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?

White-rumped Sandpiper

 

This was very nearly a replay of my 6th January 2019 blog about a White-rumped Sandpiper at Pulborough Brooks. On that occasion I had sightings of a very distant bird that had been identified as a White-rumped Sandpiper. Despite watching the bird for a couple of hours, during which time it barely moved, I could not see sufficient detail to make the identification myself. It was a life tick missed.

The new bird was reported on the Ferry Pool at Pagham Harbour with a second bird being reported just a mile or so away at Medmerry Stilt Pool. Neither location sounded like a good option for viewing a White-rumped Sandpiper. The bird is smaller than  Dunlin and would probably be around 150m from the nearest viewing points at each site. With a risk that either bird could fly the choice was easy. The Ferry Pool was closer  and would not involve such a long wasted walk if it did disappear.

A quick scan when I arrived located a promising suspect feeding with a small flock of Dunlin.

Dunlin and White-rumped Sandpiper

As with the Pulborough bird, it was overcast and difficult to make out the detail but the general impression was good. Smaller than the Dunlin, bill shorter than the Dunlin, a more slender bird, and with wing tips that extended beyond the tail. There also appeared to be a white supercilium but it did not show as much as I would have liked and the picture above is the only one that showed any sign of it. Slightly decurved bill? well possibly but it is always a subjective assessment. It is difficult to make out the plumage detail on the pictures but white underparts and streaking on the breast and flanks were visible through the scope.

Views through the scope were clearer but the pictures, even if poor quality and heavy crops, give you the opportunity to spend longer considering the identification.

It was looking good but these are not birds that I know well and I hadn't ruled out the very similar looking Baird's Sandpiper. I needed to see the white rump. There were reports of birders I trusted having seen it flying earlier and showing a white rump but having rejected the Pulborough bird I was not going to leave without seeing it for myself.

I had to wait but after a dispute with one of the Dunlin it did eventually fly and it did show a white rump so having waited over three year I had my life tick. Where is the picture of the white rump. I didn't even attempt it. I have made that mistake before, rushed to get a picture, failed to get it in focus or in frame and then realised that I had neither picture or memory of what I had been looking at.

I haven't done much birding lately but getting a life tick and adding Common Sandpiper and Little-ringed Plover to my very modest year list made for a pleasant afternoons birding.

Clearwings

 

Two years ago I purchased a set of  pheromone lures to attract Clearwing moths and also a lure for the Emperor Moth. Success has been mixed. That is to say the Emperor lure was an immediate success with ten to fifteen moths attracted each time it was taken out on the commons and the Clearwing lures were a complete failure or at least my use of them was a complete failure with no sign of Clearwings to any lure.

For a time the success with the Emperor moth was enough with some great picture opportunities being obtained.

But then you start to think, am I doing something wrong or have I been sold some duff bungs that have no pheromone content. I had done the research and over the two years had taken the lures on an extended tour of locations in Sussex, Kent and parts of Wales where there was a history of Clearwing sightings. With nothing to show for my efforts I needed a change of approach.

The Emperor moth had been easy, just clip the lure onto the rucksack, choose a hot day and a suitable location and wait for the moths to appear. But Emperor Moths are big and brightly coloured so easily spotted when they do a flyby. The Clearwings are small and for the most part black and are not easily spotted. There was a good chance that the lures had attracted Clearwings and that I had not seen them. I need some way of trapping them to ensure they didn't just fly off after a quick investigation and dismissal of the lure.

The answer was a cheap plastic trap although I could just as easily have made something out of a couple of plastic water bottles. What better place to try out my new toy than my back garden, in the middle of town, in an area with no history of Clearwing sightings. I really had no chance of success.

I decided that targeting the Six-belted Clearwing was my best hope. I loaded up the trap with the API lure and hung it in the apple tree at the bottom of the garden, checking it every hour. At midday on my fourth check there was movement in the trap. Opening it carefully I had two Six-belted Clearwings. How can finding something so small and insignificant give you such a feeling of joy?

Six-belted Clearwing - Bembecia ichneumoniformis

Six-belted Clearwing - Bembecia ichneumoniformis 

Flushed with success I replaced the lure with the MYO to target the Red-belted Clearwing and within the hour I had four in the trap.

Red-belted Clearwing - Synanthedon myopaeformis

Red-belted Clearwing - Synanthedon myopaeformis

Red-belted Clearwing - Synanthedon myopaeformis

It had to be worth trying for a third and with a lot of mature gardens around me the Currant Clearwing seemed the obvious choice using the TIP lure. There was nothing more that afternoon and checking the trap in the morning all I had was one very angry wasp. There was still nothing in the trap by midday so I added the VES lure which would then also give me the chance of attracting the Red-tipped Clearwing as well. As incredible as it may seem, within the hour I had a single Red-tipped in the trap.

Red-tipped Clearwing - Synanthedon formicaeformis

 

It just seems amazing that after two years of looking I find that I can attract the Clearwings to my back garden. The quest is now really on. I have three but there are another twelve to see and I also have a Clearwing garden list which is always a good incentive to keep searching.

Footnote - a second Red-tipped appeared in the trap just after I finished writing this blog but so far no sign of a Currant Clearwing.

Red-tipped Clearwing - Synanthedon formicaeformis

Then the next day just after I had finished adding the footnote I had a Yellow-legged Clearwing in the trap to an AND lure. I had been looking for Orange-tailed. I think that makes me nine Clearwings of four different types in four days. 

Yellow-legged - Synanthedon vespiformis

Given that I live in an area where the Atlas of Britain and Ireland's Moths suggests that no Clearwings are present I think access to these lures will show that Clearwing moths are far more common than we think.

And my garden list moves up to four.