

Whitethroat 7

Lesser Whitethroat 1

Blue Tit 28 (3)

Great Tit 10 (2)

Robin 6 (1)

Wren 1

Tuesday June 28 - Morton Bagot

 I joined Tony and Greg who were ringing at the usual spot this morning. After a bit of banter I left them to it and wandered to the flash.

The signs were encouraging. I counted 10 Green Sandpipers, four Little Ringed Plovers, a Teal, and seven Lapwings which included three newly fledged birds.

On the way back I found a Black-tailed Skimmer in the grass at my feet.

A nice quiet end to the month.

Monday June 29 - Oldberrow

 I spent an hour this morning wandering up and down the lane where the Wryneck had been reported yesterday.

A juvenile Green Woodpecker was calling in the exact spot which was the focus of the report. I also saw Nuthatches, and Kestrels. 

It's actually a really nice area. I heard a distant Lesser Whitethroat and a singing Yellowhammer which was at the Morton Bagot end of the lane.

Birdguides report

I would just like to make it clear I don't know who put the Wryneck onto Birdguides. I do not approve of reporting potentially breeding rarities on Social Media.

So, not at Morton Bagot, and not seen by me. I know who said they saw and heard the bird, but I don't know whether he made the report.

I will go and have another look at the site tomorrow in case the bird (I was told there might be more than one) is still there.

Sunday June 28 - Morton Bagot and garden moths

 Although this year I have tried to steer a course back to birds and away from moths, I'm still trapping in the garden and Friday night's events were so remarkable that I have to start there.

Obviously the warm night would mean a decent haul was likely. I was up before dawn and sure enough there were lots of moths. My final count was 276 moths of 50 species, but it was one moth in particular which deserves top billing.

Micro moths can be very confusing, and some cannot be identified in the field. Even the identifiable ones are a challenge. Their tininess means that either a hand lens, or in my case the camera lens is necessary to bring out their true beauty. It also helps that ID apps can provide an irresistible shortcut.

So pointing the camera at a little moth clinging to an egg box I was impressed by a startling combination of black, white and orange which looked completely unfamiliar. I pointed the phone at it and was told it was Cydia interscindana. My reaction? Never heard of it. I potted it for further study.

Cydia interscindana (Beautiful Juniper Piercer)

I had a whole lot of other moths to sort through, so the strange moth was placed in the fridge to cool down. I posted a message and image on the Bluesky app and carried on counting. 

During the morning my computer battery needed powering up, so I watched some cricket. By about 14:00 I had started to suspect it might be a County first, and the recorder confirmed that that was the case and that a specimen would not be required. 

I decided to take some more photos, and in the absence of anyone expressing the wish to come and see it I allowed it to escape. Maybe micros the size of a grain of rice weren't as desirable to pot-twitchers.

Two hours later I discovered that they were, and my name was mud. It turned out that the species was only discovered in the UK in 2014 when one was found at Lydd in Kent. Originally assumed to be a migrant, further records from the London area and some of the home counties led to the belief that the species was adventive (in insect terms that means accidentally  transported to the UK on its food plant, in this case Juniper, as an egg or caterpillar). However it got here, there have been none any nearer than Berkshire and Hertfordshire, so this was the first for the whole Midlands let alone Warwickshire.

The rest of the catch produced three more garden ticks: a beautiful July Highflyer, a Minor Shoulder-knot (hot on the heals of several at Spernal STW which had been my first), and a micro called Gypsonoma aceriana.

July Highflyer

Minor Shoulder-knot

Gypsonoma aceriana (according to Obsidentify)

Including the garden firsts I added 21 species to the garden year list. 

Back to today. Morton Bagot is in the grip of summer. Even the reappearance of some welcome mud added only three Little Egrets (two of which were recently fledged juveniles and had no doubt come from Arrow Valley Lake), a Green Sandpiper, a Little Ringed Plover, a returning pair of Teal, and on Saturday a pair of Avocets courtesy of John Chidwick.

Adult Little Egret flanked by its juveniles

Butterflies on the wing included several rather bright Painted Ladies which I suspect were part of the new generation, and a couple of fresh Gatekeepers.

Gatekeeper

This year's birthday presents included A Field Guide to the Grasshoppers and Allies of Great Britain and Ireland, and I was keen to try it out.

Common Green Grasshopper

Meadow Grasshopper

I can't promise birds will feature prominently over the next few weeks, but I'll do my best.

Thursday June 25 - Morton Bagot and Spernal STW

 After a week's non-birding (mostly) holiday in the Cotwolds I was back on the patch today, keen to see what I'd been missing. Dave and John had each visited Morton Bagot at the weekend and had seen the usual stuff, with Dave's drake Shoveler being the nearest to something unusual.

I can't really say I managed to beat that. My best birds were a first summer Peregrine back on the pylons, a singing Garden Warbler (Dave had recorded two), a single Green Sandpiper on the nearest flash which remains largely full of water thanks to the farmer's efforts, a pair of Stonechats again, and proof that the pair of Lapwings in the scrape field have bred successfully. A single well-grown chick, large enough to be seen.

I didn't count them, but even on my early morning visit it was apparent that there were lots of Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns on the wing.

Speaking of insects, I took up Leigh and Tony's invitation to join them at Spernal STW on Friday morning to see what moths Leigh had caught overnight in the inaugural moth-trapping session for the site. As it was Leigh's trap, she will have the burden of reporting the findings to the recorder, while I was just free-loading and hoping to add to my personal moth list. Not that I know exactly what moths I've seen. But I know what I've seen in my garden, so the following were new to me:

Minor Shoulder-knot

Dark Umber

Silky Wainscot

Calamotropha paludella (Bulrush Veneer)

Many of the moths caught were reed-bed specialists, with lots of Smoky Wainscots, many Obscure Wainscots, some Common Wainscots, a Drinker, and several Scarlet Tigers in the haul of about 45 moths. Quite a lot escaped before we could examine them.

I'll be trapping in the garden tonight.

Tuesday June 16 - Earlswood Lakes and Morton Bagot

 Any thoughts of easing off on the birding have been temporarily shelved due to a continuing trickle of birds of interest.

While we were enjoying the delights of Morton Bagot on Sunday morning, an Osprey put in an appearance at Lower Bittell. You may recall I went there on Saturday afternoon on the off chance the Earlswood bird had gone there. Evidently it had. Unfortunately an Osprey was seen over Belvide Res in Staffs an hour or so after the Bittell sighting. It may not have been the same bird, but has made me think twice about a second visit to Lower B.

This morning, as I returned from a relatively fruitless visit to Morton Bagot (three Avocets, 46 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and 10 Herring Gulls), a Whatsapp message caused me to dash to Earlswood.

Ok I admit Redshank is not a bird most people would twitch, but in this corner of Warwickshire/Worcestershire it could be the only one of the year. It was a bit flighty, but eventually it settled on the shingle spit where close views revealed it to be a juvenile.

I wonder how far it had travelled before discovering Earlswood? Probably not far.

I've had a nice garden tick this week. The micro White Plume is not a rare moth (I've even seen one at Morton Bagot) but a spot of gardening yesterday was paused as I rushed for a pot.

So it's back to catching up on football highlights and lost sleep for me for the next few days. Probably.

Sunday June 14 - Morton Bagot and Lower Bittell Reservoir

This morning I was back at Morton Bagot with Dave. Considering we are now in deepest June it was a pretty successful visit. Most birds are mid-breeding season, which means that recently fledged juveniles abound. But there is still room for the odd surprise, and the oddest of these was a female Gadwall which flew past us apparently accompanying a male Mallard. The Gadwall was the first here for a couple of years.

This was close to the nearest flash, where we went on to hear Cetti's Warbler and Sedge Warbler. More surprising was a party of 34 large Gulls, mostly Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and with them six Avocets.

Although there was virtually no muddy edge, up to three Green Sandpipers and a Little Ringed Plover appeared from time to time, mainly in flight.

Continuing with birds, as we returned to our cars we located a pair of Stonechats. This suggests a pair may have been present this spring in one of the less visited fields.

There was no sign of any juveniles so I suppose their breeding attempt had been unsuccessful.

New butterflies and dragonflies for the year comprised several Marbled Whites, a Ringlet, a Small Skipper, and a Black-tailed Skimmer.

I also spotted a new moth for the site as a Scarlet Tiger hurried away over the dragonfly pools near Netherstead. Unfortunately I couldn't get Dave on it.

Speaking of moths, my moth-trapping in the garden on Friday night produced 60 moths of 29 species headlined by my first ever Obscure Wainscot, one of a number of reedbed specialists which are hard to find and harder to identify. I'm guessing the gusty wind on Friday night may have blown it towards our garden from Arrow Valley Lake, the nearest reeds.

Sorting through the moths in the trap took much of Saturday morning, and I was soon ready for lunch. Preparation of which was interrupted by a message that there was an Osprey at Earlswood Lakes. Evidently it hung around just long enough for Joe and Yvonne to see it (John had found it of course), but it was soon seen gaining height and heading north-west.

That's why I decided to pay a rare visit to Lower Bittell. It was a long shot, but perhaps it had gone there. Well it may have done, but I didn't see it. Instead my constant scanning produced something else.

Several Black-headed Gulls were flying over the reservoir, and a pair of Common Terns chased anything that came close. I presumed they were nesting, or thinking of nesting, on a purpose-built raft which the Bittell birdwatching group were presumably responsible for. After about half an hour I noticed two pure white black-headed Gulls high above me. They chased one another briefly and circled away to the west. They appeared to be adult Mediterranean Gulls, I could see no trace of any black under their primaries at any stage. Unfortunately when I say high above, I really mean high. Too high to attempt a photograph? Well I had a go, literally seeing nothing but sky through the lens. Two shots were of just that, but one did contain a gull. 

I think I can see a tiny smudge of grey near the tip of the left primary which possibly indicates the bird in the shot is a second year, rather than adult Mediterranean Gull.