A Little Autumnal Quality

After I turned off the Robinson at 5:15 I went down to Blackhole Marsh for a look about.

The Wood Sand was still there (there's now two apparently), with several Green and Common Sands, two Teal, a Snipe, a few Dunlin and best of all, a Little Stint - our first of the autumn. It remained distant, as you can see...

Can you make it out? Foraging just below the grass

A bit clearer... maybe?!

I came back to sort through the moths at 7am. With the clear skies, blustery winds and low temperatures of last night I wasn't expecting much - and I was right! There were no new species for the garden.

I got 58 moths of 25 species, they were: 10 Large Yellow Underwing, 6 Flame Shoulder, 6 Silver Y, 5 Shuttle-shaped Dart, 3 Nut-tree Tussock, 3 Brimestone, 3 Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, 2 Willow Beauty, 2 Early Thorn, 2 Dark Arches, 2 Lesser Yellow Underwing, 2 Riband Wave, and singles of: Pebble Hook-tip, Small Fan-footed Wave, Cabbage Moth, Coronet, Knot Grass, Rustic, Uncertain, Grey Dagger, Heart and Dart, Dingy Footman, Common Footman, Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing and Purple Thorn.

As I have no photos of garden firsts to post, here's a rather rubbish photo showing the four Yellow Underwings, the Broad-bordered was a lovely female...

It's a shame that two of them are out-of-focus! Clockwise from top left: Lesser Broad-bordered, Large, Lesser and Broad-bordered. There's also a Flame Shoulder in there

For the rest of the day I shall be working, til 8pm.... lucky me....