Tuesday September 1 - Earlswood Lakes

 A fine sunny morning with a very light breeze. Nevertheless I went to Earlswood Lakes, and to my surprise my visit coincided with a couple of better than average birds.

I was at the south end of Windmill Pool when a Greenshank turned up. John Oates Whatsapp'd that it was flying around Engine Pool (where I'd been thirty minutes earlier). Fortunately within five minutes of his message I heard distant calls, which got progressively louder until the bird itself came into view and landed on the mud not too far from where I was stood.

Greenshank

It stayed for barely a minute, calling regularly, before it decided Earlswood was not up to scratch and it flew off over the scrublands to the south. 

John had also mentioned that a Wheatear was in the horse paddocks near the craft centre, so I headed that way and duly located it.

Wheatear

Surprisingly, despite messages which indicated that John, Matt and Janet were all wandering around, I never set eyes on any of them before it was time to leave.

My botanical efforts remain a little frustrating. I successfully followed John's instructions to locate some Hart's Tongue ferns at the side of Engine Pool, but attempts to find anything new for myself fell foul of my inability to "see" (or frankly understand) the necessary features of plants which my app told me I was looking at. At least I know they won't fly away, so I could try again with better preparation.

Hart's Tongue

One step forward, two steps back at the moment.

Possibly Spear-leaved Orache

Other birds seen included six Teal, a Common Sandpiper, and a Little Egret.

Sunday August 30 - Morton Bagot

 Considering that it's the height of the migration season we should have done a lot better today. We began by surprising a Barn Owl, but unfortunately it flew off shortly after we blundered into it.

Migrant-wise it was very quiet. The wind is back in the west, which won't have helped. A few common warblers and a single Stonechat was about the best we could come up with.

Common Whitethroat

The flash pools are still full of water so the only waders we saw were a Green Sandpiper and 17 Lapwings. At least the Teal numbers are building up (29 today), and with them a single Shoveler.

Shoveler (with two Teal)

It was left to insects to brighten the day. We saw two Clouded Yellows, and pointing the camera at random flies gave me two new ones for the site (and for me); a drone fly called Eristalis nemorum, and a tachnid fly which was almost certainly Tachnis fera. There is a look alike, but that is much rarer and comparing photos when I got home led me to conclude we had seen the common version.

Clouded Yellow

Stripe-faced Dronefly Eristalis nemorum

Tachnis fera

Friday August 28 - Earlswood Lakes

 This morning, with a vague plan to go to either Earlswood or Morton Bagot I stumbled downstairs and checked my phone. John Oates had just found a Wood Sandpiper on the mudflat at Windmill Pool, Earlswood. That made my mind up.

After a brief look at the mudflat at Engine Pool (I hadn't read the message carefully enough), I joined John at Windmill Pool where the Wood Sandpiper was still showing well.

It showed the crisp markings of a juvenile, and although John had been out in torrential rain yesterday without much joy, it seems likely that the recent weather was responsible for its arrival either late yesterday or overnight. It didn't seem particularly bothered by humans walking past, but dogs were a different story and always caused it to flush.

I tried taking some video of it here before I wandered back to the causeway with John. We last saw the Wood Sandpiper half way along the pool with a Common Sandpiper after it had been flushed by dog-walkers.

Back at the causeway John showed me two species of fern for my PSL list: Wall-rue and Black Spleenwort.

Wall-rue

Black Spleenwort

Finally, on my way home I decided to pause along Springbrook Lane to see if any Whinchats had arrived. I didn't see any, but I did get a tick. Peering over the wall of the bridge I noticed a distinctive looking moss. It turned out to be Grey-cushioned Grimmia, The first bryophyte for my list.

Grey-cushioned Grimmia

I'll be putting my moth-trap out tonight, so I'll probably extend this post tomorrow morning.

Garden Moth supplement: Well it was worth it. I caught 101 moths of 25 species. All but one were species I've seen in the garden already this year, but the new one was also a lifer. I could tell it was a Vestal resting on the glass of the front door even from looking at the moth from underneath. This is a migrant species (maybe now breeding in the UK) which is occurring ever more regularly in the Midlands. So it's fair to say it was on my radar.

Vestal

The distinctive stripe can sometimes be red, but my example was largely dark striped (with just a hint of red).

Shortly after I had finished cataloguing the catch, a final sweep of the walls produced a second Vestal. This one was tucked away above the hinge of the door. It's actually not unprecedented for garden moth ticks to come in twos. I suspect that pheromones given off by moth A are detected my moth B, and thus there are two. 

Wednesday August 26 - Morton Bagot

 Recently I saw an extraordinary picture of eight Great White Egrets and 27 Grey Herons paddling in the shallows at Belvide Reservoir, and now thanks to a message from Mike Lane, I was able to see one in the flesh at Morton Bagot.

Admittedly just one Great White Egret and one Grey Heron (which flew off before I got the camera out). Nevertheless this was the second Great White here this year, and the first I managed to see.

Mike had seen it in flight over the raptor watch point, and noted it had appeared to lose height over the flash field. Lucky for me.

Wednesday August 26 - Earlswood Lakes

It's not often I head into the countryside and more or less ignore the birds, but yesterday I did just that. Following a recent conversation with John Oates when I let slip my new-found enthusiasm for pan-species listing, he kindly offered to show me as many of the trees around the lakes and in Clowes Wood as he could in a couple of hours. So yesterday morning I took him up on the offer.

In summary, I was shown 15 species of tree, seven species of fern, and three species of horsetail. Some were ones I had seen before but hadn't got around to ticking off, but many (mainly ferns) were entirely new.

Hybrid Black Poplar populus x canadensis

Greater Horsetail

Common Male-fern

I probably haven't picked a very good time to get into plants. Everything is drooping, brown, vegetated and hard (i.e. even harder than usual) to identify. John did a fine job of finding trees and so forth for me, but its one thing being shown things and quite another getting to know them. It's definitely a work in progress.

I have ordered a Fern field guide and new camera batteries (I managed to use up two batteries during the morning) so when I go on my own I'll be better prepared.

This morning I went back, but to look at birds. I only had time to check Windmill Pool, but it was nice to be back looking at familiar species.

Juvenile Little Ringed Plover

As you can tell from the above photo, it started to rain before I left.

I nearly forgot. In the Scrublands I photographed a lichen which I believe is called Oakmoss.

Sunday August 23 - Morton Bagot

 Another sunny morning, of course, saw myself and Dave undaunted by our recent quiet visits, giving the patch another go. We're now at the right end of August and the birds started to respond.

To begin with we found the first of an eventual three Whinchats. That one was in the hedge bordering the scrape field (now lacking water entirely), and we soon found it was accompanied by several Whitethroats, a Stonechat, and best of all a Redstart.

Before we left the field, Dave spotted a Clouded Yellow.

We then switched our attention to the flash field, scoping the furthest flash from the ridge and looking through the largest gap in the trees. From here Dave spotted a Goosander unexpectedly swimming around among the distant Mallard. This was the first here this year, and a species which is scarce at Morton Bagot at the best of times. Unfortunately it proved impossible to photograph, as did a Badger which trotted across the field before disappearing into the cover of the long grass.

We moved down to the hedge and got into the best spot to watch the nearest flash. Initially it looked like a bit of a waste of time, but as luck would have it the cattle in the field decided to approach and inadvertently flushed 13 Snipe, 24 Teal, and four Green Sandpipers all virtually invisible until they were suddenly flying around in panic.

Little else was seen, aside from two or three more Stonechats at Netherstead.

Briefly, the garden moth trap on Friday night produced a decent count of 86 moths of 29 species for the GMS. Best in terms of our garden was the ridiculously tiny Apple Leaf-miner (only the third I have noticed), two Beet Moths (the first since they crashed onto the seen in 2022), and a Small Blood-vein (first for a couple of years). My favourite though were a couple of Chinese Characters, a moth which hides in plain sight by looking like a bird-dropping.

Weird or what?

Tuesday August 18 - Morton Bagot ....and then Earlswood

 Another quiet morning at the patch. It was largely cloudy for once, with a moderate westerly. There seemed to be markedly fewer warblers than a week ago, so they're starting to clear out. Noteworthy birds were a Peregrine on a pylon, and a Tufted Duck in flight over the flash field.

A flock of 50 Greylag Geese had no rare geese with them (the Tundra Bean Goose is still being reported occasionally at Arrow Valley Lake), while ducks were represented by six Teal and a few Mallard. Most of the waders had to be scoped from the top of the hill as they still favour the furthest flash, but in any case they were just five Green Sandpipers and a couple of Snipe. There are still two Stonechats on the tree-guards, but no sign of any Whinchats.

Never mind, my new found enthusiasm for trying to identify plants added a few species to my list, the best being Cyperus Sedge. I am inputting my plants onto irecord again (although I've never seen any evidence that anyone adjudicates on them).

Cyperus Sedge

One good thing about looking for plants is that you sometimes notice interesting insects. Today I added the very common (in my garden) Light Brown Apple Moth to the patch list, and also saw a hoverfly Helophilus pendulus which it turned out I'd seen here before.

Light Brown Apple Moth

Helophilus pendulus

Shortly after I had typed out the above, John Oates Whatsapp'd with news he'd found a Sanderling at Earlswood. I had seen the one there in May, but even so the chance of another one was too much to pass up.

I parked at the Wood Lane carpark at 15:30, noting to my dismay the sign saying it would close at 16:00. Unaware that this never happens, and that in any case I would have been able to leave, I was probably too rushed and was unable to find the bird. Fortunately I decided to drive across the causeway and enter the Malthouse carpark, where the sign says it closes at 20:00. This time I got the encouraging sight of a calidrid sp flying along Engine Pool, but too distant to be sure it was the Sanderling.

Things then got even crazier as I retraced my steps from down the Wood Lane side from the car-park. John texted that 10 Black-tailed Godwits had dropped onto the lake I was at. The walk down that side consists of a series of gaps, followed by yards of willows. I lengthened my stride, and found the Sanderling by looking through one of the gaps in the foliage.

Sanderling

I got a quick shot of the bird, an adult, before continuing towards the south end where the Godwits were...or had been. Another text from John; they were now off the Wood lane carpark. This was getting annoying. I hurriedly retraced my steps, almost stepping on a Brown Rat which dashed across my path, before finally seeing the Godwits.

Most of the Black-tailed Godwits

They were all juveniles, and I managed eight in the same shot. By now I was under considerable time pressure and had to head home without locating the Ringed and Little Ringed Plovers which were also there.

Many thanks to John for finding the birds. They reminded me just how exciting autumn migration can be (just not at Morton Bagot).

Sunday August 16 - Morton Bagot

 I have to be honest, Morton Bagot has been very samey for a while now. The same heat, the same lack of rain, and the same birds. Today's effort produced a slight uptick with the presence of two Whinchats and four Stonechats, and three Red Kites which included two juveniles.

Whinchat

We also saw a fair number of dragonflies and damselflies including a couple of Migrant Hawkers, a Brown Hawker, and a male Willow Emerald Damselfly. The latter was perched on a twig against the sun at the flash viewpoint.

Willow Emerald Damselfly

The furthest flash contained four Green Sandpipers, while the nearest could muster only six Lapwings and five Teal.

Teal

In the absence of much birding action I found myself increasingly drawn to the ground beneath our feet. Here I spotted what I believe to be several Robin's Pin-cushions, also known as the gall of a tiny wasp Diplolepsis rosae. 

Robin's Pin-cushion

On Friday night the garden trap went out for the GMS, and I caught 152 moths of 39 species. A third of them were Large Yellow Underwings, and in the absence of anything new for the garden the best of the rest were a couple of seconds: Small Ranunculus (last seen in 2019), and Golden-rod Pug (last in 2022).

Small Ranunculus

Golden-rod Pug

Friday August 14 - Morton Bagot

 I have to admit that I've spent most of the week hiding from the heat. My only two birding attempts concern an early morning visit to Bannam's Wood on Tuesday, where I watched Tony catch a Chiffchaff and we both had adequate views of Spotted Flycatcher, and this morning when I actually made it to Morton Bagot.

Pretty much as soon as I stepped from the car I noticed a Redstart and two Stonechats taking off from the posts near the dragonfly pond. Interestingly the Redstart was a female, so definitely not the bird seen last weekend. It was also very flighty and I struggled to get a decent shot.

My first thought was that the Stonechats were two males, but the view was brief and while I was stalking the Redstart I noticed only a female Stonechat, so I may have been mistaken.

As the weather warmed up, the birds largely disappeared into the undergrowth. The nearest flash contains no mud and few birds. I did however see a Willow Emerald damselfly dangling from the trees over the brook.

As I was leaving the site I ran into a HOEF work party led by Avery. She told me that the plan was to regenerate the Dragonfly pools by clearing half the reedbed away. The volunteers were also pruning the large bramble there. In the long term they hope to secure funding to deepen and re-wet the reedbed area.

Fair play to the volunteers who were putting in a shift under soaring temperatures.

Sunday August 9 - Morton Bagot

 The continuing heat makes it a torrid time for late morning birders like me and Dave, but we completed our usual circuit and came up trumps with a patch tick for me (and a lifer for Dave). Shame it wasn't a bird.

What it was, was a Lesser Emperor dragonfly. I spotted it as we scanned the virtually birdless nearest flash. Although it was patrolling back and forth over the nearest edge of the flash I couldn't tell whether it was Lesser or Vagrant Emperor until I switched to the scope (which fortunately I'd brought with me). The clincher was seeing it had green eyes (which rules out Vagrant).

I didn't think there was much point trying to photograph it, but knowing that the current Warwickshire odonata recorder won't accept any record on irecord without one, I gave it my best shot.

Lesser Emperor

Whether it gets accepted or not, it definitely was one and its going onto my patch dragonfly list (currently just lodged in my head).

The only previous record for the site was one seen by Mike Inskip about 10 years ago, when they were really rare. I believe they have now colonised southern Britain, and I may well get a chance to photograph one more satisfactorily in the future. Mind you, like male Emperors they seem very reluctant to land.

We did have one surprise bird today. A male Redstart was in exactly the same hedge as the one seen three weeks ago. Although I've checked the hedge a few times since without success, it is still tempting to speculate that it could be the same bird. The Long-tailed Shrike has been hanging around for a similar time. Perhaps the Redstart too has just been completing its moult (it was preening a lot when I last saw it).

Redstart

One other interesting creature seen today was a non black-tailed Black-tailed Skimmer. Checking the books when I got home it is likely to have been an old female. 

Black-tailed Skimmer

All my other "ticks" were plants which I have seen many times before but never recorded in writing. So here for posterity I can confirm I have definitely seen: Ash, Hawthorn, Greater Willowherb, and Wild Angelica. 

I plan to put the moth trap out tonight, so there may be a supplement later.

Garden moths: The warm nights are continuing to produce the goods. Today it was 106 moths of 41 species. Two were new for the garden, the stand out being the migrant species moth that is known as Ni Moth. I kid you not. There had been 14 Warwickshire records up until the end of 2025, but with global warming and all that I would not be at all surprised to learn there have been more this year.

The other new one was extremely tiny. Probably Etainia louisella, but the exact species cannot be determined from a photograph.

Best of the rest was my second Cabbage Moth, the last having been in 2019.

So there is still no sign that I have exhausted the possibility of new species turning up.

Saturday August 8 - Long-tailed Shrike

 I could stand it no longer. The third British record of Long-tailed Shrike had been sitting in a hedge on the Gloucestershire/Oxfordshire border for about three weeks. The key was Lyn's suggestion that she come with me (essential equipment in the boot). This worked a treat and we arrived at the impromptu car-park (a farmers field), and donated three quid in the honesty box. While Lyn sat and read the paper, I set off up the road to join the small group of birders who were trying to see Shrike.

There was a half hour wait while those who had seen it assured new arrivals that it was probably just the other side of the hedge. Eventually it appeared and decent views were had by all.

By waiting until all the real twitchers had seen it, the crowd this morning was of very modest size.

Other birds were also seen, including a Corn Bunting, a Marsh Harrier, and a Whinchat.

The other thing I've doing this week is adding up all the organisms I've seen in the British Isles for my PSL list. So the Long-tailed Shrike became tick number 1,300. This might seem a lot, but I'm a real lightweight compared to my fellow competitors. The lead guy has seen over 13,000, and I'm outside the top 200 listers.

On the other hand my list is just birds, garden moths, butterflies and dragonflies plus a scattering of other life forms. One big gap is vascular plants simply because I rarely record them. Plenty of scope for advancement.

Tuesday August 4 - Morton Bagot (and garden moths)

 Dave and I teamed up on Sunday at Morton Bagot, and thanks to Dave's suggestion that we incorporate Bannam's Wood on our walk we hit the jackpot. The hope was that we might see the family party of Spotted Flycatchers seen the day before. As far as that went we were unsuccessful, but as we paused to search the trees a juvenile Goshawk flew towards us under the canopy and perched in close proximity. Where was my camera? In my bag! As I slowly withdrew it, the bird decided it had teased us enough and flew over our heads and away into the wood.

Anything else would be an anticlimax, and sure enough we'd peaked early. A Sand Martin over the village was the best of the rest, while the flash pool could muster only two Teal, a few Lapwings, 90+ Greylag Geese, and three or four Green Sandpipers.

Long-tailed Tit

We also saw another Clouded Yellow.

Last night was the latest I could afford to keep my GMS obligation on track. The trap went out and I caught just over 100 moths. As it was warm, there were a lot of micros and my two garden ticks, and two that weren't new, demonstrates the randomness of garden recording.

The new ones were Hawthorn Moth (a tiny micro), and Ringed China-mark (a big micro). The books say they are both reasonably common.

Hawthorn Moth

Ringed China-mark

Among the rest were two species which were respectively scarce, and non-existent in Warwickshire until this year. Thus my tally of Small Mottled Willows for the year now stands at 20, while lasts week's "first" was joined by a second Cydia amplana, this one looking more like the books say it should look.

Rusty Acorn Piercer Cydia amplana

I surely can't be the only Midland moth botherer catching these this year.

The full list of additions is on the appropriate page as usual.

Thursday July 30 - Morton Bagot

 It's been a really quiet week (hence the lack of posts), so this one is a summary of what little I've seen on the patch recently.

In fact last Sunday probably saw the best of my three visits. The highlight was the rediscovery of the male Whinchat. It was in the scrape field but I chose not to get a close view, and settled for a record shot.

The flash pool looked great and was occupied by nine Green Sandpipers. That was on Sunday, but since then I've struggled to see more than three or four.

On Tuesday I was surprised to discover that the Stonechat numbers had doubled to four, with pairs in the scrape field and at the Dragonfly ponds.

Today I couldn't see the new birds, but the dragonfly pool still supported the original pair.

However, the main highlight was a Kingfisher at the nearest flash. Unfortunately it was too quick (twice) for a photo. The large gulls were back, and I counted 37 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and seven Herring Gulls.

If this is all sounding a bit nerdy, you ain't seen nothing yet. I have been tempted to buy Graham Lyons' book Pan-Species Listing. Reading it cover to cover in no time, I'm already spending hours putting my moths on his Pan-Listing website. Everything else will follow, and I've no doubt I'll be down on my knees trying to identify grass before very long.

I'll try not to blog about it though.