Garden Update

 Friday September 10

Missing good birds which would be lifers is still painful. I accept it - I have to - but the sense of loss remains. This time, Norfolk's second Sykes Warbler at Halfway House, Blakeney Point. A one day bird. Walking three miles on loose shingle, there and back, would have been a chore ten years ago. Now, an impossibility.

The same goes for a lovely Camberwell Beauty butterfly at Burnham, another long walk. I raised three of these butterflies from cocoons a few years ago, thinking that it was my only chance of seeing one. It probably was.

There has been a larger number than before of Clifden Nonpareil and various Red Underwings in North Norfolk. Several delighted members of our moth group have trapped their first ever Clifdens. A real Waw moth, heart-stopping when viewed in your own garden.  We haven't been lucky so far this year, but yesterday we had a Red Underwing, another large and beautiful species.

 

Autumn moth-ing brings a storm of the bat food favourite, Large Yellow Underwing. Their fat bodies make a good meal. 

 

Even more prolific this year are Setaceous Hebrew Characters.

Neither of them the prettiest of moths, yet a very important part of the pollination and food chain.

Less common and very lovely, is Centre-barred Sallow. and Frosted Orange.

We are now getting mating Craneflies in the trap. Daddy very Longlegs

 

It's usual to see up to 22 species of bird a day in our garden, including five species of Tit, Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Nuthatch, Collared and Stock Doves, Magpie, Carrion Crow and Jackdaw. Mid morning. the young Buzzards, fledged from the nest in the woods at the bottom of the garden, rise on the thermals, calling for food from their parents. The second brood of House Martins never stop their food chatter from the eaves nest, huddled in the opening, looking for their parents' return. Who said that the countryside was quiet? Pam heard a Chiffchaff early in the week and a Tawny Owl last night. I must spend more time outdoors.

The car's in for a service and its MOT to-day so we are stuck at home.Adrian is mowing the lawn, the sun is out and I'm about to do some cooking for the freezer.