Millennium Wood moth night

After a heavy thunder storm 7 of us braved the mud and damp of Millennium Wood last night. 5 traps were running, placed throughout the wood before we wandered around with head torch and nets. Between 8 and 9 pm not a single moth, before Jane noted an engrailed on a tree trunk. This looked like the only moth of the night until James and his son left. After that, moths flying at 4 of the traps. Brindled pugs, double striped pugs and common Quakers all found by Graeme before Leia found the moth of the night: a water carpet. After, we found 2 more of this species before beginning to check trap contents and pack up.
All 4 traps set in the wood had at least 1 moth in, the one on the green being empty. Highlight was another new moth for parish records, a powdered Quaker amongst common Quakers.
Totals:
3 Water carpet
Powdered Quaker
Streamer
2 double striped pug
3 brindled pug
8 common Quaker
2 engrailed
2 satellite
Twin spotted Quaker
2 small Quaker.

A worthwhile session with the light coloured powdered Quaker and well marked water carpet shown above.

powdered quaker

water carpet

Round Up

streamer

engrailed

engrailed head on

Notostira elongata

Very quiet at the moth traps, with the night of 13th being particularly disappointing. 10C and cloudy so looked good as I set the trap in local neglected woodland. Emptying at 10.15pm and only 2 engrailed, Hebrew character and common Quaker. The previous night had produced similar results and the only highlight was a streamer, taken in Valley Fields on Monday.

A brief sweep over the damp grassland of Westland Green gave views of 2 peacock butterflies and a netted Notostira elongata, a new bug for the parish records.
Tonight is Millennium Wood moth night so fingers crossed for a warm, dry and cloudy spell after dusk.

Tescos to home walk via Bury Green

Following a coffee, I set off for a long wander around the footpaths of the parish to see if anything new had arrived or emerged. I was not disappointed with several new for year sightings.

wood anemone

Plenty of wood anemone about

greater stitchwort

green alkanet

ground ivy

Common dog violet

Bury Green wren

In East Wood and Stocking Wood, good stands of wood anemone, lesser celandine, ground ivy, dog violet, bluebells and greater stitchwort. All good to see before I arrived in Bury Green and a wander through the farmyard at Clinton's Farm. 6 swallows were new for the year and, according to Gill, who runs the farm with husband Michael, they had arrived yesterday. Good  to note and virtually impossible to photograph. They were flying in and out of the barns at high speed whilst also feeding over the farm pond.

male house sparrow at Bury Green

female house sparrow at Bury Green

moorhen on Bury Green pond

From here, a walk along Acremore Street before taking the footpath over to Hoecroft Lane, the polo fields and Muggin's Wood. In the latter, great spotted woodpecker and common buzzard were added to the reasonable list made on the whole walk. On the edge of the wood, a fast flying peacock butterfly whilst just up from Clinton's Farm, a male brimstone nectaring upon dandelions.
In all, 11 chiffchaffs were heard along the 6 mile route, but nothing of real note was seen or heard.
A mallard pair were escorting a flock of 14 recently hatched ducklings on the pond.

Brimstone butterfly

goldfinch

First swallows of the year

bluebells in Muggin's Wood

Species list:
chiffchaff, robin, great tit, blue tit, magpie, carrion crow, wren, chaffinch, dunnock, wood pigeon, blackbird, jackdaw, pheasant, skylark, long tailed tit, goldfinch, house sparrow, moorhen, starling, mallard,herring gull, swallow, yellowhammer, rook, mistle thrush, common buzzard and great spotted woodpecker. 27 species in all

Millennium Wood Wander

long tailed tit

A couple of hours wandering around the wood this afternoon to see what is taking up residence. A pair of blue tits were interested in nest box 8 whilst great tits were investigating number 7 and another pair of great tits were singing around number 5, so maybe interested as well. No sign of anything showing interest in the 2 robin/wren boxes yet. However, it looks like a wren may have started nest building in one of the piles of brushwood left around for that very purpose.
2 chiffchaffs were calling along with a robin whilst crows and rooks were overhead. Several long tailed tits flitted through the tree tops, checking the blackthorn blossom for insects.
A couple of early hoverflies were seen along the path as well as a solitary peacock butterfly.

white tailed bumble bee queen

another of the same species

white dead nettle (Lamium alba)

One of 10 recently emerged 7 spot ladybirds.

3 white tailed bumble bee queens ( Bombus lucorum)were prospecting for nest sites in the leaf litter.
So all in all, a healthy situation for mid April. Grass is beginning to grow in the new ride and along the paths, but still plenty of surface water making the wood very muddy. A few warmer, windy days will dry this out. The pond area still holds water, but this is likely to drain away without anymore rain. No sign of the mallard pair noted earlier in March, nor the woodcock.
Finally, the warmer temperatures recently have encouraged good numbers of 7 spot ladybirds (Coccinella septempunctata) to emerge from hibernation, with at least 10 noted, mainly on nettles.

long tailed tit

primula

Thursday 14th is moth night here, so hoping for a dry, warm and overcast night which will offer the chance of maybe 20 moth species to the series of traps placed throughout the wood. All welcome with lights going on at 8pm until about 10.30.

New moth for Parish records

After emptying the portable trap last night, with disappointing results (just 3 moths: engrailed, clouded drab and common quaker) I left the garden trap until this morning.
The temperatures which had promised a lot had dropped with the cloud cover disappearing, so not too optomistic as I wandered down the garden path this morning. However, first egg box showed both common quaker and a hebrew character, not a bad start. After this though, just another common quaker and what looked like a red chestnut. This would be a new moth for parish records and, once having checked the field guides, I was positive of the id.
Moth number 575 for my parish records and the 2nd new one this year. The red chestnut was my 305th parish macro, so still plenty to find as I hope to get to 600 species this year.
3 shots of the red chestnut, below.

Hadham Hall Wander 05.04.16

An afternoon stroll through Hadham Hall and on to the lagoon to the east. Nothing moving overhead as I searched for swallows, martins and any other migrants, just resident skylarks, goldfinches, wood pigeons, corvid species and a single red kite. At the lagoon there were children playing and building rafts. Superb to see children out enjoying themselves, getting wet and having a laugh. Suppose someone may come along and complain about: noise, safety, litter, trespassing etc etc and suggest they should be at home. Probably the same folk who moan that children spend too much time at home on their phones, i pads and computers! Anyway, they were all polite and pleasant to me as I wandered by, commenting on their raft. Well done to Tiggy, Kian, Willow and all of them.
Consequently, little was seen on or around the lagoon. However, what was there was of interest as a greylag goose was feeding on the ground, before taking flight and landing on the water. Only 3rd parish record. Chiffchaffs called from New Spring Wood before I chatted with Dennis the gamekeeper. He told of a local wheatear and a flock of 80 golden plover on local fields. The plovers I had noted but the wheatear made me think it is time I got up and out early to check the local golf course, a regular spring time haunt of theirs. Dennis was also happy to see and hear children out in the countryside, making rafts and having a laugh and stealing each others bikes whilst leaving trainers, t shirts and assorted rucksacks all over the banks of the lagoon.
Back at Hadham Hall a willow warbler was fly catching but tricky to photo as there were 3 chiffchaffs about as well as flycatching blackcaps, robins and at least 5 chaffinches.
A coal tit called from the conifers as I arrived back at the car, so all in all, a good wander, with 2 peacock butterflies as well.

red kite over Hadham Hall

greylag goose coming in to land

3rd parish record of greylag goose

1st willow warbler of the year

distant rotund blackcap

always good to see a willow warbler

Good mothing night

Set the actinic 15W trap under goat/grey willow last night and within half an hour we had an electric storm and downpour. Fortunately just short lived.
I returned to empty at 10.45 noting a splendid Early thorn on the sheet upon arrival. My 22nd macro moth of the year. In all, 20 moths of 5 species.
At home an Emmelina monodactyla was new for 2016, my 8th micro, along with 2 each of Hebrew character, common Quaker, March moth and clouded drab.
This gave a total for the night of 29 moths of 7 species and meant I past 300 moths recorded for the year.
2 photos of the Early thorn shown above.

First quarter Moth report

Early and immaculate Angle shades taken 30.iii.16 in Suffyldes Wood

Have run the garden trap almost every night this year and had more success than over the last 2 years, with, in total, 276 moths taken in the parish, made up of 20 macros and 7 micros, so all in all, most pleasing.
January
A warm start to the year meant the first moth was taken on the 3rd, with a haul of 26 winter moths coming to headtorch or found roosting on tree trunks at 3 venues in one night. It wasn't until the 23rd that the first garden moths were taken, Early moth and pale brindled beauty with Acleris ferrugana and Acleris sparsana following on at the garden Skinner the following 2 nights.
The month ended on a real high, with 41 moths of 14 species taken at both Millennium Wood and garden trap. 9 dotted border at MW, were a monthly high along with 3 chestnut, 3 Tortricodes alternella and the first Agonopterix heracliana of the year

Acleris ferrugana

Dotted border

satellite

End of month totals: 12 macros and 4 micros.

February:
Quiet start with no moths until 4th and nothing new until the 20th when a clouded drab was taken in the garden. 21st saw the first small quaker but all in all, a quiet month with just 29 moths seen all month and that included 6 common quakers on the 21st.

End of month totals: 14 macros 4 micros

common quaker

small quaker

clouded drab.

March:
March got going straight away with several regulars. On the 4th I had a 15W actinic heath trap delivered and almost every night since have left this in 10 different sites around the parish, with mixed results.
Diurnea fagella was taken on the 5th as was Acleris schalleriana, both in Millennium Wood whilst the first real highlight of the year was a dotted chestnut on the 10th at Pig's Green where the trap was set on a footpath leading into local mixed woodland. This was only my 2nd of this species since 2011.

Dotted chestnut

An Early grey followed the next night at home and Westland Green gave up a twin spotted quaker on the 15th. After a few nights trying at a neglected woodland, Suffyldes Wood, without too much success due to cold night time temperatures, I struck lucky on the 20th with, in total: hebrew character, spring usher, chestnut, March moth, common quaker, 2 small quaker, Agonopterix heracliana, 5 Diurnea fagella and a brindled pug. A site I shall be visiting weekly from now on.
the following night a shoulder stripe was NFY from Millennium Wood, before the overall highlight so far for 2016 was taken in the garden Skinner on the 26th: Povolyna leucapennella, only the 3rd county record.
The records from Suffyldes Wood kept coming, with 2 engrailled and a rather early angle shades coming on the 30th to complete a good final month of the 1st quarter.

End of month totals: 20 macros and 7 micros.

Povolyna leucapennella

Moth Records by site within Little Hadham Parish

Garden: 125W Skinner

Chapel Lane: headtorch and net

All other sites: Heath Actinic 15W

Site	Tetrad	Times trapped	Species count	NFM’s	Average Sp/visit
Garden	TL42F	91	18	1	0.2
Westland Green	TL42G	3	3	0	1
Chapel Lane	TL42F	1	1	0	1
Millennium Wood	TL42K	9	19	0	2.11
Suffyldes Wood	TL42F	5	14	0	2.8
Valley Fields	TL42G	3	5	0	1.66
Pigs Green	TL42F	1	5	0	5
Brick Kiln Hill	TL42F	2	1	0	0.5
Alder Wood	TL42F	3	7	0	2.33
Ash Valley GC	TL42F	1	2	0	2
Hoecroft Lane	TL42F	3	6	0	2
Little Hadham Place	TL42G	1	2	0	2