Selsey Squacco

 

The location, Broad Rife feeding into Pagham Harbour at the far western end of the North Wall. It is a fifty metre stretch of rife, seemingly nothing special and yet for the second time in just three years it was temporary home to a Squacco Heron for most of August. Perhaps it was the same bird making a return visit or maybe this is what Squacco heaven looks like and we can expect more birds to put in an appearance in the future. Cattle Egrets were a rarity like the Squacco only a few years back, now they are here in big numbers. Who knows what may happen?

I visited three times whilst it was in residence and whilst it did at times show well and some lucky birders did get close up views, for me, it was always distant. Added to that we had a heat haze and heavy air pollution due to the lack of rain, which resulting in the photographs lacking any real detail.

I took a good number of pictures but the only ones I kept were one of it flying in and another of it with a large fish it had caught.

Fortunately I still have pictures from the earlier visit when I was lucky enough to have the bird all to myself for a couple of hours and where it proved to be very confiding, giving much better views.

There have been a few other good birds around Pagham Harbour but most were staying distant. I managed shots of a Sedge Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher but the Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers, amongst others, were staying just outside of quality picture range.

Sedge Warbler

Spotted Flycatcher

Sadly the Squacco has now moved on. Lets hope it returns next year.

July Garden Moths

 

July started much as June had ended with some good mothing nights and with a good variety of moths but as I only use actinic lights perhaps not in the numbers some people get to report.

My main interest is in my garden list so the following are some of the additions to that list during the month plus a few other pictures of moths that I enjoyed.

There were also the four Garden Clearwings during the month but see the earlier blog for details of those.

Blackneck - Lygephila pastinum

Blood-vein - Timandra comae

Bordered Straw - Heliothis peltigera

Broad-barred White - Hecatera bicolorata

Clay - Mythimna ferrago

Comfrey Ermel - Ethmia quadrillella

Coronet - Craniophora ligustri

Dark Bordered Pearl - Evergestis limbata

Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet - Xanthorhoe ferrugata

Double-striped Tabby - Hypsopygia glaucinalis

Dun-bar - Cosmia trapezina

Really not sure about the next one. It looks like pictures I have seen of False Mocha but I know these Cyclophora genus can be difficult to tell apart and are even capable of interbreeding so the jury is out on this one. I do not dissect the moths I catch.

Possible False Mocha - Cyclophora porata

Garden Tiger, a regular in the garden but always a bit of a disappointment as I am still waiting for the first garden Jersey Tiger.

Garden Tiger - Arctia caja

Gold Spot - Plusia festucae

The Herald, another moth I have waited a long time to see, just intrigued by its unusual shape.

Herald - Scoliopteryx libatrix

After catching lots of the Scarce Footman and spending a lot of time examining them in the hope of finding a Hoary Footman, this turned up in the trap. There have been pale Scarce Footman in the past but nothing like this one and the white underwing was also visible.

Hoary Footman - Eilema caniola

Iron Prominent - Notodonta dromedarius

July Highflyer  - Hydriomena furcata

I nearly dismissed the next moth as another Grass Veneer, but it just looked that bit different and further investigation showed it to be a Juniper Webber.

Juniper Webber - Dichomeris marginella

Knapweed Conch - Agapeta zoegana

Knot Grass - Acronicta rumicis

I have to confess, the next moth was caught in a friends garden across the border in Eastleigh but having put it in the blog in error I couldn't bring myself to take it out.

Lackey - Malacosoma neustris

Large Ranunculus, I had my doubts on this one as its usual flight period is September to October but with those markings the only alternative was the Black-banded Polymixis xanthomista which would have been an even bigger surprise.

Large Ranunculus - Polymixis flavicincta

Lychnis - Hadena bicruris

With the Micro Moths you really need a hand lens or a picture you can enlarge to show the detail. In life at 6-8mm long you just see the Maple Button as a small yellow blob.

Maple Button - Acleris forsskaleana

Marbled Conch - Eupoecilia angustana

Marbled Piercer - Cydia splendana

Nut-tree Tussock - Colocasia coryli

Oak Hook-tip - Watsonalla binaria

Rosy Rustic - Hydraecia micacea

Next the nationally scarce Rosy-stripped Knot-horn a nice find but probably a migrant. One of the benefits of living near the coast.

Rosy-striped Knot-horn - Oncocera semirubella

September Thorn - Ennomas erosaria

Single-dotted Wave - Idaea dimidata

Small Emerald - Hemistola chrysoprasaria

Straw-barred Pearl - Pyrausta despicata

Tawny Shears - Hadena perplexa

Also a lot more of the Tree-lichen Beauty this year against only one last year.

Tree-lichen Beauty - Cryphia algae

Vapourer - Orgyia antiqua

What will August deliver and how will the hot weather and drought impact on the numbers, size and variety?