Friday April 27

Steady rain with a very light easterly. A visit to the docs for an MOT gave me the opportunity for a quick look at Arrow Valley Lake.

I only had time to walk to the dog-leg and back, but was pleased to see a single Common Tern standing on a buoy.

Common Tern

About 30 Swallows and six Sand Martins were flying back and forth low over the lake. I could also see two Common Sandpipers and a Pied Wagtail in front of the sailing club.

Thursday April 26

It's been an unusual week. I have had time off from work but the wildlife watching has been interrupted by various things, some enjoyable, some desperately sad, and some down right bonkers.

So concentrating on the wildlife, Monday afternoon was split between watching bees in the garden and attending a talk by the excellent Mark Cocker at the Stratford Literary Festival. A female Hairy-footed Flower Bee showed well at lunchtime.

Hairy-footed Flower Bee

Tuesday was a wash-out both weatherwise and birdwise. A stroll around Arrow Valley Lake produced two drake Tufted Ducks, a pair of Jays, and about 20 hirundines, half of which were Sand Martins.

This morning dawned bright and sunny, but cold. I had run my moth trap overnight, but was not surprised to find I had only caught three moths; two Common Quakers and a Clouded Drab.

Clouded Drab

The one bonus of such a small catch was that I had time to revisit Arrow Valley Lake. The commonest singing bird there was Blackcap (nine), and I had the opportunity to photograph a Treecreeper.

Treecreeper

The Oystercatchers have returned from their brief absence, and unlike on Tuesday, I also saw a Common Sandpiper.

A potential nest site?

Three Little Egrets were present in the heronry, and the small hirundine flock was joined by a Common Swift, my first anywhere this year.

All wildlife watching then came to an end when I got a call to say that dad had gone AWOL again. It turned out he was guarding the door to his empty garage against some perceived threat from house-breakers. Oh dear.

On a brighter note, John S has emailed me to say that he had sent some of my moth photos for a second opinion by some even more experienced moth-ers (I would write mothers but it could cause confusion) and while almost all of the identifications were agreed, one of the pugs is actually an Oak Tree Pug, and not a Brindled Pug. However, another of the Brindled Pugs was indeed that species. I believe this is the reidentified beastie -

Oak Tree Pug

You live and learn.

Friday April 20

I was up early this morning, a man with a plan. The idea was to stroll over to Ipsley Alders to tick off a Grasshopper Warbler. The only problem was that there weren't any there.

In fact it was rather misty, and my first interesting creature was actually a mammal.

Roe Deer

Walking around the reserve I saw and heard six Blackcaps, two Willow Warblers, and four Chiffchaffs, but no new migrants.

The most significant bird was Pheasant, not just the adult male, but also a harem of two females.

Pheasant - male

Pheasant - female

Apart from that it was just the usual species singing away. I did have one more surprise in store though. What appeared to be a pensioners tea-party taking place in a scrubby area of the reserve was in fact my first encounter with the Redditch ringing group. I say encounter, the second I spotted them they got up from the trestle table they were sat around and headed purposefully towards a mist-net before disappearing into the woodland like an undiscovered New Guinea tribe.

I'd like to think it was nothing personal. I considered chasing after them and asking if they would mind if I photographed the Blue Tits and Robins as they released them, but that seemed a bit too sad, even for me, so I left them to it.

And that is how I didn't see the first Subalpine Warbler to be caught in the West Midlands.....just kidding...I hope.

By mid-morning I was back out, this time to Arrow Valley Lake. The mist was disappearing as I arrived and so I walked around in bright sunshine. Eight singing Blackcaps, seven singing Chiffchaffs, and four singing Willow Warblers were typical summer migrants.

I was then pleased to see a couple of Common Sandpipers in front of the sailing club and a single Lesser Whitethroat which paused briefly with two Chiffchaffs which were disputing a territory vociferously while a presumed female looked on, calling regularly. The Lesser Whitethroat flew on and gave a brief rattle to confirm its identity.

The Common Sandpipers

I counted three singing Reed Buntings around the lake before I left.

Reed Bunting

Thursday April 19

With the weather warming up rapidly, I decided to dedicate the day to the garden and more particularly to the insects therein.

The moth trap was emptied very slowly from about 07.00am to about 09.00am. It contained numerous insects which were new to me, and some of my identifications are currently on the tentative side. However, stop press, I am now amending a couple of things because my moth guru, John Sirrett, has replied to my email and has corrected one of my identifications and suggested a solution to the one that had me stumped.

The first moth seen was actually resting on the door of the utility room. After much deliberation I decided it was a Small Quaker. I tried photographing it against the life-size illustration in Waring et al as well as on the door.

Small Quaker

Assuming I have got them right, I counted nine Small Quakers and 16 Common Quakers in and around the trap this morning.

Common Quaker

Small Quaker on the left and Common Quaker on the right

Another species of Quaker in the trap was much more distinctive; a Twin-spot Quaker.

Twin-spot Quaker

What I was really hoping for was something big and impressive. Two species fitted the bill, a Brindled Beauty and an Early Thorn.

Brindled Beauty

Early Thorn

In contrast, I rather dread looking at Pugs. I duly found four of them. One was quite easy, the V-Pug. The other three were much harder. Two were larger than the third. I eventually decided the bigger ones were Mottled Brindled Pug, and the smaller one a darker than normal Double-striped Pug.

Brindled Pug on the left and double-striped Pug on the right

V-Pug

Two easier ones next.

Hebrew Character

Twenty-plumed Moth

I saw four of the former and only one of the latter. Thankfully there weren't many micros (like the Twenty-plumed), but I did get one which I thought would be distinctive enough to identify.

Small March Moth

I was mistaken. I think its some kind of pyralid sp, but I haven't come up with anything yet. In fact it was a micro, but not a Pyralid sp. It was a Small March Moth Diurnea fagella. John somehow managed to identify it on the basis of a photograph attachment that wouldn't enlarge. Impressive.

A couple of caddis flies also caused confusion as I at first thought they were some kind of giant micro-moths before the penny dropped. I may even have discovered their specific names.

Stenophylax permistus

Brachycentrus subnubilus

The very first insect to exit the trap, somewhat to my relief, was a wasp sp. I spent much of the afternoon trying to identify and photograph bees.

Tawny Mining Bee

Red Mason Bee

When we got back from Castle we realised there was a bee in the downstairs loo. I caught it, and identified it as a Grey-patched Mining Bee.

Grey-patched Mining Bee

No birds of note unless you count a Lesser Whitethroat heard from Castle Nurseries where Lyn and I were buying plants.

Friday April 14

So, I was up at 06.30 like a kid unwrapping his Christmas presents. The moth trap had been running all night and I had no idea what to expect.

My first emotion was one of relief as I found I had caught at least three. It took me ages to painstakingly remove each constituent of the trap to search for moths and then to photograph them. I quickly realised that I was going to have to "phone a friend" to get myself on the right track. The friend in question was John Sirrett, and I tasked him with checking the photos I emailed to him to make sure I had got the identifications correct, some of which I hadn't, or to suggest a name where I was stumped.

I actually caught 13 moths of six species, as follows:

Early Grey - 1
Common Quaker - 8
Chestnut - 1
Hebrew Character - 1
Light Brown Apple Moth - 1
Clouded Drab - 1

Some were quite easy to identify; the Early Grey and the Hebrew Character, while I was familiar with Light Brown Apple Moths from the bathroom window mothing in July.

I found the rest very tricky, and certainly needed John's help. The variation was the problem. Here are some Common Quakers.

Pale ones, rufous ones, well-marked ones, poorly marked ones. The one thing they had in common was their size and rather rounded wing tips. I had several of them down as unknown or something else before John put me right.

Also confusing were the Chestnut, and the Clouded Drab.

Fortunately a couple of them were far more distinctive.

The early morning had been quite cloudy, but by mid morning the sun appeared and I was able to nip out to see what other beasts I could find.

My first Dark-bordered Bee Fly of the year soon appeared, and is always a welcome sight. Although not for the solitary bees it parasitises.

Dark-bordered Bee Fly

If I thought moths were tricky to identify (and I do), they are nothing compared to bees. A bumblebee was buzzing around the Rosemary, while a solitary bee was examining a Grape Hyacinth.

Bombus pratorum

bee sp

The bumblebee was a queen Early Bumblebee, although the orange hairs on the tibia seemed a bit strange, and as for the other bee. I'm going to need to phone another friend.

Friday April 13

The day dawned grey, just for a change! However, the temperature is rising.

Arrow Valley Lake seemed to contain the same migrants as on my last visit, but in better numbers. At least six Willow Warblers, five Chiffchaffs, and four Blackcaps were singing. A surprise return visit for the Barnacle Goose I first saw in January gave me the opportunity to get a better photograph of it.

Barnacle Goose

Hirundines started to arrive when I was about half way round. Initially just a couple of Swallows, but then at least 10 Sand Martins appeared. Looking from the dog-leg I realised that several were landing at the top of a tree on the island. Up to nine House Martins appeared, and they joined the other hirundines in the tree-tops.

All three species together

Sand and House Martins

Swallows and House Martins

Finally, my moth trap arrived yesterday and I managed to assemble it without incident (I think).

Proud of my handiwork

I just need some warmer drier nights to get going.

Thursday April 5

A bright sunny morning with the merest hint of a north-westerly breeze augured well for some early migrants so I was at Arrow Valley Lake for 07.00. A Blackcap singing from the car-park was followed by another just before the dog-leg.

Here I met Mark who filled me in on a few migrants he had recorded recently, including Willow Warbler, Sand Martins, and Swallow. He confirmed that the Redshank a week or so ago had been the only one he had ever seen here. I was not surprised, as there is no wader habitat here really.

Shortly after we parted I heard the sweet song of a Willow Warbler, and after seeing it in the trees, stretching its wings, I whipped the camera out hoping for some kind of record shot.

Willow Warbler

Typically the only shot that was in focus showed only the bird's backside, so the next best effort is shown here. I was joined by another birder with a serious bit of camera kit, but by then the bird was working its way into more inaccessible scrub. He told me he and Mark had seen a Swallow, so I returned to the path.

Within a few minutes I picked up a hirundine flying north-east, but was surprised to see that it was a Sand Martin. It soon disappeared and I continued ambling back to the car. I soon spotted the Swallow jinking its way across the lake. I watched it for a while, and eventually decided to try to get a photograph. Small birds in flight are extremely challenging, and the results were less than brilliant, but at least I got an identifiable image.

Swallow (and Great Crested Grebe)

Time to go home and have some breakfast.

During the afternoon we returned from Hillers (I had seen a Red Kite from the car over the edge of the Ragley estate), and the focus became our front garden. Both Buff-tailed and Tree Bumblebee were in evidence as well as a solitary bee sp. Finally, as I admired my limited gardening handiwork, a Comma butterfly flew past at a rate of knots.

Spring at last.

Monday April 2

Its been a very disappointing Easter.

A couple of visits to Arrow Valley Lake, on 30 March and this morning, both in cloudy conditions following overnight rain, failed to produce any Sand Martins or other new migrants.

At least this morning was a bit milder, and more birds were singing. Four singing Reed Buntings and three Chiffchaffs the brightest sign.

The river was in full spate and worth a shot.

The River Arrow

Reed Bunting

Perhaps we have been spoilt by early Springs in the last few years.