Roseates reappear

Monday's are supposed to be all day in the field days but TBH I couldn't muster up much will considering it's pretty much the summer doldrums out there. So after the moths I did a bit in the garden and after the school run popped out and checked Ferry, the Tramway and Mill Lane. 8 Little Ringed Plovers on Ferry were the highlight (4 adults, a juvenile and the three chicks), with the 5 Shelduck chicks, the Oystercatcher chick and still a few Avocet chicks too. Three Teal on Mill Lane was the best thing there. On the way back I went through Yeoman's field which was full of butterflies.

After lunch I waited for the high tide and then went to Church Norton and checked out the colony and the mudflats down to the middle reedbed. Roseate Terns were constantly on view amongst the Sandwich Terns on the mud with at least two together and probably a third bird seen a distant from the first two that went out to sea. There were thousands of terns and hundreds of young terns and gull with my first juvenile Med Gull for the autumn too. The wader numbers were up again, with nearly 40 Dunlin now but the heat haze was pretty bad. 

70 species in total of over 3000 individuals HERE. 

Adult Roseate Terns (above and below)

The Oystercatcher chick on Ferry is growing well although sadly seems to have lost it's sibling

Seems like it's mainly Med Gulls on Tern island now. I've only one juvenile Med so presumably the young fledge later than the Sandwich Terns and Black-headed Gulls

Gatekeepers were everywhere today, well over 100 on my route. Also lots of Small/Essex Skipper, Meadow Browns, a few Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Peacock, three Small Copper, Holly Blue, Speckled Wood, Small Whites, Green-viened White, the odd Large White and a single Brown Argus.

Female Migrant Hawker. A few of these around, also Blue Emperor, Broad-bodied Chaser and Common Blue Damselfly.

Buff Arches was the best in the moth trap. A NFY. Now on 396 for the year.

Black-banded Masoner, Blastobasis rebeli- the first this year

Coastal Buff, Agonopterix yeatiana

Obsidentify reckons this is Slender Rufous Tortrix, Lathronympha strigana? Doesn't look red enough for me. I've kept it for critical examination. 

Weekend roundup

The pleasant summer conditions continue with temperatures up to the mid-twenties during the day and mid-teens during the night with a westerly airflow- sometimes moderate. 

A quiet weekend around the lodge mainly concentrating on the garden wildlife and moths. Also been getting distracted by artisan tinned fish suppliers and spent over £100 on impulsive fancy sardines. Holly says I need to seek help. 

A few photo highlights below. 

On the numbers front we've got 73 birds for the year HERE, 393 moths, 16 butterflies (Brown Argus was a NFY), 5 dragonflies, 182 'pan-species HERE (although I haven't bothered re-recording the resident botany so this is a lot more) and a few mammals (about 10 resident) including several small mammals calling from the meadow (presumably shrews or voles). A total of 679 for the year. 

All time scores include 116 birds HERE, 673 moths, 20 butterflies, 7 dragonflies, 336 'pan-species' and about 10 mammals (Red Fox, Grey Squirrel, Mole, Wood mouse, Common mouse, Pygmy Shrew, Short-tailed Field Vole, Pippistrelle sp, Roe Deer and Rabbit). A total of 1162 species in the garden.

Engrailed- get very few of these here

Webb's Wainscot-a NFY

Small Scallop

Most of these appear to be Langmaid's at the moment

Chequered Grey, Scoparia basistrigalis

Bright Straw, Agapeta zoegana- NFY. Just appeared joining the Garden Straws that have been around for a while. Also on the Bright theme, also had another Bright Wave- the 3rd one this year. 

Double-orange spot, Pammene aurana- these get attracted to the api lure

Tawny Sycamore Piercer, Pammene aurita - also get attracted to the api lure

Orange-spot moth sp, Dichrorampha sp- either alpina or vancouverana- have retained a couple of these for Mike

Shaded Tortrix, Eucosma obumbratana- a little lifer I think

Black-spot Buff, Agnonopterix propinquella. NFY

Fortunately Matt has fixed his truck so will be visiting this week to help us manage the meadows and get the paths mowed back in and some areas tidied up. The growth rate this year has been incredible- the lovage in the perennial fruit bed is about 7ft high- really good for attracting insects

A trip to the garden centre to get more lavender- seems to grow well in the garden and attracting up to four Hummingbird hawkmoths at the moment so why not

Holly has been turning the last of the strawberries into Jam and thought this would be amusing 

Hummers and Clearwings

As usual the day started off doing the moths (after Isaac woke me up around 4 am of course) and then after the school run I did a bit round the garden before lunch at Potters with Holly (Selsey crab and lobster) and then did a few hours birding on East Side and Ferry HERE which was basically a ground hog day of Monday apart from a few more Dunlins and Blackwits and also a flock of 35 Sand Martins over north wall. 

Whimbrel- two or three around

The locals

Red-tipped Clearwing in the Six-belted lure was a nice surprise- a first for garden. There was also a Tawny Sycamore Piercer, Pammene aurita and a few Double Orange-spots, Pammene aurana in the pheromone trap. Garden list on 672 (following some edits by the CMR). 

Up to four Hummingbird Hawkmoths are feeding on the garden lavender (above and below)

The only shot I managed to get more than one in

European Woolcarder Bee. A few other new pan-species for the garden today HERE. Now recorded 332 potential species in this 'group'. The lavender is absolutely buzzing mainly with White-tailed Bumbles and Honey Bees but also a few other solitary bees, flies,  Gatekeepers, Small White and the odd Small/Essex Skipper. 

Currant Pug. NFY. Now on 382 for the year. 

Beautiful Oak Knot-horn, Acrobasis repandana  (above) was a NFY. Compare to one of the Tufted Oak Knot, -horn, Acrobasis tumidana caught during the heatwave below

Vestal- not many of these this year. Others on the migrant front included 8 Small Mottled Willow, 3 Silver-Y,  2 Rush Veneer and a couple of Rusty-dots. Still a couple of Painted Lady in the garden too.

White Oak Leaf-miner, Phyllonorycter harrisella

The Ducks have got a bigger dabbling pool now- still no eggs

Pottering about

Have spent the last couple of days getting all the week's admin done and pottering around the garden pruning the tomatoes and peppers, weeding, watering and mowing in a path for Holly's airbnb becuase Matt's van has broken down and he hasn't been for several weeks so the garden is overwild at the moment.

Temperatures are holding up to the mid 20s during the day so there's a few butterflies and insects about and there's also been up to three Hummingbird Hawkmoths on the Lavenders and Brambles.  

The moth trap has been steady but down to about 80 species of 150-200 individuals. Up to 8 Small Mottled Willows last night but migration hasn't been anything to shout about. Now on 375 for the year.

A few more pan-species additions HERE. 

Not much exciting happening. Looking forward to a family trip to Scotland in a few weeks time and hoping to get another summer holiday trip in too. 

A poor man's Lesser Spot- juv Great Spot

Adult female and juv Blackbird. This family, a Robin and the garden sparrows are getting braver with the moth raids while I'm processing the trap in the morning. I try and get out to the traps before 5am so the birds don't eat them and then try and transfer them into a holding container ready for release in the evening.  However I'm having increasing incoming from this lot diving into the boxes at my feet as I'm trying to process and if a Hawkmoth makes a go for freedom the sparrows and blackbirds chase them in flight. It's turning into a morning battleground ritual.  

Obsidentify says this is 100% Small Skipper but the left antennae tip looks very dark. Small or Essex, nice to see in the garden. A couple around. 

Quite a few Gatekeepers around too. Also Meadow Browns, Small Whites, Peacock, Painted Lady, Comma and Red Admiral around. Seems like our habitats are working okay especially with the 3 Hummingbird Hawkmoths darting around too

Female Ghost moth- don't get many of these 

Canary-grass Miner, Elachista maculicerusella. A lifer I think. 

Another smart Roseate Marble

Emergency path for this weekend's visitors. The back garden is almost inaccessible. Matt should be coming next week to get things back under control. 

Mega Nursery

I attempted to do a harbour count today so started off on the rising tide at East Side, then Breach Pool, then I did Mill lane and Ferry and then over to Church Norton for the falling tide. I made it 69 species of nearly 4000 birds HERE. I didn't do Pagham Lagoon, the Spit, Halseys or the beach so quite a few more birds around than this estimate. However this is a significant increase in the last estimates of individual numbers because I met Gail from the RSPB who confirmed the latest official number of breeding gulls and terns in the colony which is about 65% higher than I estimated from the limited viewing from the benches. There are an incredible 700 pairs of Sandwich Tern, 800 pairs of Black-headed Gulls and 106 pairs of Mediterranean Gulls (seem a lot less than earlier in the summer) with lots of fledged Sandwich Terns and Black-headed Gulls but I couldn't see any juvenile Med Gulls yet.

What with the Little Grebe chicks and Gadwall young on Mill Lane and all the young birds on Ferrry including over 30 young Avocets, 3 Little Ringed Plover chicks, 2 Oytercatcher chicks and 5 Shelduck chicks there are literally young birds everywhere- its been an incredibly successful breeding season. 

The moth trap was much quieter, as expected, in the more normal weather conditions but still had a few new for years. 

Little Ring chick

Adult Little Ring with chick Avocets that are already much bigger than it

Black-headed Gull - fresh fledgling

Sandwich Terns- plenty of juveniles flying around 

Juvenile Pied Wagtail- a family party on Ferry

Adult Little Tern- the first juveniles have fledged (via Gail) 

Black-tailed Godwits. There were pretty good numbers of non-breeding (some post breeding?) waders in the high tide roosts with 55 Grey Plover, 5 Lapwing, 3 Whimbrel, 35 Curlew, 9 Barwits, at least 40 Blackwits, 35 Redshank, 3 Knot, 9 Turnstone, 3 Dunlin, 1 Ringed Plover and also had my first Common Sandpiper for the autumn

Common Seals- apparantely Selsey means Seal Bay from the old english Sel Sey. Good to know they have persisted into modernity- there are always a few in the harbour. 

Hummingbird Hawkmoth on the garden lavender

Plum Fruit Moth, Grapholita funebrana- attracted to the MOL lure- NFY

Grey Oak Knot-horn, Acrobasis consociella- a NFY. Now on 373 for the garden year.