Briantspuddle Garden Wildlife

Diary 2011

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March of the Moths

Above, left, Four-spotted Footman, 8 August. Right, Sallow Kitten, 3 August

8 August : A very exciting Four-spotted Footman in the trap this morning. Category A rarity and continental migrant, this was the first garden record. Another new species earlier in the week was Sallow Kitten. The first Willow Warbler of the autumn was also in the garden this morning.

Above, left, a Lesser Marsh Grasshopper (reading its description in Ragge: Wayside & Woodland Grasshoppers), 25 June. Right, male Common Blue butterfly, 27 June

Lesser Marsh is the garden's fourth grasshopper species, and at least one male is still present in mid July, but not singing. A Common Blue put in a few days' appearance in the hot weather, but that is probably it for the year now!

Above, Found dead on the Dorchester bypass, 10 May 2010. Is this a Polecat, a Ferret, or a hybrid?

The consensus on Ispot is a Polecat-Ferret - pink showing in the nose, quite a lot of pale arond the face. In the hand, it was also identified as a hybrd by the pale (rather than ruddy) under-fur, So now we know!

I had to stop the traffic on the Dorchester bypass in the morning rush hour to pick this up, but they all seemed very understanding when I waved the corpse at them from the middle of the road, shouting 'polecat' or something similar back at me.

Left, a fine Tawny Mining Bee (Andrena fulva), only seen once so far this year in the garden, and right, an Early Tooth-Striped Moth. The new moth guide doesn't really do this justice, and doesn't show the eponymous feature - the 'tooth' stripe, which I assume is the inverted V halfway up the wing (arrowed and labelled above).

Above, Early Mining Bees (Andrena haemorrhoea) (left) are very numerous about the lawn, and, possibly using their burrows, a Homeless Bee (Nomada sp.) (right). The latter, also known as Nomad bees, but I do prefer the old-fashioned 'homeless', nests in the burrows of other bees. But they seem to be clustering around a honeysuckle bush at the moment and not actually looking for homes. If anyone knows the species, please email me

25 April : The first House Martins - a bit late - but lots of insects in the fine weather, including bees galore.

Despite the cold nights, moths are being trapped in fairly good numbers for this time of year. Above, Pine Beauty (left) -go eat them plantations! - and two Clouded Drabs (right) showing how variable they can be

The garden is suddenly full of Grey Mining Bees (Andrena cineraria) - a female emerges from her burrow above, 18 April

18 April : The first Willow Warblers and a Tree Pipit overhead showed that migration was slowly under way this morning, but still no sign of many summer visitors. Local insects on the other hand are enjoying the fine weather, and there are plenty of butterflies, hoverflies, and above all a variety of bees on the wing. More bees to follow...do bee do bee do...

Winter Aconites (left, not to be used in curry) and Snowdrops made a stunning show in the churchyard, while Pale Brindled Beauty (below) was a new moth for the garden, 14 February

14 February : A Pale Brindled Beauty was a surprise garden tick at the kitchen window last night - a great first moth of the year. The churchyard was looking splendid today, with a display of Snowdrops, and, not common in Dorset, Winter Aconites. These highly poisonous plants made the news this week as the key ingedient of a deadly curry.

10 January: A bag of out of date apples proved a good investment, bringing two Fieldfares and a Mistle Thrush to the lawn today - the first feeding records for both here. Five thrush species yesterday, with only Redwing not actually coming to food, and a female Brambling, making a brief visit to the same tree as the Fieldfares and Redwings. Just one Yellowhammer to the seed so far, but Pied Wagtail is also an unusual feeder. Male Pied Wagtail, two Goldfinches, the female Blackcap, and a Fieldfare feeding together make a unusual and attractive combination under the bird table. Finally a Great Black-backed Gull flying over was only the second garden record.

6 January : The snow arrived mid-morning, but we didn't start getting birds till lunchtime, when Fieldfares were moving steadily east, surprisingly. Flocks of up to 20 every few minutes going by, so a few hundred only, with none of the spectacular coastal movements here. A few Skylarks and Lapwings with them were very unusual January records. Two Little Egrets soaring made a fine sight under-lit by sow, and were the 40th garden species of the year.

 

 

Link to 2010 diary