Suffolk...

 I was going to do a better holiday blog, but things are backing up on me a bit so this will be brief, just for completeness. While we were away for 2 weeks there were very few noteworthy bird reports from Suffolk but my Northumberland Birds WhatsApp group was niggling away at me with almost daily reports of the goodies back home. Most galling was a tremendous juvenile Red footed Falcon on one of our local moorland patches. I even recognised the telegraph pole it was perched on in the photos! After about 10 days of daily gripping frame fillers, we were on our way home. Bird still present at 10.30am. Looking good. After 360 miles with a sickly clutch I decided to get up there first thing next morning. Yes you've guessed it. That 10.30 am sighting while I was on the A1 near Stamford, was the last. It had gone.

Back to the Suffolk report. The only good bird ( for us) was a very close Dartford Warbler in the dunes at Sizewell. We went for a brace of Glossy Ibis at Aldburgh but dipped those. Im starting to sound like Unlucky Alf here...

So, I'll just end with some snaps from the week...

Peggy enjoyed her trips out and pub lunches...

Southwold, always a pleasure.

Aldeburgh Food Festival at Snape Maltings.

Crabbing at Walberswick.

Above, Shingle Street. What a place.

Sunset from the house

Wood Mouse watching the moth trap action...

Holiday Moths

 Well that's our two weeks holiday in Suffolk over and we are back to work.

We spent the fortnight, as usual, in Westleton, a village only a mile or so from RSPB Minsmere, a place we have visited twelve times since 2002, staying in eight different houses! Its probably enough to say that we like it there.

From a wildlife perspective, I never seem to do very well with the birding, but for insects and other taxa, there is plenty to keep my interest up over multiple visits. Who knows, one day I might even jam in on a good bird !

For this post I just want to get the mothing out of the way. Over two weeks I trapped on 6 nights, missing others due to overnight wind or showers.

There were 9 new species for me, most interestingly were a good few migrants.

Best of all was this Diasemiopsis ramburialis, the Vagrant China Mark. This is a vagrant with only 8 previous Suffolk records.

I think this Pediasia contaminella is new for me? Not found at home.

This Carnation Tortrix Cacoecimorpha pronubana was nice even showing its orange hindwing.

One of my most wanted migrants, Palpita vitrealis came on the final night trapping. What a stunner, smaller than imagined.

This Mallow was quite distinctive when compared to the Shaded Broad Bar which is common at home.

Above, this Hoary Footman was tricky to separate from Scarce Footman but both were caught.

Scarce Footman with the bright darker yellow full length costa.

Feathered Brindle was a nice surprise and off my radar, only the one caught.

Geography sorts out this Deep Brown Dart from our own Northern Deep Brown Dart. Caught a few of these. Back home NDBD is barely annual in small numbers.

Apart from those new to me species, there was also some I am pleased to get on my visits to Suffolk - 

Convolvulus Hawk-moth, three taken on the first two nights, none thereafter. These two in the trap together.

I have only seen one Delicate before, but caught them every time trapping here up to 5 a night,

Scarce Bordered Straw visited 3 times, both pale and dark forms seen.

Neocochylis molliculana Ive had on a previous visit.

As above, Webb's Wainscot has graced the holiday trap before.

So, its always good to take the moth trap on holiday, there is always going to be something of interest in there...

Long Time No See.

 A bit of a gap between blog posts here due to being away on holiday for two weeks. We went to Suffolk, as is usual these days, but this time for two weeks rather than just the one. We couldn't get away in June this year so it was good to have a longer break.

It was great to hear locals both on TV and around villages on some days saying that winter was on its way and things like 'well at least we had one good week' etc when outside it was 23 degrees and sunny. One day at Dunwich there was a 15 minute shower and people were going around in big coats. Needless to say, like the cliche, we were in T shirts the whole time...it was glorious!   What visitors to Northumberland from the South must think when they get here. It is usually dry but usually a few degrees colder than most of the country. A few times recently we have commented that on the TV weather forecast we are often the coldest in the UK including Shetland.

All the lovely days did little for the birding, so most of my wildlife watching was of the invertebrate kind. Northumberland  may be good for birding but we cant touch the south when it comes to insects etc.

Our base for the fortnight was Westleton an area we know quite well now, this was our 9th stay in the village.

Armed with the moth trap, I had a few targets in mind but unlike birding you cant 'up your game' you just turn the light on and wait. A tin of sugary elixir was also taken, for a very specific reason.

We drove the 350 miles down on Friday the 3rd Sept, returning on Friday 17th.

There were some good highlights but I am starting with the best of the bunch. A very big and previously very rare moth, the Clifden Nonpariel or Blue Underwing has been having a resurgence in the last couple of years. Once a mythical migrant at coastal traps, it now breeds in southern England and seems to be doing well. This is the reason I took a tin of treacley sugar mix. These 'underwings' are often more easily attracted to this than to light, so it wouldn't hurt my quest to do both. 

Five nights passed without a single moth taking the bait. Nothing at all. But nothing ventured they say, on Twitter loads of Blue Underwings were being trapped from Norfolk to Somerset and even in Suffolk, so I hoped luck would be with me.

On night 6, it certainly was. I had painted the usual tree trunk at dusk and checked a couple of times to no avail so when it came to bedtime, I thought Id have another glance. At midnight, I looked out and there was this huge apparition on the bait. Like finding a rare bird, I went into panic mode. I shouted for Jane to get up, she had just gone to bed 10 mins earlier and was keen to see the moth, as I flapped around more than the moth would, putting the flash on the camera, hoping the Clifden wouldn't do a bunk. Luckily it was enjoying the sugar and it was quite happy to allow a few shots to be taken. It was a pristine new specimen so I didn't want to pot it up or keep it over night. I took my photos then turned off the moth trap so it could go about its business without disturbance. What a moth...

What a beauty. The name means 'Beyond Compare'. How appropriate.

The garden sugar, on a different night attracted another lifer for me but a much more understated one - 

...the Buttoned Snout. A local and scarce species.

Meanwhile the moth trap was no slouch either. The warm nights pulled in hundreds of moths. As it was a holiday, I didnt spend time counting Setaceous Hebrew Characters, Common Wainscots, Turnip Moths, Brimstones and Vines Rustics of which I caught hundreds of each, I concentrated on 'good' or new species for me that we don't see at home. Here is a sample - 

Labelled from top left like reading a book, see below.  

Row 1. Anania crocealis, Evergestis limbata, Cypress Pug, Dusky Thorn.

Row 2. Evergestis extimalis, Yellow Belle, Box Tree Moth, Small Blood Vein.

Row 3. Celypha rufana, Nephopterix Angustella, White Point, Dogs Tooth.

Row 4. Cochylis molliculana, Monopis monachella, Hedge Rustic, Webb's Wainscot.

Over the holiday we did a few nice walks around coastal marshes and nice picturesque villages, we even twitched locations for the TV series 'The Detectorists' one of our faves around the small town of Framlingham.

'Danebury Scout Hut' the base camp for Lance and Andy...The Detectorists.

On our travels it wasn't just pub lunches and Adnam's Cider, there were more small wildlife to be had...

To be continued...

 

Suffolk

Just back from a nice week in Westleton, Suffolk. We have stayed in the village, about 2 miles from Minsmere, about 8 times now over the years in 5 different houses. Its a nice spot, equidistant between Soutwold and Aldeburgh, nice seaside towns. The area has good heathland, woods coast and reedbeds so there is always something for the naturalist away.

This time, in line with most of 2018, little deliberate birding was done, but I still managed 2 Stone Curlew near Minsmere, 2 Hobby together at Thorpeness, several Green Woodpecker ( scarce birds at home), a dozen Little Gulls at Sizewell, 8 Whinchats at Aldeburgh, but generally I was unsettled at the general lack of small birdlife around the countryside. Place were quite literally silent. No woodpigeons, crows, robins or dunnocks. Not a sound. I did see the odd passing tit flock but that was about it really.

Other forms of wildlife added interest for this Northerner -

Munjac in several areas, Grey Squirrels ( not annual at home), Adder, Migrant Hawkers, Ruddy and Common Darters and of course, the moths. Bringing the trap down here is always gauranteed to get new species for me and this week was very good indeed, with a couple of very localised species that would never have been on my radar.

 Hopefully we will be brave enough to face that bloody horrendous A1 for a return visit next year, but in the mean time here are a few pics...

Muntjac

Moth Trap fired up.

About 200 yds away from the digs lies the heath.

Dusky Thorn

Oak Hook-tip

Least Carpet

Archers Dart

Gold Triangle

Cypress Pug

Tawny Wave

Heath Rustic

Lunar Yellow Underwing

Mullein Wave

Meal Moth

Wax Moth

White Point

Beaded Chestnut

Holiday.....

Last week we were off down to Suffolk on holiday. We stayed in a nice bungalow in Westleton, our seventh visit here, though not to the same house. In this village we have stayed in 5 different properties over the years but we like the area, being quite central for some nice places around about.

Most years we try one week in the north of Scotland and another in the south. Being from Northumberland, a colder, quite dry, county, it makes a change to sample some of the milder climate the south has to offer. On this occasion, however, it did not want to play ball. The week was mixed with some nice fine autumnal spells and some odd heavy rain storms. Luckily we didnt get caught out in one.

On the wildlife front, there is always something of interest for me so far from home, things that might be commonplace to naturalists who live south of the Humber, but do not or very rarely occur in Northumberland. This visit was no exception.

I didn't really put myself out to go seeking out new things, but just kept an open mind to see what would turn up... 

Above - Our digs for the week...

Unfortunately, this happened on several occasions.

Above - When the sun came out though, it was very nice, these pics are the hamlet of Shingle Street.

Blood Vein. A common species over much of England, but I've never seen one at home.

The Dusky Thorn was one I hoped to get in the trap down here. On our first night, the first moth to arrive was this. 

Hornet. What a fantastic beast. I have seen them at Westleton before but have never got close enough for a photo, so one in the moth trap was very welcome.

The Vestal. A scarce migrant moth, rare at home and new for me. This one was caught during the day as it fluttered across the lawn.

Even pest non native species are welcomed in our garden...Rosemary Beetle. New to me.

Brown Argus was a lifer for me having only seen Northern Brown Argus before.

Southwold

Even the storms were good to see. Very dramatic. 

Sizewell to Minsmere, lovely despite the Nuclear Powerstation!

Sheeps-bit

Sea Holly 

Parasol Mushroom. Not new and found regularly at home, but I liked this location...