Gwdihw 2011: Bank Holiday?

Moth Quiz 16
A well-kept lawn should look like this
Garden or Green Carpet

Moth Quiz 17
My mother is not allowed to do my homework
Do not copy essays from the internet
I must not interfere with the boys in class

Monday May 25

Moth traps often contain other living creatures, apart from moths. We've had a Blue Tit and a Great Tit and a Wren in ours at varying times. The most frequently found intruders are members of the beetle family. At the moment this is what is commonly known as the May Bug or Cockchafer.

Cockchafers, Melolontha melolontha, are relatively large beetles belonging to the scarab family. Adults are 2.5-3cm long and are common in the south of England and the Midlands. The name cockchafer means 'big beetle' in Old English.

Although one of their common names is the May bug, if climate conditions are right, adult cockchafer beetles are often seen flying in April.

Adult cockchafers only live for about 5 or 6 weeks. During that time, they look for a mate and fly into the treetops to feed on leaves. They fly at dusk on warm evenings, making a noisy hum, and are attracted to light.

Cockchafers spend most of their lives (three to four years) underground as larvae, or grubs. The grubs are white and C-shaped with six legs and reddish-brown heads.

They can be larger than the adults, growing to up to 4cm and are a food source for owls and bats.

Grubs eat the roots of a variety of plants and in large numbers can become pests damaging pastures and crops.

I'm not usually at all squeamish where wildlife is concerned. I will admit that I do not like handling Cockchafers. Even when held by the carapace, they manage to get their thorny legs to cling on to flesh, and hang on when I try to throw them onto the lawn. Not an unkindness, they fly readily. We have gained an audience during the last few days of moth trap opening. One of our male Blackbirds appears, picks up a Cockchafer, throws it onto the patio a few times and then eats the contents. That's never happened in the past, I didn't know that the birds accepted them as breakfast. When I think about it, it makes sense but it offends my Buddhist sympathies to provide the opportunity. Even though I don't like them!

Maybe Buckenham would be a feasible option on Bank Holiday Monday. We arrived fairly early without a car or human in sight, seeing a Mistle Thrush on the approach road. Without traffic, parking was possible wherever we chose. A singing Sedge Warbler led me a merry dance as its song perch was at the back of the Bramble bush and hidden by thin branches. I managed one of those Christmas quiz 'what's this bird' photos before incoming cars forced us to move. A total of six cars arrived, everyone walking off towards the old mill the recommended distance apart.
I tried to see the Peregrine nest on Cantley beet factory or a flying bird, without success. The webcam is not as well sited as the Cromer church Peregrine nest cam, which is excellent, the best I've viewed.
Three Marsh Harriers, Avocets, Lapwing, Kestrel, Cormorants, three feral Barnacle Geese, Canadas, and Greylag, Gadwall. Shoveller, Shelduck, and Lapwing graced the marsh and pools. Just the one Chinese Water Deer in view. Skylarks serenaded the morning, Swifts hurtled the sky, giving Pam a good practice in flight photography. A thoroughly enjoyable way to spend the morning.
We are still trapping new moth species for the year. A Lockdown decision was to photograph as many moth species as possible this year - as well as birds, insects, flowers, and mammals. At the last count, I had over a hundred species of macro moths, I haven't counted the micros as some are still waiting for identification

This macro is a micro-sized - 10-13mm - Chinese Character. I think that it looks like a seal's head in profile. It appears as a bird dropping look-alike in a booklet with the same title.