Dry night = moths; sunny day = butterflies

The Safari had the moth trap out last night but before we could empty it Frank had to be taken out at the unearthly hour of 05.45! We didn't expect to see anyone else out at that time on a Saturday morning but coming up the hill, camera at the ready, was PL out and about early hoping to get some pics of the Peregrine(s). Approaching he tower we saw there were no Peregrines in view, were they round the back or had they already left or did none roost last night? While we stood on the corner of the street chatting one (looked like the male) left to the north - he'd been round the other side! B*gger! We left P to wait to see if it came back while we took Frank on the rest of his walk.

Back at Base Camp the moths were weedled out of the nooks and crannies of the trap. Not a large haul but a decent enough mix.

Lurking on the outside of the trap was one of the three Marbled Beauties and then doing a flit was the easy to identify micro Celypha striana.

In the trap we found three Dark Arches, this Buff Ermine,

a single Cabbage moth,

a (Lesser?) Common Rustic, but no Yellow Underwings of any description...some might say phewww

a couple of Dotted Clays were new for the year and not found annually

Two Scalloped Oaks were the last out.

Also in there was this rather nice looking Caddis Fly...one for the iSpotters as we don't have a clue with these babies

As we were packing up the trap a frazzled Riband Wave fell out of the lamp, suppose we'd better add it to the list!
After lunch we arranged with CR to meet on Patch 1 to see if there were any White Letter Hairstreaks flying as today was the best day for them to be out for some time and it's possible they could have finished.
The sun was out things looked good and in the shelter of the Butterfly Zone there was already a couple from out of town on the prowl for them...not only that they had had success! A Great Spotted Woodpecker called from behind us, while in the long grass Meadow Browns fluttered around all over. But wait, a couple of those Meadow Browns looked bit small and bright - two Gatekeepers.
A Comma darted off it's Bramble leaf perch to chase a Holly Blue while a Large white fluttered past - there were butterflies everywhere! Not only butterflies - a Brown Hawker patrolled the lower edge of the canopy.
After a good wait one a White Letter Hairstreak was found in the usual place in the canopy of the small isolated Sycamore.

It wasn't for coming down and nectaring on the Thistles at eye level again, which is what we were all hoping for. But with several of us watching it did find a friend and for a moment there seemed as though there could even have been three. However we'll settle with the two with spun round each other as they headed off across the glade and returning individually.

Common Blues, Small Copper, a single Large Skipper with 'dozens' of Small Skippers were also seen with a few speckled woods and lastly a Red Admiral flew through and perched out well out of range...a great hour or so's lepidoptering on the first day of the national Big Butterfly Count, a dead easy for you to get involved with.

A few Frogs made it into the notebook, one of which was a whopper and sat right in the middle of the path, until we turned the camera towards him that is!

Arriving back at Base Camp we found Wifey rustling up a couple of recipes from the new TV cookery show featuring a chef we've never heard of before, Simon Hopkinson...anyway they look very appertising and the tray of peppers and tomatoes is roasting in the oven as we rite (ours are the ones with the anchovies on - Wifey doesn't like them - 'orrible little critters!) and the grilled aubergine with parsley and feta is cooling ready for us to attack with some warm garlic and tomato rubbed crusty bread...yum yum and double yum.

Makes a change from beans on toast!

Where to next? Dining room we think :) ! Mothy might well go on again tonight although the wind has picked up a bit. As for tomorrow could be anywhere really.

In the meantime let us know what's cooking in your outback.

What a racket!

This Safari was out half an hour earlier than normal...dang dawg! But it did give us the opportunity of seeing the female Peregrine bringing in what appeared to a rather large prey item to the tower. Once there we could hear a lot of commotion going on. There was one already up there which could well have been a juvenile although we didn’t see any feeding going on just a lorra, lorra noise from them.
Talking of noise the local Wrens were loud last night. Never heard anything like it from them before – kept us awake! They seem to have had a good season so far this year; hopefully the national CES (Constant Effort (Ringing = Banding) Scheme) data will confirm that. And again talking of noise, or more accurately lack of it, we totally forgot to mention the two Mute Swans that swam serenely past us on the sea at Patch 2 yesterday (P2 #65 - inching into a decent lead over P1).
Today’s Patch 2 safari gave us only two Grey Seals, one quite close the other way, way out in the distance, fortunately viewing conditions were good.
As we scanned four Sandwich Terns passed through our field of view going north and a flock of eight Shelducks went south. A few hundred yards away from where he was yesterday and the day before was the male Common Scoter, never known such laid back bird – seems to move even less than Lonesome George our ‘local’ Golden Eagle which has been known to be more motionless than a cardboard cut-out! Must go and pay him a visit soon, not been up there for yonks.
The tide was well down and there looked to be a lot of Oystercatchers so we set about counting them expecting to get well into triple figures but only 66 was our final tally.
Our lunchtime safari was much reduced due to torrential drizzle, or heavy light rain whichever you prefer. However, the few scans we had gave us nothing at all over a very flat sea despite the excellent visibility, or at least it was excellent in so far as we could see.
The Safari has received some pics from our Extreme Photographer who was on his own safari a few days ago. He’d been lucky enough to come across a couple of Slow Worms (a species of legless lizard for non-UK readers). Unfortunately they had been basking on a track in the late afternoon sun when a contractor’s vehicle came by and squished them. Sadly both succumbed to their injuries – what a waste...still it confirms that good sized specimens are still present at a site they were known to be at in the early 80s...we can feel further investigations coming on!

Where to next? The weekend beckon... we could end up anywhere in Safari-land.
In the meantime let us know what needs to stay off the tracks in your outback.

Seals ahoy

The Safari had a Peregrine-fest on Patch 1 this morning. The male left its roost on our way in, heading towards the town centre and then on the way back the female set off due east seriously upsetting the gulls which nest and roost on the nearby office roofs.
The Coal Tit was heard but not seen.
Yesterday’s small plant with the tiny pink flowers has been identified by those clever iSpotters as a Deptford Pink! Holy shamoley; a Schedule 8 protected plant, UK BAP Priority Species and Red Listed as Endangered...where’d that come from...someone’s garden or a seed that has lying latent in the seed bank for a long, long time? It was found in one of our raised flower beds which was dug over and planted last year and not been touched since. The soil used to fill the raised bed came from the grounds after we were rebuilt so local soil rather than imported. Exactly just how wild is it and who would have such a tiny little thing as a garden plant, if it’s an escape, anyway???

The wasp thingy was identified as a female Amblyteles armatorius, an apparently easy to identify Ichneumon Wasp...one of the few!
Patch 2 this morning gave us three Grey Seals out on a flat calm sea. Also fishing over the sea were eight Sandwich Terns. A lone male Common Scoter bobbed about in more or less the same place as it was in yesterday.
Two Curlews called from the beach to the south and eventually flew past, a bit of mimicry whistling had then circling directly overhead for a minute or two – always like it when they respond like that – feel connected (or is it mean to prevent them going where they need to be?); autumn is definitely getting closer if it hasn’t already started!
At lunchtime we had another 10 minutes and found the same three Grey Seals. Sandwich Tern numbers had increased to 15 roosting on the beach with at least another six fishing, successfully, up and down just offshore. Whilst watching them we noted that the Common Scoter was still present – not moved more than a few yards in 24 hours! About another 50 were seen in small flocks out over the horizon.
Other than that the superb viewing conditions didn’t give us anything else of note.
Where to next? More of the same tomorrow., hopefully the mothy will be able to put in appearance over the weekend.
In the meantime let us know how the seasons are progressing in your outback.

Not a lot goin on

The Safari thought we had little to report today until the gardening team arrived at lunchtime that is - then all hell let loose!

The Peregrine was on tower at tea time yesterday but didn’t roost overnight unless it was ‘round the back’ which would be unlikely given the wind direction.
All was quiet on the Patch 1 front this morning, no Green Woodpeckers and not a lot else apart from Woodpigeons. A singing Coal Tit in a large conifer of one of the gardens was best of the safari.
The tide was well down on Patch 2 a few bait diggers patrolled the water’s edge keeping the multitude of gulls well to the south picking through the detritus of the various strandlines left by the receding tide.
Out at sea we had nothing what-so-ever. But a couple of families were already one the beach, one poking through the washed up shells and another with fishing rods going down to the water. The latter lot shouted to each other that they’d seen jellyfish so curiosity got the better of us and we went down to investigate. Sure enough there were a few medium sized Compass Jellyfish and a couple of very small Lion’s Manes, the first we’ve seen for a while and much smaller than the last ‘batch’. What could have been a very small Moon Jellyfish was also there, only about two inches (5cm) across. We had a quick look for other stuff, specifically any Sea Mice without success, but came across this unknown seaweed which we’ve not recorded before.

Any ideas...

At lunchtime we watched the Coastguard arguing with two fishermen, with a toddler, who didn't seem to believe that the tide was coming in behind them - it was we were watching it from the safety of the seawall - they were locals too - how bonkers is that!

The gardening club blazed into the veg patch which has been neglected so far this year. Out came a huge Spear Thistle which we noticed had been eaten inside out. Whatever it was munching away the little hole suggests its done a flit...any ideas...

Then we found a tiny Pink that wasn't planted...any ideas flowers are only about 1cm across perhaps a mm or two less.

The leaves were lanceolate and grass like...tbh never seen anything like it before but we're pretty sure that it's a wildflower not something escaped from a garden.

This looks like a spider hunting wasp, it wasn't behaving for the camera, this duffer was the only pic it sat still enough for.

Another triccky little fellow that didn't manage to get in the right place was this micro...is it good enuogh for an ID?

Under the clumps of grass we were weeding out we found three of these lurid green caterpillars, they're bright but the camera hasn't captured their full brightness! Again any ideas...

One we could identify was this Campion moh caterpillar, this one found in a White Campion seed head.

This we initially identified as a Barred Yellow but now we think it's probably a varient of Yellow Shell.

Then when we got home this little chap crawled out of our coat pocket. Name anyone...

What a great set of gnashers it has.

Where to next? somewhere where there's somethng we can actually identify wouldn't go amiss.

In the meantime let us know if you know what any of the mystery organisms are...and how much of your outback is mysterious.

Patch 1 mega...missed :(

The Safari was intrigued to learn of a Green Woodpecker seen on Patch 1 on Monday by PL. Sadly he wasn’t able to get a pic of this really scarce vistor to the Fylde. Quote... I also missed out on a photo of a bird I've been after for years - a Green Woodpecker which took off from the back field just as I was about to add it to the memory card...unquote...doohhh how unlucky can you get...we’d have been double gutted for sure!!! This is the first record of the species for the patch and a BIG blocker for those of us keeping a patch list!
The Peregrine again roosted on its favourite ledge last night but as usual was gone by the time we get out in the morning. A coupla-three small flocks of Starlings were noted, numbering between 75 and 100 altogether, coming from direction of the pier so a small roost may be developing already.

In the park the local Wrens and Robins were quite vocal this morning but Blackbird numbers were very much reduced which might be unexpected as the recent very wet weather should have made worms easier to come by on the lawns.
Patch 2's flat calm sea was in total contrast to yesterday’s maelstrom and produced even less; just half a dozen Common Scoters. On the beach the storm had washed up a veritable bonanza for the gulls and there were many hundreds to the south of us with the first en-mass arrival of this year’s Herring Gull youngsters.
By lunchtime the wind had picked up again but nowhere near as strong as yesterday. We joined AB on the seawall but apart from a Grey Seal close enough to upset the fishermen (the lad next to us caught a small Codling) and the odd small flock of Common Scoters, a male sat on the waves close by, little was happening. Two Common Terns went north in the ear to middle distance while much further out two possible Skua sps also went north but we couldn’t get anything on them for a decent stab at an ID. A roost of 200+ Oystercatchers on the beach away to the south was probably the best of the session but beyond our southern ‘border’.

We went back to work but AB stayed out, planning to be there for another couple of hours but soon gave up due to the lack of anything to see.

On Patch 1 with Frank we turned over the manky old tent and found a nice bright lively Frog and the biggest Toad w've seen for a long time - huge...if only we'd taken the camera!
Where to next? More of the same tomorrow and maybe some inverts.
In the meantime let us know what goodies ‘invaders’ have found in your outback.

No tiny needles in the vast wet haystack

The Safari has nothing to report from a soggy Patch 1 but at least it wasn’t raining. The peregrine that roosted late last night had already left by the time we got there this morning.
A late start on Patch 2 saw us giving a wild sea a good scouring as the tide reached the toe of the wall. It was rough and blobs of sea foam were beginning to be blown across the road. We were well wrapped up against the elements but again fortunately it didn’t rain, just a bit of spray from the larger waves to dodge. Although the visibility was poor at no more than a mile or so the light was superb, both Lesser Black Backed and Herring Gulls were etched out crisply against the brooding grey sky so we shouldn’t have had any trouble picking up our intended target against the crashing white crests of the waves or muddy brown of the turbulent waters.
The waves were big, big enough to lose large birds like the aforementioned gulls for a minute or more at a time so finding something the size of a crisp packet wasn’t going to be easy. It wasn’t long before we found a Gannet and a handful of Manx Shearwaters but that was about it apart from the gulls. Another Gannet eventually came past but nothing else and certainly nothing small and black...

Another look over the dropping tide gave us only a Common Tern fighting its way out to sea from the mouth of the river and a few minutes later a Kittiwake followed in its wake.

Others...on the South-side (that used to be our local patch in the early 70s and we never connected!!!) and to the north of of us had the luck we needed...you can really go off some people!!! But we suppose they had more than 2 x 10 minute sessions in which to score.

Where to next? The wind has dropped...ooohhh for another day or two of the blow.

In the meantime let us know if the wind blew anything unusual into your outback.

No pics today...not worth the risk of taking the camera out of the bag or even the bag out of the office.

From the darkest depths

The Safari has been drying out this arvo and in between downpours dashed out to empty one of our spud bags for our dinner. Not a bad little haul considering the seed potatos were half price and their growing medium was home -compost that has been festering away in the 'dalek' since the year before last. They've gone into (well some of them have) a hearty winter stew with dumplings...just what you need on a mid-July's evening!!!

Whilst out tiding up the emptied soil we heard a commotion overhead - a Peregrine was noisily chasing another, best sighting of the day and only four feet from the back door!

We took Frank for a sprint round half of Patch 1 without getting wet - phewwww - one of the Peregrines (or indeed a third perhaps) was sat on the usual ledge.
A Song Thrush was out and about looking for snails and probably very grateful for this wet weather. Not far away Frank's nose led him to a dead adult Hedgehog, close to the road but turning it with our toe didn't reveal any obvious cause of death...shame to lose such a large breeding animal from our small local population.
Where to next? Another look at a variety of weather forecasts shows the wind stays strong for a while...what would we give for a Stormy?

In the meantime let us know if it's stopped raining yet in your outback.