Swaddywell Children's Day

Pond-dipping, bug-hunting, treasure hunts and herding sheep. The children loved it! And despite the cool, dull conditions we managed to find a few insects: Blue-tailed and Azure Damselflies, which would sit on the childrens' fingers, and the three moths pictured, as well as Pyrausta aurata and The Cinnabar. A Turtle Dove was purring away and a Red Kite over low and then perched in a tree on the reserve was a highlight for many.

Platyptilia gonodactyla (a plume moth)


Aethes tesserana (a tortrix moth)


Crambus lathoniellus (a grass moth)


Nikon CP995

New Garden Moths

A couple of new moths for the garden among a good catch to 125W MV light. The relatively good conditions meant most people had their best night of the year so far - in my case 64 moths of 33 species. Most were year firsts and the two marked **, garden firsts.

0017 Common Swift (Hepialus lupulinus), 2
0779 Bryotropha affinis, 3
0977 Large Fruit-tree Tortrix (Archips podana), 1
1010 Red-barred Tortrix (Ditula angustiorana), 3
1011 Pseudargyrotoza conwagana, 1
1076 Celypha lacunana, 2
1082 Plum Tortrix (Hedya pruniana), 1
1083 Marbled Orchard Tortrix (Hedya nubiferana), 1
1376 Small Magpie (Eurrhypara hortulata), 1
1392 Udea olivalis, 6
1707 Small Dusty Wave (Idaea seriata), 1
1728 Garden Carpet (Xanthorhoe fluctuata), 1
1776 Green Carpet (Colostygia pectinataria), 1
1860 Green Pug (Chloroclystis rectangulata), 2
1958 Clouded Silver (Lomographa temerata), 1
1981 Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi), 1
1991 Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor), 1
2007 Swallow Prominent (Pheosia tremula), 1
2060 White Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda), 1
2061 Buff Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda), 2
2089 Heart & Dart (Agrotis exclamationis), 6
2098 The Flame (Axylia putris), 1
2160 Bright-line Brown-eye (Lacanobia oleracea), 1
**2167 Tawny Shears (Hadena perplexa), 1
2199 Common Wainscot (Mythimna pallens), 2
2302 Brown Rustic (Rusina ferruginea), 1
2333 Large Nutmeg (Apamea anceps), 9
2334 Rustic Shoulder-knot (Apamea sordens), 5
2337x Marbled Minor agg. (Oligia strigilis agg.), 1
2380 Treble Lines (Charanyca trigrammica), 1
2387 Mottled Rustic (Caradrina morpheus), 1
**2439 Gold Spot (Plusia festucae), 1
2474 Straw Dot (Rivula sericealis), 1

Click the pics for larger images.

Gold Spot (Plusia festucae)




Tawny Shears (Hadena perplexa)


Byotropha affinis


Large Fruit-tree Tortrix (Archips podana)


Red-barred Tortrix (Ditula angustiorana)


Pseudargyrotoza conwagana


Clypha lacunana


Marbled Orchard Tortrix (Hedya nubiferana)


Small Magpie (Eurrhypara hortulata)


Udea olivalis


Clouded Silver (Lomographa temerata)


Green Pug (Chloroclystis rectangulata)


Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi)


Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor)



Swallow Prominent (Pheosia tremula)


Buff Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda)



The Flame (Axylia putris)


Bright-line Brown-eye (Lacanobia oleracea)


Common Wainscot (Mythimna pallens)


Large Nutmeg (Apamea anceps)


Treble Lines (Charanyca trigrammica)


Mottled Rustic (Caradrina morpheus)


Straw Dot (Rivula sericealis)


Nikon CP995

Woodston Ponds LNR

First visit for a while. Cuckoo, Garden Warbler, Nightingale and plenty of Reed Warblers about.

Nemophora degeerella, a small swarm of these amazing longhorn moths on a large, shady nettle patch.



Small China-mark (Cataclysta lemnata), male



Epiblema scutulana/cirsiana


Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella), pair in mating wheel.


Nikon CP995

Swaddywell Pit

A lunchtime lepidoptera and odonata spree with Mother Shipton the undoubted highlight for Weedon's World of Nature and me.

Mother Shipton (Callistege mi)


Burnet Companion (Euclidia glyphica)


Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus)


Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus)


The Cinnabar (Tyria jacobaeae)


Yellow Shell (Camptogramma bilineata)


Crambus lathoniellus


Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella)



Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula)


Scorpion Fly (Panorpa sp.)


Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera)



Nikon CP995

The Ardnamurchan Blog

The Arnamurchan blogs are arranged chronologically here.

Spotted in the Rain
Of Whinchats and Woolly Bears
First night's moths
Coldstream and Ockle
Second night's moths
Coldstream and Sanna (no pics)
The Achosnich Woodland Walk
Ardnamurchan Sunset
Third night's moths
Fourth night's moths
Ballamory and Minke Whale (no pics)
Final night's mothing
Saturday
What a farewell

What a farewell

The long journey home necessitated an early start so the scope had to unpacked when I noticed a large "something" cruising through the waters below the cottage. It turned out to be my first Basking Sharks: a full sized one and one rather smaller individual. Great scope views of the second largest fish in the world: the large dorsal fin moving smoothly through the water apparently chased from side to side by an erratic smaller brother. The digiscoped picture is a montage of two shots of the larger fish.

Basking Shark (Cetorhinus maximus)

Nikon CP995 + Leica APO77 + 20xWW

Saturday

Again there were many rafts of Manx Shearwaters and other seabirds in the Sound, an Arctic Tern and a Fulmar passed by and a couple of Harbour Porpoise and a Grey Seal completed the picture. The beetle shown was found in the garden.

Rhagium bifasciatum (a longhorn beetle)


Nikon CP995