A few more sightings around the Farm and Cottage.

Saturday 10th September 2022.

This Robin was in full song within the Farm.

Afternoon update: Becky and I went to Cardigan, which was roughly 15 minutes away from where we were staying, to get some supplies for the week at Tesco’s. Though driving, I kept an eye out for anything interesting, but apart from the odd Buzzard, all was rather quiet. The weather was good though, with bright warm sunshine beaming down and on the way back to the Cottage, we stopped off at the Pen Y Bryn Arms pub, just outside Cardigan. The food was superb and the chap running the pub was an English guy from Bournemouth and really quite helpful on where to look for birds.

Above, there were plenty of Swallows still flying over the Farm and Cottage. Below, a Goldcrest flying through the plants to land in nearby trees.

After a decent afternoon nap (Yes, I am that old!)I took a nice stroll around the Farm and the Cottage and checked out the wildlife in the area. Chiffchaffs were calling all over the place, with a few seen and in the Horse Field near the entrance of the Farm, I saw a lone Blackcap in the hedgerow. Both Speckled Wood and Red Admiral butterflies were on the wing while I was stroking the handsome Horse, while overhead, large numbers of Jackdaw and Wood Pigeon flew over. Several Swallows were also on the wing over the Farm, with what looked like a few juveniles among them.

Above, Jackdaws gather in the trees down the hill behind the Cottage and below, a Common Buzzard flying over the Farm heading west. 

After a good chat with Dot, one of the Proprietors of the Farm, she told me where to take the footpath down to the River Nevern, which I shall probably try tomorrow morning. Maybe there might be Dippers on the river? A Common Buzzard flew up the hill and over the Farm and a lone Linnet flew high heading west. My first dragonfly of the trip settled nicely on the wooden fence by the big scrubby field - a Common Darter.

A few butterflies were on the wing including Speckled Wood (above) and Red Admiral (below). 

The moth box will be on tonight and hopefully, a few more than this morning. We shall see. I read on Bird Guides that a juvenile Long-tailed Skua, a juvenile Sabine’s Gull, 13 Balearic Shearwaters and 14 Black Terns went past a place at nearby Mynt, in Ceredigion. Bodes well for a trip to Strumble Head soon. 

A Common Darter taking in the last of the suns warmth late this afternoon.

We kick off with a new moth!

Saturday 10th September 2022.

The 'spikey' looking Large Lance-wing,  Epermenia falciformis, which was a new moth for me. 

Our first full day in Wales kicked off nicely with a check of the moth box I had on overnight. A quick look before I went to bed last night revealed a few moths, notably a 3 Brimstone Moths and my first Green Carpet of the year. Though I put the rain guard on over the box as I did not want to take any chances with the weather, it remained dry overnight although there was a heavy dew first thing this morning at 6.30am.

Top photo: A Grey Heron flying out of its roost down below near the River Nevern. Middle photo: A Wren was in full song close to the moth box. Bottom photo: Dawn breaking over the countryside here. 

Dawn here deep in the countryside was spectacular as expected, with lots of bird song (Robin, Wren and the resident Peacocks making a din! So, grabbing a coffee and the Ironing Board (to rest the box and egg trays on!)I was looking forward to what goodies my moth box would attract overnight. I could see numerous Crane Flies and Slugs on the walls of the Cottage and an awful lot of small Dung Beetles (Acrossus rufipes), but I did find a few moths clinging to the wall around the box and a few more inside the box; but to be honest, I expected a lot more. 

Top photo: My moth box up and running this morning. Middle photo: The attractive Canary-shouldered Thorn. Bottom photo: Rosy Rustic; my second of this Autumn. 

The good news is that I discovered yet another new micro moth for my life list and apparently it is quite rare in Wales and so I shall have to send a photo of the moth to the County Recorder, if there is one? The moth in question has the vernacular name of Large Lance-wing (Epermenia falciformis) and a rather unusual looking individual too (see photo above). Other moths present this morning included the following:

• 1 Rosy Rustic
• 1 Square-spot Rustic
• 5 Brimstone Moth
• 5 Green Carpet (NFY)
• 1 Canary-shouldered Thorn
• 1 Snout
• 2 Straw Dot
• 1 Lesser Yellow Underwing
• 1 Large Lance-wing (NFY + LIFER)
• 2 Celypha lacunana
• 1 Light Brown Apple Moth 

21 moths of 11 species is a relatively low count considering where I am in the countryside, but hopefully will get better as the weeks go on. A lovely sunrise took place and above the moth box, a Bat species was trying to land under the apex of the Cottage and I think it was successful in the end. I only wished I took some film of it with my mobile phone. There were plenty of birds eventually on the wing as a Grey Heron flew out of its roosting tree down by the river and headed off into the countryside. Small flocks of Swallows twittered high above and a Robin burst into song close by the barn adjacent to the Cottage. Again, the soft ‘hoooeeet’ of Willow-chiffs were calling in the hedgerows on the edge of the scrubby field behind me.

I think Becky and I will be getting supplies today and probably just chilling out and possibly later exploring the area and deciding where we are going over the coming week. One place I most certainly want to go to is Strumble Head for a bit of sea-watching and hopefully Choughs! Another update today will follow most likely tonight.

Our holiday week has started in Wales.

Friday 9th September 2022.

Y Beudy Cottage; our retreat for the next week in the heart of the Welsh countryside.

Yet again, Becky and myself are on a well deserved Cottage holiday. Instead of our usual South Devon trip, I decided earlier this year that we would try Wales for a change and I picked out a lovely looking Cottage in the heart of the countryside, set on a small farm just outside the village of Crymych some 17 miles east of Fishguard, in the north-east of Pembrokeshire. Well, it took us around 5 hours to get here from Portsmouth, due to heavy traffic on both the A34 and also the M4, arriving around 4.30pm after leaving around 11.30am.

Top photo: one of two Grey Herons flying over the field behind the Cottage. Middle photo: the field behind the Cottage. What goodies could be hiding in this field? Bottom photo: the moth box is ready for action and the Proprietor said that this Owl box was used this year by a pair of Jackdaws!

I encountered at least 6 Red Kites, 4 Common Buzzards and just the one Kestrel on the way up here and after unpacking and setting up the moth box in a good looking spot around the back of the Cottage, which overlooks a large scrubby looking field and a nearby river, I am really excited about my prospects here for not only the moths, but also the bird life in the area. After talking to the proprietor, she told me that she breeds Angora Goats and there is also a Goose, Chickens and also 5 Peacocks! There are also two dogs and two cats around the farm too, so I have to keep Scruff on a lead when he is outside the Cottage.

Top photo: a couple of singing Robins in the garden. Next photo below: a Coal Tit on top of the garden Conifer. Next photo below: a pair of Mistle Thrushes were in the nearby field on top of a dead tree. Bottom photo: One of the cute Angora Goats checking me out! 

Late afternoon, I took a stroll around the farm (Penyrallt Uchaf Farm) and Cottage and enjoyed some nice birds while walking Scruff. A pair of Ravens flew over, calling in doing so and good numbers of both House Martin and Swallow were flying high over the fields. Around the gardens, there was a lot of ‘hooeting’ from 'Willow-chiffs' within the trees and hedgerows and I saw at least three flying around including a singing adult Chiffchaff. A pair of both Goldcrest and Coal Tit were enjoying the Conifers around the garden and a pair of Chaffinches were perched in a tree by the large pond. Incidentally, the pond held quite a few Frogs calling, though seeing them among all the vegetation was impossible!

Top photo: a pair of Chaffinches were in the trees by the garden Pond and below: One of many Chiffchaffs around the garden. This little beauty was in a Sloe Berry bush.

Looking down into the field behind the Cottage, a pair of Mistle Thrushes perched up on top of a dead tree, not too far from the River Nevern down below where we are staying. I watched a pair of Grey Herons land near there and I am wondering if there are any Dippers on this River. I shall explore later once I find out where the footpath is. While Becky is watching the TV tonight, I shall be regularly taking a look at the moth box tonight and checking for any Owls nearby. I still have not added Tawny Owl to my year list yet, but I stand a fighting chance here by the look of it.     

A blustery walk around the Cemy.

Thursday 8th September 2022.

Plenty of cloud over the Cemetery this morning with the occasional shower passing over. 

Yet again, the south of the UK is going through a lot of very heavy rain showers on a blustery south-westerly wind. However, I took a gamble and took our Scruff for a walk around Highland Road Cemetery, hoping his little old legs might cope on a slow walk round. Fortunately, he made it OK, but he is now walking very slow indeed.

Top photo: the deceased Flounced Rustic moth. Middle photo: the scrap between a Great Tit and a Blue Tit in the south-west corner of the Cemy and bottom photo: the Tapered Drone Fly.

Despite the blustery conditions, it was reasonably warm (18 degrees centigrade) and the occasional light shower, I still notched up 11 species of birds on my way around the Cemetery and although no nothing really of note was seen, it was still worth the walk round as always. The oddest sighting was of a Great Tit having a tassle with a Blue Tit on the ground on the south-west corner below the large Conifer. They carried on fighting, claws locked, all the time I was there! The following birds were present this morning within the Cemy:

• Herring Gull
• Wood Pigeon
• Feral Pigeon
• Collared Dove
• Blackbird
• Carrion Crow
• Magpie
• Dunnock
• Robin
• Blue Tit
• Great Tit 

Top photo: Drone Flies on the flowering Ivy plants. Middle photo: one of the large Dryad's Saddle fungi growing by a Beech Tree in the centre of the Cemy. Bottom photo: plenty of Wood Pigeons here today. 

Other notable wildlife present included a Small White and Holly Blue butterfly and the Ivy is now starting to flower and attracting a good number of Hoverflies including Eristalis Tenax (Drone Fly) and also Eristalis Pertinax (Tapered Dronefly). All the usual plants were present including Lady Bedstraw, Cat’s Ear, Yarrow and even the remains of a Vipers Bugloss growing by a grave on the south side of the Cemy. Both Beef Fungus and Dryad’s Saddle fungi were present again in the middle of the Cemy. On entry to the Cemy, I noticed a dead moth caught in a spiders web and on release, it was a Flounced Rustic. Another moth was found (this one was alive!) a micro moth, Pyrausta despicata; a species that is very common within the grass, of which is now very green within the Cemy.  So, plenty to look at within the Cemy despite the windy conditions. 

Top photo: a lone Carrion Crow over on the east side of the Cemetery. I had found a dead one over on the west side and looked like an adult bird that had succumbed. Middle photo: Beefcake fungus growing on an old bough of a dead tree. Bottom photo: our Scruff! I remember taking him around the Cemetery when he was a pup and now 15 and a half years later, he is just managing to walk round the area. 

Heavy rain keeps moth numbers low.

Wednesday 7th September 2022.

Flounced Rustic.

Heavy overnight showers again soaked the back garden and now it seems, this week the moth numbers are starting to wane. No thunderstorms overnight, but the torrential rain that is falling does have its benefits by watering the extremely dry grass and plants and possibly, a few rare moths and birds might be grounded and be discovered? A Robin was ‘ticking’ and eventually seen near the bird feeders while I was checking the moth box early this morning, but at least it was dry.

Pearly Underwing.

There were 44 moths of 22 species recorded this morning which included another Clancy’s Rustic (best year ever in my garden for this species) and plenty of interesting moths to look at. A few migrants were present including a Pearly Underwing and 2 Rusty-dot Pearl, but yesterday’s Plumed Fan-foot sadly was a no show. 

Old Lady.

It looks like another showery day here on the south coast, despite the early morning sunshine and already, the Isle of Wight scored this morning with an incredible record of a Fea’s type Petrel flying west past Ventnor along with 5 Balearic Shearwaters! 

The extremely small micro moth Cosmopterix pulchrimella.

Moths present this morning included the following:

• 1 Bright-line Brown-eye
• 1 Clancy’s Rustic
• 1 Double-striped Pug
• 1 Willow Beauty
• 3 Pale Mottled Willow
• 2 Lime-speck Pug
• 6 Square-spot Rustic
• 1 Flounced Rustic
• 5 Large Yellow Underwing
• 1 Pearly Underwing
• 3 Lesser Yellow Underwing     
• 1 Setaceous Hebrew Character
• 1 Old Lady
• 1 Marbled Beauty
• 6 Common Plume
• 2 Beautiful Plume
• 1 Apple Leaf Miner
• 2 Epinotia immundana
• 1 Clepsis consimilana
• 2 Rusty-dot Pearl
• 1 Agriphila geniculea
• 1 Acleris laterana / comariana
• 1 Cosmopterix pulchrimella

A 'Double-dip' this morning!

Tuesday 6th September 2022.

This gorgeous female Redstart cheered me up as I walked through the Churchyard at Church Norton.

Two Wrynecks at Church Norton and a Little Stint on the Ferry Pool it said on Birdguides this morning and 'Mugsy' here went all the way over there late morning and ‘dipped’ on both species! It was going to be a bit of a gamble as heavy rain was forecast this morning, coming in from the south; but all the area had at the time was a light shower, while Portsmouth was going through another deluge.

There was no sign of the Little Stint among the many waders on the Ferry Pool when I was there.

Instead of parking up on the reserve car park near Sidlesham Ferry Pool, I decided to park up in the lay by and watch from the edge of the road. Always a dodgy move, what with passing juggernauts belting past or ‘f**kwits sounding their horns to make you jump (yes, it did happen!). Nevertheless, I set up my scope and thoroughly checked the Ferry Pool for the juvenile Little Stint that was present this morning apparently. However, despite a lengthy time searching, I could not find the little bugger and made do with at least 6 Dunlin, a Common Snipe and a large mixed flock of Lapwing, Redshank and Black-tailed Godwit. But no Little Stint. There were at least 40+ Teal in eclipse plumage and no Garganey hiding among them.

One of the many Spotted Flycatchers behind the Hide late morning.

Earlier today, there was a Glossy Ibis at the back of the Ferry Pool, but that also had flown off in the direction of the Harbour apparently. The summering lone Brent Goose was present on the shallow water and kind of looked out of place, though skeins of this species should be arriving shortly to the south coast. I did spot a male Stonechat on the fence wire to the north of the Ferry Pool, but all was quiet. So, I made a hasty retreat to the car and tried my luck with the Wrynecks at Church Norton.

Two of the Spotted Flycatchers were joined by a Lesser Whitethroat (middle).

Joining a good number of birders behind the Hide overlooking the sheep field, my near hour wait for the Wryneck to show did not pay off. Fume! It had been seen about 20 minutes before I arrived here, but had flown off out of view on the northern end of the field, so said the local birders. Though disappointed, there was a supporting cast of at least 6 Spotted Flycatchers and a Lesser Whitethroat entertaining the small crowd present. Both Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker made a brief appearance, while overhead, good numbers of Swallows and Sand Martins were hawking for insects.

The Lesser Whitethroat (top) and a Spotted Flycatcher behind the Hide.

Eventually, I gave up in waiting for this Wryneck to show up and decided to make my way to the Severals where another Wryneck was seen earlier today. I met up with three of the RSPB guys who also had no luck in finding the bird, though I did see something fly into a small bush, but it failed to fly out when I approached the bush. All was extremely quiet here and the threat of rain seemed imminent, but the sun actually came out, heightening the chances of the other Wryneck to show, but when a fellow birder said there was no sign of the bird, I decided to give the Churchyard a good going over.

Top, a Great Spotted Woodpecker showed briefly behind the Hide. Below, a carpet of Chamomile and Antirrhinum on the beach at Church Norton.

Again, it was pretty quiet there, but I did find a nice female Redstart on the west side of the Churchyard that showed reasonably well. A Common Whitethroat was seen briefly over on the east side, but little else of note bar the many Hirundines flying over. It was low tide within the harbour and I could see a few waders on the mudflats, notably Dunlin and Ringed Plover and a Great Crested Grebe was seen swimming in the creek. So, I couldn't add to my year list today, but there is plenty of time to get some of these elusive birds on my year list, hopefully. 

This bench (although, possibly not the same actual bench) has many memories for me. When I was a teenager and also in my early twenties, when birding this place, I used to have my sandwiches on this bench with the likes of Geoff Farwell and Andy Fisher, whether it was rain or shine, we always had lunch here. 

Birding pal, Andy Friend, was a lot luckier than me as he managed to see the Wryneck at Peartree Green Nature Reserve, Southampton, yesterday on his 4th attempt. His 220th species seen in Hampshire this year. I wonder how many more are skulking around on the south coast?

Plumed Fan-foot added to the life list!

Tuesday 6th September 2022

Not a quality photo due to where this very rare moth was situated in the garden, but my first ever Plumed Fan-foot nonetheless. I am just hoping it will return by the box sometime today. 

Yet another thunderstorm last night produced a deluge of rain, of which I stood by the front door and had to watch the rain come down in torrents! I do love watching thunderstorms, but I can see why this Global Warming is producing some extreme weather conditions. More are predicted throughout the week and today, I have seen on the early morning news, there is a south-westerly stream of heavy rain coming in throughout the day.

A familiar moth for this time of year, the Lesser Yellow Underwing.

Everything was sodden in the garden, but at least it did the plants some good as Isabelle's Sunflowers she planted earlier this summer, are nearly all coming out in bloom! The outside egg trays resting on the moth box are completely sodden, but it still held some hardy moths for me to look at. It wasn't till I was virtually packing my moth box away and covering up the top with the rain guard, that I spotted something interesting perched in a difficult location nearly out of my reach.

Another familiar moth for this time of year, the Turnip Moth. However, there numbers do fluctuate.

On closer inspection, I had an idea what it was and so I took a few quick photos and then grabbed a pot to catch the moth. Unfortunately, though I managed to pot it, it was too quick for me and flew out of the pot before I could get the lid on and flew behind the moth box and out of sight. Fume! On checking the photos, I am happy that it is the rare immigrant moth, Plumed Fan-foot and have put a photo on the Hants Moths Facebook page for confirmation. This will be a ‘lifer’ for me if confirmed. A total of 70 moths of 27 species were noted this morning. Last night, there was an Old Lady and a few Box Tree Moths present by the moth box, they disappeared by the morning.  

The Latticed Heath was present again in the moth box, but I had to rescue it from a Spiders web. 

Moths present this morning included the following:

• 1 Plumed Fan-foot (NFY + LIFER)
• 3 Lesser Yellow Underwing
• 1 Yellow-barred Brindle
• 7 Double-striped Pug
• 9 Willow Beauty   
• 8 Square-spot Rustic
• 1 Turnip Moth
• 3 Large Yellow Underwing
• 2 Brimstone Moth
• 8 Pale Mottled Willow
• 1 Garden Carpet
• 2 Vine’s Rustic
• 3 L-album Wainscot
• 1 Dark Sword-grass
• 1 Latticed Heath
• 1 Marbled Beauty
• 3 Small Dusty Wave
• 1 Lime-speck Pug
• 4 Common Plume
• 1 Agriphila geniculea
• 1 Rush Veneer
• 1 Mint Moth
• 1 Beautiful Plume
• 1 Gypsonoma dealbana
• 2 Rusty-dot Pearl
• 3 Apple Leaf Miner
• 1 Light Brown Apple Moth