Waxwing

Waxwing
"To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

From "Auguries of Innocence"

by William Blake

Sunday 22 May 2011

What a Cute Moth!

I opened the moth trap yesterday morning to find in amongst the heart and darts, shuttle-shaped dart and inevitable pug, a rather pretty, cute little moth which I haven't caught before. And for once it looked pretty distinctive and was easy to identify as a pale tussock.

Pale Tussock





It seemed pretty docile so I got a few ivy leaves from the garden to try and take a more pleasing, natural looking photo. Unfortunately by this time it was starting to "wake up" and every time I tried to get it off my finger onto the leaf its wings were starting to whirr - a sign it was about to take off at any second.




I decided to let it go amongst some flowers in the garden and luckily it clamped onto a pansy stem and I was able to get a more natural looking record shot.



Summary of Moths caught on Friday, 20th May

9.15 p.m. until dawn

Minimum temperature 5.4 degrees centigrade

15w Actinic Skinner Trap

7 x Heart and Dart
1 x Shuttle-shaped Dart
1 x Common Pug (I think!) it flew off as I was trying to take a photo
1 x Pale Tussock New for Garden

Total number of species seen in garden 105

Total number of species seen in garden in 2011 = 21 (pretty poor total so far but it should rise substantially as the year progresses!)

Nesting Update

The blue tit nestlings in the nest box are growing quickly - their bodies are partially covered now in fine down. Two seem larger than the other two but the parents seem to be trying to give the smaller two more food. The two bigger ones don't seem to want to be brooded by the female who looks very puzzled and confused by their actions! The wire netting around the outside of the nestbox seems to be keeping the great spotted woodpecker away.

The wren is still going into a nest somewhere in the ivy with food. I am not sure exactly when she began feeding the young but they must be due to fledge soon.

I saw a recently fledged goldfinch near the feeders last week - it was having trouble trying to find somewhere to land! The one surving young blackbird now seems independent of its parents and the racing pigeon has disappeared so I hope it made it back to its loft.

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