At last some moths. The milder weather tempted me to put the trap out on Friday night only to notice that the wind had blown the vanes over a couple of hours later. I put it away and tried again last night. There were some heavy showers but this morning there was a Chestnut and a December Moth in the trap. The latter was only my 4th record and the first for 2 years.

December Moth

Still no moths to report. However, I had a birding trip to Dunge today. En route I noticed about 30 Waxwings in the top of a tree at Johnson's Corner near Ham Street. At Dunge we managed at the 2nd attempt to see the Black-throated Diver on the New Diggings, where there was  also one of the Great White Egrets. On Burrowes there was a drake Smew, my first Smew of this winter, a female Goosander and 4 Ruddy Ducks, both year ticks for me. There was also a very tame Fox feeding under the bird feeders on the reserve. After lunch we headed over to Walland Marsh where we saw aournd 40 Bewick's Swans, the adult male Hen Harrier, Peregrine, Sparrowhawk, and Fieldfares everywhere.

 Mr Fox

  

A fine morning and with reports of Waxwings arriving in Kent in reasonable numbers, I thought I might have a look for some reported near Yorkletts, the closest to where I live. After a couple of laps of the area I found the flock of about 40 birds. They were flighty but returned to the road behind Young's Lorry Park late morning. There were also good numbers of Fieldfares & Redwings in the general area.

Wawings

Still no moths. Another visit to Dungenes in fine weather today made a change. However, we struggled to find much new. We saw 3 Great White Egrets and the Glaucous Gull on the reserve. There were good numbers of Tree Sparrows around the ARC car park and Boulderwall Farm. In the afternoon we tried for the Slavonian Grebe at Scotney and the Bewick's Swans on Walland Marsh but failed with both. On the way home I took a wrong turning while trying to get back to Lydd and stumbled across 3 birders who were looking at the male Hen Harrier on the ground. It was fairly distant but soon flew giving a good view in the late afternoon sunshine

 Tree Sparrow

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I've been having some computer problems so a late post from last week. No moths to report but spent Friday at Dunge. In addition to Great White Egret and Water Rail on the reserve, we saw both Red-throated and Black-throated Divers at the patch. The highlight, however, was the female Scaup at Scotney which was a year tick for me.

 Feral Barnacle & Snow Geese at Scotney

 

Nothing in the moth trap lately. Yesterday lunchtime I went down to Hampton Pier, Herne Bay where there were 3 Purple Sandpipers with the Redshanks at the small high tide roost. The sun came out and I did get some pictures of them. Today I went to Dungeness where a very dull, foggy & chilly scene didn't bode well. However, we did pretty well in the circumstances. After failing with the Pallas's Warbler in the morning we saw 1 Great White Egret on the RSPB Reserve and then flogged around the North Pit at Lade where we found the Long-tailed Duck near the "Listening Ears". After lunch we finally had good but brief views of the Pallas's Warbler in the Old Lighthouse Garden, before ticking off the Glaucous Gull and Yellow-legged Gull on the list for the day. Finally 7 White-fronted Geese flew past the car park at the ARC pit.

 Pallas's Warbler

 Purple Sandpiper

 Glaucous Gull

Nothing this morning, but yesterday I had the second Feathered Thorn of the Autumn, Monopis obviella & 3 LBAMs. Photo from earlier.

Monopis obviella

Just 1 moth this morning: The Herald. This record is actually the latest I've had by about 3 months. However, as a hibernator, I suppose it's not that surprising. Photograph is of one earlier this year.

The Herald

For the last two days I've had a solitary November Moth (agg.) in the trap. This morning there was 1 there again, However, on the ivy next to the trap was a Mottled Umber covered in frost. This was only my 2nd garden record and the first for 4 years. Once it had thawed out it was still very much alive and it took some time to get to pose properly. Results below:

Mottled Umber

 November Moth

At last some moths. Yesterday a Light Brown Apple Moth was the 1st moth in November, and this morning, after a milder night, there were 2 new ones for year: a worn Yellow-line Quaker and Feathered Thorn.

Feathered Thorn

Yellow-line Quaker

Still no moths. Last year I recorded 16 species of moth in November. This year I've had none so far. Yesterday I did pay an afternoon visit to the Oare Marshes Reserve and found a Barn Owl hunting over some paddocks next to the reserve. It was slightly further away than ideal and a bit too much into the sun but the light was good for photography.

Barn Owl

No moths to report. However, I had a day at Dunge yesterday dodging the heavy showers. We were rather more succesful than usual with good views of the Yellow-legged Gull and Glaucous Gull near the Fishing Boats, with 3 Red-throated Divers passed on the sea, a Bittern in flight on the ARC pit, and 3 Great White Egrets around the RSPB Reserve. Nearby, on Walland Marsh, the 2 Whooper Swans were also present. These were the first I've seen in Kent since January 2005!

 Whooper Swan

 Yellow-legged Gull

 Glaucous Gull

At last 2 Moths this morning: LBAM & The Mallow.

 The Mallow

No moths but I finally manged to get down to Reculver this morning. The sun was shining and 2 Snow Buntings and a Shorelark showed well.

 Shorelark

 Snow Bunting

Very few moths in the last week. A Green-brindled Crescent was about the most notable. Spent a dull windy day at Dungeness on Thursday. Three Great White Egrets sitting together was a first for me. The light could have been better!

Great White Egrets

Wednesday morning, after a wet & windy night, just 2 Lesser Yellow Underwings, 1 Blair's Shoulder-knot & 1 late Setaceous Hebrew Character. This morning after another very wet but much milder night 4 moths: 1 LTU, 2 Common Marbled Carpets & new for the year 1 Acleris sparsana. This last species brings the micro total for the year to 97 and is my best year ever for micros.

A milder night with a min. of 9.5c. Just 4 moths this morning but Green-brindled Crescent was new for the year.

Green-brindled Crescent

Only 2 moths yesterday morning after a cold night (2.5c): Turnip + L-Album Wainscot; and just 3 this morning after another cold night (3c): LBAM, Turnip & Common Marbled Carpet. Went down to Seasalter this morning after a pager message indicated the Red-breasted Goose was showing well, and it was.

 Red-breasted Goose & Brent Goose

 Red-breasted Goose

A low of 6.5c last night produced 10 moths of 7 species. New for the year was Red-line Quaker and there was also the first Chestnut of the Autumn & my latest ever Square-spot Rustic. 

The Chestnut

 Red-line Quaker

Yesterday, following a cold night (5c), only 4 moths of 3 species: LBAM, Flounced Rustic & Lunar Underwing x2. This morning after a much milder night (10c) there were 8 moths of 7 species including 3 new macros for the year: Blair's Shoulder-knot, Red-green Carpet & a rather late Lesser Treble-bar. Also LBAM, Lunar Underwing, L-album Wainscot & Lesser Yellow Underwing x2.

Red-green Carpet

 Blair's Shoulder-knot

Lesser Treble-bar

  

Just 2 moths yesterday: Silver Y & Lunar Underwing and 2 today: Feathered Ranunculus & Flounced Rustic. I called in twice at Stodmarsh today and on the second managed to photographed the Kingfisher that has been attracting a lot of attention recently.

Kingfisher

A low of 9c resulted in 10 moths of 7 species this morning. New for the year was the first November Moth  of the Autumn. I never seem to get well-marked individuals of this group so put them all down as November Moths agg. Now we've passed the end of September it's again interesting to compare with last year. Micros are doing just as well with 96 species by the end of Sept. this year compared to 95 at the same stage last year. Again it's the Macros that are 13% down with only 149 this year compared to 172 last year. So the November Moth was the 150th Macro of this year.

Having been away for a week I ran the trap last night but a low of 4c meant only 2 moths this morning:
1 LYU  & 1 Feathered Ranunculus. Last week in Suffolk I did photograph a Muntjac Deer at Minsmere. I don't think I've seen one before.

Reeves Muntjac

Another wet night and a low of 8c. I was pleased to find 5 moths this morning: 1 LBAM, 1 Lesser Yellow Underwing, 1 Lunar Underwing & 2 Feathered Ranunculus.

After not trapping for 2 nights due to the weather I decided to risk it last night. However heavy thundery rain late yesterday evening meant only 5 moths this morning: 2 LBAM, 1 Flounced Rustic, 1 Turnip and, new for the year, a Lunar Underwing.  

Lunar Underwing

Not much of interest the last 2 nights. A low of 7c both nights meant 18 moths of 9 species yesterday and 10 moths of 8 species this morning. The 2nd Feathered Ranunculus of the year this morning was the only one of interest. I've not had had a Lunar Underwing yet, which is unusual.

I didn't trap on Tuesday night. Wednesday night was quite cold, down to 8c and there were only 3 moths in the trap: 2 Square-spot Rustics & a Pale Mottled Willow. This morning was better after a fairly cold night (9.5c) with 13 moths of 10 species. New for the year was Feathered Ranunculus. Another Centre-barred Sallow also provided a bit of autumn colour.

 Feathered Ranunculus

   

With a shower overnight and a low of 11c there were only 21 moths this morning of 11 species. Nothing new for the year. A 2nd autumn L-Album Wainscot was the only one of interest.

L-Album Wainscot

Yesterday morning there were 34 moths of 11 species-nothing new for the year. This morning just 26 moths (13 Large Yellow Underwings) of 10 species. A 3rd Centre-barred Sallow for the year and the 2nd Garden Rose Tortrix were the only ones of interest.

Centre-barred Sallow

 Garden Rose Tortrix

Just 32 moths of 13 species this morning. Flounced Rustics down to only 2. New for the year was the Wax Moth.

Wax Moth

No Red Underwings this morning but there were 34 moths of 15 species. New for the year were a rather worn Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, my 1st for 3 years, and Garden Rose Tortrix. Also of interest was the 2nd Centre-barred Sallow and 2 Light Emeralds.  

Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing

 Garden Rose Tortrix

With rain overnight and a low of 8.5c I wasn't expecting too much this morning and there were 28 moths of 13 species with Large Yellow Underwings and Flounced Rustics accounting for 15 of the 28. However, I was very pleased to get my 1st ever Red Underwing after nearly 13 years of trapping in this garden. I know they're fairly common but not in my garden! I've just got to Photoshop the plastic box out of the picture. The L-Album Wainscot was also new for the year. I then had a good day at Dungeness today with good views of the Pectoral Sandpiper & my 1st ever Great Crested Newt.

Red Underwing

 Red Underwing

Pectoral Sandpiper

 L-Album Wainscot

The temperature plunged to 7c last night so fewer moths this morning with just 24 of 10 species. Nothing new this morning and no micros at all.

Autumn has definitely arrived the 1st Sallow of the year. For the 1st time for some while Flounced Rustics (17) were not the most numerous species with Large Yellow Underwing (18) taking that spot. Overall there were 61 moths of 16 species.

The Sallow

Not much to report from yesterday morning: 35 moths (17 Flounced Rustics) of 12 species. Slightly better this morning with 48 moths (18 Flounced Rustics) of 16 species. New for the year was Centre-barred Sallow. Also 2nd Cochylis molliculana of the year.

Centre-barred Sallow

A low of 10c last night. there 56 moths (20 Flounced Rustics) of 22 species this morning. Not a bad list but nothing new. I was surprised that the Common Marbled Carpet was only the 3rd of the year. Had a quiet day at Dungeness yesterday so phpotgraphed some Grasshoppers, a group I've found difficult to get to grips with. I'm fairly sure the 2 below are identified correctly.

Lesser Marsh Grasshopper

Field Grasshopper