3 Days in Norfolk, mothing and birding

Set off for Stiffkey last Sunday for a few days mothing. birding and camping at High Sands Creek campsite. Wonderfully, traditional campsite, perfectly placed in the middle of North Norfolk. Plan was to meet up with Jess, Richie and their family whom Wendy and I met some years ago at the same site. Eldest son, Sidney, is an enthusiastic lad when it comes to moths,butterflies and insects, so always a pleasure to set up the trap, pot the haul in the early hours and then show them to the children on the campsite the following morning.
I arrived in temps in excess of 30C, pitched the new small tent easily and headed off to Wells for supplies.
Later had a beer with Richie and caught up with the children. Great to see them all again.
That evening, I placed the 15Watt heath trap on the footpath between the saltmarsh and a row of oaks and sycamores, taking several species unusual to me due to the habitat. In amongst this haul were several saltmarsh plume. There were 100's of these on the marsh, as I discovered the following night when the trap was placed actually on the saltmarsh. The final night it was threatening to rain, so I placed it under a large sycamore, close to the campsite.
In total, over 500 moths of 54 species, including 143 saltmarsh plumes on the 2nd night and an August thorn on the 3rd night. On the first night the moth of the evening was my first Evergestis pallidata, a rare moth for Hertfordshire, not yet sure of its status in Norfolk. Other notable ones were first of the year catches of flounced rustic, 6 striped rustic and rosy rustic.

August thorn

Looking at the catch with enthusiastic youngsters

Trap set on Stiffkey saltmarsh

Sunset over Stiffkey

Dusk at Stiffkey

Sidney checking the catch

1 of the 143 Saltmarsh plumes taken on the Monday night

During the day I managed some birding time. On the Monday I spent the day around the Cley Square. The temperatures were again over 30C so I had already decided to not cart the scope around with me: just binoculars and camera. Some good birds with the first arrival of migrating waders. A green sandpiper from Daukes Hide was a year lister. Other good birds were common sandpiper, marsh harrier, bearded reedlings pinging in the reeds, a reed warbler family moving through the reeds and, finally as I was leaving the main set of hides, a single wood sandpiper popped in for a few seconds before moving on as I focused the camera. Another year lister. I then walked to Richie Richardson hide at the end of the East Bank where more bearded reedling were heard, a family of tufted duck dived in the dragonfly pond and from the hide, numerous black tailed godwit. I retreated to the Visitors' Centre to cool down with a drink before heading back to the campsite.

Heat haze photo of juvenile pied wagtail

Green sandpiper

ruff

avocet

Little egret

House sparrow

tufted duck

marsh harrier,juvenile

same bird over the East Bank

Reed bunting in moult

The following day it seemed even hotter as I headed off to Titchwell. Migrant waders were arriving all along the coast so always the chance of something unusual being caught in with them.
A large 60+ strong flock of curlew arrived over from the east, settling on Thornham Marsh. A scan through the bins picked out 2 birds of differing size in amongst them, a knot and a black tailed godwit.

3 curlew and a knot

4 curlew, on calling to keep the flock together

Part of the 60+ curlew Note the leader doing the calling. Black tailed godwit top right

On the Freshmarsh, plenty of female ruff and a few early arrival juveniles, avocets, black tailed godwit and pied wagtails. Overhead, a party of spoonbills came in to feed with others already present on the far side of the Freshmarsh. Canada geese and greylags were in the middle of the marsh as were a single greenshank, several redshank and a solitary spotted redshank. A search for migrating yellow wagtails proved unsuccessful. There were plenty birds in the middle of the Freshmarsh to go through, but nothing else was added to the list.  As I headed back to the car, bearded reedlings flitted through the reeds but not settling for a photo. A movement on the mud caught my eye, 3 little ringed plover scurried around before the regular birds around the centre got on to the list: greenfinch, chaffinch, tits and blackbirds. Lovely to spend time here before into Wells for a pint in The Globe before off to the campsite for a rest before a final night of trapping.
In all, a superb 3 days in glorious weather.

Distant spoonbill coming in to feed

Lapwing

juvenile shelduck

Plenty to keep me occupied here from the footpath bench

female ruff (reeve)

11 spoonbill roosting on the Freshmarsh

suspected juvenile ruff from the footpath

 

Little ringed plover

Busy July for mothing

With the remarkably high temperatures and no rain until the 27th July, this month has been my best on record for numbers of moths.
On 30th June I had recorded 3309 and by 31st July this total had increased to 8114. Therefore: 4805 moths had been logged in 31 days, an average of 155 insects a night.
In terms of species, 30th June saw me having recorded 171 macros and by the end of July this had risen to 234, 63 new macros whilst micros had risen from 111 to 180, an increase of 69! Remarkable figures for 31 days of running the garden 125W Skinner trap each night. I also ran the portable 15W actinic trap at 9 sites around the parish on 9 nights.

Week 1: Sunday 1st - Saturday 7th July
Cydalima perspectalis was taken on the 1st, a now annual visitor to the trap, having taken the 2nd for Herts in 2012. A Maple pug in the garden was a good moth for that site whilst a Ostrina nubalis was only my 3rd record, taken in the garden on the 3rd. The 4000th moth for the year, a Dwarf Cream Wave was taken this night, too.
A Dingy shears was a new for the parish records, also garden on the 3rd before a much awaited Small elephant hawkmoth made its first parish appearance on the 6th, again to the garden. On the 7th I took another new for parish record of a Marasmarcha lunaedactyla, my 327th micro for Little Hadham.

Small elephant hawkmoth

Beautiful Golden Y

Scalloped oak

Week 2: Sunday 8th - Saturday 14th July
The records kept coming, with a new for parish Kent black arches from Westland Green on the 8th, along with 11 moths new for the year. At home that evening a Sycamore was a first for the parish.
The following night a Barred red got on to the parish list and this was followed on the 12th by another new record: Buccaltrix bechensteinella. This had been attracted to the portable trap set on a footpath that crosses the local golf course and placed under grey willow.
An Uncertain on the 10th was the 5000th moth of the year and a Dark umber from the garden on the 12th was the 350th moth species for me in 2018. On the 13th I was checking field guides to identify another new moth for Little Hadham, a Metalampra italica. A quick check of county records showed this to be a rapid coloniser of Herts, so not as rare as I had anticipated.

Kent black arches

Lesser spotted pinion

Ypsolopha sequella

Week 3: Sunday 15th - Saturday 21st July
This week began with a new record in the garden trap: Cream bordered green pea and a rarely seen this year, Nomophila noctuella . The 6000th moth was taken on the 16th, a Riband Wave. On the 20th the garden trap gave up an all time record of 214 moths of 94 species, including just 2 new year records: Ypsolopha scabrella and lime specked pug. The 21st saw just one new year record, an Agapeta zoegana.

Ypsolopha scabrella

Agapeta zoegana

Nomophila noctuella

Week 4: Sunday 22nd - Tuesday 31st July
A Ypsolopha vittella from a local unmanaged woodland (Suffyldes Wood) on the 22nd was another new parish record in a good haul to the heath trap, whilst at home the same night I took a Pyralis farnalis, another new record. The 400th moth species of the year, a Aspilapteryx tringipennella was taken on the 23rd as was the 7000th moth for the year, a Dunbar. A twin spotted wainscot was a good surprise new moth on the 25th at home and the following night I ran the trap in an oak and hornbeam wood where Lathronympha strigana was new for the records. Upon arriving home in the early hours I checked around the garden trap and noted another new one, Gypsy moth. The final new for parish record was last night and probably the best moth of the year, a Gold spot. Not too many records of this well marked insect for Hertfordshire, so a great end to a busy month!
The Gold spot constitutes the 736th moth species for the whole of the parish, a not inconsiderable total, but one that will soon be past 750 I suspect, especially if the warm and dry conditions continue into August and beyond. The 8000th moth, an Eudonia mercurella came on the 30th

Ypsolopha vittella

Gold spot

Jersey Tiger, one of 2 taken on the 26th