Neil Freeman

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks Mark. No Greenfinches on the day unfortunately, they are a bit scarce in my garden and I have only ever seen a couple there.

Cheers Wurzel. I was pleased with that list myself for just an hour. A GS Woodpecker is also there most days but sods law meant that it didn't turn up until later in the afternoon and so missed the list.

Tuesday 6th February

We have just had another similar weekend to the previous one, that is a wet and miserable Saturday followed by a dry Sunday with plenty of blue sky although this time the temperature took a dive through the day.
Since then it has been cold with a bitter wind blowing from the north. Today we have had some light flurries of snow through the day and as I write this it you can see by the light of the streetlights outside that it is it is coming down fairly heavily.

There were more Goldfinches in the garden at the weekend than I usually see, probably attracted to the feeders by the more 'normal' winter we are having, in other words colder than the last few.

Goldfinches tucking in to black sunflower seeds.

The pair of Blackcaps are still around and the male seems to be getting more confident. Last week he spent most of his time hiding in the bushes whilst the female was visiting the feeders more often.

Blackcap and Blue Tit

I was quite pleased to get the shot below of a Coal tit as they usually dart in and out again too quickly for me to grab a photo.

Coal Tit actually sitting still for moment

One of the local foxes was making the most of a sunny spot at the bottom of the garden and I got the distinct impression it was sticking its tongue out at me.

Fox at the bottom of the garden.

More cold days ahead this week and the slightly milder ones only look to be getting up to 5 or 6 degrees at most so not much sign of spring here yet. Time to get back to thinking about what I would like to see this coming season and making some plans

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Definitely - almost a wink as well Great shot of the Coal Tit, they're hard to capture because, as you, say they'll wait for the other birds to feed and then nip in during a slight lull only to nip off quickly again as soon as another species arrives at the table Despite the terrible weather forecast it shouldn't be too long now

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Your garden sure is a winter haven for wildlife, Neil. Let's hope in a couple of months time you'll have your usual Speckled Woods to report, along with Holly Blues and all the other spring visitors.

[Andrew555]

Nice shots Neil, that Coal Tit is great.

[Goldie M]

Your right Neil, we're definitely getting similar birds in the garden, Love the shot of the Coal Tit, Goldie

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks for the comments Wurzel, David, Andrew and Goldie

Another cold week here but at least the past couple of days have seen some nice sun which has cheered things up a bit although the mornings have been frosty. There skies have been getting lighter when leaving for work around 06.00 in the morning this week which is a sure sign that spring is not far off irrespective of what the weather does.

Garden Moths 2017 part 2 – The Micros.

In part 1 of my look back at the moths I trapped in my garden last year, I mentioned that 94 out of the total of 245 species that I caught were micros. Out of these, 40 were new records for my garden, mostly due to the fact that I had only started to look at the micros half way through the previous year. Some of these were seen in large numbers, for example a couple of species of the familiar grass moths of the family Crambidae would often be settled all around the outside of the trap as well as inside. This made accurately identifying and counting them impossible as they would often fly off as soon as I approached so my recorded numbers of these are very much a minimum. Other species turned up in smaller numbers and many were recorded as single examples.

A selection of my favourite micros are posted below in rough order in which they appeared. Some of them overwinter as adults and started turning up in the trap in late February which shows how well they are adapted to the cold despite their tiny size and delicate appearance. The numbers in brackets in the comments with the photos are the total individuals of that species recorded during the season.

Acleris literana (1) - Hibernates as an Adult. New For Garden. 08.03.2017

Caloptillia sp (1). These can be difficult to ID. 18.03.2017

Alucita hexadactyla (12) - Twenty-plume Moth. 30.03.2017

Ancylis badiana (1). 15.05.2017. NFG

Pseudargyrotoza conwagana (47). 10.06.2017

Anania hortulata (28). Small Magpie. 10.06.2017

Archips podana (1). Large Fruit-tree Tortrix. 16.06.201. NFG.

Archips xylosteana (2). Variegated Golden Tortrix. 18.06.2017. NFG

Tortrix viridana (2). Green Oak Tortrix. 18.06.2017. NFG

Lozotaeniodes formosana (1). 20.06.2017.

Anania coronata (8). 21.06.2017

Agapeta hamana (1). 21.06.2017. NFG.

Yponomeuta evonymella (47). Bird-cherry Ermine. 21.06.2017.

Enarmonia formosana (1). Cherry Bark Tortrix. 21.06.2017

Spilonota ocellana (2). Bud Moth. 15.07.2017.

Pammene aurita (4). 17.07.2017.

Argyresthia goedartella (15). 19.07.2017.

Carcina quercana (3). 04.08.2017.

Ypsolopha sequella (1). 23.09.2017. NFG.

The most common moths were Light Brown Apple Moths which I recorded in every month of the year and a couple of the grass Crambids mentioned above, of which I managed to identify 7 different species.

Crambus pascuella (236). 09.06.2017

Chrysoteucha culmella (227). 10.06.2017

Crambus lathoniellus (2). 10.06.2017

Agriphila tristella (5). 27.08.2017.

So far this year with the night being mostly either too cold or wet and windy I have only had the trap out a couple of times back in January with very limited success, just 1 Red-green Carpet and 3 Light Brown Apple Moths.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Even more cracking moths Neil Those micros give the macros a run for their money in the 'plumage' stakes, especially the Enarmonia formosana, what an intricate beauty!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Another stunning selection of moths, Neil, including a few that most of us would scarcely register were we to actually see them.

I particularly like Anania coronata, which I presume is closely related to funebris?

[Andrew555]

Fantastic line-up again Neil. Some beautiful colours and patterns on display.
The 'wings' of the Twenty-plume moth are fascinating.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Neil, looks like the Black Birds are getting more intelligent Mine was a Lady. Goldie

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks for the comments Wurzel, David, Andrew and Goldie

I was totally unaware that most of these tiny jewels even existed until I started getting them in my trap. Even the 'grass moths' that are familiar to most of us from seeing them in grassy meadows in the summer reward a closer look.

...I particularly like Anania coronata, which I presume is closely related to funebris?..

Indeed it is David, and to Anania hortulata the more familar Small Magpie Moth.

Saturday 17th February.

With a milder night and light winds forecast last Saturday night I decided to run the moth trap in the garden to see if anything was about. As it happened, the skies cleared and the temperature dropped from around 10.30pm so I turned it off in order to have a Sunday morning lie-in instead. This is because if I run the trap all night I get up to it early in order to beat the birds which soon learn that they can find an easy meal of any moths that may settle on the outside of the trap.
Anyway, I only caught one moth but it was a cracker - A nice fresh male Oak Beauty This is one of my favourite early season moths with a usual flight period from late February to April and which overwinters as a pupa underground.

Oak Beauty - Coverdale 17.02.2018

Oak Beauty - Coverdale 17.02.2018

Sunday 18th February.

With another cloudy and mild night forecast I decided to make the most of it before the weather turned and put out the trap out again. This time a light drizzle started which turned to proper rain around 9.00pm but nevertheless I left the trap out as I would be getting up early - around 05.15am - for work the next morning.
This time I was rewarded with 2 moths - another Oak Beauty, confirmed as a different individual from the previous night by comparing photos, and a Pale Brindled Beauty which is another species that spends the winter underground as a pupa but in this case can often emerge as early as January.

Oak Beauty - Coverdale 18.02.2018

Pale Brindled Beauty - Coverdale 18.02.2018

With the weather now turning colder (it was -3c this morning on my way to work) and even colder weather heading in for the foreseeable future it looks as if that will be it for a while.
I have seen a few scattered reports of butterflies around the midlands with most of the hibernators being reported, but with the winter we have had so far and it looking like it will stay cold into early March at least, I would not be surprised if the season doesn't properly get started around here until early April now.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

That Oak Beauty certainly lives up to its name Neil It does look like it's going to be a late season but hopefully that'll mean it'll be a cracker

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Andrew555]

That's great Neil, a beauty indeed.

Cheers

[David M]

Some fabulous February finds there, Neil, although they'll do well to survive this current period of atrocious weather. Hopefully normal service will be resumed very soon.

[Neil Freeman]

Cheers Wurzel I have had enough of this winter now, it has certainly seemed a long one from a cold and snowy earlier December up until this latest cold period.

Thanks Andrew, one of many moths with the appellation of 'Beauty' and one of the few that I think really deserve it.

Thanks David, hopefully they will have tucked themselves away somewhere and gone into diapause. Ironically this may mean that they will perhaps live a bit longer than if they had stayed active in better conditions.

Friday 2nd March

The second day of meteorological spring and it feels like we are still in the depths of winter. We had actually missed the worst of the snow here up until today although it has been bitingly cold and the snow we did have was a light, fine, powdery stuff that blew around in the wind. This afternoon it started snowing with some proper stuff which is still coming down as I write this and is forecast to continue for a few hours yet.

The bird feeders in the garden have been taking a hammering and I have refilled them a couple of times this week although by the time I am in from work I have only had fleeting glimpses of the visitors in the fading light.
Last weekend, before the weather turned really cold, there was a nice selection on birds in the garden including all the usual suspects that I see plus a Siskin which is a rare visitor for me. There was also a dinky little Goldcrest which I have seen a few times but are usually too quick for me to get a good photo of so I was pleased to get a couple that were not too out of focus.

A few shots from last weekend, all taken through the window from the comfort of my back room whilst I was supposed to be doing household stuff.

Blackcap - Coverdale 24.02.2018

Bullfinches - Coverdale 25.02.2018

Siskin - Coverdale 25.02.2018

Goldcrest - Coverdale 25.02.2018

Goldcrest - Coverdale 25.02.2018

It looks like it might be warming up a bit over the weekend with daytime temperatures nudging up over freezing and by the end of next week we could see the giddy heights of 6 or 7 degrees.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[bugboy]

That's the first time I've seen a Goldcrest on a garden bird feeder. It's remarkable those tiny birds can survive this sort of weather! Down here it might even be nudging double figures next week, that's hard to believe at the moment!

[Goldie M]

Lovely shots of the birds Neil, can't say I've ever seen a Gold Crest , that's one to look out for, I've had a Siskin in the garden a couple of years ago and did manage a shot, if this weather takes up Pennington Flash will have them and hope fully I'll get another shot of one. Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cracking shot of the Goldcrest Neil and love the pair of Bullfinches Hopefully this is it for Winter now and we can crack on into Spring

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Bugboy, I have seen Goldcrests on my garden feeders before but not often and only to the fat blocks.

Thanks Goldie, good luck with the Siskins.

Cheers Wurzel, things have definitely been a bit more spring like here for the past couple of days.

The snow on Friday continued for most of the night and by the morning it was the deepest we have seen here during the recent cold spell, although we still got off lightly compared with other parts of the country.
By Sunday afternoon the temperature had crept above freezing and a band of rain had begun to wash away the snow.

All the same birds were around in the garden again over the weekend and I took a few more shots, although I find that, despite me experimenting with the settings, my Lumix FZ200 struggles with the exposure against the white background of the snow.

Bullfinch - Coverdale 03.03.2018

Chaffinch - Coverdale 03.03.2018

Coal Tit - Coverdale 03.03.2018

Long-tailed Tit - Coverdale 03.03.2018

Blackcap - Coverdale 04.03.2018

The Goldcrest (I assume it was the same one) was seen visiting the fat block again on both Saturday and Sunday.

Goldcrest - Coverdale 04.03.2018

There are a couple of pairs of Dunnocks that are usually skulking about under the shrubs and these often come out and pick up seeds that are knocked to the floor from the feeders above. I very rarely see these fly up to the feeders themselves but on Saturday I spotted one of them on the mixed seed feeder, no doubt due to the lack of food on the snow covered ground.

Dunnock - Coverdale 03.03.2018.

The past couple of days have seen a return to more normal conditions for the time of year so fingers crossed that after that last sting in the tail that this winter has finally come to an end.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Neil, It's not come to an end here UGH! We got up to more Snow, it's stopped now but more is forecast for later and the Schools have been closed again this morning, just when we thought Spring had arrived it's gone back wards again Goldie