There has been little time for wildlife encounters close to
home in recent weeks what with Lesvos and my week on the Norfolk coast. Antony trapped most nights at my house while
we were in Lesvos and I came home to a trap full of autumnal species most pf
which I have subsequently caught on other nights.
There were some new ones though with a fine male Four
Spotted Footman (the legs looks purple black), my second Bloxworth Snout (Lowestoft
seems to be am East Anglian hotspot) and a couple of Small Mottled Willows (a continental
immigrant).
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Bloxworth Snout - AW |
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Four Spotted Footman - AW |
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Small Mottled Willow - AW |
Amazingly I re-caught the same Four Spotted Footman (it only
had five legs) but we just as delighted to catch a Silver Spotted Veneer - Euchromius ocellea on the 25th.
This delightful little grass moth was a real rarity until this autumn
when many moth’ers added it to their garden tallies.
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Four Spotted Footman - back again! |
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Silver Spotted Veneer - Euchromius ocellea |
I have trapped most nights where I can and managed my own
haul of migrant species. Always amazing
to imagine these little creatures making their way across the North Sea from
translucent Olive Pearls, dart-like Rush Veneers, hyperactive Diamondbacks and
others…
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Gem - female |
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Olive Pearl (Palpita vitrealis) and Gem - male |
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Rush Veneer |
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Rusty Dot Pearl |
There were other autumn regulars with lichen-cryptic
Feathered Ranunculus, mushroom-inky Black Rustics, peachy Delicates and Scarce
Bordered Straws, various Underwings, other Rustics and Carpets.
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Angle Shades |
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Black Rustic |
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Clancy's Rustic |
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Delicate & Clancy's Rustic |
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Delicate |
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Delicate - AW |
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Feathered Ranunculus |
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Feathered Ranunculus |
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Flounced Rustic |
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Flounced Rustic |
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L-album Wainscot |
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Scarce Bordered Straw |
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Silver Y |
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Grey Pine Carpet |
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Common Marbled Carpet |
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A lovely rufous Large Yellow Underwing |
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Lesser Yellow Underwing |
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Lunar Underwing |
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A very tatty Red Underwing |
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Light Brown Apple Moth - LBAM - the commonest moth at the moment |
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Still the odd Tachystola acroxantha about too |
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Radford's Flame Shoulders from chez Wren. Not caught my own yet |
I popped down to Pakefield Beach first thing but the sea was very poor with just a few loafing Gulls and above me I picked up Grey Wagtail and Skylark but it was disappointing to be honest. My prize for the effort was a stuttery Cetti’s Warbler giving it go below the car park. Not on my radar for here!
I have spent the rest of today trying to get the garden in some sort of for the coming winter. It has come on very well considering most of it is under a year old. The giant Teasels have come up so that I can get to the beds but have become a towering sculpture in the middle of the garden for the Goldfinches. I have some ideas for creating some more defined spaces but that can all wait till the winter months.
Being outside means that my senses are always hoping to pick up birds on the move and today there have been the odd Siskin, Linnet and Meadow Pipits along with a single House Martin, only my second Kestrel, two Rooks, two Buzzards and a female Sparrowhawk.
I am around now until the start of November so hopefully there will be ample time for the garden and the chance to add to my Pakefield Beach and garden lists!