Skip to main content

Big Butterfly Counting

Spent the last couple of days exploring sites old and new, the focus being Butterflies but at Strumpshaw yesterday I managed to get myself involved in adding a few birds to the BioBlitz list for the week!
Ben had emailed me to let me know the Moth trap would be emptied for the public in the morning, so along with a small group I watched in eager anticipation. Many new Moths for me, including Eyed Hawkmoth, Early Thorn, Rosy Footman, Fen Wainscott, Rufous Minor and a Double Kidney; this one had the enthusiasts excited. After the 2 traps were emptied, I stuck around to join in a bird race for an hour. Two fly-by species from earlier (Siskin and Green Sandpiper) could not go on our list, but we did happen across a family of Spotted Flycatcher! New for the week, not seen since Spring. We also managed Hobby, Common Tern, Stock Dove and a juvenile Water Rail. 51 species in total, thanks in no small part to 3 young budding ornithologists who were on the team. As luck would have it, FirstreesJohn was out and about on the reserve, nice to meet the man himself.
That afternoon I conducted a 15 minute BB count on the patch (since there was bugger all else about).
2 Gatekeeper
2 Comma
White sp 7
Meadow Brown 1
Ringlet 1

Not bad, but I had hoped for more considering the blazing heat.
Anyway, a few pictures from yesterday.
 A very content Oak Egger
Eyed Hawkmoth 'warming up'.

Today, I tried out a recommended 'obscure' site near Poringland. I was greeted by purring Turtle Dove and screaming swifts, lovely start. I was quickly aware that this place was a hive of activity and began another BB count.
8 Meadow Brown
3 Gatekeeper
4 Ringlet
2 Comma
1 Small White
2 Large White
2 Large Skipper
1 Essex Skipper

That's more like it! I also saw at least three 6 spot Burnet Moths, a sure fire indicator of a healthy ecosystem.
Some pictures now follow, plus one Butterfly that I am yet to ID. Any comments here appreciated.

6 Spot Burnet Moth
            Unknown? (Appears to be a Meadow Brown not showing off its fore-wing, thanks for that Kieran).

                                                                 Essex Skipper, I think.
                         

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Everything is about edge

Hardley, where it is often confusing to define where the garden ends and the marsh begins. Tumble-down houses and rickety shacks, away from any bus route and Team Sky sorts wrapped in lycra, this is a village that by choice is cut off. The secret is out, and pre-storm Ciara as many as 10 large lenses littered the river bank firing at will. Their target- Winter ghosts. First, the classic Scooby-Doo type, as a Barn Owl responds to an ill-advised squeak in the grass and heads towards the onlookers. Another quickly joins the hunt, their formation a picture of double-edged stealth. But these year-round residents are not the key objective today, that honour is given to the Short-eared Owl. 3/4 of these can be seen from the staithe at the minute, floating like giant moths over the tussocks and edges.  In a recent article in The New Yorker, Jake Fiennes states "Everything is about edge". Hedges, ditches, scrub, forgotten tracts of land that link nothing and no-one. Fiennes, now ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Grey Phalarope- a new patch bird

The 7th of April was another bitterly cold Spring day, hats and gloves in prime position on pegs and in bags ready to be deployed. A few brave Garganey have been reported north of the river, but it was a bird from the north itself that had me rushing for the thermals and the telescope late in the day.  I was thankful for the local Whatsapp group who were quick to report that a Grey Phalarope had been seen on Rockland Broad. This tiny Wader would have come in on the northerlies over the last few days, although to grace one of the broads is a real surprise, since most stick pretty close to the coast before moving on. Indeed, my experience of the birds has usually been on a sea watch in the Autumn, waves crashing and foam flying, my eyes straining to pick them out as they fly low just above the surf. They are fantastic birds, and now one was here on the patch. I had a brief panic when I realised my scope was in my car at the garage (thankfully I do have a much older spare) but once th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Claxton-on-sea!

 Although it was not quite the Christmas we wanted here in the valley, the rain has bought its own gift. A grim vision of the future, perhaps. But right now, the patch is peaking and is alive with birds, and for that I am thankful. On Christmas eve, it was a job to navigate away from the village due to standing water that had left abandoned cars and undelivered presents in its wake. The rain had been persistent and unforgiving, the ground, saturated. Over on the marsh, where there had once been a muddy puddle amongst the pasture, a city had sprung from the leak, with a plethora of new occupants noisily laying claim to a patch of sodden marsh. Wigeon and Black-headed Gulls in their thousands now wheeled and whistled over and amongst the newly formed pools, accompanied by smaller numbers of Teal and Shoveler. A flock of two hundred-strong Lapwing enjoyed feeding on the less damp spots where green grass was still exposed, and thrown in for good measure have been a couple of Ruff, the ...
4 comments
Read more