An eventful weekend, with a spectacular end. We had a quick check for migrants at home on Saturday morning: two spotted Flycatchers the stars of the show, but our first Lesser Whitethroats of the autumn were good to see, and then off for what turned out to be a butterfly day. Some Queen of Spain Fritillaries at Peacehaven gave some nice views an then at Beachy Head some more common butterflies behaved well.
On Sunday, either the same two or two new Spotted Flycatchers posed together, but the year’s first Sedge Warbler hid in the pond vegetation to avoid the camera. Then off to Cuckmere to twitch the Baird’s Sandpiper that had just been found. A much-wanted British lifer bites the dust. Back home, we emptied out a truly pathetic moth trap: very few moths and nothing interesting, until our first Clifden Nonpareil opened its wings. Massive and magnificent! It’s not often an insect upstages a special bird, but the Nonpareil truly lives up to its name.
