The Calm...and the Storm

What was apparently the first Met Office-named storm since February 2022 passed through today. Storm Antoni...

Heading for West Bay this morning, it was clear that the Bridport populace was in the main heeding advice to stay indoors and enjoy a serious lie-in. The number of idiots on their way to the seafront shelter was very small. Which meant he got first dibs on the best seat. Visibility was dire at first, but Gannets are big birds. There were Gannets.

Let's face it. The impoverished inner Lyme Bay seawatcher clutches at any straw going. Ooh, an August storm! There might be large shearwaters!

Fact: there are NEVER large shearwaters.

By far the best bird this morning was an immature (presumably 2nd-summer) Pom Skua west. But there were several 'what was that?!' moments which might or might not have been other decent birds. I even managed a 'possible large shearwater' moment, which long range and a raging sea rendered mercifully brief. Also, an 'Arctic Tern' moment, a 'Black Tern' moment... This is the way with seawatching, as birds skip by tantalisingly beyond the straining fingertips of your scope, and all adds to the so-called pleasure. Fortunately the Pom was instant, a languid lump of beefiness which didn't for a moment suggest Arctic Skua, of which three passed in the two hours. Here's the full list:

1 Pomarine Skua, 3 Arctic Skuas, c.50 Common Scoters (two flocks), 9 Common/Arctic Terns, 210 Gannets, 2 Great Crested Grebes, 13 Kitts, 2 Manxies, 3 Med Gulls, 2 Oystercatchers, 4 Sandwich Terns.

So that was the storm, but prior to it was the calm...

And last night was - at least initially - very calm. I brought the trap in at 4am, when the rain began.

Friday night, August 4th

131 moths of 52 species; two new for year, one new for garden.

New for the garden. A 'common' species, but the Dorset Living Record map is not exactly plastered with dots, with just one (representing two records) in the Bridport area.

First Turnip Moth of 2023. We trapped a dozen last year.

One of four White-spotted Pugs.

Yellow Shell. Always a pleasure.

So many of the carpets are incredibly smart moths, including this lovely Flame Carpet, our second of the year.

Blood-vein. We get a few, but they're not always as stunning as this one.

Chinese Character.

Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing. Technically appropriate perhaps, but what a desperately unimaginitive name (cf. some of the above).

B****'* M**** #15 for 2023.

Our second one of these this year too.

The 2023 garden moth tally has now passed 400. Including aggregates, it's on 402. And the all-time garden list, since we started in June last year: 507. Which I find pretty staggering.

Well, I assumed NQS blog traffic would dwindle massively since I ditched Twitter, but the previous post has surpassed expectations and is there or thereabouts numbers-wise. What can I say? Thank you for visiting NQS via the old-fashioned routes!