Monday July 31

I haven't really done anything since my last post, other than look out of the kitchen window.

Our feeders were deluged in birds on Saturday. Its very difficult to assess the numbers when birds are visiting regularly, but my best estimate would be 12 Long-tailed Tits, 12 Blue Tits, six Great Tits, two Coal Tits, three Robins, a Dunnock, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Bullfinch, a Song Thrush, three Blackbirds, a Wren, a Goldfinch, and five House Sparrows.

I fear for the last of these because we finally bit the bullet and arranged for our guttering and fascia to be replaced. Some of the wood was rotting due, it seems, to errors made by some guys carrying out loft insulation about ten years ago. My worry is that the House Sparrows will not like the change and may not breed next year. We'll see.

Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker

Juvenile Song Thrush

The last House Sparrows ?

Juvenile Robins

Finally, on Sunday afternoon a "small orange butterfly" which Lyn had been seeing (and which I had been assuring her would be a Comma) landed on the Scabious and was actually a Gatekeeper.

Gatekeeper

Too cool for moths though.

But hold the front page: Just squeaking into July was a Brimstone Moth caught tonight in the bathroom.

Brimstone Moth

Its that rare thing, a pretty moth. They turn up every year in our garden though.

Thursday July 27

The walk to the paper shop this morning produced a terrific new bird for the year. A Hobby flew across the road just beyond the shop.

Wednesday July 26

Four more moths last night, two of them new for the year, and all of them micros.

I was up early photographing the two new ones before the rain arrived. Both were familiar from previous years. First was the giant micro, Mother of Pearl.

Mother of Pearl

The second was a male Light Brown Apple Moth.

Light Brown Apple Moth (male)

Left to their fate in the bathroom due to a shortage of pots were a Twenty-plume Moth and a Crambus sp which may have been Crambus pascuella.

Tuesday July 25

Last night was exceptional for beasts. I hadn't expected anything, to the extent that I only opened the bathroom window as an afterthought.

At 11.30pm the first beast made itself known, and it was a bird! A Tawny Owl was audible from the landing, so I shot outside and quickly located a large blob on the TV aerial across the street. The blob resumed its prolonged quivering yawl, not really a hoot. I had been half expecting the noise to be coming from a cat. Through my bins I was in time to see the owl take off and fly away over the roofs. We have heard Tawny Owl from the house before, but only a couple of times in the last 13 years, so it was definitely a bit of a coup.

Back indoors the bathroom was starting to fill up with moths. This is a slight exaggeration, but given that I still possess only two perspex pots I was going to have to be discriminating. A fruit-tree tortrix was rejected, then another one, before I spotted a little grass-veneer which looked different. I potted it. Then a medium sized macro turned up. It gained a place in the other pot. Next to appear was another biggish macro, but I could see it was a Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, so I was able to ignore it. On the landing a pug sp had appeared. It looked interesting enough to warrant a photograph, but was later identified as a rather bright Double-striped Pug.

Later in the night a second visit caused a large geometer to arrive. I was fairly sure it was a Willow Beauty, so reluctantly released the grass-veneer in favour of the sexier beast. As luck would have it I was able to recapture the smaller moth in the morning after photographing the two macros.

So what did I get?

The first one turned out to be another one with the caveat that certain identification was not always possible without examining the genitalia. Bloody moths. Nevertheless I am pretty certain that the moth in question was a species called The Uncertain. The problem being the closely similar Rustic (not the Common Rustic which is a different species altogether).

The Uncertain Hoplodrina alsines

The geometer was, as I had suspected, a Willow Beauty.

Willow Beauty Peritabodes rhomboidaria

It's feathered antennae showed it to be a male.

Finally, by conveniently resting on the window frame, the grass-veneer was potted and I identified it as Agriphila straminella.

Agriphila straminella

Finally, the morning was to produce one more surprise, this time a bird. As I drove along Alders Drive a Kestrel flew across the road at the island. A somewhat overdue year-tick.

Monday July 24

Most of the action recorded in this blog occurred on Sunday. Overnight I caught a couple of moths. One was another Blastobasis adustella, but the second was a macro-moth which I thought would be straightforward to identify. Today I realise it is actually not identifiable to species without an examination of its genitalia.

Common Rustic ag Mesapamea sp

The problem is that Common Rustic is vary variable, as is Lesser Common Rustic, and a species called Remm's Rustic, which the book I use doesn't even illustrate and which may not actually be a species at all.

Easier species included two Peacocks, three Red Admirals, a Comma, and a Holly Blue which all appeared in the garden yesterday. Also the local Robin has brought its surviving fledgling to the garden.

Peacock

Just fledged

Last night two small macros turned up. One was instantly identifiable as a Straw Dot, so I released it. The second was a pug sp, but I have now decided it is a dull example of Double-striped Pug.

Double-striped Pug

Friday 21 July

Yesterday was a bit of a disappointment. I had a couple of pre-work hours in the morning and had planned to use them looking for dragonflies at Ipsley Alders. That was before I woke up to the sound of heavy rain. By 09.00 am it was showing signs of abating, but it was cloudy and cool, so my only option appeared to be a circumnavigation of Arrow Valley Lake looking for birds.

This did produce one interesting sighting, but it wasn't a bird. It was a mammal. A Weasel bounced across the path carrying prey of some sort. Unfortunately I only had time for a quick look through the binoculars to rule out Stoat, and then it was gone.

The birds consisted of about 150 geese (Canadas and Greylags), and smaller numbers of moulting Mallard and Great Crested Grebes. The pair of Oystercatchers was still present.

The rain pepped up and I gave up.

The moth activity has also been a bit slow, just repeat appearances of single Silver Y, Large Yellow Underwing, Holly Tortrix, and Blastobasis adustella.

Finally, Lyn now has the record for Long-tailed Tits on the feeder, with an impressive seven. I'm trailing in a poor second with these five.

Wednesday July 19

In an earlier post I showed a photograph of a bee I thought was Willoughby's Leaf-cutter Bee. I also submitted the photograph to irecords where it was assessed by a bee expert as "plausible". Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but I like to think it simply meant that the photograph didn't show enough for full acceptance.

At the time there was no evidence of the activity in the garden, but yesterday I discovered this:

Holes blocked by leaf-plugs

Clearly there is a species of leaf-cutter bee in the garden. Bees scare me, not because of the sting, but because the species are numerous and many are very similar to one another. However, I will try to see, and perhaps photograph, the comb on the underside of their bodies which can be very useful in sorting out the leaf-cutters.

Just two moths last night, both micros, and both tricky.

One was a tortrix which I believe to be Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix, while the other was a stronger candidate than the moth I photographed a week ago on the bathroom ceiling, and decided was Blastobasis adustella. This time I was much more certain.

Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix

Blastobasis adustella

Turning briefly to birds, I saw four Swifts this morning, which reminded me how poor it has been for them around here this year. On the other hand our feeders were deluged in Blue Tits, Long-tailed Tits, Great Tits, and Coal Tits this morning. The activity being so frenetic that Lyn and I abandoned the telly and ate our breakfast watching them come and go.

Hungry juvenile Blue Tits

Tuesday July 18

Another warm night inevitably resulted in two more moths to identify.

A micro called Tachystola acroxantha was grabbed from the kitchen window. I have recorded this adventive species in a previous year, and it is an easy species to recognise.

Tachystola acroxantha

The bathroom produced a Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing. This morning I tried, and failed, to devise a way of photographing the upper side of its underwing without killing it. The poor thing still had a rough time of it as sticking it in the fridge for five minutes slowed it down but not enough to let me gently lift its forewing, while shaking the pot to make it fly had limited success. I promise not to do this again.

Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing

Underside view

A hint of the upper surface of the underwing pattern

It flew away strongly, apparently none the worse for the experience.

Monday July 17

Yesterday afternoon the sun came out and the Buddleia bush added to its tally of butterflies, the count being two Red Admirals, two Large Whites, and a Comma.

Comma

I can't help thinking that we ought to be getting more than this. Meanwhile on the lawn, another Small Fan-footed Wave rested.

Small Fan-footed Wave

So much for the ones I could readily identify.

A striking Ichneumon Wasp landed on the front window. A quick bit of research revealed that there are about 2,500 UK species of Ichneumon, and even the brightly coloured ones can be very tricky.

Ichneumon sp - possibly Ichneumon suspiciosus

I will be having a go though. My research revealed that it was definitely a male. I have added a name to the caption, but I clearly do not have enough knowledge to come to a firm conclusion.

Also tricky was a little moth which made it into the bathroom last night, and which I successfully potted.

Crambus pascuella

I think its either another Crambus pascuella, and probably not a similar species Crambus uliginosellus. I was leaning towards the latter, but that is described as local in distribution. I now think its the former.

Saturday July 15

Last night's bathroom capture was a single Silver Y. This migrant moth turns up every year, and is quite easy to identify.

Silver Y

There were two juvenile Woodpigeons on the lawn this morning.

Juvenile Woodpigeons

They can of course be identified as juveniles by the lack of a white ring on their necks, whilst their large size gives them away as Woodpigeons.

Friday July 14

Despite a slightly cooler night the moths keep arriving, and they are not getting any easier to identify.

Last night's arrivals were two micros and a macro.  I immediately identified one of the micros as Ypsolopha scabrella and did not detain it as I caught one last week. The other looked a toughy, so more about that later.

The macro was actually resting on the outside of the window, but in reaching around to try to pot it I caused it to fly in, where it was quickly detained. It was a small wave type moth, and it has taken me a considerable amount of time to identify it as a pale example of Small Fan-footed Wave.

Small Fan-footed Wave

Small Fan-footed Wave out of the pot

An apparent extra spot on the left forewing is I think a hole in the wing, the moth being rather worn.

The micro turned out to be a clothes moth and, I think, it is Case-bearing Clothes Moth Tinea pellionella, although this is a species which cannot be safely identified without examining their private parts. Further proof that it was a clothes moth came when it was released as it fluttered straight towards me and may still be nestled somewhere in my Moleskin trousers.

Tinea pellionella

Having recently discovered several holes in my favourite birding shirt, I am currently under wifely pressure to apply moth spray to the bedroom carpet. I may have caught this moth just in the nick of time.

During a morning of meetings and an afternoon  of shopping the birding time got squeezed out and I was left to glance occasionally at the buddleia, noting two Red Admirals and a Large White.

Large White

We are once again the custodians of my sister's tortoise. It found itself being mobbed by Magpies this afternoon, and was then sharing the lawn with the first juvenile Woodpigeon of the season.

Thursday July 13

Slightly cooler weather, and some rain yesterday, did not deter a macro-moth from entering the bathroom last night.

It looked immediately familiar, and was soon identified as a moth called The Snout.

The Snout

It seems rather strange having the definite article in the name of a moth. I can therefore say I caught a The Snout, which sounds wrong. Its a very common moth, apparently associated with Nettles, and I have recorded it in the garden before.

The Snout's snout showing well

Yesterday's rain encouraged our least favourite animal group to start moving around, although I do have a bit of a soft spot for the Garden Snail, even when one smears its way up our dining room window.

Garden Snail from below

Finally, I am supposed to be a birder, so I will at least mention that it is tit flock season, and we had an entry in the "how many Long-tailed Tits can fit on a feeder?" competition.

Four juvenile Long-tailed Tits

Tuesday July 11

It was cooler last night, and just two moths appeared, micros as usual.

One was another Twenty-plume Moth. The other was much more interesting.

Diamond-back Moth 

This tiny moth, the size of a seed, is often described as a migrant. However I do not know whether it is also resident. It is a garden tick anyway.

Sunday July 9

Another warm night produced more micro-moths in the bathroom, only one of which I could recognise.

Starting with that one, it was the first Twenty-plume moth of the year. They turn up regularly in the summer.

Twenty-plume Moth

The remainder are currently unidentified, but I will be trying to puzzle them out during the week.

Holly Tortrix

Blastodacna hellerella

Possibly Blastobasis adustella

I've managed to identify the middle moth as Blastodacna hellerella. It's food plants include Whitebeam, a large example of which lies outside our front door.

Rather embarrassingly I have concluded that the first moth is another Holly Tortrix. You might have thought I would have realised straight away.

However, I've almost given up on the third moth. I think it may be an adventive species of the genus Blastobasis, the commonest of which is adustella. Adventive means accidentally introduced, like Ring-necked Parakeet. However, that's where the analogy ends because the group of six or so Adustella moths can only be safely identified through microscopic examination of their genitalia. So imagine if Parakeets looked like Reed Warblers, and you have got the Blastobasis moths.

Saturday July 8

Yesterday morning I spotted a pug on the kitchen window. After potting it I decided it was a Double-striped Pug, a species I have recorded in the garden before.

Double-striped Pug

Last night, another Tortrix moth made it into the bathroom. Currently down to one pot I decided to photograph it in the poor light of the living room before releasing it and hoping for something bigger.

Fruit-tree Tortrix sp

Nothing turned up, and the photo leaves me torn between Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix and Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix.

However, tonight was a different story. It began well as I found a second perspex pot. This meant that as long as only two moths turned up I would be able to carry on catching and photographing the following morning.

Straight away I caught my two moths, a massive Large Yellow Underwing, and a fascinating micro which was clearly going to be a new one.

Large Yellow Underwing

The new one proved to be Ypsolopha scabrella, the first of this genus of moths I have seen, though evidently not rare.

Ypsolopha scabrella

Unfortunately it didn't stop there, as four more moths entered the bathroom. Two were species I had seen this year, Crambus pascuella, and a Double-striped Pug. The third was possibly the moth from last night. My only option was to photograph them in the unnatural light of the bathroom.

Probably Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix Pandemis heparana

Crambus pascuella

Double-striped Pug

The last one was probably a new species, but my photo attempt was awful. My only hope is that it is still in the bathroom and I catch it tomorrow night.

Tortricidae sp

All to play for then.