19th July

Perfect conditions on Saturday night meant it was a record-breaking moth catch in the Magic Garden. We caught a total of 876 moths of 115 species (plus six still to be identified/confirmed with the county recorder). This included 14 new species for the parish including this rather worn Blackneck…

Pebble Hook-tip…

Iron Prominent…

Southern Wainscot (a good record for this area and reflection of placing a trap near the reed bed)…

Note the John McEnroe headband!

And this locally rare micro Rose Tortrix…

Together with the strikingly named Dotted Oak Knot Horn, Summer Rose Bell, Two-coloured Bell, Brown Elm Bell, Spruce Bud, Purple Argent, Poplar Cosmet, Small China Mark and Hawthorn Ermel.   

It’s not been a bad few days for birds either. Chris Knight rang me to say he was listening to a Quail by The New Inn. I dashed round to hear at least one calling from a cornfield by the road.

John and Ann from Langlands then rang to say they had seen a Red Kite on the farm. I dashed down but no sign (although there were seven Curlew and three Oystercatcher here).

Then a couple of days later a villager said he had seen what he thought was a kite near the solar farm. Another fruitless search but as I was looking I got a call from a couple of friends who were watching it circling over Thrintoft! To rub it in even further my wife and son spotted the bird down Back Lane and had excellent views of it circling low over the fields here yesterday.

My only compensation was in looking for the kite I stumbled across a Hobby hunting in the fields to the east of the church. It gave excellent views, at one point even turning over on to its back as it stooped after a Swallow.  

I’ve had to go in for an emergency operation for a torn retina this week so not sure how long until I can use binoculars/camera again so might be a gap to my next blog.