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.