Welcome to the English countryside....

Razor wire and anti-intruder paint....

I don't think you are welcome.....

What on earth could have happened here to warrent such a response?  If it is to keep travellers out, a couple of heavy hay bales is normally sufficient.

Devon Carpets

A nights trapping in a clear, moonless and calm night certainly had an autumnal feel, although the temperature only dipped to +11 by 0300 in the morning.  The smaller numbers of moths caught and some of the species certainly reflected this.  However, the obvious highlight of the night were two Devon Carpets, the third and fourth Yorkshire records, following one I caught in the same site last August, and one this August at Hardcastle Crags.  They must be resident in the county, and I am sure more records will follow.

Other moths caught were Centre-barred and Pink-barred Sallows, three Brown-spot Pinions and a splendid Red Underwing.

Devon Carpet

The map below published with permission of Butterfly Conservation, shows the current distribution (excluding the Hardcastle Crag record), although Dorset, Wiltshire and some east Midland records of all species still have yet to be added to the map.

Devon Carpet with kind permission of Butterfly Conservation

Success two days running!

The rain overnight obviously dropped a few migrants down on the east coast including Ortolans at Kilnsea, Bempton and two at Filey.  So with trepidation I set off to Bempton, and managed to miss that one by a couple of hours, and then on to Filey, where neither gave themselves up.  

So hoorah, my record goes from strength to strength, and notch up a treble of misses.

On the good side, was the fantastic weather and plenty of regular migrants, particularly at Filey.  There were at least six Whinchats, four Redstarts, two Pied Flys, five Spot Flys and odd Whitethroats, Blackcaps, Chiffs, and a Grasshopper Warbler.

As if to rub it in, there is a good picture of one of the Filey birds on Birdgides.....so that's what they look like!

It's official, they do not exist.....

A SE airstream, early September, and stubble fields on Flamborough Head.....surely absolutely ideal for an Ortolan.  But no, despite a good tramp round, I have successfully managed to avoid seeing this mythical bird yet again.

Despite having a list comfortably in excess of 400 species, many of which I have found for myself over the years, I have steadfastly managed not to see this bunting.  It is remarkable that despite having worked and lived in Dorset for 20 years, been birding all round the West country, and now living in another hotspot county in Yorkshire, it is still nothing but a dream.  I have had numerous near misses, from about to go for one at Portland to hear that it had been run over, to watching a group of birders watching one, to being waved at by a mate who I thought was just being friendly but was actually trying to attract my attention as he had found a nice male on my local patch.

I have been to Cornwall and they turn up at Portland, and then back in Dorset to hear of others in Cornwall.  So, if I manage another autumn where I avoid this mythical beast, I will be maintaining this record of failure.  I can't help feeling that when I eventually do see one, it will actually be an anti-climax, removing a source of self-derision......

Despite all that, it was a beautiful day, and did see an Osprey over the lighthouse early on, and several Redstarts, Whitethroats and a Pied Flycatcher, and not one other birder.  Bliss.  Oh, and even driving through Bempton, I did not bother going to fight my way through all the twitchers to see the Brown Flycatcher, possibly due to the fact that I have already seen one more Brown Flycatcher than bloody Ortolan in England........

A brush with a Constable....

"Identifying moths: a guide to the difficult macro and micro families" sounds a bit of a heavy course, held at Flatford Mill in Suffolk, but was actually an extremely rewarding couple of days.  The link to Constable is of course that this was where he painted the Hay Wain, with the waggon being pulled through the pond to the left of the main building, with the right hand end of Willy Lott's cottage in the left of the painting.

Flatford Mill

Willy Lott's cottage

There were nine of us on the course, which was run by Jon Clifton.  Friday night was cold and several traps were set out around the reserve, in fruit gardens, open areas and reedy scrub wetland.  Saturday morning was spent going through the catch, with the wetland area proving fairly disappointing.  There followed classroom sessions on the Hoplodrina complex, Common and Smoky Wainscot, the 'Scops', China-marks, crambids etc.. with reference to set specimens, and website images.  A review of the best available literature both for the UK and Europe was most useful.

Saturday evening, looked more promising after a rain shower, and so it proved with an increased catch next morning, which took till late morning to sort.  More classroom sessions, on the Dark Brocade and Confused, the features of the main micro families and where to find them in MBGBI, the history and use of pheromone lures, and an enlightening gen.det. session where what we all assumed to be a Tawny Marbled Minor was actually a Marbled Minor with reference to plates from a forthcoming identification book.

We ended up with 650 moths of 80 species, including the scarce Acleris shepherdana, three Hedge Rustic, 20 White-point, and a couple of Webb's Wainscot.  So, a very rewarding weekend in a marvoulous setting with good company, well tutored, and lots of facts to now try and put into practice.  I felt rather relieved that one of the other courses there at the same time was on 'Docks and Goosefoots' which makes looking at moths seem quite normal in comparison....

Thank you Jon for a good course, and I would thoroughly recommend similar courses run by the Field Study Centres.

More moths from Brimham Rocks....

Having eventally got round to checking the photos of some of last nights moths, I find a Grey Chi as new for me, only my second Suspected, and some rather striking Flounced Chestnut.  This takes the total to 48 species identified.  The wonders of digital photography!

Grey Chi

Suspected

Flounced Chestnut

A night at Brimham Rocks

A calm night, but dropping cool, and felt cooler than the +11 recorded next morning.  A few moths about, and some upland and moorland species I have recorded there before.  The highlights were five Golden-rod Brindle, and the other species of interest were 15 Northern Spinach, seven Autumnal Rustic, 17 Barred Chestnut, 12 Neglected Rustic, and 19 Heath Rustic.

Northern Spinach

Golden-rod Brindle

Autumnal Rustic