MORE MAY MOTHS

The nights aren't so chilly as a week ago and when the moth trap was checked early on Saturday 22nd there were a few more different moths to check out. This one above is the common buff-tip which looks like a bit of twig that has had the end snapped off.

I recognised this white-colon quite quickly as it also made an appearance last spring. The tiny colon spots near the kidney mark on each wing are a bit faded in the individual above. The moth is not a very common one, so this rather non-descriptive species was probably the most interesting one in the trap.

The coxcomb prominent pictured above is a common moth regularly appearing in ones and twos at the trap in the spring and summer. Its unusual pose makes it look like a bit of bark, bit of wood or maybe a scrumpled up dead leaf.

At the East Mersea Point the ringed plover parents were having an anxious time with all the trippers on the beach in the fine weather. The mother was keeping watch over the nest from a short distance away, every time a walker or a dog passed nearby. Having been told by a dog-walker earlier in the day he'd seen a little chick running around, I thought I'd try and see it for myself. One tiny chick was discovered crouching low down in the shingle and so motionless, it even appeared to be lifeless. It was staying low and still to avoid detection with mother watching on nearby as lots of walkers trudged along the beach.

On the park grazing fields the avocet was present for its third day feeding well in the pools. Also 12 black-tailed godwits and five lapwing chicks. Three pochard were resting beside the pools and the usual other kinds of ducks were present too such as gadwall, shoveler, mallard, shelduck and a small group of tufted duck on the pond.

A green hairstreak was seen in the car park on the busy Sunday 23rd. The male and female cuckoo were very vocal around the car park in the evening as were the two nightingales by the entrance. A little egret flew over the car park in the middle of the morning.