23rd Oct - White-rumped at last

For over a week now I've been sweating at the news of the White-rumped Sandpiper at Rutland Water, in association with American Wigeon and a host of nice waders, Rock AND Water Pipits. Today I finally got the free time to enjoy this cracking little bird (only my second ever WRS) and it's american compatriot. All this, and the pleasure of my little boy by my side too! What more could a guy ask for?

White-rumped Sandpiper left, American Wigeon right.









Video of the White-rumped Sandpiper, taken on my mobile phone through my scope.
Modern technology is wonderful!!

23rd Oct - A poor show

I knew it wasn't worth it...but I just had to try just to prove that I was right. The wind was blowing strongly, and although there was thick cloud cover and warm temperatures the moths did not arrive! Only 3 moths of 3 species. Flounced Chestnut, November Moth and Yellow-line Quaker, so all fairly nice moths, not many caught in the garden for each species. But still I was reminded of what a waste of electricity it was!

 Some people just don't get it!!

21st Oct - but it's more like June-iper

After a week of cold clear night with temperatures down to 3 degrees, it was nice to finally get a cloudy, relatively still night, with little prospect of rain! Out comes the trap with Actinic/CFL combo. The results were pleasing for this time of year 17 moths of 7 species but these included a massive haul of 9 Juniper Carpets! I've never caught this species until about a week ago.

Other highlights included my second for the year of Feathered Thorn and Brick (which actually agreed to have it's photo taken this time!) and also a return of Grey Shoulder-knot. I caught this species for the first time in the early Spring but this is the Autumn generation.

There will hopefully be a couple of warm nights next week so I may get a few more traps in before the close season. I suspect my yearlist won't get much further now, but 332 is a massive jump from last years total of 249 (no doubt down to my much improved id skills this year!!) so I'm very happy. Roll on next year....I reckon the Actinic/CFL combo could be a big hit based on the results I've had this autumn.

Early October catch-up

Following last weeks cooler temperatures, things calmed down sufficiently enough (for this time of  year) to put the trap out a few times.

7th October - 5 moths of 5 species! November Moth was new for the year, but has been in every trap since!

8th October - much warmer and cloudier and despite putting my rain sheet over the trap site, it didn't rain. I managed 22 moths of 13 species which I wasn't disappointed with, but if I hadn't put the rainguard over the trap maybe there would've been more! Juniper Carpet was a great new find. Also had a Shuttle-shaped Dart which I'd not caught since August, and my second Flounced Chestnut.




9th October - Another smaller catch as it was quite gusty, 9 moths of 8 species - but Brick was new for the year and my second Rusty-dot Pearl turned up.

12th October - Another better night, still and fairly cloudy. 20 moths of 13 species. The best moth for autumn graced the trap - a cracking fresh Feathered Thorn! Also got four Green-brindled Crescent (although having looked through W&T I suspect two of these which were much smaller may have been Brindled Green). Of course I only photographed the two that looked better, which are definitely GBC! Another surprise was my second Oak Nycteoline of the year. Finally, I had this worn micro. Any ideas would be gratefully received!










13th October - 13 moths of 9 species. No new species for the year or October but still a good selection of species including Red-green and Juniper Carpets, Pink-barred Sallow and Green-brindled Crescent

Finally, the downward spiral?

Looks like the October decline towards winter may have started. Cooler temperatures, higher wind speeds, bits of rain. This all meant a much smaller catch, only 14 moths of 10 species, although there was 1 newbie for me.

Epinotia sordidana was a surprise, I'd not seen much of these on other blogs. And it looked so plain that I wasn't too sure until I'd got photos of it to compare to the various websites. The others were more normal for this time of year, although Carcina quercana seemed very fresh for the time.

The rest of this week has not inspired me to risk putting the trap out, but hopefully the weekend looks a bit warmer with some more of the wet stuff so maybe....

Come on October, keep it up!

Another great night of warm temperatures, dryness (although it was still clear). And another three species to add to the garden list. Again these are relatively common species for this time of year, as were the the inhabitants of the last trap BUT they're all new to me!

So I was especially excited to receive this Figure of Eight, Flounced Chestnut and Phyllonorycter harrisella. The Phyllonorycter wouldn't co-operate however, so I've got some terrible photos of it that I'm not prepared to share!!



Other highlights included my second Red-line Quaker, Caloptilia stigmatella, another Apple Leaf Miner, another Green-brindled Crescent (different to the one from Thursday) and what must surely be the last Copper Underwing for the year, it was particularly frazzled!

More Nightjar news

The Nightjar that took up residence in Codnor has finally moved on, according to Birdguides. The owners of the house have posted a thank you note to everyone who visited, and have managed to raise £107 for the RSPB.

I visited again on Wednesday night and managed to take this crappy photo in the gathering gloom.

I also got some better video of it doing it little bobbing dance, having a yawn and a snap at some flies before streching it wings and having a flap round the garden. It was a pretty awesome sight, to be so close to it when it finally took to the wing and disappeared over the hedge at 720pm. It kept returning to the same spot every morning until today when it didn't come back.

The night of a thousand stars

This lovely warm weather is providing all of us moth-ers with plenty of interesting catch results! As it looked good all week I decided to do Tues/Weds/Thurs with Thursday being a slight difference in that I put out the 15W BLB lamp with the 22W CFL clip-on. This seems to have done the trick as I recorded no less than 6 new species!! And some cracking ones they were too...

First came a couple of micros to the white sheet - Tinea semifulvella (left) and Apple Leaf Miner (right)



And then some more autumnal species that for some reason I didn't catch last year, but I suppose that could be down to either trap position (it's now located underneath a mixed hawthorn hedge, as opposed to the middle of the lawn) or the weather? All these moths were in pristine condition. The Yellow-line Quaker (left), Red-line Quaker (right) and the fabulous Green-brindled Crescent (below right)

The last new species for the garden came whilst photographing the catch. I took out a Red-green Carpet that had it's wings folded up as it had just come out of the fridge. I managed to get it to stand on the wall (where I take my photos) whilst still in the pot. I left it for five minutes to relax and sure enough it flopped its wings flat. I took the pot covering it off to take it's portrait...and it was an Autumn Green Carpet!! Brilliant what you miss the first time round when you're rushing to get the trap emptied! EDIT: I've been corrected by the guys at BGM, and this is in fact a Red-green Carpet.

Nightjar news

Having heard about a Nightjar roosting in someone's backgarden in Codnor, I found out some more info and dragged my dad along for a look. The cracking little bird (a juvenile by all accounts) appears to have taken up residence at least until it's appetite is sated enough to give it enough fuel to get abroad. The very nice lady at 30 Wright Street welcomed us into her garden and seemed very friendly to birders. And why not, we're a nice bunch, most of the time!

Cracking views, and hopefully (if it hangs around) I'll go back and get some photos. Watch this space!

More autumnal arrivals

A slightly milder night on the 22nd allowed for some mothing. It's been quiet lately due to the weather, but as I write this it looks that we're in for some good evening temperatures and only slight breezes. Autumn keeps dropping a few of it's moths in my trap - this evening it was the turn of Blair's Shoulder-knot and Red-green Carpet to grace my egg boxes! The Red-green didn't want to hang around for a decent portrait, so I apologise (but not much!) for the terrible pot-shot.

Blair's has this uncanny ability (like quite a few moths do) of 'playing dead'. This one however, did actually fool me for a while. After tipping onto it's front and then giving it a bit of a prod they usually give themselves away, but this one refused and as it had been in the fridge for the day I thought 'oops, that's broken it!'. In my thirst for curiosity I gently tried to open it wings to see what it looked like underneath....but he didn't like this intrusion and woke up with a start giving me a small heart attack!! Very funny! As you can see by the second photo...no harm done.
 The 24th was a much better night, with warmer temperatures, completely still and not much in the way of rain. The results were 36 moths of 22 species (not a bad haul for September, and certainly much better than last year!). Three newbies this evening were the Dusky Thorn, Black Rustic and Pink-barred Sallow, but other highlights included a worn Amblyptilia acanthadactyla, 4 x Blair's Shoulder-knot and Snout.

Autumn brings its spoils

With another relatively crappy sort of mothing week ahead of us, I took heed of the warm(ish) and dry(ish) night, as well as the flocks of swallows feeding high over Wyver Lane nature reserve whilst searching for the plastic Ruddy Shelduck which then turned out to be a Cape Shelduck (my luck, I fear, has run out!) and decided to trap. Out went the Actinic/CFL combo and at 2230 I had only potted up 7 plus a couple of underwings into the trap.

The morning brought more than I had hoped for 42 moths of 12 species including two new for year Deep-brown Darts, and this new for me Rusty-dot Pearl! The majority of the trap was underwings, with a couple of carpets, Setaceous Hebrew Characters and another Stenoptilia milleridactyla. Not a bad haul really, at this time last year I was down to less than 20 per night...

15th and 16th September

Two pretty good September nights, but with the end of the year fast approaching numbers of moths are now dwindling. The underwings are starting to decline (some may say that's a good things?) but the good news is that a couple of autumn species have turned up.

15th Sept - 31 moths of 15 species including Acleris sparsana new for the garden. Unfortunately it's tricky to photograph even after being in the fridge for 1.5 days!! It still took off almost as soon as I tipped it out. My other lucky find was this Vine's Rustic, I initially thought it was an odd coloured Pale Mottled Willow, but when I looked back at it's photo I realised my mistake.

Lunar Underwing was the first for the autumn, and 2 Rosy Rustic was a nice addition.

16th September - 41 moths of 13 species including the 5th Diamondback Moth of the year (I didn't catch any last year!). Other goodies were 3 Frosted Orange new for the year, 2 more Lunars and another Silver Y.

Surprise find

After the rush of trapping at the end of August, this week has provided me time to catch up with things a little. The cool nights and massive gales have meant that I didn't have the inclination to trap. So it was that I sat down at the computer to document my trappings. I came to the 29th August list of photos and whilst inserting them into a Word document, I came upon this one of a Gothic...

As you can see, it's not the Gothic but a very similar (but equally, very distinct, species!) Feathered Gothic. I can't believe I missed it when I took it's portrait, but I'm very glad that I have documented almost every moth I've caught this year, otherwise it would have been lost in moth-dom!

Trapping tonight as it's fairly still and currently standing at a respectable 13degrees. No rain predicted either, so hopefully there'll be a few more autumnal species for me in the morning!

Moth update for end of August and beginning of September

This is just gonna be a quick round up of new species and highlights since my holiday. It's hanging over me, and I refer you to my previous about not having the time, blah, blah blah!

So 28th August came and went with not too much to shout about, although a Mouse Moth was new for the garden (and has turned up in most traps since). The underwings continue to make up most of the trap, but I have only caught singles of Setaceous Hebrew Character this year, unlike last year when I had double figures on some nights. Other highlights included this Angle Shades (top right) and Agonopterix arenella (right)

 
 The following night gave pretty much the same results, with 53 moths of 18 species. Garden Rose Tortrix started to arrive tonight and surely the last Dark Arches of the year gave a final fling. Sallow was also new for the year and only my second caught. Other goodies were Gothic and Old Lady (now looking a bit battered!)

Last day of the month and conditions were looking good. Temperatures were relatively warm, winds were dropped and it was fairly cloudy. As an extra incentive to my winged friends I got hold of a clip-on bulb holder and a compact fluorescent bulb. Given this idea by Skev it turned out to be a good idea, presumably the extra visible light spectrum introduced by the CFL attracts some extras (can't wait to try this method in the summer!). The results were a fairly impressive 120 moths of 31 species including plenty of micros. 4 of these were new for the garden, Epinotia nisella, Eudonia angustea, Acleris emargana and Zeiraphera isertana. Brilliant! New for the year came in the form of Centre-barred Sallow and other goodies included Flame Carpet, Orchard Ermine, Small Dusty Wave and Acleris forsskaleana.

Into September and the combo trap continued to produce the results, although the great conditions helped a lot! 3rd September results were 154 moths of 35 species. Again micros predominated with new for garden in the form of Bucculatrix ulmella, Ectoedemia louisella and Ancylis badiana. New for the year were Straw Dot and Pyrausta aurata (right). Other highlights included Rosy Rustic, Mouse Moth, Brimstone (!), Meal Moth and Caloptilia syringella.

With temperatures cooling slightly towards the weekend, the trap on the 8th September wasn't quite as spectacular, with 60 moths of 24 species. New for garden was Firethorn Leaf-miner and Lobesia littoralis (right). Highlights included Skin Moth, another Bucculatrix ulmella, Eudonia angustea, Mouse Moth and Silver Y.

The following night 9th September gave slightly better results, partly due to the cloudier conditions I think, with 84 moths of 31 species. Highlights were Spruce Carpet, another Firethorn Leaf Miner, Marbled Beauty (another species that hasn't appeared in as many numbers as last year) and another Silver Y.

Finally a catch up

I've been reading blogs for about a year now and it always used to bug me when people said "I'm sorry for not posting recently, but I just haven't had the time", and I used to think 'How busy are you really, that you can't find the time to post a blog?'. Until now, of course, as for the last two weeks I literally haven't had the time to post my mothing and birding exploits. So I hold my hands up and say sorry for ever doubting all you busy, busy people!
Anyway, onwards and forwards with this blog. And a quick (or should that be lengthy?) round up of what I've been up to for the past two weeks....
20th August - A family holiday to Devon. This is our annual holiday where my parents, brother, Jordan and myself go and spend the week in a friend's static caravan on a stunning campsite on the banks of the beautiful River Teign, just outside the most friendly and serene Devon village of Shaldon. The campsite is perfect for birding, kayaking, crabbing, fishing and generally relaxing! And also provides plenty of opportunities to do fun stuff to do for all ages.
The campsite is a bit too open to provide any moth-trapping chances, but I did get a couple of goodies to the caravan light. One of these was my first ever Marbled Green, and with it came my first Devon record of Limespeck Pug. Along with some Agriphila and Square-spot Rustic it was as good as it was going to get!
Birding was a bit better with trips to the wonderful Berry Head with great views of Shag, Peregrine and Wheatear, the wild Dawlish Warren which provided me with Ringed Plover for the year (can you believe I've not caught up with this species yet?) and also a Little Stint and Arctic Skua on the estuary. A trip into Shaldon one afternoon sparked this little Rock Pipit to show itself amongst the parked cars of Shaldon's River Walk. Ikept in touch with Birdguides all week and watched as more and waders turned up around the country. I could stand it no more and on the last day of the holiday I had a early morning high tide visit to Bowling Green Marsh RSPB reserve. I've never been here before but I'm definitely going back, it was amazing! The hoards of Curlew and Godwits gave way to Greenshank, Spotted Redshank, Ruff, Whimbrel, Green and Common Sandpiper, Knot and 3 Bearded Tit were a good record for Devon. The Osprey failed to show, but the Kingfisher finished off a brilliant morning!