Little Things

 Crambus sp (culmella?)

 Coleophora sp

Crambus lathoniellus

Pine Leaf Mining Moth? 

 Homoeosoma sinuella

 Eudonia pallida (six in the trap yesterday)

 Cydia nigricana (Pea moth) ?

 Scoparia pyralella (left) and Eudonia pallida

 A few of these along parkside. Chrysopilus cristatus (Black Snipe Fly)- thanks Derek

 Cochylis sp. ? (hybridella- thanks again Billy)

Interesting looking Ant?

Plant Bug sp

 Middle-barred Minor

Ghost Moth (a tick for me)

Salsify - some along the stream on Parkside

Finally a warm night last night and relatively busy in the Bugry. 50+ moths of 24 species and some more day-flying ones today. Also lots of tiny rove beetles last night too.

I've had a go at identifying some of the micros- provisional ids.

Quiet on the bird front so a good time to be working on the species inventory. Great Crested Grebes have got four eggs.

Sydenham Hill Wood

 Nuthatches

 View from Cox's Walk looking down the path of the old railway. Good to be reminded how quickly nature regenerates.

 A folly from an Old Victorian garden- now not a folly?

Went to Sydenham Hill Wood (London Wildlife Trust site) with Gillian a few days ago. Bit too windy at the moment. Still waiting for some good prolonged insect weather.

Azores Natural History Trip 2015, Days five and six. The Atlantic Laurel Forest.

AZORES NATURE

 

 The SPA Pico da Vara, Sao Miguel- almost half of the Azores endemics occur in this area.

 Serra de Santa Barbara, Terceira. A cloud forest environment.

 Azores Bullfinch on Sao Miguel.

 'Azores Chaffinch'

 Tree Fern

 Elaphoglossum semicylindricum- an endemic epiphyte of Junipers

 Huperzia dentate- a Macronesian endemic. Found in the cloud forest on Terceira.

 Azorean Angelica

 

 Xanthandrus azorensis- An Azores endemic

 Myathropa florea on Himalayan Knotweed

Thanks to our group and partners for a great trip; Chris, Janet, John, Hilary, Jean, John, Gerby, Dina, Tiago, Rui, Rolando, Valter, Ian and the SPEA team.

 

Spent the last couple of days exploring the Laurisilva (Laurel Forests) on Terceira and Sao Miguel. 

Yesterday was spent in the cloud forest on Terceira and today in the east of Sao Miguel.

Stunning scenery and a magic environment.

 

More here: AZORES NATURE

Azores Natural History Trip 2015, Day four: Whaling

 Fin Whales

 Common Dolphins

 Striped Dolphins

 Sei Whale- classic sickle shaped fin (cheers Justin)

Sei Whale

 

Spent yesterday focusing on looking for whales. We've timed the trip this year to coincide with the rorqual whale migration as they follow the phytoplankton bloom as it moves north bringing the whales into the Azorean waters between April to June. We saw 2 Fin Whales and 2 Sei Whales. Also Common and Striped Dolphin. On the bird front 2 Barolo's, 1 Sooty, 1 Manx and 2000+ Cory's Shearwaters, 100+ Roseate Tern and 20+ Monteiro's Petrel.

Saw the biologists working at Praia islet who reported that the Sooty Terns were present again this year.

Azores Natural History Trip 2015 Days One to Three

 Graciosa, international biosphere reserve- home to the entire world population of Monteiro's Petrel and also host to other important seabird colonies.

 Kentish Plover young at Cabo da Praia, Terciera

 Red-veined Darter

 Cory's Shearwater- 85% of the world's population breed on the Azores

 Monteiro's Petrel- Adult birds this time of year should be in fresh plumage. This bird shows an interrupted trailing edge to the left wing. The pointed secondaries and other wise fresh plumage suggests that this is a displaced feather rather than moult? The possibility of a lingering cool season breeding individual and first-summer birds showing interesting moult patterns should be considered. We had 60+ 'Band-rumped Petrels' yesterday in and around the Bank of Fortune

 Monteiro's Petrel- a more typical fresh plumaged individual

 Barolo's Shearwater- an almost flightless individual in heavy moult. The bases to the coverts can be seen and the white auxillaries are exposed due to the missing secondaries.

 Barolo's Shearwater- showing the extensive/heavy moult. Birds breed in the late winter so presumably this is  a post/non- breeding individual. This species is generally very skittish and unapproachable but with similarly approachable birds seen off Sao Miguel last week it's possible that this time of year the birds have a moult strategy that reduces their ability to fly?

 Striped Dolphins- also Common and Bottlenose Dolphin yesterday

 Ocean Sunfish- the heaviest bony fish in the world. Can weigh up to 2,300 kg.

 Common Tern- in mid-ocean on a bit of drift material

Portuguese Man of War- lots of these drifting on the Bank of Fortune today. Not actually one organism but a collection of four. The stinging tenticles can reach up to 10m.

 

A few images from the first half of the 2015 Azores Natural History Tour.