They keep on Coming

Another warm night meant another good haul of moths coming to my bedroom light. It was very quiet until 12pm then all of a sudden moths started to appear every few minutes and I was quickly out of pots to keep them all in! I also went out this afternoon and found a Yellow Shell hiding away which is new species for my garden. Totals including the Yellow Shell were:
Magpie (pic 1)
2 Heart and Dart (pic 2)
Riband Wave (pic 3)
Mottled Rustic
2 Bee Moth
Small Fan Foot
Snout
Phlyctaenia Coronata (pic 4, nfm)
Chrysoteuchia Culmella (nfm)
Yellow Shell (pic 5, nfg)

Massive Haul (by my standards)

A great night catching moths last night resulted in 13 moths of 9 species being caught. I catch the moths that are attracted to the light in my bedroom and this was my highest haul in a single night. The total list was:
Heart and Dart (pic 1)
Coxcomb Prominent (pic 2)
Dusky or Pale Shouldered Brocade (pic 3)
Mottled Rustic (pic 4)
Magpie
2 Willow Beauty
Bee Moth
Common Pug
4 Brown House Moth

Highlight of a Butterfly survey - a Moth!

Me and Ash did a butterfly survey around the Marton Mere and the golf course north of it, same area that I was in on Monday, to count the numbers of each species in the area. Passing the area with the Bee Orchids we soon got out list underway with several Meadow Browns, Small Skippers and a Common Blue. It soon became obvious that Meadow Brown was easily the most abundant species in the area with Small Skipper quickly following in second. Further round we added Green Veined and Small White, Small Tortoiseshell and Speckled Wood to the list and this made up the 7 species we saw, 4 less than Monday. The totals for each species are as follows:

Meadow Brown - 75

Small Skipper - 43

Speckled Wood - 22

Small Tortoiseshell - 7

Common Blue - 3

Green Veined White - 2

Small White - 1

However it was as we rounded the top of the golf course that Ash spotted the best species of the day. He flushes a medium sized moth from an area of rough grass and after a brief chase he caught in a collection tube allowing us to get a good view. It was immediately obvious that it was a new species for both of us with obvious black markings on the wings meaning we managed to find it right at the back of the moth book and identify it as The Blackneck (appropriately named when you see the photo). A very pretty moth and when Ash text Dave Mcgrath the results of our survey also mentioning the moth, he got a reply saying the it could be the first record for Blackpool! Both photos taken by Ash.

Beyond Belief

What an awesome evening, certainly has to go down as one of the best I have ever had. Me and my dad went in search of a Quail that was heard near Eagland Hill yesterday. Well a birder already present said it was still singing when we arrived and sure enough it didn't take long before it's 3 note call wafted over the field to where we were standing. After a while my dad walked a bit further along the road to look for a Whitethroat we could hear and it was then that we both heard a second Quail calling much further to the right than the original bird, had we missed it in flight? No as the original soon piper up once again meaning that there were 2 birds in the field. Amazingly just a few minutes later we picked up the sound of a third bird, this time on the opposite side of the road and a lot closer than the previous two. We moved down to where it was calling and reached a point where it could only have been 15 metres from us at most, but we still couldn't see it, argh! Quail is a species I have yet to see in Britain having heard them on two prior occasions, but hopefully with the birds present here I may be able to see one before the summer is out. Also in this area we had a distant Barn Owl, 2 Buzzard, Kestrel, 2 Grey Partridge, Red Legged Partridge, Yellowhammer, Corn Bunting and several Brown Hares.

However the best part of the evening came when we were driving home through Rawcliffe and a Barn Owl flew across the road ahead of us, quickly followed by a second individual. We stopped the car and I got out and went to a gate that looked out onto a square field that they were hunting in. Both birds were doing circuits of the field so they flew along the side I was on aswell, and from where I was stood I got some incredible views as they quartered past about 5 foot from me at times! I didn't want to disturb them too much so only managed 1 good shot before they moved off and I walked back to the car with the biggest smile on my face, one of the best wildlife moments I have ever had.

Tackling the Jungle

Behind the bottom of my garden is an old railway track bordered by thick brambles, nettles and other plants. It is a haven for butterflies and moths however since I have only recently got more knowledgable about them I have never actually done a proper survery along the track to see what species are lurking along it. For a few years we had cut path behind the fence that we had cut and maintained which allowed easy access to the path, however I hadn't done anything to it for over a year and this meant that it had become completely overgrown once again. So a couple of days ago I started attepmting to cut back the jungle and after nearly 6 hours of work I finally finished this evening, so will hopefully be able to get up and do some surveys in the coming days. Luckily whilst doing the work I found several moth species that were sheltering amongst the plants and managed to catch the 4 larger species I found. White Plume (pic 1) and Small Fan Foot (pic 2) were both new for me, Snout (pic 3) was new for the garden and Small Magpie (pic 4) is one of the most beautiful species I have caught.

Robins are back

Almost a week since they fledged the young Robins finally reappeared in the garden today whilst I was eating my tea. The adults have been feeding constantly and I managed to get a few rubbish record shots of the 3 young birds today as they hopped around at the bottom of the garden.

Butterflies and Moths Yesterday

Finished sorting out the photos from yesterday so here are some more of the various insects that we saw. In total we had 11 species of butterfly including Common Blue (pic 1), Speckled Wood (pic 2), Meadow Brown (pic 3), Comma, Green Veined White, Large and Small Skipper. Along with the butterflies we also saw plenty of day flying moths especially micros around the many meadows we searched. Along with the awesome Hummingbird Hawkmoth (picture 5 shows it's egg we located) we also saw plenty of Narrow Bordered Five Spot Burnet (pic 4), and singles of Shaded Broad Bar, Straw Dot and Common White Wave (all new for me).