First up, I joined a small gathering of moth recorders at Rutland Water last
week in the hope of picking up a couple of reedbed wainscots that I'm yet to
see (Obscure & Webb's). Sadly no joy on that front, and the conditions
were not ideal with it cooling quite quickly and rain due in the early hours, but
nonetheless another great session - so good to be out by a mothing sheet
again. The group split up into three areas, and I joined Adrian Russell in
what seemed to be a perfect spot immediately alongside Lagoon 3 and close to
Shoveler Hide. We ran a sheet and I walked a trap out along the edge of the
reedbed. The constant chattering of Common Terns, Oystercatchers and Lapwings
was a great backdrop as we set up.
There was plenty of activity at the sheet and over the trap, though it all
seemed to die down a little as the night wore on.
Still, great to see a few species again that I don't generally get in the
garden and haven't seen for a while, including Chilo phragmitella, Slender
Brindle and these three:
Southern Wainscot
Brown-veined Wainscots
Eudonia pallida
But the first moth of the night was a Gelechiid on the sheet that may yet turn
out to be one of the most interesting of the c73sp. once checked ....
Probably Caryocolum fraternella
More recently, last night I headed out for a couple of hours to again walk
around a site near Dunton Bassett with Graham Calow and Craig Mabbett.
Another peaceful and productive walk, with a fair number of leaf mines
collected. The site really is unusual, with very rough scrub at the back of
an industrial estate with HGV parking, leading down to managed carp fishing
lakes. The site seems to be a magnet for unusual, and often escaped, flora -
perhaps dragged in on the wheels of lorries etc.
I'll leave out leaf mines for the moment, though a few were new for me.
Instead here's a couple of damselflies (all were a bit sluggish loafing on
waterside vegetation after rain) and a spanking sawfly larva ....
White-legged Damselfly
Common Blue Damselfly
Craesus septentrionalis - a good number defoliating a small Alder
sapling
A new one for me
The peak period for leaf-mining and galls will be upon us before long ....
After a fairly quiet week off, with largely shite weather, this weekend has been busy and I've made the most of the improved conditions. Most of yesterday was taken up by a football tournament that Josh was playing in. We left home just before 9am and got back home at around 4pm. Whilst Josh was at the football, Alex was doing his usual karate lesson followed by a grading in the afternoon (now orange belt). We got them both showered and sorted for going out camping overnight with the Scouts. By the time we'd dropped them off and got back home, it was a really nice mild and still early evening. I watched the second half of the Netherlands v Denmark game and then headed out to have a walk along one of the local disused railway lines with net and pots at the ready. Time flew by whlist I swished at anything flying and vegetation, and by the time I got home it was just in time for the second half of the Germany v Portugal game.
I put the garden moth trap out though I didn't expect much as the good late afternoon/early evening conditions lead to clear skies and dropping temps. The forecast for today was also looking good so I opted to get up very early, empty the trap (predictably poor, just 10 of 9sp.) and head over to Ketton Quarry for a few hours before having to head home and pick up the boys from the camp at lunch time.
Suffice to say I've ended up with lots of stuff in pots, lots of photos and plenty of stuff to enter in MapMate. I'm not going to pile it all in one post so I'll have to drip feed over the week. For now here's a few varied shots, and I'm starting with a moth tick from Ketton Quarry ...
Adela croesella - smart!
Here's shot of the railway line in Whetstone - great habitat for various inverts ...
A few damselflies noted on both outings ....
Common Blue Damselfly - immature
Common Blue Damselfly - mature male
Large Red Damselfly
Very surprised to see a Grizzled Skipper still on the wing at Ketton, though it was a bit knackered. I also found a small Adder which was very dull with cloudy eyes ready to slough off the skin.
