Tuesday 30 August 2011

3 new moths 30.08.11

3 new moths this morning: firstly a snout. This is a common species and I suspect many will be trapped over the next fortnight. Unfortunately it legged it before I could get a photo. Secondly, an expected moth in the shape of Svenssons copper underwing. This common moth is distinguished from the equally frequently trapped copper underwing by observing the underside. With Svensson's there is considerably more coppering. Lastly, a visit to the trap last night at 10.30pm gave views of a large moth. This was quickly identified as an Old Lady, which seldom comes to light. As can be seen, in very poor condition. Fortunately, a second was in the trap this morning, in much better condition, also shown. Other moths making an appearnce were the regular brimstones, green and garden carpet along with plenty of yellow underwing species.
green carpet

light emerald

Old Lady (new)

Old Lady (worn)

silver y

Svensson's copper underwing

Sunday 28 August 2011

Mothing 28.08.11

flounced rustic

square spot rustic
With all the rain and not particularly good moth temperatures, very little has visited the trap recently and certainly nothing new. Flounced rustics, brimstones, large, lesser, broad bordered and lesser broad bordered yellowunderwings are all nightly visitors and the same frosted orange discovered earlier in the week was trapped again.

So Close!! 26.08.11


I received a report of a pair of whinchats near the south east parish boundary, so hurried off to see if it would become the 100th bird for the parish. Good views were had, albeit distant, but unfortunately the nearest they came to the parish was 200 yards. A good local bird, migrating south with not many records per year within the whole of Hertfordshire. On my way back, a superb male blackcap was observed in bramble, a common buzzard over Bury Green and an autumnal show of starlings, shown here. The day had been one of heavy downpours and sunshine, culminating in a wonderful evening rainbow. Thanks to birding friend Graeme for informing me of the whinchat. His photos can be viewed at http://www.britainsbirder.co.uk/

Thursday 25 August 2011

New Moths

frosted orange


yellowshell
cabbage moth

bordered beauty


These two moths were new to me this morning, along with a broad bordered yellowunderwing that legged it before I could get a photo. Moth above also a new species to the trap: a cabbage moth, again a common species and onethat I shall probably find in the trap most mornings for the next fortnight or so.


Wednesday 24 August 2011

new moth 24,08.11

A check on the moth trap at 5 a.m. today gave up two examples of a new moth for the garden in the shape of a garden carpet. Also, the usual regulars were in attendance, with another Evergestis garden pebble. Plenty of mottled rustics, a few rustics, common rustics, square spot rustics and 1 ear moth sp. This really requires dissection to clarify the actual species, but 99% guaranteed to be a common ear. Quite a few micros were photographed, now to wade through 1500 moths to identify them. Several have been uploaded here and will be named at a later date.
garden carpet

Agriphila geniculea


square spot rustic

Trachycera advenella
worn example

Agriphila tristella

Tuesday 23 August 2011

Moth trap contents

Just 1 new moth today, after a warm night with a little drizzle. At midnight there were 2 small emeralds, 4 large yellow underwings, 1 mother of pearl, 2 brimstone and 1 common carpet on the sheet and plenty entering the trap. Most of these seemed to be setaceous hebrew characters.
burnished brass


worn example of a willow beauty
 This morning plenty of lesser yellow underwings, lesser broad bordered yellow underwings, several common wainscot, set hebrew characters, uncertains, 2 brimstone and an ununsual moth for the trap, a burnished brass. Latter being only my 3rd record. However, highlight was finding a flounced rustic in the trap. Tricky individual to id, looking rather similar to a common rustic. Both shown below.
Flounced rustic

common rustic

Monday 22 August 2011

Much Hadham Walk


buzzard
 3 of us set out from Little Hadham, heading for Much Hadham along the Ridge footpath. A mewing juvenile buzzard was first heard and then seen, soaring with an adult. In all, we saw 4 common buzzards, all in the sky simultaneously.
Not too many birds: yellowhammers, pied wagtail a solitary red legged partridge, 100+ jackdaws at Bush Wood, a moorhen on a very dry River Ash and a kestrel were the highlights.
The knapweed was abundant along the path and alive with insects. Hundreds of honey bees, presumably from nearby hives, common blue, red admiral and large and small white butterflies. An unusual hoverfly, scaeva pyrausti was observed, standing out due to it being white and black. A common hoverfly. Migrant hawkers and ruddy and common darters were seen, with the ruddy darter in a large puddle opposite the Nag's Head. A good walk back across the golf course, having enjoyed refreshment at The Bull.

female common blue


scaeva pyrausti


Moth round up

brimstone. Unusual for it to pose with wings closed

humming bird hawk moth

nicrophorus investigator

rosy rustic


scarce footman


square spot rustic

spectacle

straw dot
Several new moths were added to the list this weekend, with straw dot moth, square spot rustic and rosy rustic being new ones. Also in the trap was a colourful beetle, nicrophorus investigator and a hornet. This didn't appear to enter the trap, but roosted outside, waiting for moths to arrive or leave. Several wing parts scattered around showed it had enjoyed a riband wave and green carpet.
The hummingbird hawkmoth appeared at about 7pm, so light was not good. Shutter speed 160th of a second and still the wings are a blur. This gives a good indication of how fast the wings beat.

Thursday 18 August 2011

More moths 18.08.11

Agriphila tristella

Acleris variegana: Garden rose tortrix

Green carpet

Ophion luteus
Moths continue to fill the trap, although not to the extent they were during the warmer evenings of a few weeks ago. A green carpet was eventually photographed, along with 2 micro moths, both shown here. The damp and chilly nights continue to keep many expected August species away from the trap. Just one warm and balmy night will readdress the balance. Also in the trap this morning was a parasite insect, Orphion luteus. This attacks caterpillars of both moth and butterfly, occasionally laying its eggs actually into the larva!

Bird migration

I spent a couple of hours on the patio, watching the constant movement south of several species of bird. In the time I counted (2 hours) I recorded, 4 house martins, 4 swifts, 207 swallows, 27 lesser black backed gulls and 1 black headed gull. Also seen were 2 resident common buzzards. A humming bird hawkmoth was also seen, feeding at dusk on the garden buddliea

Wednesday 17 August 2011

Latest moths

Catoptria falsella

common carpet

Evergestis forficalis garden pebble

six striped rustic
tawny speckled pug

turnip moth (dark)


  A selection of both new and previously recorded moths. The micros, catoptria falsella and garden pebble are both common moths, as are all the rest. The six striped rustic is a first record whilst the turnip moth photos are added to illustrate the complexities of identifying even the most common visitor to the trap. Also added the first record of tawny speckled pug, again a common moth, appearing between July and August.

Tuesday 16 August 2011

birds and moths 16.08.11

emmelina monodactyla

flame shoulder


A good catch of moths last night, although nothing new. A lesser swallow prominent was only the 2nd record whilst several species of the yellow underwing, a flame shoulder, brimstone, silver y, emmelina monodactyla, dark bordered twin spot carpet, spectacle, late common footman, common wainscot, riband wave etc were all in evidence.
Swallows were heading south in good numbers this morning, passing overhead along the Ash Valley at about the rate of 100 per hour. Last night, over 60 lesser black backed gulls weaved their way overhead



Sunday 14 August 2011

2 new moths 14.08.11

turnip moth

female orange swift

lychnis
A good night at the moth trap, with 2 new species discovered in amongst a good count of regulars.A superbly marked green carpet managed to escape as I was trying to get the 1st photo of it. A common moth, I suspect it will return to the trap. The second was a common moth, long overdue, in the form of a turnip moth, shown below. Another good moth was lychnis, now beginning its second brood and one that will be fairly regular for the next few weeks, also shown below. Lesser, lesser broad bordered and large yellow underwing were all taken and the number of the large micro moth, mother of pearl, continue to increase. At least 15 this morning.
The previous morning a moth I had not seen before had me diving for the field guide. However, it turned out to be a female of the  orange swift species, shown here in hand. Much larger and duller than the orange male, nevertheless a good moth to observe.

This is me

This is me
At the end of another Norfolk Coastal footpath walk. 47 miles, 3 days 99 species of bird. September 2009

Caley Wood view

Caley Wood view
sunshine through the canopy 29.05.08

A walk along the Warta Valley, Poznan, Poland. Feb 2007

A walk along the Warta Valley, Poznan, Poland. Feb 2007
Best birds on this walk: black and middle spotted woodpecker and short toed treecreeper

About Me

My photo
A primary school teacher for 30 years, I retired from teaching in July 2009 to set up my own science enhancement and communication company. The Primary Works offers science clubs, workshops and staged science shows nationwide. I have always been interested in bird watching since my early years. Apparently my first tick was after inquiring about a chaffinch and then receiving the Observer book of birds. By the age of 9 I had moved on to Tory Peterson's collins guide and was now involved on YOC birding holidays to Northumbria, Essex coast, Slimbridge and Yorkshire. My twitching rule is that I will willingly travel 1km for each gram the bird weighs. However, I have had many rarities just by being in the right place. I have travelled widely throughout Europe and also visited Australia and Sri Lanka. In 2016 I spent time at Portland Bird Obs and two trips to Aviero, Portugal. 2017 found me back in Sri Lanka in Feb/March, then July and back for New Year's Eve celebrations in December. Also returned to The Camargue in May for a 4 day trip. Few plans for 2018, but nothing yet booked apart from a trip to the IOW.

Grey heron

Grey heron
Over the allotment 28.09.08

Southern Hawker

Southern Hawker
Ridge footpath 27.08.08

Juvenile green woodpecker (17.08.08)

Juvenile green woodpecker (17.08.08)
Note the stripes, denoting a bird fledged this year.

common blue

common blue
Ash Valley G.C. 15.08.08

Indian balsam (impatiens glandulifera)

Indian balsam (impatiens glandulifera)
River Ash

azure damselfly

azure damselfly
River Ash 28.07.08

marbled white

marbled white
Discovered at Westland Green 22.07.08

ruddy darter

ruddy darter
Bush Wood 21.07.08

honeysuckle 19.07.08

honeysuckle 19.07.08
growing in hedgerow in Chapel Lane

cinnabar moth caterpillar

cinnabar moth caterpillar
Photographed on ragwort 19.07.08

Bittersweet

Bittersweet
Study of petals 11.06.08

male yellowhammer

male yellowhammer
08.06.08

common blue butterfly

common blue butterfly
06.06.08

River Ash

River Ash
looking south from the bridge at Hadham Ford

Common poppy (papaver rhoeas)

Common poppy (papaver rhoeas)
in rape field 29.05.08

Caley Wood sunshine

Caley Wood sunshine
29.05.08

Millenium Wood fox

Millenium Wood fox
24.05.08

common comfrey (symphytum officinale)

common comfrey (symphytum officinale)
06.05.08 banks of the River Ash

Garlic Mustard or Jack by the Hedge,(Alliara petiolata)

Garlic Mustard or Jack by the Hedge,(Alliara petiolata)
flowers, leaves and fruit edible . Good in salad and pesto

April showers

April showers
Double rainbow 30.04.08

Caley Wood bluebells

Caley Wood bluebells
22.04.08

Yellow Archangel

Yellow Archangel
Chapel Lane (20.04.08)

sunlight 16.04.08

sunlight 16.04.08
looking south west from Bush Wood

snowy buds

snowy buds
06.04.08 in Bush Wood

Looking north west

Looking north west
05.04.08 evening shower approaching

Back Garden

Back Garden
Easter Sunday (23.03.08)

Brick Kiln Hill

Brick Kiln Hill
Looking east (23.03.08)

No play today

No play today
The 2nd hole at Ash Valley golf course

Teasel head

Teasel head
Bush Wood (21.03.08)

Reflections

Reflections
daffodils at Bush Wood pond (21.03.08)

Swollen River Ash

Swollen River Ash
The river at the bottom of Winding Hill 16.03.08

Daybreak over the chapel

Daybreak over the chapel
Thursday 13th March

Wild daffodils (narcissus pseudonarcissus)

Wild daffodils (narcissus pseudonarcissus)
growing in Bush Wood

January snowdrops

January snowdrops
Banks of River Ash, north of Much Hadham

Good Moon

Good Moon
From garden 24.01.08

Village Green

Village Green
Looking east towards Acremore Street

Looking south before Hadham Ford

Looking south before Hadham Ford
rare January blue sky

Useful sites

The following are some useful websites that may interest readers of this blog.
Firstly, Bishop's Stortford Natural History Society http://bsnhs.webplus.net/

Fellow birder, Gary Whelan's blog. Gives reports from our trips out together plus reports from his trips abroad. http://hairybirders.blogspot.co.uk
http://www.hertsbirdclub.org.uk/ The official herts bird club website. Frequently updated, listing bird sightings around the county. Offers links to many other websites. Both of these sites also offer links to yahoo discussion groups.
http://www.birdforum.net/ An international site. You can enter as a guest but become a member( free) to post comments, bird sightings and just about anything to do with wild birds. Good news updates, classified section for binoculars, cameras etc.
http://www.guidedbirdwatching.com/ A new site set up where you can contact people worldwide who will help you find good birds in their country. UK section being set up presently.
http://www.britainsbirder.co.uk/
Fellow birders blog. Strtford resident, Graeme Smith regulary birds the area south of Stortford as well as around Spellbrook and the River Stort from Spellbrook to Twyford Locks. Some superb bird photography: Graeme uses a digital camera attached to his powerful telescope to get detailled images of the birds he sees. Well worth a browse.
Two local sites that may be of interest can be found at
http://www.thehadhams.com/ www.thepelhams.net/content/section/12/139/

South Easterly walk

South Easterly walk
black, normal, red extended walk

South Westerly route.

South Westerly route.
Black usual, red extended

North Easterly walk

North Easterly walk
black short, walk. Red, extended

North West Patch

North West Patch
black route regular. Red route the extended wander