Friday 1 April 2011

Moths and Birds, No Fooling!!

It was back to the moth traps again for Steve, Pete and myself this morning and another 2 new species for the year! Streamer and Double Striped Pug, when I said no fooling, I actually was fooled by the Streamer, initially mis-identifying it, my only defence is that I am trying to identify things without a book at the moment to see what I learnt from last year!! ( the book will be out again soon!) Numbers weren't huge but 12 species were found this morning. Once again while the moths were being recorded, I had a flyover Redpoll.
Streamer

Diurnea Fagella (a common micro moth, March to May)
 It was pretty grey this morning and the wind was a bit gusty. My visit consisted only of going to the lakes and back, there was a nice charm of 7 Goldfinches at the back of the shop and once again Chiffchaff numbers were high, I heard at least 6 from just round the lakes, I think they will thin out a bit as the month goes on.

 Two Stock Doves flew out of their favourite oak and 3 Grey Herons flew across the fields and over the lake. There was a Blackcap back at the lake and both Nuthatch and Treecreeper were heard. A single Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over and 2 Jays came up from the over grown island on the top lake, where there was also a singing Reed Bunting for the first time this year, as before they have all been in the hedgerows. A Goldcrest and Long Tailed Tit shared the shelter of a Honeysuckle. Once again it was a nice walk and 33 species in around 45 minutes was pleasing.

8 comments:

Warren Baker said...

Like the snazzy colours on the blog Alan :-) Get ready for the rush of Migrants in the next few weeks!

Alan Pavey said...

Hi Warren, I hope there is a rush of migrants, the first 2 weeks in April are usually pretty busy. I was messing around at lunchtime and found a few things, not sure if it will stay the same, the flourescent pinky colour might be a bit much :-)

Ken. said...

Hi Alan.
Moths is a very interesting subject, albeit there's so many of them, so good luck with trying to remember what species they are without the book.
As for the Stock Doves, I wish we had more of them around Halling.
Have a good weekend.

Rachel J said...

I like the collective noun for goldfinches, more please. Eg. a what? of 3 grey herons?? :) Have a nice weekend Al, have got my permit signed for a trip out with my 'scope in the morning. Yay!

Anonymous said...

Streamers are a fine looking moth, Alan. I`ve not seen one for a couple of years.

ShySongbird said...

Thirty three in forty five minutes sounded very good to me Alan!

I love Goldfinches, they visit my garden every day for the Sunflower hearts and are such colourful little birds. I also have a Stock Dove visit from time to time, it is much more wary and more flighty than the Wood Pigeons and Collared Doves though.

Simon said...

Interesting to hear the Redpolls are still being seen.

Alan Pavey said...

Hi Ken, the moths are confusing but it's a good challenge hopefully will keep my mind active, the Stock Doves are a permanent fixture here may be 2 or 3 pairs :-)

Hi Rach, I'm not that great at collective nouns, I'll have to look some more up!!

Hi Dean, Streamers are well marked, I was pleased the name came back to me eventually, as the moths are a recent addition to the things I try to identify.

Hi ShySongbird, That was a busy 45 mins although not that unusual here, after an hour it all slows down a bit.
Goldfinches have got to be one of the most attractive birds my photo doen't do them justice but I'll keep trying :-)

Hi Simon, We sometimes get the odd Redpoll in the summer so I'm hoping they might stay around a bit longer.