Nut-tree Tussock and Dotted Chestnut

Two new moths for me during a good session trapping at my parent's place in Hampshire. The Nut-tree Tussock was a female and laid a good batch of eggs in a pot. Follow the attempts to rear these through on the Nut-tree Tussock Blog

125W MV Skinner:
1881 Early Tooth-striped (Trichopteryx carpinata), 1
1927 Brindled Beauty (Lycia hirtaria), 1
1930 Oak Beauty (Biston strataria), 2
2182 Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda), 11
2186 Powdered Quaker (Orthosia gracilis), 1
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi), 8
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta), 2
2189 Twin-spotted Quaker (Orthosia munda), 6
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica), 10
2243 Early Grey (Xylocampa areola), 1
*2260 Dotted Chestnut (Conistra rubiginea), 1
*2425 Nut-tree Tussock (Colocasia coryli), 1
* = first for me

Dotted Chestnut (Conistra rubiginea)


Nut-tree Tussock (Colocasia coryli)



Oak Beauty (Biston strataria)


Brindled Beauty (Lycia hirtaria)



Oak & Brindled Beauties


Early Tooth-striped (Trichopteryx carpinata)


Powdered Quaker (Orthosia gracilis)


Nikon CP P4 & 995

Blossom Underwing Again

Blossom Underwing is a rare moth in Hunts (VC31). My first on 29 March 2004 was the tenth for the VC and was thought to be a migrant. However now I've trapped another in the garden I am wondering if there is a population locally. The Moths of Northamptonshire site shows this may be possible:

Totals from two traps:
1524 Emmelina monodactyla, 1
1917 Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria), 3
2183 Blossom Underwing (Orthosia miniosa), 1
2187 Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi), 3
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta), 2
2190 Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica), 6
2243 Early Grey (Xylocampa areola), 5

Blossom Underwing (Orthosia miniosa)

Nikon CP P4

Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria)

Nikon CP 995

Green Woodpecker display

No Wheatears at Serpentine BP this morning but behaviour from Green Woodpeckers I've not witnessed before. The female in this picture was stretching her head and neck out and moving it from side to side in an exaggerated manner. At first I though this was for the benefit of the male nearby but then I noticed a second female on a branch not far away. This was stationary but eventually flew off.

Click here for a short video clip (1.3MB). The female is towards the bottom of the screen partly hidden by the tree.

Green Woodpeckers (Picus viridis)


Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus)


Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Oystercatchers

A lunchtime trip to the Dog in a Doublet area provided an opportunity to snap these Oystercatchers and find another four Wheatears (at Stonebridge Corner). Plenty of Swallows on the move today and a couple of Grey Wagtails at the sluice.

Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)




Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Wheatears galore

Following three males here on 29 March, it was good to find another four at Serpentine Brick Pit today. Three males and a female were at the far western end. Yet another four males were at StoneBridge Corner later today.

Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)
Male


Female


Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

One day in Purbeck

A short break based in Swanage and some excellent weather provided some good opportunities for trying out the P4. Here are some of the results.

Robin (Erithacus rubecula)


Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis)


Guillemots (Uria aalge)


Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus)


Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)


Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

These beetles still need identifying when I can get around to it. Many thanks for the help below. Oil beetles have a facinating life history. Click here for more info.

Darkling Beetle (Timarcha sp. (Chrysomelidae) - with thanks to Gyp')?


Oil Beetle (Meloe proscarabaeus)

Red Chestnut

Mothing this spring has so far been appalling. I recorded 25 species in March last year and 30 the year before but only 10 this year!

The weather continues to be either cool and/or windy which is keeping the moths quiet. Last night was still a bit cool and breezy but wasn't quite as bad as other recent nights so I set an actinic trap and managed the following:

2139 Red Chestnut (Cerastis rubricosa), 1
2182 Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda), 2
2188 Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta), 1
2243 Early Grey (Xylocampa areola), 1

Red Chestnut (Cerastis rubricosa)


Early Grey (Xylocampa areola)


Coolpix P4

Fallow Stag at Ring Haw

It was too dark and too far away really but this stag stood very obligingly out in the open so I did the best I could but shutter speeds of around the 1/15th are never going to be great.

Fallow Deer (Cervus dama)

Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Redshank

Another digiscoped Redshank from the Sewage Works on North Bank. Not brilliant but it was about 40m away and there was a heat shimmer!

Redshank (Tringa totanus)

Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Of Blackthorn and Sallow

If you want insects at this time of year look for these two dominant flowering trees. Its been really sunny for the past couple of days but the strong wind means its hard to observe insects. If you can find a sheltered spot with Salllow and/or Blackthorn it can be great. The sunny leeward side of Jones' Covert was buzzing with Bumblebees this morning and these shots were taken at The Boardwalks LNR at lunchtime.

Small Tortoiseshell and Hoverflies (E. tenax) were also nectaring on these trees, which are used by moths at night.

Really starting to get the hang of the P4 now. This was a very pleasing set of photos; the second Peacock was digiscoped very successfully. Higher resolution versions can be viewed by clicking these pics.

Comma (Polygonia c-album)


Peacock (Inachis io)

*

Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa)



Sallow (Salix caprea)


All taken with Nikon Coolpix P4.
* Digiscoped handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Willow Chiff Warbler

A silent phylloscopus warbler in spring - always tricky. At first sight I thought this one, feeding in sallow blossom at the east end of Jones' Covert, was a Chiffchaff but as these photos show it has a longish primary projection and pale legs with yellowish feet. There are some good tips on separating the two species on the following link:
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=15579

Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus)


Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Coltsfoot at Serpentine

Parts of this wierd landscape are covered in flowering Coltsfoot at the moment.

Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara)



Nikon Coolpix P4

Long-tailed Tit

A pair of Siskin were using the niger feeder in the garden this morning but typically as soon as got into position to photograph them they vanished. So I made do with this Long-tailed Tit. It is certainly proving easier to get reasonable digiscoped images with the P4 than it was with the 995.

Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus)

Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Ferry Meadows flowers

More fun with the P4. A few spring flowers and an obliging Blackbird.

Lesser Cellandine (Ranunculus ficaria)

Coolpix P4

Common Dog Violet (Viola riviniana)

Coolpix P4

Blackbird (Turdus merula)

Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Digiscoping with the P4

My trusty coolpix 995 has been developing the odd fault in recent months, including persistently failing to focus on anything (but acting like it has). This has meant some priceless photos have been ruined so it was time to look for a replacement. On paper the P4 looked a good bet but it had only just arrived in the UK so it was a bit of a leap of faith.

So far I'm very pleased with it. It doesn't focus as close as the 995 but as recent moths photos show it is more than OK for the macros and I think the 8 megapixels will provide enough resolution for smaller subjects too.

Of course it needs to perform as a digiscoping camera too and that looks to be very good. Early days yet but with a superb 50 pence adapter initial results are encouraging. The Grebe here was taken in bright conditions with the sun in cloud and the Great Tit was on a very dull and wet day.

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)


Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77


Coolpix P4 handheld to 32x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Great Tit (Parus major)


Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

The Satellite

The weather finally changed at the end of last week and with the much warmer, but wetter conditions came the first of the spring moths. A smattering of Hebrew Characters, Common and Small Quakers and a first for the garden: The Satellite. Unlike the Orthosias which are just emerging from pupae, The Satellite over-winters as an adult so can in theory be seen at any time between the late autumn and early spring. It gets its name from the two tiny white 'moons' orbiting the large white spot on the forewing.

The Satellite (Eupsilia transversa)


Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica)


Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi)


Nikon Coolpix P4

We Saw a Rail

Another very early start for another extremely rare american bird (others being Grey-cheeked Thush and Green Heron). The 4:30 start was worth it though as Mike, Tony and I got great views as the bird fed in a frozen ditch at dawn. It was rather too dark for photographs really but its nice to have these record shots.

Sora Rail (Porzana carolina)



Digiscoped with Nikon Coolpix 995 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Eggs on Birch

I was checking the birch trees in the garden for early stages of moths like this one but only found these eggs. No idea what they belong to at the moment but hopefully someone will know. They were fairly abundant.


Nikon Coolpix 995

Nuns on parade

I rather dislike the nickname 'White Nun' given to the adult male Smew - but then I generally dislike most of the nicknames birders give to birds. But you can't argue that they are impressive beasts. This party of four adult males and two 'redheads' (the females or immatures) were showing very obligingly near the perimeter road at Eye Brook Reservoir today.

Smew (Mergellus albellus)


Digiscoped with Nikon Coolpix 995 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77