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July 2009
Friday 31st July
Headed straight over to Breydon Water again after work, arriving at about 5.30. The tide was high and the Pacific Golden Plover had already been located so at last there was a good chance of connecting with it. It had gone missing when I arrived but after a while I picked it up, but at enormous distance and I wasn't 100% sure. It then went missing again but eventually returned to its favoured area near the tern rafts and a few of us were able to enjoy really good views of it. Later it moved further out where a flock of 300 Golden Plovers dropped in and joined it.
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Pacific Golden Plover, Breydon Water, 31st July |
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Wednesday 29th July
Tuesday 28th July
A few interesting moths tonight including my second ever Scorched Carpet, along with Common Carpet and Yellow-barred Brindle. Both Dingy Footman and Common Rustic (or Lesser Common Rustic) seem to be having a good year - nice to see the less common forms of both of these tonight.
Monday 27th July
I could have easily gone to Breydon over the weekend to see the American Golden Plover but like most people (including its finders I think) I'd assumed it was the bird from Cley/Blakeney that I'd already seen. Yesterday morning however it was re-identified as a Pacific Golden Plover, a bird I have still never seen in Norfolk, but too late for me to get over there before it disappeared again. It's been masquerading as an American for 5 days and usually only seen in the mornings so I didn't try for it yesterday. Having made that decision it promptly decided to break its habit and re-appear in the evening so tonight I headed over after work in the hope that it would do so again. Needless to say it didn't, and with the high tides coinciding with night or middle of the day and my work being 1.5 hours away from Breydon it will need to stick around a good few days for me to connect with it.
Loads of terns coming in to roost but no sign of the Roseates that have been appearing very irregularly over the last few weeks - looks like I might go without seeing that once-reliable species in Norfolk this year. At least 50 Mediterranean Gulls there though; otherwise a few Whimbrel, 2 Greenshank, Knot and 100 Golden Plover on the estuary.
Back home I imagined that a plain-looking Wainscot would prove to be my first Common Wainscot of the year but on checking the photos it appears to be my first ever Fen Wainscot - much better! An Orange Swift was first for the year and there were several intersting looking micros, some of which remain to be identified.
Sunday 26th July
Highlights this evening included a Dun-bar - apparently a common species but my first - and Udea lutealis, my first at home though I've seen day-flying individuals locally before.
Saturday 25th July
A tip-off that this is perhaps the best time of year to see the Lakenheath Golden Orioles crossing the river into Norfolk resulted in me spending 5-6 hours on the Norfolk side of the river this morning. No sign of any Orioles unfortunately but an enjoyable morning with things like Crane, Hobbies, Cuckoo and lots of warblers. On the insect front ladybirds were in abundance, though only a small proportion were 7-spotted this time. It now seems inevitable that I (and other Norfolk year-listers I've spoken to) will go without seeing Golden Oriole in Norfolk in 2009.
Friday 24th July
Dulux white moths are hard to see on white ceilings and walls, but when I eventually did find it, this Yellow-tail was a new species for me.
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Yellow-tail, Bawdeswell, 24th July |
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Thursday 23rd July
Top marks awarded to John Furse this evening for finding a fantastic adult Great Spotted Cuckoo at Salthouse. Although elusive at times, and very mobile, it did show well for a while.
Also at Salthouse a Hobby dashed through and nearly every plant was covered in 7-spot Ladybirds. Among this evening's moths at home were a Catoptria pinella and at least 7 Early Thorns.
Great Spotted Cuckoo, Salthouse, 23rd July
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| Early Thorn (left) and Catoptria pinella (right), Bawdeswell, 23rd July | |
Tuesday 21st July
This evening's highlight was a Coxcomb Prominent.
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Coxcomb Prominent (left) and Diamond-back Moth (right), Bawdeswell, 21st July |
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Monday 20th July
My first 2 Blood-veins of the year tonight as well as what looks extremely similar to the moth I tentatively identified as Lesser Cream Wave earlier in the month (4th). But they're meant to have less pointed wings than Cream Wave (which in all the illustrations and photos I've found has subtly different colour wing markings), yet this one has clearly pointed wings. Is it Lesser Cream Wave, or can Cream Waves look like this, or is it something else entirely?
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Painted Lady, Coxford, 20th July
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Large Skippers (& hoverfly), Coxford, 20th July
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Essex Skipper, Coxford, 20th July
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Blood-vein (left) and tentatively, Lesser Cream Wave (right), Bawdeswell, 20th July - not confident about the Lesser Cream Wave in view of the pointed wings - please get in touch if you can confirm
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Brown House-moths, Bawdeswell, 20th July - aka Clothes Moths, getting set to lay their eggs in our wardrobe (I expelled this pair!) |
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Sunday 19th July
Anyone know what this littl'un is?
Update 2012 - I do now! It's Borkhausenia fuscescens.
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Borkhausenia fuscescens, Bawdeswell, 19th July |
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Saturday 18th July
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Spectacle (left) and Red Twin-spot Carpet (right), Bawdeswell, 18th July |
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Friday 17th July
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Silver Y (left) and Dingy Footman (right), Bawdeswell, 17th July - notice the Dingy Footman's passenger! |
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Thursday 16th July
A Pacific Golden Plover was reported at Cley this afternoon but had disappeared by the time I got out of work. However it was re-found in Blakeney Harbour so I headed up to see it. By the time I got there the identification was already in doubt but the bird was extremely distant. Certainly it showed several features that are typical of summer plumage American Golden Plovers but apparently not impossible on Pacific Golden too. Then the legs seemed incredibly long and Pacific-like. But the wings were long - not completely convincingly but enough to make most of us uncomfortable with labelling it Pacific. Eventually (by next day) all seemed happy that it was an American Golden Plover. Great bird, but I'd have so much preferred it to have been a Pacific.
Also in the harbour, a juvenile Mediterranean Gull and a Hobby.
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Mediterranean Gull, Blakeney Harbour, 16th July |
Brimstone Moth, Bawdeswell, 16th July |
Wednesday 15th July
More moths tonight, including my first Plain Golden Y and my first Carcina quercana - both quite resplendent. A Phoenix was only my second whilst the biggest surprise perhaps was a Small White butterfly - coming to the bedroom light at around midnight! Do other moth-ers ever get butterflies coming to their light traps?
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Plain Golden Y, Bawdeswell, 15th July
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Phoenix (left) and Buff Ermine (right), Bawdeswell, 15th July
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Carcina quercana (left) and Light Arches (right), Bawdeswell, 15th July
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Common Rustic or Lesser Common Rustic (left) and unidentified Pug (right), Bawdeswell, 15th July - please let me know if you can identify either of these
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Small White, Bawdeswell, 15th July |
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Tuesday 14th July
Not a great evening for moths but a Herald was the first I've seen in Bawdeswell.
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Early Thorn (left) and Herald (right), Bawdeswell, 14th July
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Hoverfly, Bawdeswell, 14th July |
Skylark, Thornham, 14th July |
Monday 13th July
A Lesser Crested Tern was reported flying west past Cley yesterday so, hoping that it would roost at Blakeney Point and fly out east with the local Sandwich Terns, as LCs have done in the past, I paid an early visit to Cley before work this morning. When I arrived in the half-light Sandwich Terns were already streaming past and by the time they'd largely dried up I hadn't seen anything more interesting than 4 Dark-bellied Brent Geese west. Bored and tired I eventually gave up and took another look at the Buff-breasted Sandpiper instead. Other waders there included 3 Little Ringed Plovers and 4 Spotted Redshanks but no sign of yesterday's Curlew Sandpiper among the 50 Dunlin. Another quick look for the tern provided 2 Mediterranean Gulls instead, west along the beach. Great to spend 3 hours at one of the best reserves in the country while a rare American vagrant was present and be the only human in sight - who said Norfolk was over-watched?!
This evening's moths included one of my favourites, a Ghost Moth. Also, hot on the heels of my first yesterday, a second Oak Nycteoline turned up tonight.
Sunday 12th July
Not many moths tonight, but a plain grey micro I can't identify - any ideas?
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unidentified moth, Bawdeswell, 12th July |
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Saturday 11th July
It's being a very good year for Small Fan-footed Waves this year - previously I've not seen many but this year they've outnumbered Riband Waves, Small Dusty Waves and even Small Blood-veins - tonight there were at least 7. The highlight this evening, however, was a peculiar creature that looked like it was made out of metal with its shiny steel-grey, slightly rusty, colour and odd shape - turned out to be my first Oak Nycteoline.
Friday 10th July
The following 4-5 moths are either Uncertain or Rustic, but I'd welcome views on which from more experienced moth-ers. For what it's worth, I think there's probably both Uncertain and Rustic among them but I'm, um, uncertain about that.
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Uncertains and/or Rustics, Bawdeswell, 10th July - comments on these welcome |
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Thursday 9th July
Work took me to Kings Lynn today where a Spotted Flycatcher was in the Walks. Fewer moths again tonight, though a couple of the micros were new for me.
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Cork Moth (left) and Blastodacna hellerella (right), Bawdeswell, 9th July
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Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix (left) and Red Twin-spot Carpet (right), Bawdeswell, 9th July |
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Wednesday 8th July
For the second time in 3 days I had to rush off to Cley after work, this time to see a White-winged Black Tern. I only had a few minutes spare so watched it distantly from the Beach Road as it flew up and down North Scrape and Simmond's Scrape. Distant, but close enough to see it was a real stonker! Superb!
17 species of moth would have been quite reasonable in a previous year but by recent standards represented a poor showing. They included what I suspect was my first July Highflyer (not an uncommon species but one that's eluded me so far) but I only saw and photographed it briefly with its wings held closed, then it vanished before I saw the upperwing. Confirmation (or correction) would be welcome on this one!
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White-winged Black Tern, Cley, 8th July
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presumed July Highflyer, Bawdeswell, 8th July - confirmation or correction welcome! |
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Tuesday 7th July
2 Common Footmen, a Foxglove Pug and a Chequered Straw were all new for the year and among the micros was my first Oegoconia.
Monday 6th July
New birds for both my work list (not that I keep one) and my house list today! Arrived back at the office after lunch to find a Red Kite flying over and then whilst washing up at home in the evening I saw a Marsh Harrier low over the field behind the house. Also a very pleasant hour or so spent at Cley this evening in sunshine despite heavy rain all the way there and most of the way home. All the more pleasant for the Buff-breasted Sandpiper that was showing very well on North Scrape - the first Buff-breast I've seen in the UK since the Sheringham bird in 1995. Also at Cley was a Wood Sandpiper, at least 2 Spotted Redshanks and 6 Spoonbills (the largest group I've ever seen in the UK apparently, though there have been quite a few more than this at Cley recently).
Perhaps a little less moth interest tonight compared to recent evenings but still quite good with Common Wave and Scalloped Oak new for the year.
Sunday 5th July
A Heart and Dart was a new species for me, though supposedly very common. Also two of my favourites: V-Pug and Buff Ermine.
Saturday 4th July
A Caspian Tern paid a visit to Welney today so, so did I. This was my first of these terns-on-steroids in the UK since the bird at Breydon and Hickling in 1993. Also at Welney there was 1 Bewick's and 8 Whooper Swans and a Little Ringed Plover.
Another good evening for moths with an unexpected new species, Lesser Cream Wave (assuming I've ID'd it correctly). Some others were new for the year, including Flame Shoulder and Straw Dot.
Friday 3rd July
Earlier in the year there were so few moths coming to the light I wondered if my new energy-saving light bulbs were somehow less attractive to them but the last week has well and truly smashed that idea! Over 36 species of moth (20 macros) appeared in my bedroom this evening - and that's just the ones I could identify. A Beautiful China-mark was my first ever (so too were some of the smaller micros but that's not surprising as I've not tried hard with them in previous years). Equally enjoyable were my second ever Barred Yellow and Beautiful Hook-tip.
Thursday 2nd July
Hot on the heels of my first records last week, seconds came in the form of Clouded Silver and Uncertain - and also a Light Arches which I first recorded around this time last year.
Wednesday 1st July
I suspect this month's page will again be full of more moths than birds, but I hope there will be a few birds before the end of the month! Not today though.
Another excellent evening for moths. A Clouded Border was the first I've documented (I'm pretty sure I saw them years ago, before I was recording moths) and what a fantastic creature it was! Among the others were Large Twin-spot Carpet, 2 Single-dotted Waves, Triple-spotted Clay, Rustic, Dark Arches, Drinker and Mother of Pearl.
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