Underwater moth trapping...in Witch country

 The Safari has been trying to do some moth trapping both at Base Camp and further afield.

Our first attempt was for the Royal Society of Biologists at a nearby Country Park. Good pal CP did a fantastic warm up act for us with a great talk on bats that had one of the attendees in stitches laughing at the thought of Bat Ladders. Then outside as dusk drew darker the bats came out to play and put on a great show for us sending our bat detectors into a heated frenzy of sound...a superb start to the evening. 

We were supposed to put the moth trap up on the green by the gardens once the bat excitement was over. Then everyone could sit round the sheets armed with a pot with which to catch the moths for us to identify as they came to the light. Well that never happened cos down came the rain by the bucketful. So 'indoor' moth trapping it was. The centre has a covered outdoor classroom at the back so it was in there that we set up out of the rain. The trouble with heavy rain is the moths don't like it and won't venture out - and who would blame them? A small number of hardy indivuals did appear, mostly Large Yellow Underwings and a few mico-moths. But we were trapping close to an Apple Tree which had attracted a goood number of Common Wasps. Fortunately we were using the sheet and light technique so could easily see them - it might have been a case of watch where you put your hands had we been coming to empty a box full of cold sleepy ones in the morning.

A few evenings later, after the rains had finished, we set the trap up at Base Camp and caught the grand total of ZERO moths - that's not in the rule books! The following night we tied again, rain wasn't forecast but we heard it lashing it down during the night - not a good omen -- just 6 soggy moths were in the trap come the morning. Things have got to get better, it's July for crying out loud!

For our next event we'd been invited by DSW, Community Engagement Officer for the Forest of Bowland AoNB Connecting People and Nature Project to lead a moth trapping and other wildlify bits n bobs event for one of her community groups...no way we could say no to that so with a car loaded up with all kinds of kit n kiboodle we headed off for the furthest reaches of East Lancashire aand the famous Witch country round the back of Pendle Hill.

We were taken to Clarion House, a community centre up in hills above the tiny village of Roughlee. To be honest the Safari has been to Australia more often than this part of east Lancashire so it's not surprising we'd never heard of the place until now. But what a lovely place and what a gorgous setting up on the hill overlooking the town of Colne down across the valley...that's if we could see that far, it was a grim old day.

Ever the optomists DSW and us set about putting up the moth trap. We decided the most sheltered area behind the building and under a substantial Birch tree was going to be the best option. Heavy rain and strong winds were forecast for overnight so we took the extra precaution of erecting a gazebo over the trap and tying that to the tree to stop it flying off over the hills towards Cheshire.

Back at Base Camp we were woken in the small hours by torrential rain lashing against the window driven by a howling gale. We spent the rest of the night worrying about the electrics-water and hot bulb-cold raindrops combos. Luckily we needn't have worried as in the end all was fine when we arrived back on site in the morning. And now with the group eager to see what had been happening overnight it was time to empty the trap. But before that we had a look on the laptop to see if the trail camera we'd set up overnight had caught anything.

We'd placed it along a track beside a woodland shelterbelt and close to a compost heap, something was bound to wander by, hopefully a deer, a Fox, a Badger, or maybe a Hedgehog or even a Rabbit? Nothing! Our fingers were well and truly crossed there wouldn't be a re-run of our zero moths escapade at Base Camp a few nights earlier given the weather was much worse this time. Thankfully there were moths and we got off to a flying (pun intended) start with a few on the sheet outside the trap.

Scalloped Oak

Lesser Swallow Prominent

The pick of the bunch for us was this Gold Spangle which never having mothed up hill before was a new species for us.

The final tally was a small but better than expected given the weather 21 moths of 14 species plus a few unidentified micro-moths and a couple of escapees.

We'd also taken our bat kit so had a little talk about bats, their biology especially their hunting echolocation and bat detectors and the fact they are predators of moths.

As well as the real live plastic bat we'd brought along a long dead real live dead Pipistrelle for them to hold and get a feel of how tiny they actually are.

This one was found dead trapped in a chimney many years ago.

When we were told that Clarion House had a pond there was nothing else to do but put a load of nets and trays in the car. Never one to waste an opportunity for some pond dipping are we?

 

We found waterboatmen, diving beetles and lots of what weassume from the location to be Palmate Newt efts (newtlets) still with their gills

The grounds of Clarion House have a mix of habitats, rough grass, well mown grass, wildflower meadow with Heath Spotted Orchids, wet meadow and a bit of Heather and Bilberry moorland as well as a small formal garden.

All this attracts a great variety of wildlife even on rainy days.

Heath Spotted Orchid

Heather

Red Admiral

Ringlet

Small Tortoiseshell

The bee we think could be Colletes succinctus, Heather Colletes by vitue of its presence in an upland habitat but we could be wrong. And we added the Greenbottle fly in to show that flies are very important pollinators but often overlooked or even disregarded in favour of bees and hoverflies. This week is Big Butterfly Count Week (that's probally why it's so cold wet n windy!) so we've put some butterfly pics in for you too.

To close here's a lovely arty shot that sums up the day very well.

A fantasic safari at a superb location we hope to visit again with a great bunch of people we hope to meet again soon. Huge thanks to DSWfor inviting us and providing some of the photos as we forgot our camera, although were too busy to take pics anyway, and to group member B for the use of her pics too - thank you very much.

Where to next? The Safari will be heading north into the wilds of South Cumbria.

In the meantime let us know who's underwater in your outback.

Back in the land of Bloggersville with a safari up north

The Safari has had rather a long hiatus but that doesn't mean we've not been out enjouying wildlife here there and everywhere...we even got to eastern Canada last autumn!

This week however we've only been a few miles up the road to Leighton Moss RSPB reserve with good friend CR. On arrival we were told that an Otter was showing well from the nearest hide. By the time we got there it was still showing but you wouldn't call it well, more like distant so no chance of any pics. It did remain in view for some time before disappearing up a channel in the far corner of the reedbed.Other than the Otter it was pretty quiet on the pool, a few dozen Mallards, 3 Little Grebes, a lone moulty Pochard and a Heron was about the size of it. A distant Marsh Harrier mooched about and a Great White Egret flew across the far side of the reserve and landed in a bush.

Time to move on and see if we could get closer views of the mooching Marsh Harrier. As soon as we arrived at the next hide looking out of the side window we spotted a Red Deer hind moving through the reeds.

And not many minutes later two more followed the same track

Two mammal species in just a few minutes - nice! There were two mooching Marsh Harriers too, a male and a female. The male did more mooching than the female which repeatedly went to sit in a dead tree to our left and called, a pathetic whinny little call for such a large impressive bird. During the course of the next hour or so they gave repeated fly-bys which was good.

In the pool a Heron  hunted with their usual stealth but failed to lock on to anything worth having a stab at.

Butties and pies beckoned and we decided to eat them at the nearby hide. A good move!!! There were two Red Deer hinds and their calves right out in the open. Such good views, in fact the best views of this species we've ever had in the best part of 50 years visiting this reserve. We filled our boots before our belly - and let me tell you that doesn't happen often! The youngster looked like they were having a game of tag before getting tired and needing sustenance from mum.

What an absolute treat that was. Once the deer had sauntered off into the undergrowth we took our leave and retraced our steps and beyond to the Causeway Hide. Here rain had forced down a mixed bag of Swallows, Sand Martins and a couple of House Martins but as soon as the rain eased off they were up up and away. We hoped to see Bitterns and maybe more Otters but neither were forthcoming. In fact there wasn't much doing at all and most of our attention was taken by a Garden Cross Spider repairing the rain damage to its web. Fascinating to watch how it manipulated the new silk with its legs but tricky to photograph. This is the best one of dozens we took.

By now it was getting towards high tide and our thoughts moved on to the hides overlooking the saltmarshes. The Allen Hide was devoid of life, although a Kingfisher did zap past the window at about 100mph; the Eric Morecambe Hide offered much more. Sadly both the Long-billed Dowitcher and Wood Sandpiper that had been present earlier in the week had heard of our imminent arrival and done a bunk. There were plenty of Black-tailed Godwits and Redshanks to search through, just in case but all the latest news and gossip was negatory, no sign of either of the goodies today.

A Greenshank called in the distance then three dropped in in front of CR. This wass a species we needed for our International Bird Photo Challenge, now in its seventh year. Very obliging the nearest one was too and  become the 141st species of bird we've photographed this year.

A Redshank obliged by landing nice and close too.

And a trio of Dunlin probed the mud to our right. Try as we might we couldn't get a pic of all three of them with their heads up at the same time.

Meanwhile CR was watching a positively dormant one on the Allen Pool. It barely did more than a blink and a half-hearted shuffle all the time we were there.

Back on our side of the hide a Little Egret provided some interest. A shoal of small fish was swimming in the shallows and we were certain it would spend time picking these off one by one but no - it caught one and then had a few stabs at them missed each time and wander off looking rather sheepish, the fish had out-foxed it.

A passing male Marsh Harrier put the wind up the Black-tailed Godwits, and all the other waders, and scanning through the panicked flock we spied at least a couple of Bar-tailed Godwits. We needed them for our Challenge but finding them on the deck amongst 700 or more 'Blackwits' in challenging light was always going to be nigh on impossible. There was only one thing for it - wait for the flock to be flushed again and then hold the shutter button down as long as possible, hope one or more frames have a result that is in at least reasonable focus and spend all Saturday morning sifting through the images with fingers crossed...is that tactics or cheating???

Gotcha...#142. There were Avocets too but largely ignored today for being too distant.

All too soon it was time to go and head back to the motor for the journey home. As we stood up to leave the Kingfisher (or a different one) tazzed by the window at 100mph - darn that bird that would have made #143 hads it had the courtesy to sit atop a nearby post or better still on the stick stuck in the water's edge right outside the window specifically for that purpose. Never mind, better luck next time, it was still a grand day out on safari with great company and fantastic wildlife.

Where to next? We've got some mid-week moth-trapping to do, at Base-Camp and much further afield, the latter site very much weather permitting as the forecast is looking a bit ropey, fingers crossed it goes ahead.

In the meantime let us know who's playing tag in your outback.

A change of ID and a sneak across to the SouthSide

The Safari got a txt from old friend TS the other morning telling us that the Hobby we'd seen reported on the local birders' WhatsApp group at Marton Mere was still there. Not having seen one there for many years, and not anywhere else for only slightly fewer and not hardly having been there at all this year we decided to go and have a look, it shouldn't be too busy as the schools have gone back to the annoying adjacent caravan site would be a lot quieter.

The walk in was very quiet, just a calling Chiffchaff and Blackcap breaking the warm silence. We soon found out where to look as a couple of other birders were stood half way down the main drag looking towards a particular bush. We stopped and scanned and saw the unidentifiable silhouette of a small falcon perched on the edge of said bush. Joining the others, who were unable to see it on the far side of the bush, we stood waiting and chatting until it decided to hop around a bit - which eventually it did.

The light wasn't brilliant, looking towards the sun but we got a couple of snaps. It did a little fly around chasing dragonflies too. It was then that top local birder PE when reviewing his pics realised something wasn't quite right and the Hobby might not be a Hobby after all. After a phone call he rejoined the small group and announced the bird was in fact a juvenile Red-footed Falcon. So one off our list and one on our list! Still not seen a Hobby at that site for many years! But a Red-footed Falcon makes up for not being able to get to the one not too far away a tad over 30 years ago. The rubbish pic above is also a much better view than the very poor flight views we had of one at Spurn well over 25 years ago too. The big question is had we come across it on our tod would we have questioned the original ID or like PE twigged something was amiss, sadly it'd mostly likely have been the former.

All too soon we had to leave but came back for another look later in the afternoon when we hoped the light would be better. It was but now the little falcon was performing at the western end of the reedbed hawking dragonflies so for viewing purposes the light still wasn't great.

When it was in better light it was back at its favoured bush but that was now miles away from our new position.

At least this distant shot shows the barred tail confirming it's not a Hobby. None of the flight shots of the underwing we got were very good unlike others we've seen on Flickr/Twitter etc which should the underwing coverts are buff coloured so it's not the very closely related but much much rarer Amur Falcon either.

With news of it still present we went down the next day too and watched it catching dragonflies. But still very much against the light.

It did perch up in nearby Willow tree for a while too.

And so onto Day 3, gosh - hardly been to the reserve all year and now thrice in three days! This time we had CR as company. But we couldn't find it anywhere, then TS came along and told us it had been favouring the NE corner the previous evening, so we had a look there and met other birders looking too but to no avail - had it moved on after an earlier shower? We took the opportunity to do a circuit of the reserve, noting not a lot apart from a few Cetti's Warblers singing half-heartedly from unseen perches deep in the reeds. As we come towards the NE corner along the embankment we could see a bigger pack of birders and they looked to be looking at something - sure enough when we approached there was the Red-footed Falcon sitting almost directly over the path in a tall Willow tree.

At last a decent view in decent light but we still couldn't manage any half-good flight shots...and still nothing else to point the camera at. 

The other birders told us that a proper Hobby had been seen too as well as a juvenile Cuckoo, that would have been good to bump into, the last one we saw here was being fed by every passing species of small bird while it sat in its Sedge Warbler foster parents' diminutive nest many years ago.

We didn't get a fourth day as the Saturday was earmarked for a safari over the river to meet up with the old gang at the 'other' place we don't mention by name.

As we approached the entrance we could see a shiny white patch in the field opposite - looked like about 2-300 gulls..."hmm that bodes well must be a Mediterranean Gull on the cards today", we thought.
Another white bird was first up though, we'd passed through the check-in desk and through the facing window we could see an egret sat on a pontoon in middle of the lake. A telescope was set up in the window too, manned by a volunteer - not seen that before. Well it was a Cattle Egret hence the excitement, they're sort of regular just inland of the Ribble estuary now, more so on the south side but there may be not so many records from this site which is a little further inland still but does have the herd of Longhorn Cattle grazing sort of naturally on the wet fields so Cattle Egrets might be expected to turn up there.

When we started birding you had to go to the Carmargue in southern France, the  Ebro delta in SE Spain or SW Spain and southern Portugal to see these - how times change! 

JG was already in the Discovery Hide when we'd finished gawping at the egret and pointed out a few Ruff and a Buzzard on a post, there's always a Buzzard on a post at this reserve. Something put the Lapwings and gulls up and in the throng we picked out a Mediterranean Gull but it must have left the reserve with most of the other gulls as we never saw it again all day despite concerted efforts whenever the gulls were in view.

Moving round to the screens before the rest of the crew arrived at the first one we had great views of a snoozing juvenile Shelduck, a stunning pair of Lesser Black-backed Gulls, iridescent Lapwings and a deep wading Snipe. 

The second screen provided a lone Black-tailed Godwit and a Green Sandpiper obliged by flying in and running round in the gloopy mud in front of us.

We arranged to meet the late arriving remainder of the gang at the Feeding Station so sat up there for a while enjoying the Brown Rats (always a star attraction for us), Greenfinches and Goldfinches on offer. No sign of any Willow Tits this morning although there were very few of the regular Blue and Great Tits knocking about.

The gang arrived and had a quick look before moving on to the Harrier Hide with it's throngs of feral Canada and Greylag Geese. A couple Little Grebes and Gadwall broke the gooses' monopoly on the water while overhead a small number of Sand Martins tazzed about. The most exciting wildlife wasn't a bird though, a tiny orange beetle was clambering about the shelf and AB's camera, on closer inspection by AB he declared it to be a type of Leaf Beetle. A few photos and a bit of research later it was identified as one of the Sphaerodermas, of which there are two species to choose from in Britain. All the info about them is here.

Time to move on - we hit the UU Hide to enjoy distant views of not a lot. Easily pick of the bunch was an arriving but immediately disappearing Kingfisher which put in a second brief appearance a few minutes later and a quality Kestrel hovering not too far away.

Another Green Sandpiper flew in but landed on a muddy pool miles away. They do remind us of giant - well not that giant - House Martins when they swoop across the water. Scanning around we found a Buzzard on a post, a Buzzard on a stick, a Buzzard on a gate and a Buzzard on a bonfire with a distant Marsh Harrier to break the Buzzard monotony. With not a lot else happening we soon moved on to the next hide. Well would you believe it we couldn't get in - the ginormous camera brigade were in there and not for sharing the space so we didn't stay. Lunch beckoned anyway so it was no hardship turning back and we got great views of a bright Comma butterfly on the path outside the hide.

Back at the reception area we met our remaining late arriving gang member and aimed for our butties in the boot of the car while noting that the earlier Cattle Egret was no longer on its pontoon. 

After a selection of butties, chips, salads and more were eagerly scoffed it was time to hit the trail again. T'other way this time to the as yet unvisited hides. Nowt doing in the first three but that's only to be expected at this stage of the autumn as the wintering ducks and geese from the northern latitudes haven't arrived yet, another week or so and they'll start steaming in. 

From the elevated Kingfisher Hide we watched a juvenile male Marsh Harrier cruising around and the Cattle Egret appeared landing among the Longhorn Cattle where the scene was looking decidedly primaeval.

No Tree Sparrows were on the feeders nor were there any on the walk up - where  are they we wondered, they're always along this stretch.

On the approach to the final hide there's a pool, sheltered by some tall Willows and a hedge, this sheltered area was absolutely hooching with dragonflies, mostly Migrant Hawkers with a few Common Darters thrown in for good measure. It was like a scene from a tropical documentary they were everywhere, dozens of them, absolutely awesome. And looking good for a Hobby slicing through in search of an easy meal or two. But when a passing cloud obscured the sun they disappeared. Well not quite they were spotted roosting up high in the tree tops of the hedge waiting for the sun to come back out. Some trees had good numbers - here's a couple of twigs with seven Migrant Hawkers on them.

The hoped for Hobby didn't show up, neither did the Kingfisher or Stoat that fairly regularly hang around the bridge. A distant small raptor circling with a couple of Buzzards could have been a Hobby but could easily have been a Sparrowhawk. With all the hirundines over the adjacent farm and all those dragonflies behind us there just had to be a Hobby somewhere close by, all we had to do was wait. A Peregrine flew over high up and didn't bring about a panic, several Ruff fed on the mud including a couple of nice bright white males, along with a few Teal. It was during that wait that we ran out of time and had to head back to the car for the drive back across the river.
We stopped at the Discovery Hide on the way to the car just to check the gulls but alas very few gulls were visible. The couple in there had seen a Stoat or a Weasel a few times hunting among the rocks but it refused to show for us. Then just as we'd got through the door it reappeared - black tipped tail they said so a Stoat. 

And that was that, time to go after a great day with great company, lots of laughs catching up and reminiscing and lots of fantastic wildlife too.

Where to next? Not sure yet, new Base Camp is having some modifications so we mightn't be very far afield for a while but you never know what we might find on the garden or a cuple paces from the front door - it's all out there just waiting to be seen.

In the meantime let us know who's been tazzing through your outback.