Weather in recent days has been unsettled with lots of showers. We've had to make do with short bursts of sunshine and normally with a fresh breeze thrown in for good measure too. The mothing has been poor despite offering the moths a roof over their heads and shelter from the rain if they visited my trap in my garden at the country park - as pictured above.Sadly few took up the offer although there was this colourful red and black cinnabar moth that made it through the drizzle on Tues 15th. This moth is sometimes seen in the daytime looking for ragwort plants to lay eggs on.
Out of the darkness came this apparition pictured below, spiralling round and round towards the bright light. This ghostly looking moth is the light emerald, which usually has a very washed out hint of green colour to the wings.
The moth which has made the national news in recent days has involved the brown-tail moth and especially its caterpillars, like the one below. Various communities have been affected and worried, about the nasty irritations that these bristles can cause to people's skin. Here at the country park there have always been several bushes dotted about the place with the caterpillars stripping the leaves.A few years ago I watched a cuckoo in the park having a great feast on these caterpillars for several minutes, hopping from branch to branch, picking them off with ease. Cuckoos love bristly caterpillars and suffer no ill effects from eating them.
The first dragonfly of the year was seen on Wednesday with a black-tailed skimmer doing a bit of sunbathing on a bush.There haven't been many opportunities for insects to enjoy the sun recently, although many just seem to be enjoying the rapid growth of all the different plants. One clump of nettles that was given a cursory glance had all sorts of life such as scorpion flies, cardinal beetles, tiny bush crickets, azure damselflies, drinker moth caterpillar, blood-vein moth and various spiders.
Birdwise, the second family of swans have now hatched out with six cygnets from the nest by the dyke. The parents were gingerly trying to walk the cygnets' tiny feet across the grass field, whilst hoping the nearby herd of cows wouldn't notice. The worries were obviously too much, as the parents turned the little fluffy grey balls around and headed back to a nearby creek. I trust they kept them away from a heron that was on the prowl.
Over the fields flew 12 sand martins, the largest group this spring. A meadow pipit rose up into the air singing his heart out before holding his wings out and parachuting slowly back to the ground. The incoming tide meant few waders on show although four whimbrel whistled overhead.
The nightingale in the car park has been putting on a great display during Thursday. Early on I had brillant views of the bird high up in a bare branch singing with such gusto that you could see the pale feathers on the throat puffing out with each burst of song. In the evening Ian Black stopped his car to listen to the bird as he drove out of the car park and was amazed that the bird came and landed on his car bonnet. It then flew to the nearby hedge to continue singing.
The second nightingale beside the pond was also heard singing. He hasn't been as vociferous as last year.
