Wildlife

James Lowen

Three good garden birds provided interest: Egyptian Goose and Willow Warbler were both new for the garden, and Golden Plover only the second record. A new moth for me caught at home was the tiny crumbed Duponchelia fovealis. And I was granted an opportunity to see another when Matt Stainthorpe, who lives a couple of miles away, brought one round to complement his star prize of the night: Norfolk's first Portland Ribbon Wave. This is a smart geometer that I have only seen on Portland, and it was new for quite a few folk locally, so there was quite the procession to our driveway, where Matt left the moth so admirers could visit.

Hedgehogs have also been prominent in the garden. A huge adult, a medium-sized adult and this youngster which we spotted out by day - a sure sign that it wasn't well, and sure enough it was discovered dead a few days later. Sad.

A mixed month though, though I suspect the plusses will be higher than for October, given the current forecast for weather conditions. I normally try to do as little work as possible this month, and go birding instead. But in Norfolk at least, I can't currently imagine it will be worth it...

BLOG

1 Oct 2021 Odds 'n' sods

What an odd month September was. A flurry of unexpected rarity in the first fortnight (Syke's Warbler, Green Warbler and Camberwell Beauty all world ticks; White-tailed Lapwing, Black-browed Albatross & Black Stork plus Clifton Nonpareil as a garden tick, confirmation of catching a [moth] third for Norfolk at home and an exciting new book published). And then a dearth of interest despite apparently suitable conditions (easterlies and rain), which saw me spend parts of four days bush-bashing the Norfolk coast, finding nothing better than Tree Pipit and a showy juvenile Purple Sandpiper (on a salt marsh!) and seeing nothing better than a Wryneck that someone else had found an hour earlier.

Nevertheless, here are a few bits and bobs. I'll start with a moth - belatedly identified from mid-August once I finally got round to looking at photos: Norfolk's fourth-ever Parectopa ononidis, a little piebald cracker. It pleases me no end, mothwise that my rank ordinary suburban garden has produced a first, a third and two fourths for Norfolk. You try doing that with birds.