Sunderland Point and Bazil Point

We had a wonderful day at Sunderland and Bazil Points, the weather was glorious! We parked at Potts Corner and headed out onto the saltmarsh, in search of the Belted Beauty Moth. They can be found during the day by looking on the posts which run across the marsh. Interestingly, the females are flightless and look quite unlike any moth I have ever seen before! As you might expect from a saltmarsh specialist which has flightless females, they don't have the greatest dispersal abilities and are quite rare, the UK race Brittanica is a Red Data Book species in fact. In total we counted 61 Belted Beauties, 20 males and 41 females. Then we headed down the point, past Sambos grave and on to Sunderland village. From there we went across to Overton, around Bazil Point and back to Potts Corner. Bird highlight of the day was two Tree Pipits on the beach near Sunderland Point, but we also saw 4 Avocets, 6 Eiders and 100 Black tailed Godwits. Another great day out. Photos below.....

Belted Beauties at Sunderland Point

Belted Beauty habitat. You can see a female on the post in the foreground in the right hand photo, just below halfway up the post. The saltmarsh is of course tidal, so the water levels in this creek will rise and fall, but at the time the photo was taken, the post was completely surrounded by water. Makes me wonder if the females can tollerate at least some salt water and maybe can cross small patches of water. The posts may seem a safe place to live, but the caterpillars need to feed in the vegetation, so at some stage in the life cycle, the moth has to get from the post to the vegetation!

Yes, this is a moth. Female Belted Beauty.

A male Belted Beauty (left) and a pair mating (right).

Drake Eider, never a common bird in the North West.

Ecceleston Mere - Whitethroat and Black Sedge

Two Whitethroats singing today but still no sign of any Grasshopper Warblers yet this year. Quite a nice display of plants at the moment, there is a really nice stand of Black Sedge in the Eccleston Mere fen in the south west corner, whilst along the stream there is lots of Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage, Wood Sorrell and Lesser Celendine. Bluebells are just coming into flower, and the woods will be worth a visit later this week.

Pennington Flash

A decent couple of visits to Pennington Flash, included two Black-necked Grebes, Sedge, Reed and Grasshopper Warblers, Common Tern and Green Sandpiper

Brindled Beauty update

Just a quick update on the Brindled Beauty moth I caught last Wednesday (6th, see below). It has now been confirmed as just the 6th record ever in Lancashire and the first in the county since 2007! Just goes to show what might be flying around your back yard!

Purple Saxifrage - Ingleborough

We set out for Ingleborough in North Yorkshire, half expecting to find that we were too early in the month for the flowering of Purple Saxifrage, but in the end we only just made it, with most flowers almost spent. Still it was a lovely day and a great walk, and we also saw about 10 Emperor moths on the moorland just below Ingleborough, but nowhere near close enough or still enough to photograph!

Hilbre Island

The forecast of south easterly winds convinced me that it was time for a long overdue visit to Hilbre, only my second visit this year. I was on the island at 6:30, when it was barely light, and was treated to a magnificent sunrise. It soon became obvious that there had been a mini fall over night, with several Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers flitting about, many of which were caught and ringed. Highlight of the day was a male Redstart, and other migrants included a decent passage of Lesser Redpolls, a couple of Siskin, Grasshopper Warbler (not seen by me), a trickle of White Wagtails, Blackcap, Wheatears and a few Swallows and Sand Martins. It was also a day for picking up a few Hilbre scarcities, including Tree Sparrow, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Jackdaw, Magpie and Woodpigeon.
Photos: Redstart, Lesser Redpoll, Blackcap, Danish Scurvygrass and sunrise.

Brindled Beauty - second for St Helens

My first night moth trapping this year produced 9 moths, one of which was this Brindled Beauty, only the second for St Helens and the first for six years. Lets hope it's the start of a good year!

Eccleston Mere

2 Swallows 50 Sand Martins 1 Blackcap singing 1 Willow Warbler singing 1 Shoveler female 12 Tufted Ducks 1 Kingfisher 2 Treecreepers 1 Willow Tit

Eccleston Mere

1 Blackcap singing, 2 Willow Warblers singing and 5 Chiffchaffs singing. Also 1+ Kingfisher, 2 Buzzards and 3 Sparrowhawks displaying (1m, 2ff).

Catchdale Moss - Green Lane

2 Wheatears, 5 Tree Sparrows