Moths, Bats and Birds.

Friday 14th July 2023.

My first Langmaid's Yellow Underwing of the year.

Last night, around dusk, I was drawn to the sound of calling Swifts that were so high up, they were practically invisible yet I could still hear them calling to one another in probably a tight flock. They are known to actually sleep on the wing and whether they spend all night flying or perch up under a rooftop somewhere, I am not so sure. Maybe the experts can enlighten me? Much closer to home were the Pipistrelle Bats that were hawking for insects just above my head; travelling from garden to garden then back again in impossible turns and angles in search of flying insects. Most entertaining and far, far better watching this than what my wife was watching on telly at the time!!! (Hate soaps!).

Common Footman. I have not had many this year so far.

Looking at the weather forecast over the next few days did not cheer me up whatsoever. Tomorrow is supposed to be both windy and very wet and Saturday is not looking all that great either. The ‘Lazee Birders’ could be organising a sea-watch from the Milford Shelter near Lymington on Saturday, but I have other plans I’m afraid. Though it does look good for pushing some interesting seabirds in. A Manx Shearwater was seen by a local birder off Hill Head earlier this week; a species I have not seen yet in Hampshire! Sadly, it looks as though the Roller on the Isle of Wight has departed (flown off!), leaving behind a few disgruntled birders who would have liked to catch up with this awesome bird. Maybe its in Hampshire somewhere waiting to be discovered? Yesterday, with returning waders making their mark along the south coast, a Pectoral Sandpiper was on Pennington Marshes.

Clancy's Rustic. This uncommon moth has been seen a few times in my garden this year.

This morning, it was grey and overcast, though hardly any wind and best of all dry first thing when I ventured outside into the garden at 5.10am. Rain was forecast at 6am and so I took a gamble and put the moth box on overnight. However, ten minutes into checking the box, the rain came in, but thankfully it was quite light.

Only my second Dark Sword-grass of the year this morning.

There were at least 46 moths of 28 species recorded today of which two were new for the year. One, a Langmaid’s Yellow Underwing (named after a good friend of mine, the late John Langmaid), after careful scrutiny in one of the moth pots; and the other was a micro that would not settle; a Mother-of-Pearl, which promptly flew off when I approached it. Boo! A few other good moths amongst them included a Least Carpet, Common Footman, Clancy’s Rustic and a Red-barred Tortrix.

The following moths were recorded this morning:

• 1 Common Emerald
• 1 Dark Sword-grass
• 2 Brimstone Moth
• 5 Silver Y   
• 2 Riband Wave
• 1 Common Pug
• 1 Shuttle-shaped Dart
• 1 Heart & Dart
• 1 Least Carpet
• 2 Lime-speck Pug
• 1 Double-striped Pug
• 3 Lackey
• 1 Langmaid’s Yellow Underwing (NFY)
• 1 Common Footman
• 3 Bright-line Brown-eye
• 1 Clancy’s Rustic
• 1 Large Yellow Underwing
• 1 Mother-of-Pearl (NFY)
• 2 Rosy Tabby
• 1 Dingy Dowd
• 2 Yellow Oak Button
• 1 Elder Pearl
• 2 Garden Grass-veneer
• 5 Light Brown Apple Moth
• 1 Golden-brown Tubic
• 1 Ruddy Streak
• 1 Apple Leaf Miner
• 1 Red-barred Tortrix

Above, the view from my Office window! The Royal Garrison Church standing below a leaden sky that was about to start to rain. It was a wet morning while I did my first shift and this afternoon does not look good either. The field is often used by School children during term time, though a few Gulls and Wood Pigeons currently rest there. There could be something interesting there during Autumn?

Matt Parkes kindly sent me this film footage of a Hummingbird Hawk-moth nectaring on Lavender in Alresford, despite the wet weather.

Two new moths for the year.

Wednesday 12th July 2023.

Two Least Carpet moths were present today.

A clear sky first thing this morning, with Herring Gulls making an awful din nearby and the light hum of a Buff-tailed Bumblebee nectaring on my Lavender plants sets the scene for another stupidly early morning forage in and around the moth box. Slightly cooler of late as well, with a light westerly breeze on a 16 degree centigrade temperature. Before checking the moth box, I put out the dried Mealworms for the House Sparrows to keep them away from my moth box for a while. I would have put the moth box on Sunday night, but the weather forecast predicted rain overnight and again, they were so wrong!

Marsh Dowd finally arrived to my moth box.

To the moths. To be honest, I was a little disappointed with the lack of moths, with hardly any at all within the moth box itself. The only good news is that my first Least Carpets of the year were present; one in the box and one outside nearby. Also, my first Marsh Dowd ( Blastobasis rebeli) micro moths of the year were present, close to one another on the white sheet.

Common Rustic agg. One of hardly any moths within the moth box. 

A total of just 31 moths of 19 species were recorded today, with most being micro moths, but at least there were moths to look at. Least Carpet is an irregular visitor to my garden and a good moth to record too, whereas the Marsh Dowd is also quite a scarce moth. It is from the island of Madeira and somehow, like a lot of the Blastobasis micro moth species, found its way to both Hampshire and West Sussex.

Moths recorded this morning included the following:

• 3 Riband Wave
• 1 Lackey
• 2 Double-striped Pug
• 2 Least Carpet (NFY)
• 1 Lime-speck Pug
• 3 Silver Y
• 1 Heart & Dart
• 1 Common Rustic
• 2 Marsh Dowd (NFY)
• 1 Common Plume
• 2 Dingy Dowd
• 1 Golden-brown Tubic
• 1 Brown House Moth 
• 3 Light Brown Apple Moth
• 1 Box Tree Moth
• 1 Rosy Tabby
• 2 Ruddy Streak
• 2 Garden Grass-veneer
• 1 Barred Marbled

The Roller on Brading Marshes, Isle of Wight. The bird was always distant hence the photo. A top rarity that many a birder would love to see. Photo by Steve Fruin. 

Simply shocking!!

Tuesday 11th July 2023.

Hi guys. I know quite a few people are reading my blog, not just here in the UK but also all over the world (honestly!). I contribute to Birdguides who provide me with up-to-date coverage on what is being seen in the UK and also a good monthly magazine which I in turn, give to me elderly father to read. I also read the email sent to me on topics covered and it disturbs me that in a so-called civilised society, the persecution of raptors is still going on at an alarming rate.

As a Naturalist, Birder or simply lover of all things Nature; I for one enjoy watching and marvelling at any type of raptor when out Birding, but when you hear of the shocking discoveries by members of the public, RSPB and other organisatons, it beggars belief on some of the mindset and mentality of a few individuals on destroying something so beautiful. On top of that, it angers me immensely the penalties dished out by Judges and the inadequate Judicial System to these criminals. OK, probably in their eyes, the individual never hurt a human, therefore, just therefore give a pathetic bit of Community Service and a petty fine and I am sure  they will have learnt their lesson and will not do it again. Will we ever seriously get real justice for these crimes? Sorry to be pessimistic, probably not in my lifetime.

Yes, the jails are well overcrowded and it costs the taxpayer a lot of money to put criminals behind bars. Well, if we cannot jail the criminals, make them pay an enormous fine and confiscate all they have then name and shame them to the media. However, we live in this horrible ‘woke’ society and goodness knows what the pathetic few would think of this. I am so glad that everyone is getting on the back of the Water Companies and exposing the disgusting working behavior they have caused. I only wish the public would jump on the bandwagon in exposing what is happening on these Grouse Moors. 

These are just some of the horrific crimes that have been reported by Birdguides recently: 

Barn Owl killing.

Following an investigation by North Yorkshire Police, Leslie Shooter was charged with using an animal trap in circumstances for which it is not approved, causing a trap to be set to cause injury to a wild bird and causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal. After pleading guilty at Scarborough Magistrates Court on 29 June 2023, Shooter was sentenced to a community order with 100 hours unpaid work requirement, as well as £199 of costs and surcharges. A worthy comment made by one reader of this incident ‘As ever. The sentence is pathetically inadequate. Is the problem with sentencing the guidelines or the fact that magistrates / judges come from a stratum of society that retains a feudal mindset and sees wildlife as disposable vermin to be killed at will?

Northern Goshawks killing.

A Gamekeeper has been given a 12-week suspended prison term after pleading guilty to 19 offenses in relation to the death of five Northern Goshawks in Suffolk. Francie Addison. 72, of Weeting, was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, SUSPENDED for 12 months, after pleading guilty to the offenses, including numerous breaches of firearms license conditions, at Norfolk Magistrates Court on Thursday 29 June.

Chief Magistrate, Mary Wyndham, said the offences were dealt with in their ‘totality’ and that they were so ‘serious’ this  justified a custodial sentence. However due to Addison’s age and health, this was suspended!!!!! She said that the license condition breaches posed serious potential harm to others and members of the public. He was ordered to pay a paltry £1,080 compensation costs of the examinations of the Goshawks, court costs of £105 and a surcharge of £154. His firearms, ammunition and traps are aslos to be forfeited. WHAT A JOKE!!!!   

Red Kite killing.

A Red Kite was found near raptor persecution hot-spot in County Durham and has been confirmed as having been both shot and poisoned. The bird was discovered hanging in a tree near Stanhope Burn by a member of the public in October 2022. Its body was x-rayed and found to contain pieces of shot and when it was sent for official toxicology examination, the body was found to contain the highly toxic pesticides carbofuran and bendiocarb, which was confirmed by testing to the cause of death. Yet, I am sure the Police know exactly who the culprits are, but yet again, NOTHING WILL BE DONE!

I know it's not what I normally write about on my blog, but as written earlier, a lot of people read my blog and not only birders either. I got some nasty emails once because I was set totally against Wildfowlers and the Government's Badger Cull; but those Gutless Wonders would not meet me face to face to have their argument.

On a lighter note, dear readers, our celebrity Little Egret was by Canoe Lake this morning, totally oblivious of passers by, in search of prey by the edge of the Lake. It has become a hit on Social Media now. I just only hope it is given some respect by all that visit that part of Southsea. 

  

A good array of insects over the Cemy.

Sunday 9th July 2023.

Starting to look a bit greener in the Cemetery after the rain of late.

The weather played a big part this afternoon, for the early showers this morning disappeared and bright sunshine interspersed with overhead heavy clouds brought out a large number of butterflies around Highland Road Cemetery this afternoon. It was most definitely T-shirt weather as I slowly made my way anti-clockwise, checking not just the birds, but also the plants and insects I came across today.

Above, Common Field Grasshoppers were seen and heard in good numbers today. Below, there were several Small Skipper butterflies on the wing today.

Above, Meadow Brown butterflies were skipping low over the grass with a few attracted to the Buddleia.

There were hardly any dog-walkers today for it seemed I had the whole place to myself (wishful thinking) and taking my binoculars along, I wanted to check the top of the trees for any possible Hairstreak butterflies. Many years ago, I found a White-letter Hairstreak fluttering about on the grass in the late summer and I have always thought they could possibly breed here. I shall keep my eyes peeled in future at the top of the trees.

Above, a Buff-tailed Bumblebee enjoying the Buddleia and below, a Drone Fly nectaring.

Above, the micro moth, Straw-barred Pearl on a Yarrow plant and below, several Swifts were seen overhead low over the trees.

Butterflies took priority today as a lot of the Buddleia were in bloom throughout the Cemetery. But first, there were the birds seen and heard today that included the following:

• Great Black-backed Gull
• Herring Gull
• Black-headed Gull
• Mediterranean Gull
• Wood Pigeon
• Feral Pigeon
• House Sparrow
• Robin
• Wren
• Goldfinch
• Greenfinch
• Carrion Crow
• Swift
• Blackbird

A Yellow-legged Mining Bee nectaring on Smooth Hawk's-beard flowers and below, a pair of Great Black-backed Gulls flying over the Cemetery.

Though most of the birds were passing over or just fleeting glimpses, the Blackbirds at least showed well, busy searching for food among the graves! Butterflies were in very good numbers here in the Cemetery this afternoon, most enjoying the many Buddleia flowers and allowing me a close approach to them. The following butterflies were seen this afternoon:

• Red Admiral
• Painted Lady
• Small White
• Holly Blue
• Meadow Brown
• Peacock
• Comma

By far, both Red Admiral and Painted Lady were the most numerous butterflies of which were in double figures, plus I also got to see my first Straw-barred Pearl (Pyrausta despicata) of the year, with several seen as I walked on the grass and disturbed them. Thankfully, they did not fly far and allowed me some reasonable photos. Other insects seen today included Common Field Grasshoppers, which were abundant around the graves, picking up their striations calling within the grass.

Above, a Painted Lady and below, a Peacock butterfly.

Above, a pair of Hornet-mimic Hoverflies sharing the same Buddleia plant and below, a Holly Blue butterfly on the Bramble flowers.

The impressive Hornet-mimic Hoverflies (Volucella zonaria) were also abundant today and again, allowed me to get fairly close to grab a few photos of this amazing insect. Drone Flies were also in numbers too as well as the Syrphus species of Hoverfly. I also saw a large Dragonfly species, but all too briefly and can only assume it was one of the Hawker species. All in all, if you are an entomologist, I think you would have been in ‘Seventh Heaven’! Going back to birds, the big species at the moment is the adult Roller at Brading Marshes on the Isle of Wight. I was lucky enough to see the Roller at Broxhead Common in May 2013, but to see another one would be something else. I am glad some of the ‘Lazee Birders’ made the trip to see the bird. Birding pal, Geoff Farwell, took a walk around Farlington Marshes today and saw 2 Common Sandpipers, 20 Avocets, 2 Southern Hawker dragonflies, Common Darter and a Red-eyed Damselfly. He also watched an Emperor Dragonfly catch and devour a Red Admiral butterfly.

Above, this Buff-tailed Bumblebee was by my back kitchen door this afternoon.