Last night was quite chilly, and I wasn't surprised at the meagre moth tally. Yet among the 13 caught, three were migrant species: Rush Veneer, Rusty-dot Pearl, and this pretty little Vestal...
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A subtly pink-blushed Vestal.
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New moths have been hard to come by in the last couple of weeks, but I'm hanging in there in the hope of a Merveille du Jour. Here's why...
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What a stunner! A real Merveille du Jour laughs at its washed-out image in our old field guide. This beauty was supplied (for photographic purposes) by fellow blogger Karen Woolley back in 2009. I've yet to see another.
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Some highlights...
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Our first Large Wainscot. Love the line of dots and dusting of fine black pepper.
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The one and only Beaded Chestnut so far. Its superficial resemblance to the common Lunar Underwing almost caught me out.
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Box-tree Moth. Had a couple recently.
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A pleasing nocturnal find in the garden's new wildlife hedge: Brimstone Moth caterpillar.
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Another magnificent Black Rustic - our fourth now I think. I really struggle to capture the colour in a photo. Almost looks like a purple tint here.
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Plutella xylostella. This poorly-marked one not really living up to its vernacular name of Diamond-back Moth.
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That's about it on the moth front, and there isn't a lot to say about birds either. Nocmig has been ticking over gently, with just enough interest to keep me hopeful. Grey Wagtail was a surprise new species on Tuesday night, but otherwise it has been the usual suspects. Max counts of Redwing and Song Thrush in the mid-thirties so far, but it is early days.
In order to give a feel for what it might look like when you come across the various blips and squiggles generated by the audio software in response to bird's nocturnal call, here is a spliced-together selection from various recent nights, exactly as they appeared at the time...
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The scale (28 seconds' worth on the screen) is what I use when going through a night's recording, and each example is unedited. Note differences in background noise. For example, Redwing and Song Thrush both during quiet moments on a still night.
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Experience is a great teacher. Even a very faint Barn Owl usually leaps off the screen at me these days (this example is not faint) and many of the above were instantly identifiable to species before I even listened to them. The single Snipe call, though, looks very non-birdy, and I'm not sure what made me stop to check it out. Glad I did. Snipe is a nice prize here.
The month of October is famously excellent for assorted migration events, so any self-respecting birder is obviously going to ignore all that thrill potential and photograph Cormorants...
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Cormorant on the river at West Bay. Its gular pouch angle looks pretty good for sinensis.
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A different bird. It too has a gular pouch, and an angle, but those vaguely reptilian good looks are far too distracting, and I cannot be bothered to ponder for even a second longer the topic of its subspecific identity.
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No protractors were harmed in the production of this post.
Gav, great post as usual. Yes, the moths. After reading the latest posting from Portland I couldn't help but think, 'Wouldn't it have been amusing if that Southern Brindled Green had appeared in your trap'?
ReplyDeleteCheers Ric. 😊 👍
DeleteCatching 2 Orache Moths in Baz's garden at Lyme Regis in the summer really brought home to me that almost anything is possible. All I have to do is stick the trap out, and blind chance will do the rest! 😄