Autumn Almanac - The Kinks

 From the dew-soaked hedge creeps a crawly caterpillar

When the dawn begins to crack, it's all part of my autumn almanac
Breeze blows leaves of a musty-colored yellow
So I sweep them in my sack, yes, yes, yes, it's my autumn almanac

It is true that one can get a little possessive about one's

Own Patch

but when, who I refere to as 'luminaries' arrive somehow that becomes insignificant!

The rest of the weekend continued in the company of

 Phil, Carol and Dave

and while all of this is the profession of Phil we all learn something at the end of the day - especially me!

Phil, among many other tallents is the author of the authoritative work

tiny beasts that I can hardly see let alone identify but

every dog has it's day!

 Is it any wonder then that he has recently published yet another work on the

a task that took 4 years in the makeing - no I'll stick to the larger

Macro Moths.

Additionally, when we all muster like this all the traps become a collective of which

here between presenting my 'new toys' there are a few more examples of 

some of the Insects caught.

BARRED STRAW

CAMPION

OBSCURE WAINSCOT

 RED-NECKED FOOTMAN

 It was half way through one of my own traps that Phil suddenly looked a little sheepish, 

inviting Dave and I to look at the 2 specimens of Micro Moths each in a little plastic pot,

 one being

Metalampra italica

 and the other

Monochroa lutulentelia

(very few of the Micro Moths have vernacular names)

Among a wealth of other snippets he felt sure that

BARBASTELLE BAT

(a Mammal never heard of let alone seen)

may well feed or indeed exist locally here and a species that will fly 30 or 40 miles 

to find an Insect food source.

 His final snippet was that

NIGHTJAR's,

of which you have become familiar with lately, are

faddy eater sticking almost exclusively to the humble

TRUE LOVER'S KNOT MOTH

which was scientifically discovered by study of their faeces and a

serious attempt will be made to find some when the nest becomes rdundant.

Oh Carol - Neil Sedaka

We're falling behind we know but there has been so much excitement

and action over the passed few days that we don't want our valued readers to

Miss a Trick!

 More guests joined Dave and myself and who would want more than to welcome the

Managing Director of Butterfly World

Phil Stirling and his lovely wifr Carol

who immediately whipped me off to this rather ordinary looking

Oak Tree

before pointing out the top hole of the two as a

Common Noctual Bat's Roost Site 
the chattering from within could easily be heard!

It was soon down to business and with 8 traps on the go there was much to sort through.

 GREY ARCHES

 PLAIN WAVE

 DOUBLE LOBED

CLAY TRIPLE-LINES

 PURPLE CLAY

L-ALBUM WAINSCOT

While it is true that some people let Mothing

'go to their heads'!

FUNGI

is all that is known, but some of the first for the year but next

there was found to be a surprise with the presumed female

NIGHTJAR 

away from the nest, she returned soon after.

All else concerns the 'new growth' of

GREATER REED MACE

mostly incorrectly refered to as

Bulrush which it is not!

This is a 'new generation' clump at the Gravel Pit while the other forms the course of

 DEAN'S DITCH

and onward to the airport 

Ballancing Pond

which accepts surface water from the runway and may be used as another

water souce for fire fighting.

It supports a number of bird species but for the first time today was heard the chatterings of

REED WARBLER

somewhat muffled by the persistant sound of jet engines.

Whiskey in the 'Jar' - Thin Lizzy

 While the weather could have been marginally better it was certainly a case of

'One Man's Meat being another Man's Poison'.

As the irritating pulses of rain were certainly welcome by gardener's and farmer's alike

while us Moth'ers and other Wildlifer's could have done without it!

However, it didn't detract from one of the best weekends ever on home soil and so 'full'
we will have to continue serialising our findings. Dave continued to be in attendance adding to our
First for Year Moths

 the relatively common

 SMOKY WAINSCOT

 the annoyingly 'closed winged'

 BORDERED WHITE
which was eventually teased into opening up along with the delightful

 SCARCE MERVEILLE du JOUR

 a master of camoflage

 when perched on its favoured lychen and for now at least

BRINDLED WHITE-SPOT
Maybe we should have introduced you to our charges before now

and as my next door neighbours

probably best that it is me who
feeeds them and collects the eggs each morning.

this one being refered to as the
Old Mother Hen.
It was on the 25th of June 2019 in company of one of my 4 appretices,
8 year's old Oliver, that we found a Nightjar close to one of the pathways
which we could view, photograph and video without disturbing a feather of the bird.
It was exactly 13 days earlier that this year Dave managed the self same thing
but on a different part of the Heath. The same rules applied as were were able to

 CLICK

and

 VIDEO

NIGHTJAR 
a migrant and denizen of the night

as she sat pesumably incubating

without moving a muscle or even blinking an eye.
There is no nest as such but this large clump of

RAINDEER LICHEN
close by certainly aided location.

Not exactly a series of 'action movies' but a huge priviledge to capture such a
bizzare creature for your pleasure, while we thank
Mister Canon for Zoom Lenses!
The final hour was taken up viewing the in flower

 VIPERS BUGLOSS

while the period covered by this post ended on yet another high 
as again it was Dave who found the

WHITE ADMIRAL BUTTERFLY
still surviving and breeding in very small numbers on our 'patch'.