Four-spotted Footman... ...ahead of the apocalypse?

The prolonged blocking weather pattern continues to produce temperatures into the low twenties and the glorious sunshine that was with us throughout September but all that is set to come to an end, Huzzah! Some proper autumn weather (and hopefully birds) is on the way this week with rain and low pressure forecast from the west. I guess that means the shorts will have to be put into cold storage for the winter and last nights catch of just 3 macro's suggest the moth trap will not have too much work to do either. Still there have been a few notable catches since my last posting including new for the year Spruce Carpet on the night of the 29th September, Cypress Carpet on 1st October, and Black Rustic on 4th October. These were all bested though by my first Four-spotted Footman for the garden on the night of the 2nd. The lack of spots on this individual identified it as a male and it was a pleasant surprise given that I broke with my usual rule of not running on consecutive nights due to the inclement forecasts that are imminent.

Dragons remain limited to double figures of Migrant Hawkers and Common Darter around White Dyke and the ditches on Down and Horse-eye on the very warm afternoon of the 3rd when the male Migrant Hawker pictured right was photographed. Similarly while still visible in numbers, butterfly species were restricted to Peacock, Red Admiral, and Small White on the same afternoon while further afield a couple of Clouded Yellow were seen at Birling Gap on the morning of the 5th.
The highlight of the week on the mammal front was a Grey Seal off Birling Gap on the morning of the 5th.
Birding has been quiet too, since we are not blessed to be in the northern isles and Sussex seems to miss out on the autumn treats generally having to wait until October for a few Yellow-broweds or Pallas's. However the levels remain one of the strongholds in Sussex for Tree Sparrows and there have been a few around White Dyke this week which has been a bonus as I was unable to find any evidence of breeding on the patch this year (hopefully these birds have successfully bred elsewhere). The 27th of September was the busiest day of the period with 100+ Reed Bunting, 50+ Chaffinch, 11 Snipe, 5 Stonechat, 2 Kingfisher, Whinchat, & Wheatear. The 3rd October produced  Whinchat, 4 Wheatear, Marsh Harrier, 2 Buzzard, & 20 Swallows. Elsewhere my first SEO of the autumn was at Birling on the morning of the 5th.