First Date

Whilst searching through photos for something else amongst my oldest images I found the following ....

It is far from the best photo I've ever taken, but then again it is from July 2001 when I was using my first digital camera - a Sony Cybershot DSC-S50 (which produced a massive 1600x1200pixel image at 72dpi before any processing ....).

I double-checked the record date (22/07/2001), and I had a vague recollection that this was more interesting than just being a new moth for me and the garden (which back then would have included many species). So I checked the VC55 records and, as I thought, it was indeed a first VC55 record of Agonopterix conterminella (or at least the first post-VCH record: Vol. 1 of the Victoria County History of Leicester that includes a Natural History section was published in 1907, and includes a simple list of species known to have been recorded within Leicestershire, although there are no detailed records included. The VCH for Rutland was published in 1906 and is even more sparse).

This got me thinking: over the last 20 years or so I have added a fair number of moth species to the VC55 list, and in more recent years a few species in other orders too. As time has gone on many of these (like this Agonopterix) will have slipped out of my mind although the records exist for posterity. So I'm going to spend a bit of time over the next few weeks trying to compile a list of the firsts and any other significant records that I am associated with. I'll primarily focus on records that are solely mine, but also detail important records where others were involved (essentially these will be moths that I caught or identified but as part of a group effort). Once I've got a reasonable list as a starting point I'll set up a new page tab and update accordingly. It might seem a bit of a vanity project. Yeah, I suppose it is. And?

Aside from that revelation, this particular species also falls into the 'Overdue' category for my garden moth records. I had one further individual on 10/07/2007 but not a sniff of one since. However it has only been recorded from four other sites in VC55, and seems to have a patchy distribution despite the main foodplants being sallow.

Drab Ibis

Yesterday I nipped out to Swithland Res. for a long overdue County Tick ....

I've never once made an effort to see any of the Glossy Ibis that have popped up in the County over the last few years since the first in 2011. It's not like I've seen lots of them in UK, just a couple. Ultimately, I think that despite the esoteric name, quite often they look unicolorous and skanky and I just don't feel compelled to go and see one. I only went for this one as the site was likely to be easier work than lugging a scope around the northern Soar Valley or - worse - going to Rutland Water.

But it wasn't a case of just rocking up and looking at it; it had been in view but got flushed by a fisherman's bait boat just before I arrived mid-morning. Eventually it popped back up but in the SE corner of the Northern section where viewing is a bit more limited. And, as usual, watching anything at Swithland Res. from Kinchley Lane or the dam means that the subject is often more backlit. I got good views with bins and scope, just failed to get any frame-filling nice shots that I had hoped for.

Aside from the Ibis, the shoreline was almost literally awash with egrets. Amongst the numerous Little Egrets and Grey Herons there were at least four Great White Egrets. Still can't get used to how quickly they've established in the County to the point that seeing one at any of the reservoirs or large water bodies is almost expected. I also stopped and looked at a couple of Scaup on the Southern section before heading home.

I've hardly used the P950 since the spring. When I looked at the SD card from the camera, I found a few photos from the short break up on the Cumbrian coast in August that I'd completely forgotten about.

Kestrel - St Bees Head

Great Black-backed Gull - Whitehaven harbour

Cormorant - Whitehaven harbour

Also on the card were some snaps of a Pheasant that popped up in the garden a couple of times in early Autumn. It had a damaged leg and walked with a hobble but flew perfectly okay when it saw the cat ....

Pan-species "Listing"

[“Listing” is a nautical term to describe when a vessel takes on water and tilts to one side. A ship can list either to port (left) or starboard (right). Neither is desirable, as listing or rolling too much can cause a ship to capsize, or overturn in the water.]

One way or another, whilst I've been ticking along and adding bits here and there I've tilted and sunk on the PSL rankings again. It's all a bit of nonsense really - seeing new stuff is great and creating a few records along the way is the more relevant bit. But it is interesting to note that 4000 species will see you in the top 40 though that will not be the case for long. Also, within the ten listers shown here there is only a 423 species gap; what is not shown is that there is now only one lister under 3500 species in the top 50, and only one under 5000 in the top 30. In reality, I am sure there will be numerous amateur naturalists up and down the country that don't publicise their numbers who would be well into the top 40 or higher if they did.

Out of this lot, Robert Yaxley will almost certainly already be well over 4000 if/when he updates - I see him finding stuff on his Twitter account regularly. James McCulloch and Martin Bell probably are as well - I think they update at each month or so. Although I'm within 100 species of it, Ryan Clark and Sam Buckton may well reach 4000 before me too - they have time on their side. David Shute and Mark Jackson haven't updated for well over a year or more so no idea if they're seeing anything. Steve will no doubt tell me again that he's hung his PSL boots up and then add a couple of 100 species. I could be closer to the other end of this 'mini-league' if everyone updated at the same time.

4000 will be a nice landmark when it comes but 5000 seems a very distant prospect. Ironically with health issues and lockdowns, I've added more in the last couple of years than I had for a long while: 508 species added since 6th April 2019, and at that point I'd updated after a lapse which meant I'd added just 121 species from 10th Jan 2017. Prior to that it had taken me just over five years to add 1300 species to my inaugural list.

Overdue - Hypatima rhomboidella

One of my (very) occasional themes is to highlight a moth species that I've recorded in the garden some time ago but not since. I thought I'd pick out another, although this one surprised me in a lot of ways. Hypatima rhomboidella is not rare or scarce in VC55, or so I thought. But actually looking at VC55 records it does seem to be a lot scarcer than I thought, mainly from decent woodland sites and there are some years in the last couple of decades with very few or no records at all. I don't actually recall seeing one for a long while (July 2008 August 2014 at group session that isn't in my personal records). However a squint at the excellent Gelechiid Recording Scheme website shows that it is very widespread within the UK, and feeds primarily on Silver Birch and Hazel with Alder, Hornbeam and Aspen recorded as utilised in Europe. It is also supposed to come readily to light. Really then, this should be piss common everywhere ....

I have two garden records, both in 2000 on 1st and 11th June. That is so long ago that it actually precedes even my earliest moth photography. I do have a couple of shots, one of a couple recorded at Timberwood Hill, Charnwood Lodge with Andy Mackay on 26/08/2002.

Think this is more than overdue for me anywhere, let alone for the garden, and it's one I will be trying to get a better shot of when I next encounter one!

Mining

I've managed to work through a couple of bagfuls of leaves collected on Monday, and I've ended with up with a decent number of species/records. Perhaps the most remarkable part of this is that I bumped into a smallish tree on a verge that I didn't immediately recognise, and that I'd absolutely missed/ignored earlier in the year. Anyway, I worked out it was probably a Hornbeam and I found some interesting mines on it.

The mine below is an upper surface silvery-looking blotch, similar to the ubiquitous Phyllonorycter coryli that is found on Hazel. I'd already decided that this was probably Phyllonorycter esperella if my foodplant ID was right.

There were lots of these, but all seemed quite small and appeared to be vacated or incomplete. My attention turned to an altogether different-looking mine where the leaf was almost folded over. Again, lots of these and on checking a few, a number appeared to have hymenopteran pupae but some were tenanted, including some with a silken retreat within which a small larva was present.

I posted a few photos on the leafminers FB group and quickly got confirmation that my plant ID was correct and that these larger mines were also Phyllonorycter esperella - more mature mines often causing the leaf to turn on itself. A new leaf-miner for me, as was the following.

This is a Phyllonorycter oxyacanthae mine on Hawthorn:

Amongst other species I found on Hawthorn was Ectoedemia atricollis, like this example:

I initially thought this might be Stigmella paradoxa, but the egg position was not right and as can be seen there is evidence of a gallery leading into the blotch.

I found a few mines on Rowan. These folded leaflets, along with the smaller pinched in mine on a leaflet above, are the work of Parornix scoticella:

However, along with Lyonetia clerkella that mines everything, the other mines I found on Rowan were species that I've only previously found on Hawthorn:

Phyllonorycter corylifoliella

Stigmella oxyacanthella

Other mines that I found on what may be thought of as atypical foodplants included:

Phyllonorycter leucographella on Malus sp. (alongside Lyonetia clerkella on the plant it should be found).

Here's a couple of other mines for reference:

Stigmella salicis on Salix sp.

Tischeria ekebladella on Quercus sp.

One last mine, this one though from the Silver Birch in my garden:

Phyllonorycter ulmifoliella

That's probably enough mining for now, and I've realised looking through that I needed to crop some of the pictures a bit tighter. Never mind.

I guess this post isn't the mining Public Service Broadcasting were thinking of.

White Powder

Over the last couple of days whilst out looking for leaf mines, I've stumbled across a number of powdery mildews. A couple I recognised, others I've just ignored in the past and one I've never noticed at all. Most of the following are quick phone snaps, but you get the gist.

A couple of the more obvious ones were these:

Erysiphe alphitoides [Oak Mildew] on Oak

Sawadaea bicornis [Field Maple Mildew] on Field Maple

The next few have almost certainly been seen before but ignored:

Erysiphe heraclei [Umbelifer Mildew] on Hogweed

Golovinomyces sordidus [Plantain Mildew] on Greater Plantain

Neoerysiphe galeopsidis [Mint Mildew] on White Dead-nettle

But this one I'm sure I've not seen before to be able to ignore it. On a Salix sp., with both sides of the leaves affected and colourful cleistothecia on the underside of the sample leaf I collected. Seems to be Erysiphe adunca [var adunca]. As you can gather from the above, these mildews have very inventive common names and it will be no surprise to hear this one is known as Willow Mildew.

All of this would have been right up Seth's gata if he was still on blogger, just like this Swedish metal.