Friday June 23

I've been sitting on a secret since the beginning of June, although it sounds like only I was keeping it, since the news seems to have been widely known for some time.

Anyway, at least one pair of Little Egrets has been attempting to breed on the island in the middle of Arrow Valley Lake. I was waiting for an outcome before mentioning it on this blog. Sadly it appears that the breeding attempt has been unsuccessful, and today I saw no Little Egrets at all.

Scroll back to June 2. A single Little Egret was incubating eggs on a small nest in the heronry.

A week later, it was still present but spent most of its time standing on the nest, and only a short period incubating.

Another week past, and on my next visit the nest was unattended, although four adult Little Egrets were present on the island. One of these may have been standing on a different nest, one that was hard to see although it may have been an old Grey Heron's nest.

I might be wrong, but I think this was the first breeding attempt in Worcestershire.

Sadly today it looks as though the attempt has been abandoned. I was left to look at the usual cast of characters, with at least three Common Terns still present. I'm sure they would breed if the council was to supply and maintain a couple of rafts.

Common Tern

The weather was rather cloudy, but warm enough for butterflies to be on the wing. I just didn't see any. Instead, a Six-spot Burnet moth was feeding in the strip of wildflower meadow by the cafe.

Six-spot Burnet

Unfortunately, when it finally settled I couldn't get a clear view of it. Just enough to count the spots though.

Thursday June 22

The very hot weather of the last few days should have produced lots of moths, but its been disappointing. Last night I finally got a few micros. Two were Brown House Moth, but the other turned out to be an Ingrailed Grass Veneer Crambus pascuella.

Crambus pascuella

A common moth, but the first I have identified in the garden.

I've recently discovered the Biological Records Centre's website irecords@brc.ac.com. It is excellent for insects and provides helpful feedback when you submit photographs. I am working my way through a bit of a backlog.

However, I have noticed that there has been no feedback on my moth records. Reading through their forum it would appear that not all recorders favour this system, and moth records in particular seem to be a problem. It seems to depend on whether the particular Vice-County recorder for each species group wants to receive records in this way. Other recording methods are available.

As a former bird recorder, in the days before it all went high-tech, I certainly appreciate the amount of work recorders have to do, without pay. In the meantime I much appreciate the bee, butterfly, and indeed mollusc recorders who have vetted my records so far.

Sunday June 18

A very warm night might have been expected leave me overwhelmed with moths in the bathroom. However, just one species entered. At least it was a new one for me.

Common Wave

It was a white moth, which meant I had to spend quite a time this morning sifting through several similar species of white Wave moths before concluding it was a Common Wave. The books suggest that this species is a little less common than the closely related Common White Wave, but the cross lines are wavier.

Later on today, during the evening, a vey small moth flew in through the kitchen window. It was potted and identified as Clepsis consimilana.

Clepsis consimilana

Another new species for me.

Saturday June 17

Just two moths in the bathroom last night. One was another Green Pug, but the other was a little micro which this morning I identified as Bryotropha domestica.

Bryotropha domestica

Another new species for me, but as the name suggests, a common one in urban areas.

Friday June 16

A slightly cooler night, and only one very small moth made it through the bathroom window. I thought I recognised it so only got a photo of it in the pot before allowing it to escape. Half an hour later I realised it was actually a new species for me and that my photo was barely adequate.

Pseudargyrotoza conwagana

This morning I headed for Arrow Valley Lake. I counted five pairs of Great Crested Grebes, four Little Egrets, and three adult Oystercatchers which flew around and left.

It was rather overcast, although the sun was trying to break through. This may have been the reason I didn't see a single butterfly or dragonfly on my walk round. Pretty disappointing. However, I did spot a new moth, my first Longhorn moth. Unfortunately I messed up the photograph of this micro, but I am pretty sure it was Nemophora degeerella.

It was rather small.

Nemophora degeerella

After studying the zoomed in shot in the back of the camera I realised it was a bit out of focus so returned to the spot, but couldn't relocate the moth.

Yesterday we visited Compton Verney near Wellesbourne with friends. The highlights creature-wise were a Red-eyed Damselfly on a Lily pad, and a Red Kite. I don't know of any Lily pads on my Winyates Beasts patch, so I doubt I will find one here.

Red-eyed Damselfly at Compton Verney

Thursday June 15

A couple more moths have now come to my attention. They were both spotted yesterday. The first was a Silver-ground Carpet which fluttered from bushes and then landed in the middle of the road as I was returning with the paper yesterday morning. I didn't have my camera, but I am reasonably familiar with this distinctive moth.

Last night an absolute stunner flew through the bathroom window. Unlike most moths it took me no time at all to identify it, using my moth book, as a Barred Yellow. It's rather a shame that such a pretty moth should have a rather uninspiring name. It seems that they are quite common.

Barred Yellow

I photographed it this morning as it rather groggily tried to reorientate after having been woken from a peaceful sleep.

Tuesday June 13

Things have been a bit quiet lately.

A walk around Arrow Valley Lake last week produced almost identical species to my last visit so I wasn't moved to blog about it.

Things have picked up a tiny bit today. The garden birds were augmented by recently fledged juveniles, with Great Spotted Woodpecker, Long-tailed Tits and a Nuthatch the best of the bunch. This afternoon a small moth landed on the front window, so I slipped outside to photograph it.

Small Dusty Wave

I am reasonably happy with my identification of this moth, a species I have seen here in previous years.

Sunday June 4

A couple of moths made it through the bathroom window last night. One was new to me, although it is a common moth.

They were a Straw Dot (which I saw on the moth trapping event I went on last year), and the other was a Ingrailed Clay (identification confirmed by Mike Southall).

Straw Dot

Ingrailed Clay

The Ingrailed Clay had a bit of a hard time when I released it. It flew groggily to a flower pot which unfortunately contained a couple of inches water. I therefore had to fish it out and released it again at the side of the house, out of the sun, where it soon recovered.

Friday June 2

A wander around Arrow Valley Lake this morning produced all the usual birds. I spent ages trying to see one of two singing Garden warblers, and was eventually successful.

A pair of Oystercatchers has reappeared, and several Common Terns are still present.

Oystercatcher

Common Terns disputing possession of a buoy

The River Arrow contained one immature Grey Wagtail but still no sign of the Dipper.

Grey Wagtail

The only dragonfly I saw was a Banded Demoiselle, and the only butterflies were several Speckled Woods.

Banded Demoiselle

Finally, I did witness a very exciting event, but unfortunately it would not be appropriate to blog about it just yet.

Thursday June 1

Just about still in May, a small moth flew into our bathroom last night and was duly captured.

I realised it was a Pug species straight away, and hoped it would look more impressive in the morning. It always amazes me how the natural light of the morning outperforms our bright bathroom lights. Insects look totally different next day.

This Pug was far more patterned than I had imagined, and had a greyish-green hue. This didn't necessarily mean that I could identify it. After skimming through the books and Internet images I had several species in mind, but decided to refer it to a higher authority.

Mike took a while to respond and concurred that it was a tricky one. However, he suggested it was a Green Pug, which was at least one of the Pugs I had been considering. Like many moths Green Pugs can show a considerable colour range, in this case from obviously green to barely green at all.

Green Pug

Also this morning I watched two Magpies baiting one of the local tom cats for about five minutes before the moggy ran off with very little dignity preserved. The Magpies were later seen carrying food and clearly have a recently fledged juvenile to protect.

I also saw a juvenile Blackbird and my first juvenile House Sparrow of the season in the garden.

This afternoon I caught a couple of familiar micros in the house, Psychoides filicivora, and a Brown House Moth.

Brown House Moth

Psychoides filicivora