Had just 7 moths in the trap over the last 3 days but there was 1 interesting record: my 3rd record of a Buttoned Snout.

Buttoned Snout

Moth numbers still low but, over the last few days, I've had the first Green Carpet, Flame Shoulder, Cabbage Moth, Common Swift, and Pale Tussock of the year.

Pale Tussock

 Green Carpet

Made a trip to Dunge today. With heavy rain forecast this was more in hope than expectation. At the ARC Pit I saw a Great White Egret in flight and a Hobby flashed past. We thought we'd try the patch before the deluge but as we got out of the car it was starting to rain a bit and I made the bad decision to leave the camera behind. We sheltered on the right of the first hide and scanned the patch. We saw a couple of Arctic Terns among the Common before my eagle-eyed companion managed to pick out a Roseate Tern, which then proceeded to fly towards us along the shore edge right past the hide. I ran for the camera and managed a record shot after chasing it along the shingle. I was reflecting on the pictures that might have been, when the message came of 2 White-winged Black Terns on Burrows Pit. We hurried to the reserve where we had good but fairly distant views of these stunning birds in pouring rain, which sent us home earlier than usual.

Roseate Tern

 White-winged Black Tern

Despite a cold night, the moth trap held 9 different macro species this morning. New for the year were Treble Lines, Pale Mottled Willow, The Spectacle and Least Black Arches. The latter was only my second ever record and the first since 2001. Made a visit to Stodmarsh today where 20+ Hobbies were on view.

Hobby

 Least Black Arches

Since returning from Cornwall the moth trap numbers have continued low. New for the year have been: Pebble Hook-tip, Brimstone, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Spruce Carpet and Lesser Swallow Prominent. I also had the first Cockchafer in the trap this morning so maybe normal service is about to resume. On Sunday I visited Bonsai Bank in Denge Wood where the Duke of Burgundy Butterflies were showing well, along with a Green Hairstreak.

Duke of Burgundy

 Duke of Burgundy

My recent visit to Cornwall did produce a few bird sightings. The bird of the trip was the Ring-billed Gull on the RSPB Hayle Estuary Reserve. I noticed that in the Collins Bird Guide it mentions that this species likes to walk about a lot, which was true of this one, which started off on the far side of the pool and within about 10 minutes had conveniently walked right in front of the hide. Botallack seems to be good for Cornish Choughs with about 8 seen on one day and 3 on the next. You can also see the "Poldark " mine there too and a stream of Manx Shearwaters passing by.

Ring-billed Gull

 Stonechat

We've reached the end of another month and the garden moth trap continues to disappoint with only 16 species recorded so far this year, which compares to 34 by this time last year. I've just returned from a week in Cornwall where I ran the trap on a few nights in the garden of a cottage near Praze-an-Beeble. Here I was successful on the first night with 2 Shoulder Stripes, a species I don't get in the garden and was therefore new for me. Later in the week there was a Water Carpet, only the 2nd one I've trapped, with the previous also being in Cornwall. However, the mothing highlight of the week was using a pheromone lure on a gorse covered headland near Godrevy Lighthouse where I saw a total of around 10 Emperor Moths, which I'd never seen before.

Emperor Moth

 Shoulder Stripe

 Water Carpet