You should have been here yesterday......

Everybody will be well aware of the cracking birds that have been along the east coast this last week or so. Brown Shrike was the obvious highlight but an early Olive Backed Pipit at Spurn was also of interest. Large numbers of more common birds such as Yellow Browed Warblers, Red Breasted Flycatcher and Red Backed Shrike were plentiful (to put it mildly). However, if you are planning a trip up there then do it in the next couple of days. Why? Well, Friday night all self respecting migrants will leave the vicinity never to be seen again. I can be pretty sure about this as the Thornton Three (yours truly, Dave and Andy) are planning a day at Spurn on Saturday......We've pencilled in a fall back plan of Norfolk so watch this space for a run down of mouth watering vagrants (that we missed)

Trap Result 27/09/08

Very little really but Pink Barred Sallow is always good to see. The first Black Rustic (4) of the year, Lunar Underwing (2) and second generation Snout gave a distinctly autumnal feel to the catch.

What a Lark......

Or rather not a lark. Well, at least in the very short time Chris Hubbard and I were at Bardon Hill trying to catch up with the earlier sighting of Woodlark on the mound. Scant consolation for clambering up there (I used to feel less out of breath when I smoked I think...) were several Jays, a flyover Lesser Redpoll and, on the downward descent, a noticeably large number of Goldcrest.

Pint of Bass, Diet Coke, Orange Fruit Shoot and Dytiscus marginalis please

A surprise find on Saturday came in the form of a Great Diving Beetle. The surprise wasn't so much in the insect itself but the location. It was in the garden of The Bulls Head at Abbots Oak. It was dead but in pristine condition. I'm sure there must be ponds in the vicinity and on further investigation it appears that they do disperse and migrate from pond to pond. Quite an impressive looking thing though nevertheless........

Merveille Du Jour

Last night's catch had an autumnal feel with Lunar Underwing and Frosted Orange but a lack of Black Rustic. However, the star of the show goes to a solitary MDJ. My first encounter with an absolutely cracking moth..............

Happy Birthday

To my long suffering wife................Happy 36th B'day Chelle. Have a top day.

Moth ID Quiz

If you've never stumbled across this on the Suffolk Moth Group website then give it a go. You can filter micros, macros or a combination. Great fun http://www.suffolkmothgroup.org.uk/quiz/index.shtml

Knighton Park

I noted on the LROS website a record of a Hobby at Knighton Spinney yesterday. I took the family over there at the weekend for a picnic and a wander round and it brought back a lot of memories. Rob Gill used to live (his mum still does) adjoining the park and the legend that is 'The Milky Bar Kid' just around the corner. Those two spent hours birding on the park, along with Dave, and I joined them on a fairly regular basis. It was one of THE BEST places to see Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in its day and also had a resident pair of Sparrowhawks. I remember Jack Snipe being up in the corner near the racecourse one winter and Rob having Red Legged Partridge and Redstart as garden ticks. Happy days.............

Trap Result 29/08/08

Near plague proportions of Large Yellow Underwing on Friday night, but star of the show was Gold Spot. This is not an uncommon moth, although it does tend to have a westerly bias in the county. Although these are regular in the trap there were 19 on Friday, which was slightly over shadowed by Dave who managed 21...... 40 of these between us in a night is quite something. Also present in large numbers were Brimstone. Again, a regular vistor in small numbers but 22 was quite a catch.....Silver Y provided a bit of migrant interest and Barred Sallow heralded the start of autumn. Other highlights were Vapourer and Frosted Orange.