Wanna See Some Moffs?

Wanna See Some Moffs?

... Well, you don't have a choice.

The scorching weather we've been enjoying this April has meant that many moths have been emerging from their chrysalis stage earlier than they would normally do, and when the garden would usually be totally devoid of any night life, this month has been ticking over nicely, with a number of species being seen that I never would have expected...
 
Not least of these, the superb Great Prominent. A massive beast of mature oak woodland...

At the other end of the size scale, an Ochreous Pug. A moth of coniferous woodland, with a cool name to boot...

Waved Umber, a common species in gardens in the South...

One of my favourite moths of Spring, the highly distinctive Brimstone. This is another common garden species which anyone can expect at lighted windows...

And now for something a little bit rarer. Are you ready for this? You are? Are you sure? Ok... a Buttoned Snout!

... Proaaarrr, that is one heck of a moth. Its declining state means that its a priority species under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. Unusually, the main stronghold for this species is in gardens, where it can be found in mid-spring after hibernation. I found it whilst watering the garden, so if you've got nothing to do, then get the hose out and prance around the garden with a net... you never know (clothes are optional).

Slightly less rare than the above, Lunar Marbled Brown is a common species in the garden in spring...

And who could overlook the smaller 'micro' moths...

Bucculatrix nigricomella...

Not quite such a struggle to identify, the Garden Pebble is bigger than many 'macro' moths...

I was quite surprised when I looked through my photos of this Caloptilia syringella at how intricate the details are on its wings. It seemed pretty dark and colourless when looked at normally...

Cydia strobilella- a silvery, sparkly Surrey scarcity, known from only 5 other sites in the county. Found it flying around the borders one sunny afternoon. The larvae feed on Norway spruce, and the species presence in the garden might just be explained by a whoopin' great big Norway spruce two doors down... just a possibility.

I'm actually quite pleased with myself recently, as I haven't put the moth trap out now for a week.

The withdrawal symptoms are coming on fast though- I keep glancing up at the nearest light just to make sure I haven't missed a Death's Head Hawk-moth sneeking past me, and bed time reading is currently Townsend and Waring's 'Concise Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland', although its quite hard to read, because I may have accidently spilt cereal over it one morning in my excitement at seeing the illustration of a Kentish Glory.

A Hairstreak in a Spot of Bother

A Hairstreak in a Spot of Bother

With its iridescent, golden bordered green wings, the Green Hairstreak is one heck of a smart looking bugger. Emerging in mid-spring, these butterflies are on the wing until well into June, but to see them in their best outfit, its best to catch up with them in spring.

I was hoping to see one when I went for Grizzled Skipper back at the beginning of April, but never managed to, so this individual on Denbies Hillside the other week was a welcome surprise...

When it turned its side to the sun, a stunning coppery greenish tinge would show, but this was hard to capture on the camera, especially when you are lying down, on stinging nettles, with a butterfly that has a habit of going walk-about on flower stems rather than keeping still.

Whilst I was photographing the butterfly on a nearby bluebell, Mr Green Hairstreak's habit of walking about aimlessly over flowers got him into a bit of a pickle. He had walked onto a bluebell which was already occupied by a naughty little Crab Spider, that was looking for his lunch.

Luckily though, I was on hand to take pictures of those last moments of Mr. Green Hairstreak's life, and just as the Crab Spider was about to pounce, the sound of the camera shutter shutting sent the little butterfly into the air, and out of harms way. To be honest though, a spider pouncing on, killing AND eating a Green Hairstreak would have made a pretty decent shot wouldn't it?

Waxwings, Heading Your Way

Waxwings, Heading Your Way

Picture the situation...

You've been stuck inside all day, so decide to walk down to the shops for a Fanta. You get to the shop. You buy a Fanta. Your walking back, and get two roads down from your house, when suddenly you hear lots of trilling sounds coming from above you in a tree. The trees have leaves on them now, and you have a Fanta in your hand, not optical equipment, so you can't clearly see the things thats making the noise, but they are clearly birds, and they aren't Blue tits. Suddenly, the mystery birds decide to fly, and its then that you see that they are about the size of a Starling, but that they are not making the sound that Starlings make.

You think you have temporarily lost them when you turn a corner and find a flock of 14 Waxwings happily trilling away at the top of a tree by a bridge. The birds have strategically placed themselves over a railway line, so that when the train comes, they will fly away and never be seen again. Its ok, you say to yourself, the train shouldn't come for a few minutes, giving you the chance to get closer. But those few minutes are spend looking dazed, and wondering what to do, so the train comes, and the birds fly away.

But thats not the end of the story. The Waxwings fly off, but in the direction of your house, and although you can't see the birds flying over your house, you can guarantee that if you were in your house, looking out at that time, you would be able to see the birds.

You fall to your knees, and wimper. You are overcome with emotion. Half of you is jumping with joy for finding Waxwings a few doors down from your house, and the other half is filled with regret that you didn't take your camera, or rush back home to try and spot them from your house.

So yeah, thats what happened to me (if you haven't already guessed) the day before yesterday. I went home, grabbed the bike and cycled around the area to try and look for them again, but did I see them? Have a guess. I did manage to get some shots of the tree they were in though, 10 minutes after they left. Let your imagination run wild, and you should be able to see Waxwings in this photo...

Changing the subject slightly, a funky Bee Fly that was in the garden recently...

And a Crab Spider, that eats Bee Fly...

In Which I See A Rare Grizzper

In Which I See A Rare Grizzper

April is great, isn't it? The leaves are slowly appearing on the trees, bluebells are emerging, the swallows are returning and not to mention the fact that we get two bank holidays in this month alone. One of my favourite thing about April however, is that the butterflies, and in particular, the rare Grizzled Skipper, are back on the wing.

A few years ago, in this post, I had a very brief glance of a single Grizzled Skipper on Old Winchester Hill- where the sheltered chalk downland are host to flowering plants in spring, which in turn play host for Grizzpers (a newly thought up shortened word for Grizzled Skipper, if you were still wondering) to feed on-but ever since that day, I've wanted to get myself proper views of this Red Data Book species, which is threatened with extinction throughout its range in the South.

This species is best searched for from late April to late May, but I figured that the recent scorcher we've had might have encouraged earlier emergence, so last Sunday, when I had the opportunity, I headed down to OWH (a newly thought up shortened word for Old Winchester Hill, if you were still wondering), with Grizzpers in mind.

It was sunny, and the views of the South Downs were great. This is habitat no self respecting Grizzper would want to be without...

After initial distractions from a singing Sedge Warbler fresh from Africa, I noticed a small blackish thing resembling a Grizzper flying around a patch of wildflowers along a notoriously steep part of the hill. With the description of 'small blackish thing', I'm sure you all know what it was... a Grizzper! (or Grizzled Skipper as some people call it.

There were two of them in total, and they were surprising easy to photograph, frequently resting on grass stems, unlike most of the other Skippers species I've dealt with, which seem to just fly at high speeds, and land everywhere I don't want them to...

One of the Skippers seemed to have one wing that was completely blurred out. It most certainly didn't have anything to do with rubbish focusing on behalf of the photographer, oh no... certainly not. Nope.

On a number of occasions, I found myself chasing after what I thought was a Grizzled Skippers, only to find that they were moths. Very pretty moths at that. This here is Pyrausta nigrata...

We stopped off at the Shoe Inn for lunch, in East Meon. I wouldn't mind living in East Meon- you get a river, and a water meadow, as your back garden, as well as a bridge (sorry if this is your house, by the way)...

Getting All Nostalgic and Stuff

Getting All Nostalgic and Stuff

I've been having a little rustle through some old picture files on the computer, containing bird photos which date back to 2008 when I first started taking an interest in the natural world. My searches took me back to the beginning of that year, when I first discovered my parents Olympus 3x optical zoom point and shoot camera. This would become my weapon of choice for the next few months, as I went out into the garden every evening after school to try and capture the garden birds in action.

I am short of material at the moment, so I thought I'd post a few of the very first bird photos I ever took (this is exclusive stuff right here). The funny thing is, I even use to rate some of the photos...

3 star rating... (5 stars if you can tell what bird this is)

Coal tit (4 star rating)...

Greenfinch (4 star rating)...

Robin (a full 5 star rating)... I'm contemplating sending this one to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

I'll try and get out somewhere over the weekend so you won't have to look any more of my excellent photography, maybe for Wheatears at Bushy Park, or maybe I'll go prancing about for a few early butterflies.

One last thing, if you haven't already noticed, I've started tweeting on Twitter, and if you can't get enough of me, then you can follow me by clicking here, or by clicking on the link in the sidebar which says to follow me on twitter. That is all.