Good Weather Day

With a southerly wind up from the continent and a front moving north bringing rain and showers today it was the first 'good weather' day of the autumn. I didn't know whether to focus on looking for waders or migrant moths so I did both. I put four moth traps out at the Old Vic and the sound recorder too (to look for nocturnal migrating waders) and then spent the evening at Otmoor.

It was pretty good. On the migrant moth front I had 4 White-points, 3 Rush Veneer, a Silver Y and also some good garden moths including Small Phoenix, Dark Spruce Knot-horn (a lifer) and a possible Dark Smudge (also a lifer if confirmed). 61 species in total. 

Otmoor was pretty good too with 63 species HERE with highlights including 1 Whimbrel, 1 Curlew, 3 Greenshank, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Golden Plover, 20+ Snipe, Lapwings, a Great Egret, 3-4 Cattle Egrets, 2 Cranes, 4 Wheatear, 8 Yellow Wagtail, a Meadow Pipit, 11 Sand Martin, 12 Swallow and Marsh Harrier. 

Still need to go through last night's sound recordings. 

There were waders at Beddington today and also more wader species seen at Otmoor this morning and also on Farmoor. 

Great Egret and Little Egrets 

Curlew 

Golden Plover (the first of many, within a few months there will be thousands here) 

Wheatear

Barn Swallows

Dark Spruce Knot-horn Assara terebrella. A pretty good local moth, the county recorder has only recorded this once in his garden and only a few other times in Bucks. 

Small Phoenix 

Dark Smudge, Ypsolopha horidella ?

A nicely marked Shaded Broad Bar

Mouse moth- don't get many in the garden 

Straw Conch, Cochylimorpha straminea

We had the actinic heath trap in the walled garden, the LED trap by the Tobacco plants, the large actinic in the mini-farm and the main MV in the lawn. Worked pretty well with a few migrants as hoped.