Moffs

A fine catch of moths in the NOA by Sophie yesterday included Muslin, Small Elephant Hawk-moth, Hebrew Character, Treble Lines, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Waved Umber, White Ermine, Clouded Border, Flame Wainscot, Brown Rustic, Northern Drab, Lime Hawk-moth, Poplar Hawk moth, Peppered Moth, Buff-tip, Rustic Shoulder Knot, Spectacle, Vines Rustic, Brimstone, Sharp Angled Peacock, Pine Bud Moth, Breckland Plume, Least Black Arches, Common Wave, Common Pug, Mottled Pug & Ash Pug.

Flame Wainscot

Clouded Border

Buff-tip

Spectacle

Scalloped Hazel and other moths

A small but nice moth catch last night in my Hunstanton garden: 15 Light Brown Apples, Green Carpet, 4 Shuttle-Shaped Darts, Waved Umber, Small Elephant Hawk, Buff-tip, Brimstone, Sulphur Tubic, my first Bright-line Brown-eye, Heart and Club and Rustic Shoulder Knot of the year and my first ever Scalloped Hazel.

Rustic Shoulder-Knot, Hunstanton, 16th May 2014

Scalloped Hazel, Hunstanton, 16th May 2014

Bright-line Brown-eye, Hunstanton, 16th May 2014

Buff-tip, Hunstanton, 16th May 2014

More Lepidoptera & a thirsty Accipiter

Nice weather, pretty slow birding! I ventured down to Holme around lunch, it was pretty hot, certainly the hottest day of the year so far. The only hopes for birds seemed the sky or the nets! I was totally wrong, the nets at the NOA weren't open and despite leisurely lunch and scanning nothing too great in the skies.

Later in the afternoon I tried some more butterfly photography, there was no shortage of insects Small Heath, Brown Argus, Green Hairstreak, Small Copper and Wall Brown the pick of the species and plenty of all of these on the wing, also my first Common Blue of the year. All damn difficult to shoot in 20c, very active!

I was a bit unlucky on the birding front as I had stopped off at Robin Joliiffe's on the way up and had shared 20 mins watching some nice birds in his back garden, he had a Spotted Fly just  after I left, bugger!

Anyway, as well as a few butterfly shots, I did also have the semi-regular Sparrowhawk in the car park, Kelvin had topped up the puddle and just I was heading to my minibus I noticed this bird sitting drinking again from the pool!

Female Sparrowhawk NWT Car park

Female Sparrowhawk NWT Car park

Small Heath

Green hairstreak - irresistible!

2 new flowers and an unknown caterpillar

Walking the transect at Ringstead Downs yesterday I came across my first flowering Long-stalked Crane's-bills on the north bank. Lower down on the grass path along the valley floor there was a caterpillar which I didn't recognise.
While doing some gardening today I found a spike of Common Broomrape. I don't know what its host was but last year I had several spikes with Eryngiums.

 

 Long-stalked Crane's-bill Geranium columbinum

 

 

Unidentified caterpillar. Any suggestions welcome!

 

 

 

Common Broomrape Orobanche minor

 

 

 

Also flowering in the garden at the moment (but introduced) is a fine specimen of Nottingham Catchfly Silene nutans.

 



 



 

Two new hoverflies

Two new hoverflies for the year were on Holme Marsh on Monday - Parhelophilus versicolor and Platycheirus rosarum. Thanks to Roger Morris for help with identifying these. 

Parhelophilus versicolor, Holme Marsh, 12th May 2014

Platycheirus rosarum, Holme Marsh, 12th May 2014

Butterflies, butterflies and more

Having been away and in Scotland for the last 9 days I was keen to get out in the sunshine this afternoon! 

I wasn't disappointed either with a plethora of butterflies, c20 Green Hairstreak, c20 Wall Brown, c10 Small Copper, c15 Small Heath, plus Peacock, Red Admiral and Small tortoiseshell. Also noted on the wing was Hairy Dragonfly.

Birds were secondary but steady stream of Swallow, a few Swifts moved through. Plenty of raptors in the sky and my first patch Hobby was battling with 2 Sparrowhawks. A Wheatear was in the dunes, plus 3+ Cuckoo and Turtle Dove. 

Two reelers one bird and one amphibian, Grasshooper warbler and several Natterjack toads.

Wall Brown

Green hairstreak

Small Copper

Small Heath

Dragons, 12th May

Two dragonfly species were new on the wing today: Azure Damselfly (1 male on Holme Marsh and 2 females on Redwell Marsh) and Broad-bodied Chaser (one on Holme Marsh), with numerous Large Red Damselflies on the wing on Holme Marsh. 2 Wheatears were amongst the cattle on the grazing marshes and Robin mentioned he'd seen a Hobby. I found a smart-looking orange sawfly, yet to be identified and I checked out the spiders from yesterday to confirm identity as Tetragnatha montana. Robin had seen a Brimstone (new for the week) and I added Large White to the list for the week. A minuscule day-flying moth turned out to be Cocksfoot Moth and several drinker moth caterpillars were feeding along the ditch side in the early morning sun. Tipulids were active including several of Giant Craneflies.

Azure Damselfly, Holme Marsh, 12th May 2014

Broad-bodied Chaser, Holme Marsh, 12th May 2014

Unidentified (Rose ?) Sawfly, Holme Marsh, 12th May 2014

Cocksfoot Moth, Holme Marsh, 12th May 2014

Drinker Moth caterpillar, Holme Marsh 12th May 2014

Hawthorn Shieldbug, Holme Marsh 12th May 2014

Giant Tipulid, Holme Marsh 12th May 2014

Ringstead Downs, 11th May

I went to the Downs in the slight hope that there might be some butterflies around for the transect but it was too cold and windy and not enough sun. So I had a walk around the edge of the reserve. 
On the north bank I found my first plant (and record) of Wild Clary for the reserve.
At the east end a few plants of Sanicle had just managed to spread from the wood to the reserve side of the fence. (Another new record for the reserve).
I decided to walk along the top of the south bank to look at the trees. On a dead ash branch there was a group of King Alfred's Cakes. Among the nettles there were a few small moths flying around, one of which I managed to photograph and which I believe to be a Silver-ground Carpet. There are quite a few large trees on the south bank. They include Ash, Oak, Lime, Sweet Chestnut and surprisingly a few large specimens of English Elm. There were smaller trees of Hazel and Rowan.  there were galls on some of the leaves of the Elm and the Lime. These are caused by small mites which are small enough to attack the individual cells within the leaves, causing the distorted shapes. At the very top of the south bank there was a group of Gooseberry bushes (another new species for the reserve); these had flowered earlier in the year and already had small fruits developing.
In the woods the other side of the fence in the top south-east corner of the valley I noticed a big patch of white flower. It was quite distant and out of the reserve (and our patch) but I am pretty certain it was many plants of Star of Bethlehem - a well-established colony.

Wild Clary Salvia verbenaca

Sanicle Sanicula europaea

King Alfred's Cakes Daldinia concentrica

Silver-ground Carpet Xanthorhoe montanata

Lime Nail Gall caused by the mite Eriophyes tiliae

Gall on English Elm caused by the mite Aceria ulmicola

Gooseberry Ribes uva-crispa

A distant patch of Star-of-Bethlehem Ornithogalum umbellatum ?

Sunday 11th May 2014

The wind was unrelenting again today, making observations difficult. Nevertheless, when the sun was out, the sheltered places proved productive. The only new plants in flower (for me) were Milkwort, Common Sorrel, Bramble and Brooklime, though Celery-leaved Buttercups were starting to flower again, having already been found in flower in January. Grey Gorse Piercer and Carnation Tortrix were on brambles near the gorse bushes along the path to the NWT hides and in the forestry, Green Longhorns were busy 'lekking' in the shelter of the scrub and good numbers of butterflies were on the wing, including Small Tortoisehell, Small White and Speckled Wood, in addition to the species found yesterday. I also found two further hoverflies for the patch: Anasimyia lineata and Parahelophilus versicolor, both on Holme Marsh.

Grey Gorse Piercer, Holme NWT, 11th May 2014

Carnation Tortrix, Holme NWT, 11th May 2014

Anasimyia lineata, Holme Marsh, 11th May 2014

This was running around like a, Holme Marsh, 11th May 2014

Parahelophilus versicolor, Holme Marsh, 11th May 2014

Parahelophilus versicolor, Holme Marsh, 11th May 2014

Spider sp, Holme Marsh, 11th May 2014

Saturday 10th May

Despite the ever-strengthening wind and some heavy, if short-lived downpours, today was pretty productive. Birds were admittedly rather thin on the ground though, but a Cuckoo was calling in the forestry and about 20 Turnstones on the Green at Hunstanton were in stunning summer plumage. The NOA traps held some excellent moths with my first Knotgrass, Brimstone, Buff-tip, Small Elephant Hawk, Garden Pebble and Garden Carpet of the year. A surprising number of butterflies braved the wind, with numerous Green Hairstreak and Small Copper on the wing, my first Common Blue and Small Heaths of the year and Brown Argus, Comma, Wall, Green-veinded White, Peacock and Orange Tip adding to the colour.

Plants new in flower for me today included Silverweed, Gromwell, Eyebright, Yellow Iris, Star of Bethlehem (in the woods in the Downs) and Birdsfoot Trefoil. Large numbers of Green Lonhorns moths adorned the brambles in the forestry and I got great views, but sadly no photographs, of a Mother Shipton in the dunes. 

Other invertebrates on the wing included numerous Scorpion Flies and several Large Red Damselflies.

Knotgrass, Holme NOA, 10th May 2014

Buff-tip, Holme NOA, 10th May 2014

Small Elephant Hawk, Holme NOA, 10th May 2014

Yellow Iris,  Holme NOA, 10th May 2014

Green Hairstreak,  Holme NOA, 10th May 2014

Brown Argus,  Holme NOA, 10th May 2014

Thyme-leaved Sandwort, Holme NWT, 10th May 2014

Silverweed, Ringstead Downs, 10th May 2014

Star of Bethlehem, Ringstead Downs, 10th May 2014

Eyebright, Ringstead Downs, 10th May 2014

Mother Shipton, Holme NWT, 18th June 2012