March Moths

Before I write about the smaller flying beasts that interest me, I missed out from Saturday evening's blog post the most notable bird that I've seen all week! Too busy thinking and writing about Wheatears and Sand Martins...

On Saturday I felt a bit rough so we didn't get out and walk the dog until late morning, and we didn't go far from home either. But whilst out the local gulls started making a bit of a ding, nothing too much so I was just expecting a Buzzard to come over - but it was a Marsh Harrier!  A nice dark bird (so I presume a second calender year, possibly a female?) which headed purposefully north east over Seaton.  About two hours earlier James Mc had a Marsh Harrier fly west at Charmouth, but it clearly doesn't take two hours to get from there to here! I still think it was the same bird though, as a quick chat with him revealed his Harrier was also a very dark individual. Maybe it went west past us then came back, or had spent some time loitering somewhere between the two sites? 

To tie up all the bird news in this post, I was a bit disturbed to witness this behaviour on the Estuary yesterday evening. An adult that should know better, trying to impress and get it on with a minor...

Adult and first-summer Med Gull

And now to the moths.  Last Wednesday night was the first night this year that I put a moth trap out at Mum and Dad's - wooooo!  And although it wasn't exactly busy, I've had quieter 'first sessions of the year' with 8 moths of 4 species (though most not actually in the trap!):

5 Common Quaker

1 Twin-spotted Quaker

1 Early Grey

1 Double-striped Pug

The larger Twin-spotted Quaker flanked by Common Quakers

A Day (And A Post) With A Bit Of Everything

Today has been a day of a bit of everything! Gardening, visits to the local tip, shopping (well Argos anyway!), county recorder work, watching sport, birding and mothing!! I shall start with the latter...

This morning I was very pleased with my 35 moths of 6 species. This included no new species for the garden, but several (in blue) were new for the year...

22 Common Quaker
5 Twin-spotted Quaker
3 Hebrew Character
2 Oak Beauty
2 Early Grey
1 Small Quaker

Here are a couple of pics...

Oak Beauty - one of my early spring favourites :-)

Examples of the three species of Quaker, I'm sure you can work out which one is Twin-spotted and which one is Small!?

The birding today hasn't been too exciting, a first-year Med Gull on the Estuary and a drake Gadwall on Blackhole Marsh being the best it got...

Distant - but still exciting.....yeah?

I'm ashamed to say it, but yesterday was the first time I'd been to Blackhole Marsh since a whole load of work has taken place here. We have a new...

...car park

...field studies centre - very posh it is indeed!

....and track, though this won't be opened until the new hide is up and running

To make up for that shockingly bad photo of the drake Gadwall above, here's a pic of a male Wigeon taken on the Estuary yesterday. Just for interest, this is the original photo...

Good old Lumix, you just have to do what it 'says on the tin' - point and shoot!

But then, after a bit of 'playing', I can post this....

This is why I love my Lumix even more - you can crop ruthlessly and still get a decent enough image!

Since my Sand Martins the other day, there has been little more evidence of the imminent spring, although in the garden a male Blackcap has been singing well over the past couple of days - very pleasant. Whilst talking about the garden, I must mention that I've just been watching a Marsh Tit out the front room windows - a very scarce and highly irregular visitor to our garden.

This weekend it is the Grizzly race, an annual cross country run which starts and ends in Seaton. So I have been in a bit of sporty mood today, and whilst out and about this afternoon, couldn't help thinking how any one out 'being sporty' and 'fit' should be prepared as dull rain clouds were encroaching fast. So when I saw this chap cycle past...


I just couldn't help but analyse his 'gear'. I personally give this keen (and I have to say very quick!) cyclist 9/10....

If you can't read the writing, click on the image to enlarge it

And why not 10/10? Well, I think he could do with a red woolly hat ;-)