Willow Tit

 

Willow Tit, a rare bird for me as we don't get them in Sussex. I was staying up in Derbyshire with the family for a few days and with a rainy wet morning, the others were either off swimming or having a lie in, so I headed over to Carsington Water to see what birds were about. The target was the Willow Tit which e-bird said had been reported from around Stones Island on the reservoir.

After a couple of hours wandering around in the rain I had seen plenty of birds but had little in the way of pictures to show for the effort. A distant Tree Sparrow eventually gave itself up for a picture but on checking it later my initial reaction was to delete it. Mist, dull light and high ISO had given an image that was barely recognisable. Second thoughts when I got home and half an hour playing around with Photoshop eventually gave me a recognisable, if disappointing image.

Tree Sparrow

Still it was worth recording, my last sighting was at Bolderwall Farm Dungeness in 2019.

No sign of the Willow Tits so I retired to the bird hide adjacent to Horseshoe Island to eat my breakfast. It had a couple of feeders with various tits and finches dropping in to feed. I don't like taking pictures of birds on feeders but with a chance of the Willow Tit it was worth getting the camera ready.

Nothing unusual for thirty minutes or so but as I was getting ready to leave a bird dropped in that looked promising. I managed to snap a few quick pictures and it was gone. 

The trouble with photographing birds is that you don't really look at the bird, you are so focussed on taking the picture that you don't see the detail. Once it had flown I realised that I didn't know if it was a Willow Tit or a Marsh Tit. 

Willow Tit

Fortunately a couple of the pictures gave a clear view of the bill with no white spot on the upper mandible and with a face pattern and a pale wing patch that strongly suggested the Willow Tit. I didn't hear it call but I did have the Merlin App recording and it was showing Willow Tit confirming the sighting.

Willow Tit

So a miserable wet morning had turned into a successful birding session, my first Tree Sparrow for four years and then my first Willow Tit since 2016 at Fairburn Ings.

I also had good views of Dippers on the River Dovey but unfortunately was travelling light that day and had left my camera at home. Three birds I do not get to see in Sussex, I will have to visit the area again.

Spectacles

 

The weather in July had not been good for putting the moth trap out but with warm dry weather returning at the end of August and into September there was a chance to do some catching up. The moths would be different but there might be an opportunity  to get some new garden ticks.

Plenty of moths but where to start, perhaps the Spectacle. Easy to spot from the head shot but a bit harder to tell the Spectacle and Dark Spectacle apart.

Spectacle

Spectacle - Abrostola tripartita

Dark Spectacle - Abrostola triplasia

They are probably easy to tell apart when in pristine condition but once a bit worn and with markings beginning to fade it becomes a bit more challenging.

There have also been good numbers of less common moths, ones that I would have considered rarities and probable migrants, just a few years ago. Portland Ribbon Wave (6+), Channel Island Pug (6+), Blair's Mocha (10+), Clancy's Rustic (8+), Given the numbers involved and the nights they were caught I think local breeding populations are more likely.

Portland Ribbon Wave - Idaea degeneraria

Channel Islands Pug - Eupithecia ultimaria

Blair's Mocha - Cyclophora puppillaria

Clancy's Rustic - Caradrina kadenii

Clancy's Rustic - Caradrina kadenii

Best moth of the year so far and new for me, a Convolvulus Hawk-moth. It's not the rarest moth that I have caught but there is just something that raises the spirits when you open the trap and see a hawk-moth sitting there.

Convolvulus Hawk-moth - Agrius convolvuli 

Also new a Dewick's Plusia and an Old Lady.

Dewick's Plusia - Macdunnoughia confusa

Old Lady - Mormo maura

Others worth recording

Radford's Flame Shoulder - Ochropleura leucogaster

Scarce Border Straw - Helicoverpa armigera

Hedge Rustic - Tholera cespitis

Blackneck - Lygephila pastinum

Four-spotted Footman - Lithosia quadra

A lovely Frosted Orange, new for me but unfortunately not found in the garden.

Frosted Orange - Gortyna flavago

Large Thorn - Ennomos autumnaria

Straw Underwing - Thalpophila matura

Also a couple of green coloured moths. The moths are not rare but I don't find many of them in the trap.

Light Emerald - Campaea margaritaria

Small Emerald - Hemistola chrysoprasaria

One new micro

Red-barred Tortrix - Ditula angustiorana

And two that got away from me. Nice pictures but they need dissection to confirm the identity of the moths. Must check to see if there is anyone in West Sussex that offers this as a service although I am not really sure that I want to kill them just for the sake of my garden list.

Bordered Marble - Endothenia marginana or Teasel Marble - Endothenia gentianaeana

My money is on the Teasel Marble but I will never know. Over a hundred of these two species in the county records, were they all dissected to identify them?

And below what I thought was a Clover Case-bearer but now relegated to Coleophora agg. 

Possible Clover Case-bearer - Coleophora alcyonipennella

The catch through August and September has been good although I am still below last year on the number of different species recorded, with the bulk of the numbers usually made up of Box Tree, Yellow Underwings, Lunar Underwings, Rusty-Dot Pearls and Light Brown Apple Moths.

The moth trap is out again tonight, maybe still a chance to catch that Oleander before the cold weather arrives!

Aquatic Warbler

 

What to do, an Aquatic Warbler reported just a few miles from home. It would be a life tick but it meant facing up to another twitch and I knew I wouldn't like it. Still, a life tick, close to home, I had to go.

I skipped the Sunday hoping that the bird would still be there on the Monday and that there would be less people around. The bird was still present but unfortunately so were the people, a lot of them surrounding a bush that was apparently its favoured spot. About half of them where standing in the long grass, along side the river, which I would imagine was its feeding area. It didn't look promising.

I waited about an hour with the only view being a quick flight from the favoured bush into the long grass further down the river where it stayed for about an hour and a half. It was brown, I would even say light brown and it was warbler size but there was no way I could identify it as an Aquatic Warbler.

Fortunately after the hour and a half wait it emerged and showed well on some of the riverside vegetation before disappearing back into its favoured bush.

Aquatic Warbler

Aquatic Warbler

Not the easiest of places to get a good picture but the bird had shown well and I was confident in elevating my identification from "little brown job" to Aquatic Warbler.

A few years ago I would have joined the throng in trying to get the perfect picture. These days I am happy with the record shot and the chance to move on in search of something else a bit less stressful.

Scarce Marsh Pearl

 

Scarce Marsh Pearl - and true to its name, this moth actually is scarce with only five reports ever in West Sussex and not even mentioned in my Moths or Micro Moths of Great Britain and Ireland, Field Guides. It is probably a migrant species and I do live on the South Coast but  then who knows, it may just be in the process of establishing itself here.

I initially took it to be an Anania or Udea sp. and did not take much notice of it. Fortunately I did take a picture and when I looked at it later the leading edge of the wings looked to be too straight for those species. After some searching I messaged Sean Foote at UK Moth Identification who came back with the answer.

Scarce Marsh Pearl - Psammotis pulveralis

I also had four other moths new to the garden, Oblique Carpet, Buff Arches, Hollyhock Seed Moth and Fleabane Smudge.

Oblique Carpet - Orthonama vittata

Buff Arches - Habrosyne pyritoides

Hollyhock Seed Moth - Pexicopia malvella

Fleabane Smudge - Digitivalva pulicariae

My moth numbers, both of species and quantity are well down this year with the poor weather through July being the main cause. However there have still been a few good moths through the trap.

Early Thorn - Selenia dentaria

Lunar-spotted Pinion - Cosmia pyralina

Herald - Scoliopteryx libatrix

Nut-tree Tussock - Colocasia coryli

Scorched Carpet - Ligdia adustata

Tree-lichen Beauty - Cryphia algae

Diamond-back Marble - Eudemis profundana

Little Ermel - Swammerdamia pyrella

Marbled Piercer - Cydia splendana

Pine Marble - Piniphila bifasciana

Acer Sober - Anarsia innoxiella

Comfrey Ermel - Ethmia quadrillella

The variety in shape colour and patterns never ceases to amaze me but at least it is gradually becoming a bit easier to identify the different species.

Raspberry Clearwing

 

The Clearwing lures worked their magic again in the few hot days we had at the end of June.

I was looking forward to a record year but then July was windy, cold and wet and I didn't even bother taking the lures out of the freezer.

August arrives and with it a few warmer days around the tenth and eleventh of the month. I wasn't really hopeful, it wasn't that warm and I had missed the flight season for some of the Clearwings, such as the Large Red-belted. However, if you don't try you don't find so it was worth having a go. Raspberry, Red-tipped and Six-belted should still have been around until the mid/end of August.

Raspberry Clearwing - Pennisetia hylaeiformis

Some limited success with a single Raspberry in the trap on the 10th and then three more on the 11th but no sign of the Six-belted or Red-tipped.

Raspberry Clearwing - Pennisetia hylaeiformis

It wasn't the successful year I had hoped for but the Raspberry was a lifer for me and took my year list to six, if I include the Orange-tailed seen at Bromley. The garden list also sits at six with the Orange-tailed and Large Red-belted, in the garden, being the key targets for next year.