Moth trapping at home: May 2017

Did only a couple of moth trapping sessions at home in May.

27/28 May
2 Orange Footman Eilema sororcula
1 Yellow-barred Brindle Acasis viretata
2 Figure of Eighty Tethea ocularis
1 Rustic Shoulder-knot Apamea sordens
1 Green Oak Tortrix Tortrix viridana
1 Olive Pearl Udea olivalis
2 Pale Oak Beauty Hypomecis punctinalis
4 Light Brocade Lacanobia w-latinum
1 Maiden's Blush Cyclophora punctaria
1 Clouded Border Lomaspilis marginata
1 Crescent Bell Epinotia bilunana
1 Vine's Rustic Hoplodrina ambigua
2 Treble Lines Charanyca trigrammica
2 Common Marbled Carpet Dysstroma truncata
2 White Ermine Spilosoma lubricipeda
2 Common Wave Cabera exanthemata
2 Small Magpie Anania hortulata
1 Brimstone Moth Opisthograptis luteolata
1f Bee Moth Aphomia sociella
1m Shuttle-shaped Dart Agrotis puta
5 Flame Shoulder Ochropleura plecta
4 Light Emerald Campaea margaritaria
7 Heart & Dart Agrotis exclamationis
13 (12m, 1f) Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria
1 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis
1 Freyer's Pug Eupithecia intricata
1 Double-striped Pug Gymnoscelis rufifasciata
2 Common Pug Eupithecia vulgata
1f Light Brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana
1 Common Marble Celypha lacunana
3 Marbled Minor agg. Oligia strigilis agg.

Also attracted to the MV was 1 Common Cockchafer Melolontha melolontha.

Yellow-barred Brindle Acasis viretata, 28 May 2017

Orange Footman Eilema sororcula, 28 May 2017

Freyer's Pug Eupithecia intricata, 28 May 2017

Male Pale Oak Beauty Hypomecis punctinalis, 28 May 2017

Green Oak Tortrix Tortrix viridana, 28 May 2017

Common Marble Celypha lacunana, 28 May 2017

Poplar Kitten: 4/5 June

A few moths at the light at home last night:

1 Poplar Kitten Furcula bifida - first record for home of this beautiful species.
1 Cypress Carpet Thera cupressata
1 Light Emerald Campaea margaritaria
2 Garden Carpet Xanthorhoe fluctuata
2 Common Wave Cabera exanthemata
1 Riband Wave Idaea aversata (ab. remutata)
6 Small Dusty Wave Idaea seriata
1 Marbled Minor agg. Oligia strigilis agg.
109 Diamond-back Moth Plutella xylostella
1 Many-plumed Moth Alucita hexadactyla
1 Yellow-spot Tortrix Pseudargyrotoza conwagana
1 Ruddy Streak Tachystola acroxantha
1 Light Brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana

Poplar Kitten Furcula bifida, Worcester Park, 5 June 2016 - note the broad black border to the outer edge of the central cross-band
and less wavy edge compared to Sallow Kitten.

Also attracted to the light was a Vine Weevil Otiorhynchus sulcatus.

Vine Weevil Otiorhynchus sulcatus, Worcester Park, 5 June 2016

Devon weekend highlights: 23rd - 24th April

Rachel and I spent the weekend visiting our good friends Jaffa and Helen in Budleigh Salterton in south-east Devon. Walked the coast path through the Otter Estuary, across White Bridge and eastwards around Otterton Point on Saturday, and on Sunday we walked northwards along the River Otter from Otterton Mill. No sign of the European Otters on Saturday evening that have been showing very well along the River Otter near Otterton Mill over the last month, and very little in terms of bird migration noted over the weekend either, but a few records made it into the notebook.

23rd: 1m Northern Wheatear (Otterton Point), 1H Common Sandpiper (River Otter at Otterton Mill), 1-2 Kingfisher (River Otter), 1 Cetti's Warbler (showed well by White Bridge - take note Staines Moor birds), and 2 Barn Swallow (White Bridge). Also, 1f Black Oil Beetle Meloe proscarabaeus found on Otterton Point and 1 Stoat Mustela erminea seen briefly from the car near Otterton (at the junction of Frogmore Road and Fore Street).

24th: 3 House Martin, 6 Sand Martin and 3 Barn Swallow (all near Otterton), and 1m Black Oil Beetle Meloe proscarabaeus and 2 Bloody-noded Beetle Timarcha tenebricosa along footpath beside the River Otter just north of Otterton.

Female Black Oil Beetle Meloe proscarabaeus, Otterton Point, 23 April 2016

Male Black Oil Beetle Meloe proscarabaeus, River Otter near Otterton, 24 April 2016

Bloody-nosed Beetle Timarcha tenebricosa, River Otter just north of Otterton, 24 April 2014

All photos and the (shakey) video above taken with a Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Good guides to oil beetle identification can be found on John Walter's website and also from Buglife. Take part in the Buglife survey here.

Smartphone wildlife macro photography

Back in May I bought a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 smartphone and discovered that the camera is excellent for macro photography. While not quite the same quality of the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, the Note 4's 16 MP front camera doesn't do a bad job and is great for those impromptu photographic opportunities.

The camera settings are as follows: mode: auto; ISO: auto; white balance: auto; metering: centre-weighted; HDR: off; tap to take pics: on. I usually magnify by 1.3 x and set the screen to maximum brightness in strong sun. I can't find any manual control of aperture but maybe another app allows this? All the pics below were taken with the phone, and have just been cropped a little and had some unsharp mask applied. Not bad results.

Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum, Worcester Park, Surrey, 28 July 2015

Five-spot Burnet Zygaena trifolii on its larval foodplant Greater Bird’s-foot Trefoil Lotus pedunculatus, Brook Manor, Devon, 9 July 2015

Lesser Stag Beetle Dorcus parallelipipedus, Bramley, Surrey, 13 July 2015. The eye is out of focus in this pic, but I was really
rushed at the time.

Yellow-legged Mining-bee Andrena flavipes next to its nest burrow, Riverford near Buckfastleigh, Devon, 8 July 2015

Volucella inanis, Worcester Park, Surrey, 25 July 2015

Small Skipper Thymelicus sylvestris, Hampton Court, Surrey, 1 July 2015. This pic was taken in low light in a marquee at the
Hampton Court Flower Show.

High Brown Fritillary Argynnis adippe, Aish Tor, Devon, 9 July 2015

Leaf-cutter Bee sp. probably Megachile centuncularis, sealing it's nest in my bee hotel with a leaf, Worcester Park, Surrey, 2 August 2015

Woodpigeon passage over the patch: 22 October

Vis mig at Staines Moor today produced a fairly decent movement of Woodpigeon with 2,449 over SSW (a new record count for Staines Moor), but was otherwise quiet with 1 Collared Dove S (surprisingly scarce on the open moor), 2 Peregrine S then 1 perching on the pylons, 9 Stock Dove S, 1 Redwing SE, 1 Mistle Thrush S, 1 Northern Lapwing S, 1 Reed Bunting S, 1 Grey Wagtail S, 1 alba wagtail S, 5+ Common Buzzard, 1+ Red Kite, 2 Egyptian Goose E, 8 Goldfinch S, 1 Greenfinch N and 2 Skylark NE.

Noted on the ground were 1 Fieldfare in hawthorns on the west side, 1+ Water Pipit along the Colne, 9 (5m, 4f) Stonechat scattered around the moor, 2-4 Grey Wagtail, 2 Pied Wagtail, 3 Little Grebe and 1 Little Egret all along the Colne, 2 Reed Bunting, 1 Kingfisher on the northern footbridge, 1 Common Snipe on the east side, just c15 Meadow Pipit, a few Skylark, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, and 2+ Kestrel.

Also on Staines Moor 3 Red Admiral S, and a fantastic Dor Beetle Geotrupes stercorarius.

Stanwell Moor added another 165 Woodpigeon SSW, 41 Eurasian Wigeon W, 3 Northern Lapwing E, and 1 Red-legged Partridge in car field.

One of two Peregrines present today - with all the Columbidae going past it must have been being in YO! Sushi for these guys today.
I wonder if these birds are moving with them?

Few thrushes moving today, with just one Redwing and this Mistle Thrush noted overhead and a single Fieldfare in the bushes

At least one very vocal Water Pipit seen well today, on the ground and in flight

Weather: Clear skies early morning (3 oktas) becoming cloudy in the afternoon (8 oktas) with light rain, light to moderate W wind, cold.

Rare ground beetles on Dartmoor: 13 June

Rachel and I met up with John Walters again this evening, this time to visit Dendles Wood - a patch of ancient oak pasture woodland situated on the southern edge of Dartmoor, to search for Britain's largest ground beetle - the Blue Ground Beetle Carabus intricatus. Blue Ground Beetles are nocturnal, spending the day in the soil and emerging after dark to climb the moss-covered oaks to hunt slugs. Spring to early summer is the best time to see them, when the adults are most active searching for mates¹.

Blue Ground Beetle is an Endangered Red Data Book species now restricted to just seven sites in south-west England and a single site in Wales, with southern Dartmoor being the species stronghold. They have only ever been recorded at 15 sites in Britain, and have been considered extinct more than once².

A couple of hours lamping moss covered oaks produced 2 Blue Ground Beetles, 1 Lesser Searcher Calosoma inquisitor devouring a caterpillar - a behaviour very rarely witnessed in the wild as this rare beetle tends to feed high in the canopy, 3 Ridged Violet Ground Beetles Carabus problematicus, and a single Moorland Ground Beetle Carabus arvensis. Also, another previously captured Lesser Searcher was released by John.

Tonight was quite dry so slugs were thin on the ground, apart from a single Leopard Slug Limax maximus. Also noted were a Nalassus laevioctostriatus - a Darkling (Tenebrionid) beetle, and a colony of Tree lungwort Lobaria pulmonaria.

Blue Ground Beetle Carabus intricatus, Dendles Wood

Lesser Searcher Calosoma inquisitor, feasting on a caterpillar (that was still alive when we first found it), Dendles Wood

Ridged Violet Ground Beetle Carabus problematicus, Dendles Wood

Moorland Ground Beetle Carabus arvensis, Dendles Wood - more commonly found on the open moor

Tree lungwort Lobaria pulmonaria - an epiphytic Lobariaceae lichen indicative of ancient forest, widely distributed across the
northern hemisphere and even recorded in tropical rainforest in Costa Rica (more here).

A huge thanks to John Walters for a fascinating and very memorable evening. I learn't a lot about these amazing insects and their ecology, and being eaten alive by midges was a small price to pay! For more information on the Blue Ground Beetle see John's website (where you can download some identification excellent guides) and the references below.

References

¹ Baldock, N. & Walters, J. (2008) The Wildlife of Dartmoor. Newton Abbot: Wotton Printers.
² Boyce, D. & Walters, J. (2001) The conservation of the Blue Ground Beetle in south-west England. British Wildlife 13: 101-108.

REGUA, Atlantic Forest, Brazil: 8 October

Spent the day birding an area of REGUA known as Waldenoor. A male White-shouldered Fire-eye and a pair of Black-tailed Tityra were the highlights on a rather quiet visit. Other birds noted include 2 Blue-winged Parrotlet, several Plain Parakeet, 4 Scaly-headed Parrot, 1 Grey-rumped Swift, 2 Saw-billed Hermit, 1m Rufous-tailed Jacamar, 1m White-flanked Antwren, 2 Streak-capped Antwren, 1 Plain-winged Woodcreeper, 1 Grey-hooded Flycatcher, 1 Sepia-capped Flycatcher, 1 Planalto Tyrannulet, 1 Yellow-olive Flycatcher, 1 Streaked Flycatcher, 1 Variegated Flycatcher, 2 Large-headed Flatbill, 2m Blue Manakin, 4 Chestnut-crowned Becard (including a pair at a nest), 2(1H) Red-eyed Vireo, 1 Bananaquit, 1+f Black-goggled Tanager, 1m Ruby-crowned Tanager, 2 Azure-shouldered Tanager, Golden-chevroned Tanager, 3 Green-headed Tanager, 7+ Red-necked Tanager, 1m Yellow-backed Tanager, 2m Blue Dacnis, 3 Violaceous Euphonia, 1 pr Orange-bellied Euphonia and 1 pr Chestnut-bellied Euphonia. Also, 2 White-eared Puffbird, 2 Cliff Flycatcher and a Fork-tailed Flycatcher were noted on the dirt road from Matumbo to Waldenoor.

Female Black-tailed Tityra

Female Black-tailed Tityra

Huge longhorn beetle sp. I hope to find out which species soon.

Otter Estuary and South West Coast Path, Devon

Down in Devon visiting our good friends Jaffa, aka the Cream Tea Birder, and Helen, aka the Cream Tea Bird. A circular walk around Jaffa's patch, the Otter Estuary, and eastwards along the coast path returning via Otterton, produced very few birds in a strong south-westerly, with 2 Peregrine, 1 Manx Shearwater and 3 Northern Gannet moving west offshore, and 6 Shelduck on the Otter.

1 Red-headed Cardinal Beetle Pyrochroa serraticornis, 1m Thick-legged Flower-beetle Oedemera nobilis and 1 Painted Lady Vanessa cardui were noted, and lots of common wild flowers.

Red-headed Cardinal Beetle Pyrochroa serraticornis

Male Thick-legged Flower-beetle Oedemera nobilis. Popeye Beetle would be a much better name!

7-spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata

Newly fledged Blue Tit, barely able to fly

Northumberland National Park: 5 June

Explored a little of Northumberland National Park today. A walk along the Beamish Valley to Linhope Spout produced 1 Common Sandpiper along the river, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 4 Whinchat, several redpolls overhead, lots of Willow Warbler (only 1 actually seen), and a small flock of extremely tame Chaffinches (several males and females) that didn't like our posh M&S raisins one bit. A hike up to Simonside Ridge in the afternoon to look for Emperor Moths Saturnia pavonia drew a blank for the moth in cool windy conditions, but we did find 3-4 Red Grouse, 1+ Curlew, a superb Carabus nitens ground beetle, and some cool plants including mosses Juniper Haircap Polytrichum juniperinum (I think) and Common hair-cap moss Polytrichum commune, and lots of Bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus and Common cotton-grass Eriophorum angustifolium.

Carabus nitens, Simonside Ridge

Male Chaffinch, Linhope Spout (this was as soft as I could get it Jaffa!). Note the fine hair-like feathers on the nape? The
females also had these (click to enlarge).

Juniper Haircap Polytrichum juniperinum?, Simonside Ridge

Common hair-cap moss Polytrichum commune, Simonside Ridge

Bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus

Simonside Ridge, Northumberland National Park

Also witnessed an interesting but tragic piece of animal behaviour. While driving along the B6342 a few miles south of Rothbury, we saw a Skylark pecking vigorously at something in the road. Pulling over, we realised that the 'something' was actually a dead Skylark! Concerned the live bird might also get hit by a car, we moved the still warm corpse (an adult bird) off the road, and took a few pics in the process. Presumably the live bird was trying to encourage the dead one to move? Rachel and I have also seen this behaviour before, with a flock of Redshanks pecking at a dead one in a road in Iceland in 1999.

Skylark foot - check out the length of that hind claw!

REGUA, Atlantic Forest, Brazil: 21 September

Spent much of the day checking out the huge variety of moths and other insects attracted to the new moth wall overnight. The undoubted highlight was this amazing male Harlequin Beetle Acrocinus longimanus. These huge longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae) are found throughout Central and South America, where they spend most of their lives high in the canopy feeding mainly on sap, but occasionally come to lights. The purpose of the male's huge forelegs (manus - see the scientific name) is not certain, but might help when climbing across gaps in the canopy or be used in courtship. The large and protein-rich larvae are eaten throughout much of Latin America, and mounted adults are sold for high sums of money.

Male Harlequin Beetle Acrocinus longimanus

Male Harlequin Beetle Acrocinus longimanus