Heatwave Mothing

I had the moth box out in the back yard again on Thursday 11th August,  I usually don't put the box out 2 nights in a row as it seems a bit unfair on the moths in my small courtyard garden but with the high overnight temperatures continuing as the heatwave continues to build I thought I would give it a go. I obviously recaught some moths from the previous night but there was also a totally different range of moths caught on the second night, 

There were only 4 Jersey Tiger Moths compared to the 17 the previous night but Galium Carpet, Dark Sword Grass, Small Mottled Willow, White Line Dart, Small Square Spot and Jersey Mocha all made appearances along with Flounced Rustic,  Square Spot Rustic and Setaceous Hebrew Character. 

Galium Carpet

Dark Sword Grass

Small Mottled Willow

White-line Dart

Small Square Spot

Jersey Mocha

Square Spot Rustic

Micro moths were thinner on the ground than the previous night but I did find a Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner and a Argyresthia goedarlella, both new for the back yard and both very attractive looking moths when seen through my loupe. 

Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner

Argyresthia goedarlella

After sorting out the moths I headed out for a Plym/Saltram walk with the plan to be home by 12 O'clock before the serious heat kicked in although it was baking hot by 10 O'clock anyway. I wasn't expecting to see much but things started well with a Barnacle Goose found amongst the Canada Geese out on the mudflats on the dropping tide. 

Barnacle Goose

Blaxton Marsh was beginning to empty out of birds and water but a Greenshank and a Black-tailed Godwit were seen amongst the Gulls and Curlews present. An interesting juvenile Gull was giving off a Yellow-legged Gull vibe before it flew out to the estuary showing a dark tail band and white rump but it certainly wasn't a classic looking one. 

A surprise bird was a Lapwing,  flushed from its hiding place in the dead grass and flying out to the mudflats off The Ride. Later it was flushed off the mud by bait diggers and flew off upriver. 

Another nice find was a juvenile Whinchat, my first of the autumn, and the family party of Spotted Flycatcher seen previously near the house had decamped to the trees around the dipping platform where they showed very well. 

Whinchat

Spotted Flycatcher

I worked 2 long days over the weekend of 13th/14th August, a thoroughly miserable experience in the hot and humid heatwave conditions and not helped by the lack of proper sleep due to the high overnight temperatures. However my commute to work on the Sunday was brightened up by seeing 4 White Stork circling over the River Plym at around 7am as seen from the bus as it travelled along The Embankment,  presumably birds released at Knepp in Sussex as part of the reintroduction scheme. 

Despite being absolutely knackered on arriving home from work on the Sunday evening I put the moth box out again in the back yard to make full use of the current hot overnight conditions and the next morning I had an interesting selection of moths again -  Treble Bar, Maidens Blush, 2 Turnip Moth and a Sallow Kitten were all new for the year but the best moth was a Scarce Bordered Straw (with ID help from @MothIDUK on Twitter). 

Maidens Blush

Turnip Moth

Sallow Kitten

Scarce Bordered Straw

Scarce Bordered Straw

After my 2 long and hot and sticky days at work over the weekend I wanted to get out for the day on Monday 15th August and with temperatures easing and skies cloudier we headed up to Bude for the day. It was noticeably cooler but still very hot and humid and we finally saw some brief but heavy showers of rain on the drive home which was just wonderful. 

It was busy as expected in Bude but we enjoyed a wander around and had a nice lunch at The Falcon Hotel. The sea was flat calm too and empty except for a few Gulls,  a Gannet and a Shag (and lots of humans!). 

Juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull, Bude

I took my scope with me and had a look at Maer Lake, the water level was very, very low with plenty of mud on show and as a result there were plenty of waders to see. The best were 2 Wood Sandpipers, my first for 4 years(!), both showed very well and at times were in the company of 2 Green and a Common Sandpiper. A Golden Plover moulting out of summer plumage, 4 Snipe, 5 Ringed Plover, 3 Lapwing, 9 Dunlin, 30 Black-tailed Godwit and 5 Curlew were also noted but all the waders were quite twitchy at times, presumably due to the attentions of a female Sparrowhawk occasionally flying by.

While we were in Bude an Osprey was found on the River Plym and so the next day (Tuesday 16th) I headed out for a walk to look for it. It was a juvenile bird and ringed and so I hoped it would still be present as Ospreys often linger on a South Devon estuary in the autumn but unfortunately there was no sign of it.

I did however find my first Tree Pipit of the autumn, it flushed silently from the grass and circled around for a while before landing in a tree. It then flew again, circled around and landed back in the grass never to be seen again and bizarrely was again totally silent. 

I was also pleased to find 5 Whinchat on this visit although they were very mobile and flighty. I also found 5 Stonechat, 3 Whitethroat,  2 Willow Warbler, 3 Chiffchaff and a Blackcap while overhead Swallows and House Martins were hawking insects. A Kestrel, a Buzzard, a Common Sandpiper, 2 Shag, 5 Oystercatcher, 4 Mistle Thrush, 3 Roe Deer and a Clouded Yellow were also of note.