The Striped Hawk, and Other Tales

This evening's visit to Cogden had a purpose. In a week or so I plan to show a couple of friends around, and want them to see a nice selection of orchids. Pyramidal, Greater Butterfly and Southern Marsh are no problem, but I'm struggling with Bee. Outside of a meadow with no public access I have found just a single plant so far, and wanted to check it was still there as well as search for more. While I was at it, no harm in photographing any nice moths...

Adding to my collection of Cogden's roll-up moths, this is Garden Grass-moth Chrysoteuchia culmella, doing the standard upside-down Crambid thing. Very common visitor to the garden trap.

Satin Grass-moth Crambus perlella, another one on the garden list.

Satin Grass-moth again. I chased this one around a bit and - unlike every other Crambid so far - each time it alighted on something it was the right way up, and often landed on top of things rather than underneath them. Have I discovered a useful field identification character?!

A cooperative Small Heath.

Eventually I came to the field where I had previously found a Bee Orchid, and checked to see if it was still there. It wasn't! Disaster! Still, in previous years I have seen several Bee Orchids in this field, so began a careful search.

Suddenly a whopping great hawk-moth appeared right beside me, zipped around a bit, then dropped into some very low bramble and hovered, partially hidden. It appeared to be feeding, its wings a blur. My first impressions had been 'big, pale, with pink bits' and Convolvulus Hawk-moth came to mind initially. But I could see an obvious white 'supercilium', and the penny dropped. I fired off a few shots, but the angle was bad. I needed to get behind it a bit. I managed one burst, then it was out, up and away, vanishing as instantly as it had appeared...

Striped Hawk-moth, proboscis partially unfurled

Wings a-blur, but you can see what it is!

Striped Hawk-moth features in this blog's banner, an individual which turned up in the garden trap in September 2022. It was virtually the first moth I saw when removing the lid and the buzz was immense; still one of my biggest mothing 'Wow!' moments. Well, this evening's encounter was right up there with that!

Next, I scored a fish 'tick'...

I could see this angler was bent into something hefty, so waited until he beached it. The fish is a Starry Smooth-hound, a member of the shark family. You can just about see the small white spots along its flanks.

I returned to the car park via a field which I thought might have potential for more migrant moths if any were around, and unexpectedly stumbled across a load of Bee Orchids somewhere I have never seen them before. That'll do!

A swarm of Bees.

Once again no birds of any note, yet Cogden provides interest and entertainment on all sorts of levels.

Finally, a decent bit of mothing last night, with two new for the garden...

As far as I can tell, this is Hazel Leaf-miner Phyllonorycter nicellii. There are a couple of potential confusion species, but I am going to add this one to the garden list even so. No Bridport records on the Living Record map, but a few nearby.

Spotted Shoot Moth Rhyacionia pinivorana. A handful of Bridport records.

No new macros, but plenty of interest...

Smaller than many micros, this is Pinion-streaked Snout. A few garden records.

Clouded-bordered Brindle. We've had two or three previously.

Freyer's Pug. Quite worn, but still quite distinctive.

A nice Grey Pug...

...and an even nicer Foxglove Pug.

First Light Arches of the year.

First Eyed Hawk-moth of the year. Lovely!

Quite common, but very attractive - the Coronet.

One of two Elephant Hawk-moths, our first of 2025.

A nicely-marked Heart and Dart. We see lots, but I've never noticed one quite like this.

So, the trap is out as I type. I wonder if the Striped Hawk-moth brought any mates...

In the Absence of Birds

The grassland habitat at Cogden is home to moth species very unlikely ever to turn up in the garden trap, and a couple today were new ones for me...

Yellow Belle, skulking in the grass

It was not keen to perch up in photogenic fashion, so I had to take what I could get...

Yellow Belle

The other new moth was much, much smaller...

The striking little Meadow Tortrix Grapholita compositella. At approximately 5mm in length it makes the Hawthorn leaves look huge.

The only migrant moth I encountered was a single Silver Y...

Silver Y hiding in the grass.

There were interesting plants too...

Common Spotted Orchid. Decidedly not common at Cogden and West Bex, this may well be the first I've seen at Cogden.

Bit of a weedy specimen, but the flowers were still lovely.

One of the other interesting plants was a new one for me. Mike Morse had told me where to look for Horseshoe Vetch - a rare plant at Cogden - but I had drawn a blank so far. Finally, this afternoon I found it. Much smaller flowers than I had imagined, and quite easy to pick out from the abundant Common Bird's-foot Trefoil on that feature alone...

Horseshoe Vetch

To illustrate how small the flowers are, here is one adorned with a Cocksfoot Moth Glyphipterix simpliciella, all 3.5 or 4mm of it.

I do wish I had taken up botanising in my youth. Still, even at this late age it is fun to dabble. A few years ago I learned what Dyer's Greenweed looks like, so am conscious that Cogden is liberally peppered with cheerful yellow patches of it...

Yellow patches of Dyer's Greenweed.

Dyer's Greenweed is apparently the foodplant of a number of scarce moth species. I suppose I should learn what they are, and look for signs of them.

Finally, I'm pretty sure I've never seen a Meadow Brown in May before...

Soon to be ubiquitous, but my first Meadow Brown of 2025 is worth a photo, especially in May!

A Spring Diary - Part 2

Almost mid-May now, in one of the most relentlessly dry springs I can remember. Overnight temperatures comfortably into double figures persuaded me to keep the moth trap active...

May 12th

Two more Mallow Seed Moths Platyedra subcinerea added to the garden tally. I wondered if we were in for a bit of an influx, like Beet Moth in 2022, say, but they were the last. Seemingly good records for Bridport though.

The first, and by a long way earliest ever, Large Yellow Underwing.

Flame Carpet, one of my favourites.

Rivulet, not common here.

 

May 17th

A late afternoon/evening visit to Cogden. Absolutely no birds of note - the norm now - but plenty of stuff to look at close to the ground...

The pale form of Diamond-back Moth. The regular presence of this tiny migrant always gives hope of something a bit scarcer.

The miniscule Cocksfoot Moth Glyphipterix simpliciella. Common.

One of several species that will regularly get kicked out of the grass as the year rolls on. And all of them typically land upside down under a twig or on a stem, rolled up into a tube. This is Meadow Grass-moth Crambus lathoniellus, which has turned up once in the garden trap.

Marsh Orchid just beginning to flower. Southern Marsh? Who knows? Not me.

 

May 18th

Some smart moths that night...

Cinnabar. Common enough, but not in the trap. Our third, I think.

Privet Hawk Moth. Always awesome, and not a species we see very often.

Phone shot of Red-barred Tortrix Ditula angustiorana. A few garden records of this smart micro.

 

May 20th

Another afternoon visit to Cogden...

This appears to be Pea Moth Cydia nigricana. Not a species I've had at home, and there are no Bridport records on the Living Record map, so possibly quite a nice record.

White-banded Grass-moth Crambus pascuella, another new moth for me. As per normal with Crambids, upside down.

Astonishingly, a bird! This Red Kite swooped past so low and close that I heard the 'whoosh' of its flight.

Female Azure Damselfly. At least, I hope so. I am not great with Odonata.

Greater Butterfly Orchid nicely in flower. Might be wrong, but it feels like they are not as numerous or large this year.

But they are still very beautiful.

The first female Scorpion Fly I've ever seen. Not that I'm particularly worried, but I assume these cannot be done to species.

 

Mike Morse had kindly let me know that Hairy Dragonflies were in residence at Cogden. I am not particularly knowledgeable about dragons and damsels and would quite likely have overlooked them, but this was a new species for me and Mike had told me where to look, so I made the effort. I found at least three, but initially had just rubbish fly-by views. Then I saw one catch a bee and land in some low vegetation to eat it...

Quite small for a hawker, but typically voracious.

Hairy Dragonfly showing why the name is appropriate. The thorax is really furry, with a fine fuzz all over the abdomen too.

Dismembered bits of bee fell off and lodged in its hair as it munched away. I made a short video with my phone from a few inches away, and you can hear the rythmic crunch of chitin as its jaws worked!

 

The distribution map in my old-ish dragonfly book suggests there was a big blank area all along the local coast. I guess the species is slowly spreading.

There was rain overnight, and the moth trap was especially lively...

The pretty Silver-ground Carpet x2, showing variability.

New for the garden, the mouthful that is Triple-barred Tip Moth Argyresthia trifasciata. Very few Living Record dots west of Weymouth, so probably a fairly decent record.

Another new one - Crescent Tortrix Epinotia bilunana. Quite a looker.

Cream Wave. Only eight Bridport records on the Living Record map, but we must have had at least that many here.

I do like a fresh wainscot, and this Shoulder-striped is a beaut. We've not had many, but it is common locally.

Scorched Wing is a slightly bizarre but stunning moth. We don't see it often, so this fresh example was very welcome.

First Swallow Prominent of the year.

Scalloped Hazel

Lychnis

Sycamore

 

May 22nd

In 2022 - my first year trapping - we caught two Peach Blossoms. One was badly damaged, the other massively worn. I have waited three long years for another, and thankfully it was almost pristine. What an absolutely stunning little moth.

First Grey Pug of the year.

Small White Wave, a real tiddler.

Mottled Pug

Marsh Lance Bactra furfurana. One last year, and now this. Just two other Bridport records on the Living Record map.

Spruce Carpet or Grey Pine? Happy to call this one Spruce.

A pug composite. Unlike the version I posted on BlueSky, this one is correctly labelled!

 

May 24th

Another afternoon walk around Cogden. Again, it's all happening below knee level...

Yellow Shell, a regular summer visitor to the garden trap.

Only the second Blackneck I've seen. The first was also at Cogden. There are a few Bridport records, so I guess it is a potential garden visitor one day.

The first Pyramidal Orchids beginning to open now.

Speckled Bush-cricket nymph.

My favourite local orchid, the Bee Orchid. A good number are flowering now.

If a flower can be described as 'jolly', well, this is it.

My first Large Skipper of the year.

 

So that's it. Spring. Meteorologically speaking there are a few days to go, but migrant-wise it is all over bar the slim chance of something rare/scarce. Typically I look forward with excited anticipation to springtime birdwatching, but 2025 has been a huge disappointment. Probably the worst ever of those where I've been actively birding. Should I blame the weather? Bad timing on my part? Sure, I've not been out every day, but low Wheatear counts, no Whinchats, no Groppers, no Garden Warblers, no Yellow Wags, very few waders, not a single skua, etc, etc...

April 5th saved it from being a complete write-off, and a regular dose of Red Kite is always nice, but largely I shall remember spring 2025 for being supremely ironic: sunny but dull.