Spring into Summer

Things are very settled on the levels at the moment with little to speak of beside the usual residents and summer visitors. On the butterfly front Small Tortoiseshell are very much in evidence and look to be having a good year with large double figure counts on White Dyke and the "brick arch" track. By contrast Wall Brown has only been seen in single figures so far. On the Dragon front Variable Damselfly also appear to be having a good year. I counted 20 in a brief walk along the "brick arch" track last Sunday (1/6) and they were the single most abundant blue damselfly that I saw both on that day and on the afternoon of the 6th on White Dyke. Hairy Dragonfly and Broad-bodied chaser have also both been seen regularly hawking the ditches and dykes.

On the moth front things are beginning to accelerate as the birds settle down, no more great urgency to look for passage migrants as everything eases into the intensity of breeding. Suffice to say however, that my new found micro interest is a challenge! New micro's for the garden over the past week included Monopis obviella and Cochylis molliculana both of which are pictured. In addition Ephestia unicolorella ssp woodiella, Epinotia bilunana, and Pandermis cerasana (Barred fruit tree tortrix) were also new additions. Macro numbers are also picking up with Snout, Silver-ground Carpet, Dark Arches, Nutmeg, and Currant Pug all new additions for the year on the night of 31/5. The night of 2/6 also added Green Pug, Light Arches, Scalloped Hazel, and Dusky Brocade to the year list.
Birds as previously mentioned are beginning to take a back seat in terms of migrants however on the breeding front it was nice to watch a female Marsh Harrier quartering Down level this evening being persistently mobbed by the resident pair of Redshank.