Of Moths and Men

Well I never.
Well I bloody never..... (more of this later)
I was having a fairly low key, in fact VERY low key month on the local and patch. Birds have been pretty scarce down at the Orchard Centre.
The Kingfisher has been noticable by it's absence and there have been very few new arrivals, although the first Chiffchaff turned up last week. Huzzah!
Some water birds have been returning in good numbers though. At least 10 Moorhen and around 4 or 5 Coots. The Little Grebe put in a brief appearance. Otherwise it's been the usual cast of Mallards, Teal, Mute Swans and a few Lapwing.
And talking of Mallards, what was this one doing on the Barn Owl box?

What the duck?

I did add Treecreeper to the patch list though, taking the number up to 75. Wah-hey!
I went off patch by a couple of miles or so when a couple of Common Cranes turned up at Ashleworth Ham but I dipped 5 times on the Garganey in the same place!

Cranes at Ashleworth

So here's the thing. The "well I never" thing.
In some kind of fit of middle aged, bobble-hatted stupidity I bought myself a moth trap.
Yep, a moth trap.
Not like a killing machine for Lepidoptera. Just a simple light-box thingy to attract our little night butterfly friends.
Well, I thought, why not.
It seemed like a bargain and got a free beard and pair of National Health spectacles to go with it!
Anyway, I've only gone and found myself a rare moth!
Talk about beginner's luck.
Third night out and I've struck Gold. Not that I knew that. I can barely identify even the most common species at the moment, so I just post 'em up on Twitter and wait for the ID's to come to me.
Anyway, I put this rather shakey picture of a fairly unremarkable looking moth up and all of a sudden I'm in the centre of a Twitter storm.
Blimey, Charlie!

Barred Toothed-Striped and Hebrew Character

Now I'm thinking, the fella on the right looks like a fine specimen. Good, bold markings. Nice shape. what a stunner. Not sure about his mate on the left. Looks a bit plain.
Turns out that the Hebrew Character is of little consequence in the mothing world but Mr Barred Tooth-Striped on the left is a bit of a rarity in this neck of the woods.
In fact, it's only the 2nd time it's been seen in Gloucestershire since 1980.
If only I was this lucky with birds!
But that's not the end of it. Two nights later I caught another three! I've only gone and got myself a colony, Rodney!
But Ssssssh! Mum's the word. There are people out there who actually kill and collect rare moths. I don't want to be coming home from work and finding a garden full of homicidal bug collectors running amok.

That said, this could get addictive!

No.74....... and about time!

It's officially spring. I don't care what anyone else says. The sun was shining, the birds were singing.... It's spring. O.K, that wind was a bit chilly but so what?
After coaxing my daughter to come along and take photos for me, we took a quick jaunt along Mill Lane to add Grey Wagtail to my Gloucestershire Year List (96) and then made for the Orchard Centre:
First up was a female Kestrel, quickly followed by a Pied Wagtail. By the time we had got to the hide it was evident that the dull birdless winter days were finally over.
3 Canada Geese sat elegantly in the water opposite the hide. Moorhens and Coots had pretty much disappeared over the winter but I could see at least 2 of the former and 4 of the latter from where I sat today.

Canada Goose

8 Mallards, 12 Teal (alas, none of the Green-Winged variety) and....oh, steady on! A Little Grebe. Where have you been since November chum?
O.K, you're thinking, fairly standard fodder so far. But I was really enjoying this. And the real beauty of it is that we were on our own. This place is special because it is so rarely frequented by the Lens Brigade. What a joy it is to sit here in absolute silence without being jostled by a throng of eager birders, in their sagging khaki britches and camouflage jackets, playing the "My lens is bigger than yours" game.
O.K, got that off my chest. Move on.
A few Common Gulls drifted over:

Common Gull

A Lapwing put on a superb ariel display for us and two Buzzards made good use of the thermals above. I got a photo which wouldn't win any sharpness competions but I love the way the light shines through the tail:

Common Buzzard

A walk along the side of the main pond revealed 8 Snipe and then my daughter spotted a Stonechat flitting along a line of fence posts. Well, this was very exciting, "Get some photos girl!" I shouted and she duly obliged. What a cracking bird and a patch first for me which is very belated I know, but I was well happy to put No.74 on the list.

Stonechat

So, we meandered along the ponds for a while. There were plenty of birds in the hedgerows, including Long-tailed Tits, Great Tits, Blue Tits and numerous Robins and Dunnocks. All this was set off against the mellow and uplifting sound of singing Skylarks.
I can't normally bear to see photographs with myself in but I thought that she captured me perfectly and in my element here!

A study in contentment

How long before the first dragonflies emerge, I wonder?