Friday November 30

On what the weathermen tell us is the last day of autumn, I found time for a quick circuit of Arrow Valley Lake. The weather was sunny and fairly mild, the breeze gentle and south-westerly.

I am getting used to seeing the same old birds there, and in the main that happened again. The Goldeneye is still present while Shovelers have increased in number to an impressive 28. Not bad considering the only other duck species present is Mallard.

Some of the Shovelers

Just past the bend I did hear a familiar species which was nevertheless the highlight of the visit. A Chiffchaff was audible from the other side of the lake. It always amazes me how the "hweet" of this species can be heard from over 100 metres away.

By the time I had reached the spot it seemed to have shut up. But after a short wait it started up again, and I eventually located it in the lakeside vegetation.

Chiffchaff

It took several minutes of stalking before I got a shot where you could actually make out the bird. Presumably it will try to over-winter here.

My moth trap is out as I am typing this, but with the temperature at eight degrees and falling and rain due before dawn, I may struggle to catch anything. I'll add to this posting when the results are in.

Stop Press: I caught four December Moths, and while I was emptying the trap on the morning of December 1, all the birds in the garden erupted into flight as a male Sparrowhawk flew in and landed on the fence.

December Moth

Sparrowhawk

A Sparrowhawk with red eyes. Hmmm.

Thursday November 22

After a hard overnight frost I resolved to have a walk around Arrow Valley Lake, unfortunately delaying my start until late morning, by which time the bright sunshine and blue sky had been replaced by mist.

In the end I only got about a quarter of the way round before a party of garrulous pensioners was the last straw (I was failing to photograph a Kingfisher at the time) and I resignedly returned to the car park.

In fact the lake did contain quite a lot of waterfowl; 17 Cormorants, 15 Shovelers, the female Goldeneye, seven Coots, numerous Black-headed Gulls and Mallard, and the first Goosander of the autumn.

Goosander

It's interesting that Little Egrets, so regular last year, seem to have vacated the area. It may simply be that I need to get up earlier or go more regularly though.

Passerines were represented by a handful of Siskins and a decent sized tit flock.

Thursday November 15

The recent mild weather has encouraged me to put the moth-trap out for two nights running. Tuesday night was a bit of a disappointment; no moths, one caddis-fly. Last night however was much more productive.

Initially all I could see in the trap was two caddis-flies, but two of the egg boxes turned up three moths. The highlight was my first December Moth, a much more attractive moth than its rather dull name might suggest.

December Moth

It was sharing its egg box with a Brick. This one was worn, but not as badly as the one last week. Another box contained a rather worn Barred Sallow.

Brick

Barred Sallow

Interestingly, the Brick became quite active within ten minutes of the egg box being removed from the trap, just like the last one did. This is not typical noctuid behaviour as most seem to remain fast asleep for hours, so assuming I've correctly identified this tricky species I wonder if this could be an "identification feature".

Some time after I put the trap away I went out to prune the buddleia and noticed I had overlooked a moth clinging to the fence. It was my third Red-green Carpet of the year.

Red-green Carpet

So four moths in one session is the best return since September. The forecast suggests colder weather is on the way, but if mild conditions return it would be tempting to give it another go.

Friday November 9

A cloudy day with a moderate south-westerly.

Overnight I gave the moth trap another outing in temperatures which dropped to six degrees. The following morning it contained a Blowfly sp, a Cranefly sp, and a very worn moth.

Brick

The jury is very much out on this one. I wondered about Yellow-line Quaker, while JS said it reminded him of a Sallow, which would be a garden tick. In view of the uncertainty I have posted a photo on the Facebook site which came up with a name for the micro a few days earlier.

If I get any suggestions I will post them.

A walk around Arrow Valley Lake this afternoon was equally disappointing. The Goldeneye and Kestrel were still present along with five Shovelers. Three Redwing flew over. Not much of a return.

PS with a resounding silence from the moth group I emailed a photograph to David Brown (aka the Guru) and he has pointed me to a moth called the Brick. Another tick.

Wednesday November 7

Its a bit ironic, but I seem to have finally captured a good moth, albeit a micro, without actually deploying the moth trap.

I came home from work yesterday evening and found it resting on the outside of the front bedroom window. I opened the window, extended an arm, and caught it easily enough in a pot. It was a very pale Tortrix moth, and my immediate reaction was pale = worn. Nevertheless I couldn't get it to fit anything, so posted a picture on the Warwickshire Moths Facebook group site I have joined. I was expecting to be either ignored, or be told to stop wasting their time with manky old micros. But no, a Martin Phillip replied in no time at all with the news it wasn't a worn moth, just a very pale one. Moreover he could narrow it down to two species, Acleris kochiella or Acleris logiana.

By now I had released it, but it was still on the window. I measured it as one averages larger than the other. Unfortunately a forewing of 8mm was great for kochiella, but still didn't rule out logiana.

An hour later I thought I should perhaps re-pot it. Sadly (not for the moth) it had gone. So by the time I was being told they would both represent a good record, it was too late.

Also; I saw a Herald on the side of Selfridges in town. My first. Yes I am definitely a novice.

Saturday November 3

Oh Ye of little faith! My pessimistic forecast of no moths was proved wrong this morning when I discovered that my trap contained two moths, and they were both lifers.

The temperature overnight dipped to around 4 degrees, and the egg-boxes were mothless as expected. But on the sides of the trap I noticed first a rather attractive streaky grey moth, and then a less impressive fawn-coloured moth.

At first I assumed the grey one would be a Blair's Shoulder-knot (only because I knew JS had caught one a couple of weeks ago so I'd looked it up), but on closer inspection I concluded it was a Sprawler.

Sprawler

The flight period is given as late October to early December, and apparently it is quite infrequently caught because it mainly flies after midnight.

The fawn one was one I had been half-expecting based on JS's captures. It was a slightly worn Yellow-line Quaker.

Yellow-line Quaker

The books say it flies from September to November, which probably explains why it was a bit tatty. Interestingly the Warwickshire Moth book says it is less plentiful than the Red-line Quaker (which I have yet to see)!

Perhaps its a bit too early to give up on moths.

PS I recently ordered the third edition of Waring and Townsend, which arrived today. As I had suspected the taxonomists have got to work and have changed the Latin names of many moths and have changed the taxonomic order. So I'm going to have to overhaul my gallery and my year list. Oh joy.

Friday November 2

As the month changes from October to November, so the emphasis of my recording effort switches from moths to birds. I decided to take a stroll around Arrow Valley Lake for the first time since September.

It was a sunny morning, there had been a loud bonfire night fireworks event overnight and half-term meant numerous families joining the ever present dog-walkers.

Against this backdrop I was astonished to find myself adding two species to my year list, and seeing several other interesting ones to boot.

The big surprise was a female or immature Goldeneye. Initially found sleeping on a raft, it was later seen to be actively feeding. With no regular recording lodged with the WMBC recorder, beyond recent Wildfowl Counts for the WWT, I cannot say how rare they are here. All I can say is that I haven't seen one before.

Goldeneye

Also present in the same arm of the lake, on the next raft in fact, were two female Teal. My last record here was during the beast from the east period last winter.

Teal

The duck tally was completed by four Shovelers, and the usual Mallard. Feeling rather pleased with this turnout I continued my circuit, noting four Cormorants, and single fly-over Skylark and Siskin.

An impressive tit flock included about ten Long-tailed Tits, while a Grey Wagtail flew in and landed in the tiny stream next to the lake. A Kingfisher sat in the foliage on the smaller of the two islands.

I was almost back to my starting point when I noticed a Kestrel perched at the top of a pine tree, seemingly intent on following the progress of some prey item in the close cropped grass below him.

Kestrel

This species has proved to be surprisingly scarce on the patch over the last couple of years. I generally end up hoping to see one perched on the streetlights lining the Coventry Highway, so it was a bonus to see a bird at Arrow Valley Lake for the first time.

One final oddity was a swimming Grey Heron.

Grey Heron

I have witnessed this behaviour before, but probably less than a handful of times in the last forty years of birding. This particular bird took off shortly after I took the photo.

Regarding moths; I have put the trap out tonight, but the forecast cloud cover seems to be late arriving, and I am expecting my first nil return since I started.