Get Knotted

My blog posts are now a rare commodity - I've had to remember my login details and how to post anything it's been that long!

It's almost 20 years since I missed out on the famous Great Knot (the 'Great Dot') at Seal Sands, Cleveland in October 1996. That turned up whilst I was on Scilly, and I had no chance of going for it after I came off as I was in Devon celebrating Isabelle's first birthday before going back to work the following Monday. The Dot lingered in early November, but the first weekend I could of gone coincided with a Little Bustard on the Lizard (I went for that instead with my birding mates who'd all already done the Dot). Given that I ditched my pager c14 years ago I had no idea that one had been in Lancs in 2004 (although not exactly twitchable) or that one had been at Breydon a couple of years ago. Not that I would of gone anyway!

I was already booked-off from work and planning to head to Titchwell on Friday on my way to meet up with other PSLers at Holkham for the weekend. Finding out that a Great Knot had turned up there was a massive slice of good luck - or at least would be if it stayed. Still, as a non-twitcher these days I was not rushing about. I left home at 7:30am and arrived at Titchwell at around 10am having taken about as long to get through Leicester as it took to get to Kings Lynn!

I sauntered down to the beach - there were lots of birders heading back and forth and the bird was clearly still around. When I got to the beach, there was a gaggle of birders though not all looking in the same direction. I quickly worked out that the large Knot flock was messing about, but the bird was amongst them - somewhere.

I'd gone sans scope as I can't be arsed lugging that about these days, so I bumbled about for a bit in the dunes and potted up or photographed a few bits ........

Marram Weevil (Philopedon plagiatum)

Garden Tiger

Eventually, the throng of twitchers coalesced into a uniform mass - so I casually rocked up, lifted my bins and enjoyed nice views of a stunning adult breeding plumaged Great Knot. I also managed to blag scope views from other birders (who probably took pity on such a pathetic dude trying to watch such a bird with no scope, huge telephoto lens or pager) and it was good. I did manage to grab some absolutely pathetic photos of it, but they are my pathetic photos of it!

Ironically, I should of been more intent on seeing it as about half an hour after I took these it flew off and wasn't seen again until much later in the evening on Scolt Head Island off Brancaster of all places. After the Greater Yellowlegs last year, my bird list is in danger of exceeding 410 by the end of the decade!

After failing to see any Dune Tiger Beetles in the dull and cool conditions, I sauntered back down the path and had a quick look on the fresh marsh, passing what used to be the brackish marsh ....

Loving what the RSPB are doing to attract carrion-eating invertebrates ......

Look under the wings ....

Black-headed Gull supper

I do like having a saunter around Titchwell - really good to see Cuckoo, Marsh Harrier, Little Tern, Bearded Tit and a good numbers of waders and wildfowl for a change. But visting always enlivened by a mega, and noticing the other stuff that's there.

Golden-bloomed Grey Longhorn Beetle (Agapanthia villosoviridescens)

Not often that the name is a gobful in vernacular and scientific! 

After all that I've been in Holkham all weekend poking about in and under logs, lifting dead rabbits, sweeping saltmarsh and generally bumbling about the dunes. Lots of stuff to ID - but that will have to wait.

Natterjack Toad, Holkham Dunes

Bright-line Brown-eye

I'm really having a very lucky year for new breeding macros in the garden. Here's another one that I just noticed resting on a wall as I went to plug in the lawn mower on Sunday. I've had it boxed up feeding well on common weeds (dock, dandelion etc) and I've finally got around to working out what it is. Undoubtedly not the first time it has bred in the garden but the first time I've noticed and identified it.

Bright-line Brown-eye

Buff-tip

Yesterday morning, after I'd parked my car further down the driveway than usual, I noticed that the car roof had been showered with frass overnight. Sure enough, a quick glance up to the cherry tree showed some heavy defoliation high up in the canopy. Later when I got home from work, a quick search with bins revealed a large number of larvae in several groups. I got the ladders out and lopped off a branch with some larvae to check them out and rear through. Turned out to be Buff-tip - another new breeding species for the garden list.

Catch up

Haven't been getting out too much, and when I have I've not had a chance to post anything so here's brief catch up ....

First, a couple of nice beetles, butterflies and a moth from Ketton Quarry on 23/05/2015.

Cryptocephalus bipunctatus - only the 4th VC55 record, first since 1987

Agrilus sp. - still to be determined!

Dingy Skipper - was lucky to find a pair in cop

Grizzled Skipper

Burnet Companion

The new car had it's debut mothing night out on Friday 05/06/2015 to a group session at Charnwood Lodge; nothing too arduous on the chassis, just some woodland rides. I was pleased to fit 6x traps, 2x gennies and 7x cable reels easily into the boot space with room to spare.

The mothing itself was a little poor, as has been the whole spring! My traps managed a total of 46sp.

Code	Taxon	Vernacular	Total
131	Incurvaria oehlmanniella		2
140	Nematopogon swammerdamella		2
227	Monopis laevigella	Skin Moth	1
485	Schreckensteinia festaliella		2
602	Elachista apicipunctella		1
636	Denisia similella		1
649	Esperia sulphurella		1
770	Carpatolechia proximella		2
797	Neofaculta ericetella		1
1174	Epiblema cynosbatella		1
1497	Amblyptilia acanthadactyla		1
1645	Falcaria lacertinaria	Scalloped Hook-tip	1
1680	Cyclophora punctaria	Maiden's Blush	1
1722	Xanthorhoe designata	Flame Carpet	1
1759	Ecliptopera silaceata	Small Phoenix	1
1764	Chloroclysta truncata	Common Marbled Carpet	4
1768	Thera obeliscata	Grey Pine Carpet	2
1776	Colostygia pectinataria	Green Carpet	10
1834	Eupithecia vulgata	Common Pug	2
1844	Eupithecia indigata	Ochreous Pug	1
1857	Eupithecia tantillaria	Dwarf Pug	1
1902	Petrophora chlorosata	Brown Silver-line	63
1906	Opisthograptis luteolata	Brimstone Moth	2
1920	Odontopera bidentata	Scalloped Hazel	4
1931	Biston betularia	Peppered Moth	2
1947	Ectropis bistortata	Engrailed	1
1951	Aethalura punctulata	Grey Birch	12
1955	Cabera pusaria	Common White Wave	2
1957	Lomographa bimaculata	White-pinion Spotted	3
1981	Laothoe populi	Poplar Hawk-moth	1
2006	Pheosia gnoma	Lesser Swallow Prominent	2
2008	Ptilodon capucina	Coxcomb Prominent	2
2014	Drymonia dodonaea	Marbled Brown	14
2028	Calliteara pudibunda	Pale Tussock	5
2043	Eilema sororcula	Orange Footman	16
2060	Spilosoma lubricipeda	White Ermine	1
2061	Spilosoma luteum	Buff Ermine	1
2063	Diaphora mendica	Muslin Moth	3
2102	Ochropleura plecta	Flame Shoulder	4
2123	Diarsia rubi	Small Square-spot	7
2160	Lacanobia oleracea	Bright-line Brown-eye	1
2163	Melanchra pisi	Broom Moth	6
2190	Orthosia gothica	Hebrew Character	1
2289	Acronicta rumicis	Knot Grass	1
2302	Rusina ferruginea	Brown Rustic	5
2326	Apamea crenata	Clouded-bordered Brindle	1
		Total species	46
		Total individuals	199

Grey Birch

Scalloped Hook-tip

Whilst I'm on here, may as well post a couple of bird photos from Greece back in April.

Crested Lark

Stonechat

Stonechat fledglings

LRP

Another Car

Doesn't seem that long ago that I was preparing to handover my car for a new one, but it's almost four years since the Vectra went and this arrived ........

It's done some miles, got me from A to B without missing a beat, taken the family to far flung places and carried some stuff around. It's basically been a car. I can't really fault it, and the electric everything with huge bass bins in the boot and low-pro black anodised wheels were somewhat more upmarket than the old Vectra estate. It was particularly good a blasting out drum and bass at anti-socially loud volume. But after nearly four years I am now fed up of the rattling from the slightly cheap interior build quality (although that may be linked to the aforementioned bass bins being utilised liberally).

It never really got abused as much as the old Vectra, and I slept in it a lot less, but it has been where no other Laguna sport tourer has .......

So tomorrow I drive it to work for (hopefully) the last time, and I'll be driving home in something altogether different. I needed something even more economical than a diesel and more environmentally friendly (with a lower cost taxable benefit). So, I'll be having one of these ......

A fully loaded hybrid hatchback. Doubt I'll get as much mothing gear in it, but perhaps I won't need to. Although I'm sure the seats will fold down, and I used to manage with a much smaller white car than this .....

Larval Life

Found a couple larvae in the garden yesterday, a very gaudy one that I get annually (usually helping themsleves to the flowering cherry) and a more subtly smart one that is another new breeding record for the garden ......

Lackey

Green-brindled Crescent