More moths, dragons and tigers.... ?

I've been continuing my moth trapping at my friend harry's house and am still getting some good catches, with the last one being 61 moths of  23 species. Its getting increasingly frustrating catching lots of micros without means of identifying them but i'm hoping to get the Micro ID book in the next few weeks.

From trapping more regularly I am starting to see some regulars turning up in the trap each night, which is good as it keeps me familiar with the more common species.

Uncertains are still making regular visits to the trap, now with much smaller numbers of rustics, and all parties are looking more and more worn.

An uncertainty of Uncertains.

Marbled beauties are now making up the bulk of catches with nearly 30 caught in the last two sessions. Dark arches are also a familiar sight, and representing the geometers are Riband Waves, with both forms being present in the last few traps i've set. 

Lots of moths are coming in small numbers, often the ones which are new to me, but some seem to be coming back for more on successive traps. I have had several Coronets, Sycamores and wainscots, and other singletons are turning up each time to add to my list.

Recent additions include -

Toadflax Pug - quite a stunner

Worn-looking Poplar Grey - nice to get
as I got the similar Sycamore last week

White Satin - Top class stunner.

I also went to Kinder Scout in Derbyshire last week. We went in the evening to catch the sunset and thus there were loads of moths. Unfortunately we were pressed for time so couldnt hang about to ID them, but I did get to see my first tiger moth, this Wood Tiger, a bit worn but still awesome. Bird-wise it was extremely quiet, with just a few Red grouse, some family parties of Meadow Pipits and good numbers of Grey Wags. 

Wood Tiger

On Thursday I took myself down to Holme Pierrepont for a mixed bag of Birding, Butterflies and Dragonfly hunting. It was exceptionally hot and I thought I was going to melt at any point but I had an excellent 4 hours knocking about Skylarks NR, blotts and the watersports centre. I rode along the rowing course, picking up a couple of Oystercatchers on Colwick Sluice, along with the usual BH Gulls and cormorants, before heading into Skylarks.

Azure Damselfly

Once I had locked the bike up I was instantly into looking at damselflies with scores flying around the sun-scorched grass in the first meadow. Common Blues and azures were both present, as well as many butterflies. Gatekeepers had emerged in earnest, with lots being seen flying amongst the nettles and brambles along the pathways. Green-veined whites and other browns were also flitting about in good numbers.

Common Blue Damselfly

I headed down to the jetty overlooking the main pond, and was greeted by many damsels and dragons, including Brown Hawkers and Emperors. On the mats of weed covering the surface of the pond were loads of damselflies, including some Small Red-eyed Damselflies, a new one for me. I was unsure at first as they are very local in Nottinghamshire, but I wrote off them being 'normal' red-eyed damsels, as they were as small, if not smaller than the blue-tailed damsels which were with them on the pond. I'd seen some 'normal' red-eyes at Holme Pit a few weeks back and they looked very large and bulky. Nice. There were also lots of shoals of Roach in the shallows, Reed Warblers in the reeds, and a couple of Grey Herons down the lake.

Round the corner, in the 'Glade', which had become infested with ragwort and Rosebay Willowherb, there were lots of butterflies. This site is particularly good for Meadow Browns, and i couldn't even begin to count the amount that were flying around the Ragwort and down low amongst the foliage. With these were several Peacocks, Small Torts and heaps of Cinnabar caterpillars.

Meadow Brown

I knocked around the rest of the reserve for a bit seeing lots of Butterflies in the Sunnier areas of the reserve, especially on the northern edge where it borders the watersports centre. Lots of  Ringlets and Gatekeepers were here on excellent habitat that mixes grassland with scrub and woodland edge.

Ringlet

Gatekeeper

I spent some time across the road exploring the grassland and scrub which borders Blott's pit afterwards, and added some more butterflies to the list including Small Skipper and a few Common Blues. It was reasonably quiet on the bird front, but I did find a Garden Warbler, as well as a couple of Stock Doves feeding near the entrance.

Male Small Skipper

Female Small Skipper

I also added Black-tailed Skimmer to the list, the first I've seen this year, basking in the sun on the banks of a dry ditch. It was very flighty though, which caused problems photographing it.

Black-tailed Skimmer

I sat by blotts pit for a while, watching a few Common Terns feeding across the lake, including a few young ones. Otherwise it was quiet bird wise, with just a few coots and swans on the water and little in the surrounding meadows. On the way out I took a route through some more 'lush' grassland near where some dry reedbeds are, and found a Latticed Heath, along with my first Six-spot Burnets of the year, and another Small Tortoiseshell feeding on some Ragwort.

Small tortoiseshell

I had a great afternoon in the searing heat, with 10 species of butterfly seen, around 40 species of bird, a new damselfly 'tick' and some nice moths thrown in. Good stuff.