Sunday 20 September 2020

20th September

One excellent bird sighting this week, a Marsh Harrier which flew relatively low over our garden. I was on a zoom call with work when I saw it and should have muted it before I swore! I managed to run out and watch it fly away south west. This is only the second record for Ainderby with the last found by an army officer visiting the village in 1943!

Probably contemporary with that sighting (and another garden 'tick') was this Hurricane yesterday evening...

Other sightings this week included a covey of 14 Grey Partridge, two Little Egrets. Grey Wagtail and two Kingfisher by the river. Swallows and House Martins were still present in good numbers as were Chiffchaffs, including up to six singing birds around the village (I’m still not clear why birds sing on migration?). On Thursday there were also two Blackcap down Station Lane, one of them doing its quiet ‘sub-song’. Chris had two flocks of Siskin by Warbler Corner yesterday.

Apart from the multiple sightings of Broad-bodied Chaser it has been a rather poor year for dragonflies and I only saw my first Migrant Hawker today. Otherwise it has been only Southern Hawkers…


and Common Darters providing the sightings...


On the plant front, pick of the finds was this Skullcap, one of my favourite plants. I thought we had lost it from the village but I re-found a small remnant patch in the Magic Garden…



Sunday 13 September 2020

13th September

Our garden was the best place for birds this week with warblers present most days, these included up to four Chiffchaffs at a time (including one singing) and a female Blackcap. Today there were two late Swifts over the garden with a mixed flock of around 80 hirundines, a Grey Wagtail fly over and best of all superb views of a Hobby low over our heads as we celebrated my mother in law’s birthday!

I tried my first ‘solo’ moth trapping on Friday night in Jim and Sue’s garden. In the end it was a relatively cold and windy night but still managed 73 moths of 15 species. These included two new species for the parish, Autumnal  Rustic…


And Lunar Underwing…

As well as these smart Beaded Chestnuts


And Angle Shades...

Another new species, botanical this time, was Common Toadflax which I found down Waterworks Lane. Not a rare plant but still good to find and along a lane I have walked literally hundreds of times.


I'll finish with a picture of the Magic Garden looking...magical



Sunday 6 September 2020

6th September

I finally managed to top my 100 bird species for the year this week with a Common Sandpiper along the river. I then added a surprise 101st with at least two Spotted Flycatchers near Warbler Corner found by Chris

After failing to nest this year I thought my chances of ticking off this species were very slim. Chris also found another(?) male Redstart here. I only had fairly brief views but Chris managed this lovely photo…

Other signs of autumn this week were the early return of Meadow Pipits, a good fortnight earlier than usual and probably symptomatic of the distinctly chill air. Another local feature of the turning of the seasons is the movement of Greylag geese. Although there is a large resident feral population in the area there are always (local?) movements of Greylags at this time of year…

Other bird sightings included five Little Egrets on the river, Kingfishers at Warbler Corner and in the Magic Garden and my first Goosander since early Summer…

After the incredible numbers of 2019 I spotted my only Painted Lady of the year this week…

On the same day along about a quarter of a mile of sheep-grazed river bank Frank and I tallied up 94 Small Tortoiseshell and 51 Silver-Y moths.

The other butterfly sighting  of note was my second Brown Argus of the year, a female near the railway line…

And I also added a new village moth species, a Nettle Tap (seen here on Hemp Agrimony)…