Month: July 2017

More excitement in the form of another new moth for the house list, and this one, a Dark Arches, is rather more photogenic.  One of the young Green Woodpeckers finally sat in front of the camera; not brilliantly, but it does a neat levitation trick.

Yet more danger in the garden, as one of our many young House Sparrows became lunch for our female Sparrowhawk.  If you’re upset by the sight of an animal suffering in the talons of another don’t look at the last picture, but what did you think Sparrowhawks eat, asparagus?

Dark Arches

Young Green Woodpecker

Look mum, no hands

Sparrowhawk and Sparrow

Still not much going on bird-wise, although we do have a family of Green Woodpeckers, which are noisy, but hiding from the camera.  There has been a changing of the guard with the moths, with the excitement of a new moth for the house list, Haworth’s Pug, a real stunner…

Haworth’s Pug, a new moth for the house list

A pair of Ears

This young Robin is well on the way to its adult red plumage

Pale Prominent

Peppered Moth

Small Ranunculus

The birding’s a bit quiet at the moment, so here’s a selection of invertebrates from the garden over a weekend that held 10 species of  butterfly

Enoplognatha ovata has a big breakfast on an Azure Damselfly

Garden Tiger.

Gatekeeper

Rosy Footman

Small Skipper

The garden’s getting to be a dangerous place at the moment.  On Friday I had one of my best birding moments when I witnessed a Peregrine take a Starling out of the air, and today I almost trod on a Grass Snake trying to swallow a large frog.  Unfortunately for the snake, the disturbance allowed its dinner to escape.  The frog didn’t croak, although it was bleeding from some tooth marks in its back, and the snake legged it.

A walk around the New Forest while Karen went riding was limited bird-wise, with a Spotted Flycatcher and a couple of Redstarts being the highlights, although camera shy.

These Keeled Skimmers were a bit more cooperative.