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.

Thursday March 29

It's been a bit quiet since my last post.

On Sunday afternoon I managed to see my first butterfly of the year, a Brimstone, flying along Costers Lane. Then on Tuesday evening that prime wildlife haven, our bathroom, produced the goods. No not a moth, or even an insect. A Tawny Owl was hooting sufficiently loudly for me to hear it with the window shut. With the window open, the sound was much clearer.

Last evening as I drove home past the old Badgers nursery along the A435, I glanced to my right to see a cock Pheasant in a field. Presumably the bird I saw at Ipsley Alders.

This morning I went for a freezing cold amble around Arrow Valley Lake, my glasses steaming up every time I looked through my bins. When I tell you the highlight was 12 Carrion Crows, three Chiffchaffs, and fly over Siskin and Grey Wagtail, you probably get the idea of how dull it was.

I did meet a couple of neighbours who told me they had spoken to Adey on Monday morning and he had seen a Swallow and a Sand Martin.

Soon be Spring.

Friday March 23

With Lyn and her friend Maureen off to Solihull on a shopping trip I was free to go anywhere I liked. So quite why I went for a walk around Ipsley Alders is anyone's guess.

As it turned out, the visit did give me a patch year tick. After trying to photograph a Treecreeper and a Buzzard, and then seeing a few Redwings, things picked up when I decided to walk across the marshy bit hoping to flush a Snipe or a Woodcock (both of which would be mega). I flushed nothing until I was almost back at the boardwalk when a Pheasant got up and flew across the marsh.

Pheasant

The above image might have been a bit better had it not taken a couple of seconds for me to remember I was at Ipsley Alders and not Morton Bagot.

Treecreeper

Buzzard

Back home I saw my first recognisable bumblebee of the year, a Buff-tailed Bumblebee, as it flew across the back garden.

Still too cold.

Thursday March 22

This morning dawned bright and sunny so I decided to visit Arrow Valley Lake. However, I had hardly got out of the car-park when I got a phone call alerting me to a family crisis. So I had to head to Birmingham to see if I could help.

Good deed done I returned to the lake by about 11.00am by which time cloud had rolled in and it was distinctly chilly. The walk around looked like it was going to be pretty uneventful and I was wondering whether I could compile a post based around a sighting of four Jays.

All this gloom changed when I had almost reached the southern end. I looked back and discovered a Kittiwake being harassed by Black-headed Gulls at the northern end. I sprinted (after a fashion) past bemused dog-walkers and strolling pensioners until I reached the dog-leg. Here I was relieved to see it was still present, and indeed was starting to look quite settled.

I took a lot of photos, of which these are my favourites:

Kittiwake

Just taking off

I have actually seen one here before, in January 2007 at the start of my previous short period when I thought might be a good idea to come here regularly. There are no other recent records, although that may not mean that others have not been seen and not reported to the Worcestershire recorder. I would surprised if these are the only sightings in the last twelve years.