Back In Birdland: July 2011

Hop' to it, in time to catch the Cricket!

.Lesser Marsh Grasshopper.

Knowing from past visits, Sandy Quarry is a good place to find Grasshoppers and Crickets. I decided to try for some up to date images. Indentifying them was a challenge for me as Im not up on my id skills for hoppers, but I think I have got this lot correct. With a lot of younger individuals around I was glad to find an attractive pink grasshopper.

.Lesser Marsh Grasshopper.

.Field Grasshopper.

.Roesel's Bush-Cricket.

.Dark Bush-Cricket.

Glowing Sunrise with no hint of Red.

I finally got round to looking for the Common Rosefinch at Melbourn in Cambridgeshire. Thankfully it was still around and on my arrival at 05:30 was in full song already. Unmistakable call as soon as I was out of the car. It was still favouring the gardens of Foxfield House and 'the barns', but giving limited views but it did alight the tops of the bushes lining the road. On occasions it ventured out into the crop fields opposite but would soon return unnoticed and once again give itself up by calling. None of the resplendent colours of a adult male but as I had only ever seen a bright male years ago this was a welcome addition regardless of how plain looking. Getting there so early I missed the morning traffic, that built up soon enough, and also the sunrise gave the bird a lovely glow, too orange at times, but it seemed to rejoice singing and sunning itself never stooping for more than a minute. I called it a day a few hours in as the sun moved round and the bird favoured the gardens more, a good local jaunt for me.

Great............I mean Greenshank.

Couldnt believe my luck when after finishing my last nightshift and having 3 hours kip that the Mega alert went off on the pager... Greater Yellowlegs and only an hour and twenty minutes away. I was off. Views were distant and through the camera only posed as record shots. Someone did mention Greenshank but there were no other debates as too anything but the wanted bird, I certainly did not have any knowledge about Greater's but the legs stood out for sure. Sadly it was not to be, as quoted in BWP by Snow & Perrins: "[Serious confusion likely only with the latter(Greater Yellowlegs),but even if particular individual of Greenshank is one of the rare yellow-legged type,]"

I'll leave it at that, sounds more wishful than chasing after just a Greenshank.

Buzzing Around the Garden. July 2011.

This is the Wool Carder Bee, at the moment I have one male and at least 3 females in the garden. What makes them stand out from the other bees is the size first and foremost. The male is just over 10mm and the females are smaller. They have a distinctive yellow markings on the sides of the abdomen and notable hairy bodies especially noticeable on the legs. Something I noticed that it is known for is how territorial it is, picking a clump of flowers and patrolling it consistently. It keeps an eye on his females too and regularly pounces on their backs to mate with them. The male was also seen harassing any larger bumblebee that ventured onto his feeding patch, it would briefly buzz the back of the much larger bee moving it on and away. The females obviously smaller also looked more orange, whether due to pollen or not I couldn't say. Also due to its size, you wouldn't think it could buzz so loud, if you couldn't pick it out at first the loud buzzing would give its position up. I had to put up with quite a breeze so I was glad to get some half decent pictures.

The Vapourer Moth....and finally the female.

I knew that I had larva of The Vapourer moth in good numbers in the garden but up till now I had not seen, ever come to that, the female. The females are flightless and in no way resemble the males. During the day whilst in my cigar den Sarah noticed a moth alight the underside of a plant close by. What a surprise we were to both get as on inspection I immediately recognised the flying moth as a Vapourer, and in the process of mating with a female, I could not believe my luck. Throughout the day I kept an eye on the female, she did not venture from the cocoon but began to lay eggs. Fantastic new wildlife encounter.

Garden Mothing gets Productive. June 2011.

Buff Ermine

I ended June with another couple of mothing sessions in the garden, both going till 1am and lasting a few hours each. The 1st session turned out 12 species and the 2nd a huge jump up to 27 species with the possibility of more not being trapped. I obtained a few new species to photograph and list too was a real bonus, so I am looking forward to July's sessions. The rose bush is still turning out Vapourer caterpillars ranging in size from near fully grown down to less than 10mm.

List of species at end of images below.

Barred Straw

Mottled Beauty

Dark Arches & Light Arches

Least Carpet

Buff Arches

Brown Tail

Dwarf Cream Wave

Dot Moth

Light Arches. Mottled Beauty. Willow Beauty. Buff ermine. Uncertain. Rustic. Barred Straw. Bright line Brown Eye. Rustic shoulder Knot. Marbled Minor. Dark Arches. Heart and Dart. Common Footman. Elephant Hawkmoth. Small Elephant Hawkmoth. Peppered Moth. Dot Moth. Large Nutmeg. White Satin. Common Pug. Riband Wave. Flame. Snout. Dwarf Cream Wave. Least Carpet. Fan Foot. Brown Tail. Buff Arches. Green Pug. Swallowtail. Mottled Rustic. Spectacle. Smoky Wainscot.