Wildlife

James Lowen

Lunar Underwings have turned up, and they are lovely little stripey creatures.

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29 Sep 2015 Red veins, blue eyes

It's autumn, the wind is easterly, I live in East Anglia. Let's go birding! Only - as we found out last week- things do not always work out. And so it was on Sunday, when an unexpected exeat saw me scurrying to bash bushes on the Norfolk coast. Everyone else seemed to find Yellow-browed Warblers (some found a dozen), but there was no six-striped sprite for me. To compensate, I gorged myself on second-generation (ie locally bred) Red-veined Darters at Felbrigg Park. With thanks to Simon C for the gen. What crackers they are. Red veins (well, yellow), and blue eyes. I hadn't appreciated that second-generation males don't go red; interesting.

Of other odds and sods, Speckled Bush-cricket, Brindled Green and Blair's Shoulder-knot were neat, and a strange pale dart still confuses me. Any ideas, anyone?

A few things of interest in the moth trap recently, but basically quality and quantity are right down. Various Large Ranunculus are enjoyable, including one with a dirty great big black band across it, prompting panicked thought of an out-of-range Black-banded.