Scorchio!

Wow it's hot today.  A look along the river at about 08:30 showed there had been a bit of an arrival of new waders, with three Black-tailed Godwits alongside three Dunlin (my first of the autumn) along the waters edge...

Summer plumaged Blackwit and three Dunlin

Among the gulls three Med Gulls were on show, the first-summer that I yesterday labelled 'distinctively bland' and these two beautiful juveniles...

If you're not familiar with the juvenile plumage of Med Gull, I urge you to come over to the Axe Estuary or Black Hole Marsh and take a look at one. At this time of year they should be present pretty much daily now in varying numbers, and they really do have a delicate beauty to them.  Gorgeous things.

The moth trapping last night would have gone better had Mum and Dad's resident pair of Herring Gulls not taken an interest in the trap before I got to it!  Still there was a very good variety of moths and good numbers too. Nothing new for me or the garden, but the two scarcest species (which were actually both on the wall of the house) were...

Female Four-spotted Footman

The Fern

It was great to get the chance to introduce Harry to a Poplar Hawkmoth, his reaction was epic...