New Year's Day Twitch - Part I

While neither weather or other conditions were conducive with our annual New Years Day Mini Twitch, undaunted we soldiered on! Pulses of rain were predicted for the hours of darkness, as 2017 set in, with more persistent stuff to follow throughout the rest of the day. However, there was little in the way of wind and the unseasonably high temperature persisted so we counted our blessings. At the stroke of midnight the predicted fusillade of fireworks erupted, putting one of the local

 GREY HERON

into noisy flight, so that was a start. Although we did make a 

couple of attempts for 'Owls' during the very early hours of the morning,

nothing else was recorded until nocturnal

WOOD PIGEON

and

MOORHEN

were heard at 04:15.

Back to the hammock for a couple of hours by which time the
rain had got noticeably heavier with still no signs of 'Owls'!

ROBINs
 plural piped up some moments late, followed by maybe not the sweetest
but certainly at this time of day the most hoped for, the song of a

TAWNY OWL

What passed for day light set in and the Lazlo into overdrive as

CARRION CROW
in numbers passed overhead,

MUTE SWAN
was found on the bank of the River Stour,

HERRING GULL
at Parley Pond and

 PHEASANT
hoovering up the overspill at the bird table.

BARN OWL
was the only Owl seen but then we had to rely on Wiki for the image.
UP North, on the common,

BLACKBIRD
are now numerous so no difficulty there while

 RAVEN
are always hit or miss so good to see c2 and here c2 others?? later in the day.
The familiar and raucous voice of

 LITTLE OWL
brought that to book followed in quick succession by

WREN

 MAGPIE

 COMMON BUZZARD
and

DUNNOCK
before what was considered another 'goody' as

 GREYLAG GOOSE
have been all but absent here overwinter thus far.
(just a single record of a single bird)
While nothing can be guaranteed in 'birding' those hoped for at the
Sewerage Works quickly fell into place, including

 JACKDAW

 BLACK-HEADED GULL

 GOLDCREST

 STOCK DOVE

 GREY WAGTAIL

 CHIFFCHAFF
and

 CHAFFINCH
but on the downside Firecrest never made the cut!
Over the course of the day both Irrigation Pond and
Gravel Pit proved to be devoid of life save for c5

 MALLARD
and later the same number of Teal.

 REDWING
now seem to be settled here in a small flock of about 150
and with them seem to have arrived even more

 SONG THRUSH
Prize for the day may well have fallen to the humble

 FERAL PIGEON
as the only avian to be added to 2 Lists, the one in question and
as never have been recorded here during any January.
Just to qualify that, this and a second are resident here and while
the workforce at the Eco Recycling Works must see them on a daily basis,
it would seem a case of having to buck my ideas up!
Finally for this first part and after besmirching the Gravel Pit
we returned there to find a single

PIED WAGTAIL

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Moth into Flame - Metallica

The latest incarnation of this fine

Metal Ensemble

(featuring Robert Trujillo on Bass Guitar)

Moth Into Flame Link

Here's wishing all our Readers past, present and future a

HAPPY, HEALTHY and PROSPEROUS

NEW YEAR

please keep tuning in and tell yer Mates! 

So, we have come to the end of another Year and with it another Moth Season, and successful it was considered. With most of the equipment now cleaned, lashed up and stowed we have taken the precaution of leaving one trap in the field just in case of that unexpected mild night. In all, talking of Macro Moths only, we recorded 351  species of which 17 were additions to the Parley Court Farm List. There would have been no prizes awarded for guessing the final species to be caught during 2016, which was fittingly

DECEMBER MOTH

with the additions following in chronological order.
A couple or 3 of the images below have been 'borrowed'.

 SALLOW CLEARWING

 but only recorded as a Gall.

DOTTED CHESTNUT

 LACE BORDER
(a 'rarety' in Dorset and only the 3rd County Record)

 OBLIQUE CARPET

 POPLAR KITTEN

 FREYER'S PUG

SCARCE MERVEILLE du JOUR

OCHREOUS PUG

 SILVER HOOK

BRINDLED WHITE-SPOT

 FIVE-SPOT BURNET

 BROWN SCALLOP

HAWORTH'S PUG

 FEN WAINSCOT

 HUMMING-BIRD HAWK-MOTH

 ANOMALUS

SOUTHERN CHESTNUT
 We also had something of a 'stranger in the camp',
an Insect that rarely comes to light, a 'female'

DECEMBER MOTH

 shown here with a 'male' for comparison.
 The following day this note was received from one of my mentors.

 Hi Bagsy, just seen your female December Moth on the blog. Just for info this appears to be a 'very rare' pale aberration. I've never seen one before but by a bizarre quirk of nature, Phil (Dr Phil Sterling that is, Coast & Countryside Service Manager, Dorset County Council and author of the Field Guide to the Micro Moths of Great Britain and Ireland)
 had an identical one at Bexington last night. 'Normal' females are very similar to males, just obviously larger and marked slightly differently. This is something quite different, quite stunning!

As for the 'speciality' here it was a reversal of fortunes for the

BALSAM CARPET

with the majority of the specimens taken in 2015 being from the

First Generation - May and June while this year it was

 Second Generation - July to September.

A potted history shows that the very first trapped here was on 15/04/2014,

with the extreme dates in 2015 being 25/04 to 25/07 while for 2016

they were caught between 21/07 and 02/09.

 Something of a Chinese New Year to end, Many, Many Thanks!

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