Birds and Moths, What's New?

Moth Quiz 20
Macbeth saw a rather dull one.
Grey Dagger


Moth Quiz 21
A very large cousin of the Hyrax

Wednesday, June 3 

Monday's birding day out was less than successful. Too many people and cars and very few birds. A  mystifying and rather sad highlight came at Brancaster Staithe. Pam saw a scurrying beastie on a distant mud island. A Grey Squirrel. I had to look again to make sure that it wasn't a rat. It was very wet, its tail a thin grey rope trailing behind as it made its way across the mud, accompanied by a small group of gulls which kept swooping down at it.  I stopped looking as I couldn't see how it was going to get onto shore, nor escape the gulls. Phew, it did both. Last seen running away - not fast - across the back of the mussel landing area towards the Yacht Club.

Another - and different diversion - added to the too much driving, too few birds day. After visiting North Point pools, we returned to the initial diversion sign and made our way inland. Before we arrived in Warham, another diversion pointed west, away from our route. Pam decided to take the Fakenham road and go home.

Changing her mind, we ended up at Holkham, adding Great White Egret and Spoonbill to the month list. 

Tuesday's 'avoid the carers' outing ended at Salthouse where the road out to the beach had been opened. We'd seen two cars parked there as we came down the hill. 

Sand Martins swooped about but there was little else apart from the pleasure of being able to view the area again. 

One Sandy landed on a roadside wire, before preening actively.

Both Sedge and Reed Warblers sang to us, without showing themselves in a strongish wind. A male Reed Bunting made a brief appearance. 

Our garden has a lot of young birds at the moment.  Mainly Blackbirds. Great and Blue Tits. The most vocal is a pair of young Great Spotted Woodpecker, hanging on to branches whilst demanding attention from their fat-ball feeding parents 

Others have trapped some very good moths in the last day or two. Three of them have been made available for viewing by members of our Silvery Gem WhatsApp group. Two of them would have been 'firsts' for us, Toadflax Brocade and Silver Barred, but I decided that the contact risk wasn't worth it. Very reluctantly, it really goes against the grain. We've seen Marbled Coronet before. Although the rules now state that we can meet up to 6 people in an open space, two metres distance apart, it still seems risky at our age and state of health.

Still trapping at home, Green Silver-lines and Cream-bordered Green Pea new this week. I couldn't resist another photograph of the superb Privet Hawkmoth which showed off all its Raspberry rIpple and chocolate.beauty this morning. 

 Why hasn't Green and Black thought of an icecream in those flavours? I'd buy it.

Late afternoon

Pam was watering in the garden when she found a rather worn moth. She brought it in for me to see and identify, tipping it onto my hand as she thought it was dead. It wasn't dead, the antennae gradually appeared. A male Clouded Buff.

Not new as we saw one at St Helen's  near Lynford a couple of years ago. New for the garden makes it even better.

Butterfly Conservation say :

Favours heathland and moorland but occasionally found on chalk and limestone grassland, and in open woodland areas.

And Ridlington? !!

Distribution

Widely distributed but restricted to small areas in mainland Britain, most frequent in southern England, East Anglia, the Midlands, north-west England and western Scotland.