RBF, Heralds a new benchmark

Hard graft all round is the motto of the month, unfortunately for me this has meant spending a lot of the past two weeks gainfully employed in a new computer system project at work with little time for birding or other natural history pursuits. Nonetheless I have managed a few hours in the field and indeed a whole day at Dungeness on the 10th just prior to the work storm.

Highlight of the period has to be the adult male Red-breasted Flycatcher at Beachy Head from the 22nd which is still present at the time of posting. Its certainly the first adult male I can remember in the county and necessitated a brief absence from the work project on the 22nd and another drop in pre-work when the clocks went back on Sunday the 26th.

Unfortunately visits to the levels have been few and far between since my sojourn for WEBS on the 12th. The afore-mentioned day at Dunge was relatively productive with the highlights comprising Cattle Egret, Glossy Ibis, and Great White Egret (although the latter is now resident here), and a supporting cast of Ring Ouzel, Ruff, Bearded Tit, and Kingfisher. Also of note at Dungeness was the Clouded Yellow pictured above. Butterflies still on the wing included Peacock and 2 Speckled Wood on my lunchtime walk in St Leonards today (27th).

On the moth front things have also reduced to a trickle, which is to be expected, however the late autumn makes up for what it lacks in quantity with the quality of the species which turn up which include some real stunners. One of my favorites is the Herald pictured left, which adorns the spine of Waring, so it was rather apt that this species should be the one which took my macro list for the garden to 187 for the year - a new PB - on the night of the 26th. Also trapped last night was Yellow-line Quaker, which stretched my PB even further. Realistically the dizzy heights of 190 are now in reach with a few species still possible and a promising forecast for tomorrow night! Other new macros for the year since last posting have been Chestnut on the night of the 22nd and Red-green Carpet on the night of the 19th. Micro's have been even fewer in number and apart from a few Light-brown Apple moths and the odd Common Plume have been limited to a Rusty Dot Pearl last night and an as yet unidentified tortrix. With the clocks going back this weekend I am anticipating finally identifying some of the by-trap that I have photographed through the summer along with some of the micro's that defeated me on first inspection. This should all help me on my pan listing quest for the garden of which more in due course... 

Prize of the day...

...is the literal translation of Merveille du jour, one of which was hiding within the moth trap this morning (17th) and is, in my humble opinion, the most handsome moth on the UK list.
The past week has seen the best of the late emergers with Barred Sallow (7th), Red-line Quaker (7th and 15th), Black Rustic (13th), Large Wainscot (13th), Sallow (13th), Green-brindled Crescent (13th and 15th), and Feathered Ranunculus (13th) all putting in appearrances and brightening up a pretty indifferent week weatherwise.

Birding locally at this time of year rarely hits the high notes found in the far north, east, and west. Local highlight was without doubt the 1st year Tawny Pipit which was present at Newhaven Tidemills until the 11th when I finally got round to paying a visit.

Away from the levels a Firecrest at Birling on the evening of the 10th was the best I could drum up while the 12ths WEBS count on Down Level produced two Marsh Harrier, jill Merlin, Kingfisher, 25 Snipe, 7 Wigeon, & 4 Teal.

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.

The Indian summer rolls on

...and on with glorious sunshine and high pressure and the occassional unseasonal moth in the garden moth trap. Birding has been restricted to the levels over the period since my last posting apart from a couple of brief evening forays to Beachy. The best bird day recently was the 14th which produced my first jill Merlin of the autumn on Down Level with the same or another on Horse-eye on the 20th. The 14th was also notable for smaller passage birds with Spotted Flycatchers by Horse-eye farm and near Downash, and Garden Warbler, 3 Lesser Whitethroats, Whitethroats, and Chiffchaffs along Downash road. The 2 Marsh Harrier were ever present along with Raven, Snipe, and Little Egret, and Reed and Sedge Warblers continue to pass through/ remain present in small numbers. Meadow Pipits are on the increase with several flocks of double figures scattered across the levels on the 20th and 21st and regular individuals flying over the garden and a Kingfisher was watched fishing along White Dyke on the 20th.
Mothing at this time of year drops off in number terms but also has some bonuses in the form of some quite striking species which are late emergers. One of the best of these has to be the Pink-barred Sallow and one of these graced my trap on the night of the 23rd along with a new species for the garden in the form of Lesser Treble-bar which is pictured below. The Frosted Orange is another late emerger and the individual pictured left was trapped on the night of the 19th. Other noteworthies for the garden included Lime-speck Pug on the 12th, Small Blood-vein and Old Lady on the 14th, Ruby Tiger 17th, Spectacle 17th & 19th, Oak Hook Tip 17th & 19th, L-album Wainscots 21st (2) & 23rd (2), and Rosy Rustic on the 23rd.


Along with the moths, insects in general are becoming fewer in number with dragons reduced to Migrant Hawkers (20+), Common Darter (10+), Brown Hawker (1), and Azure damselfly (3), on the 21st. On the same day butterflies comprised Speckled Wood (4), Small Heath (1), Small Tortoiseshell (1), and Small Copper (2) all along White Dyke. All this in spite of the warm sunny conditions which have prevailed for the last few weeks. The only other butterfly species noted were Red Admiral on the 14th (pictured top), Small White, and Large White.
Hares continue to be seen on a regular basis including one which lolloped along White Dyke to within a few feet of me on the morning of the 20th. I need to put in more effort to getting a decent photo as I am never ready for them when the opportunity arises and by the time I am they are invariably a field away and travelling!

The day Wiggo came to town and the perils of open-toed sandals for the amateur naturalist

The most exciting thing that has happened this week was today's Tour of Britain stage passing the end of the road as pictured above.
The second most exciting thing that happened this week was learning that open-toed sandals and looking in long grass don't mix when I was stung by a Buff-tailed Bumblebee spp on the big toe at Horseshoe plantation.
High pressure, cracking weather, and full moons in autumn do not tend to equate to excitement although they make for a very pleasant break from the tediousness of work. The best of a quiet week on the levels were 5 Hobby on the 11th and 2 Marsh Harrier on the 12th. Migrant Hawkers still very much in evidence although the garden moth trap has been dross. Highlight of the week was an overnighter at Stoneyford and subsequent mooch around Topsham which produced a couple of Curlew Sands, Little Stint, 2 Ruff, Knot, and an Osprey on the 8th.
Come on Wiggo!

The shape of things to come

The absolute indicator that Autumn is here is the appearance of Lunar Underwing in the garden moth trap as occurred for the first time this year on the night of the 3rd with the individual pictured on the left. Whilst many more can be expected this autumn, since they are usually one of the moths I record in 3 figures annually, they appear in such a variety from dark through to ginger or very pale that they are always pleasant to see as well as obvious - a bit like Robins. The only other newbie for the year came in the shape of 2 White-points on the night of the 1st. Numbers for the past week have been good with, as predicted in my last post, Large Yellow Underwing usurping Dark Arches as the commonest moth trapped in my garden this year with a total of 209 for the 4 nights trapped (30/8, 1/9, 3/9, 5/9) taking it to a total (so far) of 449 against Dark Arches 421. The only other moth of any note was a Hummingbird Hawkmoth at Beachy Head on the 6th. Totals for the year as follow 2483 macro's of 168 species and 922 micro's of 72 species.

The main focus at this time of year though has to be birds and things have picked up a bit over the last week. Waders have included Ruff on Down Level on the 5th and 6th, Green Sandpiper on Down Level from the 1st, and a Snipe count of 12 on Down Level on the 3rd. Other bird higlights included 2 Whinchat and 2 Wheatear on the 31/8, 30 Teal on 3/9, and the first Wigeon of the autumn on 4/9. Over 200 House Martin and Swallow were at Rickney on the 5/9 and Raven, Buzzard, Little Egret, Cetti's, and Hobby also put in regular appearrances. Elsewhere a major influx of Wryneck has occurred nationally and included 3 at Beachy Head. I saw one of these enigmatic birds late on the afternoon of the 6th at Chat Vale though, when alerting other birders present, the "frontiers of fieldcraft" demonstrated were beyond belief...

 
On the mammalian front the highlights of the week were 2 fold with a Weasel watched hunting on a roadside verge on New Bridge Road on the evening of 4th and 2 Brown Hares walked up on Down Level on the 7th while looking for Snipe during my WEBS count. The last named never fail to fascinate me and both burst from the cover of their forms when I was virtually on top of them. The form pictured on the left was taken from the point at which the Hare left it and has not been zoomed in on, just as well I was looking for Snipe and expecting things to burst out of cover at close hand or it could have got messy!

First whiff of Autumn

The other morning as I was clearing the moth trap that unmistakeable cool odour was in the air that accompanies autumn mornings. So we are heading into the closing period for our summer visitors, and the past week or so seems to confirm this with the regulars on the move, although at least one pair of Swallow are still feeding nearly fledged young at Rickney. Two hundred or so Sand Martin were on Down Level on the 22nd, and a smattering were tied up with the several hundred Swallow and single House Martin on Horse-eye today (30th). Also today were two Marsh Harrier, the regular adult female and a striking juvenile, over Horse-eye, Down, and Manxey Levels, and a flock of 5 Redshank over Down Level. On the 23rd 5 Wheatear were on Down with another couple near Chilley farm. The general summation though is that when it comes to birding on the levels late summer and early autumn are hard work with not a lot of return, generally speaking, for the effort put in!

The effort put in trawling for birds contrasts nicely with the garden moth trap which requires just a flick of the switch before turning in, and a quick sift through the Large Yellow Underwings in the morning. I will not be taking any bets on Large Yellow taking the crown for commonest macro in the garden by the end of the autumn, although it still has a couple of hundred or so to go to catch Dark Arches on 421. Late August, while still providing quantity, tends not to produce much new for the year with second generation emergences of residents tending to produce the variation from the regulars. Accordingly the only newbies for the year to report are Old Lady, Maidens Blush, Small Square-spot, and Scorched Carpet on the night of the 26th.
Other bits and pieces of note include Grass Snake - Hankham (23rd), Red Fox - White Dyke (30th), Harlequin Ladybirds - Hankham (23rd), and Anomoia purmunda or Hawthorn Fruit fly - Hailsham (29th). The last two named I report for differing reasons, Harlequin Ladybirds are very common locally but I was unaware that they laid eggs on aquatic vegetation as was evidenced by a number of larvae on Hankham Level which were on reeds in water, and the Hawthorn Fruit Fly is just a very striking (though tiny) insect!