First moths of the year

I ran the heath 15 watt actinic moth trap in Millennium Wood on the 11th, catching 3 Pale brindled beauties and 2 winter moth. The following night, I got my first garden species of the year, another Pale Brindled beauty. These 2 species remain the only 2 so far. With a cold week forecast it may be a little while before I am out with the portable trap again. Tonight I left it running at Pig's Green, but nothing taken. 2 of the Millennium Wood PBB's shown here.

Sri Lankan Visit

Set off for Sri Lanka on the overnight flight on Boxing Day, spending 2 days in Negombo followed by a week in Galle before returning to Negombo for 2 nights as it is easy for transfer to the airport. Not a birding trip, but I managed to get out on a few occasions, most memorably to a new area of Kottawa Rain Forest where I scored with the elusive and secretive white tailed shama. Other new birds for my SL list were crimson fronted barbet at Hiyare Forest and a distant osprey from the beach at Negombo.
I visited Kottawa with Anoma, naturalist in residence at the superb Jetwing Lighthouse hotel in Galle. I have spent plenty of time out and about with Anoma over the years and Wendy and I enjoyed his and his wife, Anusha's company on the Saturday night for a buffet at the hotel. We were also invited around to their house for a meal where son, Kevin, was the star of the show.

Anoma leading the way

Listening for the call of the white rumped shama

dense forest

This path only lasts about 50 metres

success: white rumped shama, a very difficult bird to find, never mind photograph

showing well, the male with the longer tail

shorter tail indicates a female

The beach at Negombo was great for a spot of sea watching, with indian cormorants, white bellied sea eagles, occasional brahminy kite and numerous terns. The latter were almost all gull billed and whiskered, as shown here.

gull billed tern

whiskered tern

whiskered tern

another whiskered tern

katamaran out fishing

Little egret, Negombo beach

white bellied sea eagle off the sea

distant white bellied sea eagle

Other birds noted around Negombo were common sandpiper on the beach whilst in the Jetwing vegetable garden, a family of tailorbirds, asian koel, shrika and plenty of rose ringed parakeets.

juvenile black hooded oriole

common sandpiper

juvenile tailorbird

adult tailorbird

Negombo beach

blue tailed bee eater hunting dragonflies on Negombo beach

Whilst in Galle, Anoma and I walked the local lanes and visited Kurulubedda chalets, set in their own forest and paddy area adjacent to Mahamodara River. Here, black monkey as well as a selection of everyday birds, always good to see. I returned to this lane on another occasion to get a few more photos, such as these;

black hooded oriole, adult

Black monkeys

common mynah

the lane leading from Jetwing Lighthouse

purple rumped sunbird

red vented bulbul

common kingfisher

Buddhist stipa along the lane with accompanying cattle egret

white bellied drongo

Another visit with Anoma was to the reservoir at Hiyare Forest. Here, brahminy kite, little cormorant and my first crimson fronted barbet, that refused to pose for the camera!

crimson fronted barbet

same skulking bird

Hiyare reservoir and forest

juvenile Brahminy kite

same bird

little cormorant

white  throated kingfisher

All in all, a superb time with birds everywhere. Restrictions on time meant no big trip out this time but still plenty noted and many pleasing species recorded.

cattle egret

Indian pond heron

Oriental honey buzzard outside Lighthouse hotel

red wattled lapwing

4th Quarter Moth Review 2017

By 01.x.17 I had trapped 185th micro species and 266 macro species and this total was increased with a trip to Alder Wood on the 2nd when a yellow lined quaker and Acleris sparsana made the year list. Evening trips out to the local sites continued where appropriate and a visit to Valley Fields on the 5th gave up green brindled crescent whilst in the garden that night , a Blair's shoulder knot.
By now, leaf mine evidence was available and a quick trip to Millennium Wood gave records of 5 species on the 8th. A Mervielle du Jour in the garden on the 9th was an expected surprise and another leaf mining trip, this time to Pig's Green gave up 11 species new for the year, taking the annual total past 200 species.
A Pale November moth from Alder Wood on the 12th was identified by Graeme whilst the first highlight of this quarter was taken in the garden the same night, a Large Wainscot, a new for my parish records moth.
A November moth was the 278th species of macro for the year on the 14th and this soon increased as a vestal (15th) and another new for the parish, an Orange sallow in the garden, also on the 15th.
A trip with the Heath actinic trap to the local golf course on the 19th gave up a few records including the only Vapourer for the year.
The night of the 23rd looked particularly good, so I lugged all the kit across footpaths to Stocking Wood and left it there. I returned after 10pm to a great number of moths for late October, but nothing new. Totals included: 33 Feathered thorn, 42 November moth, along with another 18 moths of 8 species. The temp that night settled at 16.5C. Never again in 2017 were such heights to be seen.
Another new for parish record was achieved that night in the garden with a first Pine carpet.
by the 30th October, we had the first frosts of what was to become a cold winter and few new records.

Yellow line quaker

Vestal

Vapourer

Orange sallow

Large wainscot

November began with another heath session in Stocking Wood, a distance of about a mile to carry all the kit which is why I bought a 4x4 in December! This evening, Graeme, Steve and I ran a selection of traps with a pale pinion being new for the year along with a Sprawler.
In Millennium Wood I checked guelder rose berries on a regular basis, recording satellite and chestnut. A round of golf at this time showed some great guelder rose bushes, laden with berries behind the 11th green, so visits here, too for plenty more satellite and an occasional herald. In one night, 15th Nov I took:
28 satellite, 4 chestnut, 2 Brick, Herald, and Feathered thorn on the berries in MW and AVGC.
by the 16th we were into minus temperatures so a visit around many of the local sites to check tree trunks and berries proved successful on a warmer night on the 22nd, where I recorded 9 species from 4 sites.
Towards the end of the month the temps frequently dropped below -3.5C so very few records.

Satellite

Pale pinion

Sprawler

After a few days in Norfolk I attempted to reach 500 species for the year, as I did in 2016. I had already passed 10,000 records for the year on 26.x1.17 with a late willow beauty. However, by the 9th Dec we were experiencing snow, so the last successful night was the 3rd, when a visit to Millennium Wood gave up 129 winter moth, 27 satellites, chestnut, 5 mottled umber and 2 December moth.
A final night out on the 21st December when there was a bit of warmth in the air gave up records of winter moth, satellite, chestnut, mottled umber and scarce umber from 9 different sites.
So, a final total of 10978 moths of 496 species (282 macro and 214 micro.)
Here, a resume of all nights trapped, showing an average new species per visit, too. This is a random statistic as night time temperatures dictate success rates and I am much less likely to cart all the gear by hand to Stocking Wood on a night when the temperatures are forecast to dip below 5C, whilst it is likely I shall place the heath trap just up the lane in Valley Fields on such a night. However, it does give some indication of the better sites and which ones I can discard next year. The trapping on Brick Kiln Hill ceased due to cattle being put here throughout the summer. They're inquisitive creatures and have turned over the trap on more than one occasion, fortunately, without any damage.
In all, another pleasing year, and with the 4x4 I shall now be running the trap at East Wood and Stocking Wood on a much more frequent basis, along with now being able to access, Foxearth, Ten Acre and Queer Wood, all the the North East of the parish and ones I have not yet trapped in. They all have good tracks as access, so this sould be really exciting for potential new species as my survey of the whole parish lepidoptera enters its 8th year. Challenge is to see if I can reach 750 species, presently the parish total stands at 705!

Site	Tetrad	Times trapped & leaf mine trips	Species count	NFMs	Average new sp  per visit
Garden (53 missed)	TL42F	303	367	22	1.21 (1.80)
Westland Green	TL42G	14	97	2	6.92
Chapel Lane	TL42F	13	31		2.38
Millennium Wood	TL42K	29	162	5	5.58
Suffyldes Wood	TL42F	12	90		7.50
Valley Fields	TL42G	17	127	1	7.47
Pig’s Green/Caley Wood	TL42F	15	133	5	8.86
Brick Kiln Hill	TL42F	4	22		5.50
Alder Wood	TL42F	13	81	1	6.23
Ash Valley GC	TL42F	15	75	1	5.00
East Wood	TL42Q	2	61		30.50
Millfield Lane	TL42L	7	44		6.28
Stocking Wood	TL42K	11	144	6	13.09
Clinton’s Footpath	TL42K	8	42	1	5.25