Migrant Moths

Pearly Underwing - one of three trapped last night. A more reddish individual below.

Migrant species trapped in the garden last night - 3 Pearly Underwing, 3 Silver Y, 3 Turnip Moth, 1 Bordered Straw, 2 Rush Veneer, 2 White-point and c20 Rusty Dot Pearl. Other species included my first garden Jersey Mocha and a nice green form of Marbled Green.

Migrants on Orcombe Point this morning included 12 Yellow Wagtails and 2 Tree Pipits, along with a single Wheatear. Nearby there were at least 7 Yellow Wagtails, in with cattle, along Maer Lane.

Off Maer Rocks - 7 Sandwich Terns and a first-summer Mediterranean Gull.

Mudbank - 1 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 3 Common Terns, 1 Dunlin, 3 Common Gulls, 14 Whimbrel and 28 Little Egrets.

Predicted just a week ago, when I saw my very first, courtesy of Nick - my first garden Jersey Mocha.

Rush Veneer.

Another Bordered Straw - this one looks a little more richly-coloured and distinctly more well-travelled!

Dark Sword-grass.

Not an immigrant species but a rather lovely olive-green form of Marbled Green.

Hawthorn Moth - Scythropia crataegella.

Flounced Rustic.

Pied Fly, Gadwall

Today's Pied Flycatcher, my second of the autumn, wasn't in so much of a rush as the last one, and I enjoyed prolonged views as it fed quietly along the line of trees that border the Bristol Schools field.

Orcombe Point this morning - 1 Pied Flycatcher and 2 Tree Pipits were the only migrants I could find. Offshore - at least 3 Mediterranean Gulls and 8 Common Terns in with a large feeding flock of gulls and a few Sandwich Terns.

Off Mudbank - 3 Gadwall, 9 Wigeon, c230 Mallard, 23 Whimbrel, 2 Dunlin, 4 Ringed Plovers, 1 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 1 Great Crested Grebe and 1 juvenile Common Tern.

Orcombe Point yesterday - 4 Tree Pipits and 10 Swallows. Off the seafront - 3+ Balearic Shearwaters lingering, 4+ Mediterranean Gulls and 2 Tree Pipits over. Off Mudbank - 5 Wigeon, 21 Whimbrel, 6 Black-tailed Godwits, 6 Ringed Plovers, 1 Dark-bellied Brent Goose and c200 Mallard.

On 19/8 - a Reed Warbler was the best sighting on Orcombe. Also - 4+ Willow Warbler. 

 Three Gadwall off Mudbank - always a good bird in Exmouth. Today's trio accompanied c230 Mallard and 9 Wigeon.

It won't be too long before the summering Dark-bellied Brent Goose rejoins its returning cousins...

This Small Heath was a surprise discovery in the Bristol Schools field. I can't recall seeing one on Orcombe before.

Copper Underwing. Quiet moth-wise over the last couple of nights. Three Dark Sword-grass, last night, indicated some ongoing immigration and there are stacks of Rush Veneers on Orcombe, kicked up with every other footstep in the longer grass.

The Mudbank Sea Aster has finally started to flower.

Juvenile Willow Warbler - Orcombe Point. One of at least four yesterday.

Pied Fly

One of 22 juvenile/first-winter Mediterranean Gulls on the beach, by the lifeboat station, yesterday morning.

The birding has picked up a little bit over the last couple of days. I did three short trips up to Orcombe today, where the highlight was a Pied Flycatcher, which moved rapidly through the treetops of the Bristiol Schools Camp, before vanishing. This is my first Pied Fly in Exmouth since August 30th 2018! Also today - 25 Swallows, 11 Chiffchaffs, 3 Whitethroats, 1 Wheatear, 1 Sedge Warbler, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 1 Garden Warbler and 8 Tree Pipits. A high-flying, river-bound flock of c30 waders was almost certainly Black-tailed Godwits - an assumption backed up by the presence of a flock of 33, off Mudbank, shortly afterwards. A male Kestrel was the first one I've seen on Orcombe in a while. Lovely to catch up with Libby this morning too.

Off the lifeboat station - at least 8 Common Terns and a Yellow Wagtail over, and off Mudbank - the aforementioned 33 Black-tailed Godwits, 24+ Ringed Plover, 11 Sanderling, 3 Dunlin, 5 Wigeon, 6 Redshank, 1 Dark-bellied Brent Goose and 3 Mediterranean Gulls.

Yesterday off Mudbank - 6+ Common Terns, 3 Teal, 1 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 9 Mediterranean Gulls (7 juvs), 1 Turnstone, 1 Ringed Plover, 5 Wigeon, 4 Dunlin, 33 Little Egrets and a Sparrowhawk. A flock off 22 juvenile/first-winter Mediterranean Gulls, and a single adult, were on the beach, and on Orcombe Point - 5 Wheatears, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Sedge Warbler and 1 Tree Pipit.

Striped Hawk, Jersey & Blair's Mocha

 Striped Hawkmoth. By far the best of last night's immigrant haul that included 1 Silver Y, 1 Dark Sword-grass and small numbers of Turnip and White-point. 

Disappointingly quiet on Orcombe this morning, following overnight rain that continued well past dawn. Just one or two Tree Pipits and 3 Swifts made it into the notebook. The hedgerows were devoid of phylloscs or anything else for that matter! Off the Imperial rec - 1 Common Tern, 5 Sandwich Terns, 2 Mediterranean Gulls, 1 Grey Plover, 2 Ringed Plovers and a flock of 27 Black-tailed Godwits. The Wigeon count has risen to 5 individuals off Mudbank.

Nick trapped this smart Jersey Mocha last night, and very kindly popped over with it. It's a brand new species for me but one, like many others, that seems to be doing well in response to a warmer climate. I'm assuming I'll find it here in Exmouth, sooner or later. Remarkably, Nick also trapped the closely-related Blair's Mocha - a species I've only encountered in the south of France, but another one that's on the rise.

Blair's Mocha.

Tawny-barred Angle. Only trapped occasionally here in Exmouth.

Ni Moth

Last night's star - my first garden Ni Moth - a rare immigrant species, accompanied by 4 Turnips, 1 White-point, 1 Delicate, 2 Diamond-backs, Rush Veneer, several Rusty Dot Pearls, 7 Portland Ribbon Waves, Hoary Footman, Four-spotted Footman, Copper Underwing, White-spotted Pug, Spindle Knot-horn Nephopterix angustella, Bloxworth Snout, Small Square-spot, Common Wave, Common Wainscot, Small Dusty Wave and Yellow-barred Brindle, amongst a host of other species.

Migrants on Orcombe Point this morning included 5 Tree Pipits, 5 Wheatears, 2 Yellow Wagtails, 1 Grey Wagtail and 1 Sedge Warbler. Also 3 Clouded Yellows. 

Off Mudbank - the first 4 returning Wigeon, c235 Mallard, 4 Sandwich Terns and the Dark-bellied Brent Goose.

Yesterday - 1 Yellow Wagtail and a Sedge Warbler on Orcombe Point, 58 Mute Swans (inc 7 juvs) off Mudbank and the first-summer Yellow-legged Gull was on the Imperial rugby ground.

One of five Wheatears on Orcombe today.

Sedge Warblers have been seen in the Bristol Schools field, along Gore Lane and around the slurry pit in the last week. A good autumn for them so far...

Yarrow Conch Aethes smeathmanniana - Bristol Schools camp.

 A fresh, 2nd brood Small Square-spot and the first I've seen in a long while.

Four-spotted Footman.

One of seven Portland Ribbon Waves in last night's trap.

Bloxworth Snout.

Delicate.

Hoary Footman.

Lesser-spotted Pinion

Lesser-spotted Pinion. The larvae feed on Wych Elm. There's lots of that around here so it's perhaps a bit surprising I've not trapped this species before, although it's not a common species

The only morsels of bird news - a Garden Warbler on Orcombe yesterday, and the Yellow-legged Gull was on the Imperial rugby ground. Off Mudbank today, on a brief visit - 225+ Mallard, 28 Little Egrets, 33 Whimbrel, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit and the Dark-bellied Brent Goose. Thankfully the moths have again provided plenty of interest.

 White-speckled Clothes Moth Nemapogon koenigi.

Carrion Moth  Monopis weaverella.

Flame Carpet.

White-point. Two or three of these trapped over the last couple of nights. Additionally, half a dozen or so Turnip, a few  Rush Veneer, several Portland Ribbon Waves and 4 or 5 Dark Sword Grass were trapped. Also Oak Eggar, Pinion-streaked Snout, Red Twin-spot Carpet, Golden-rod Pug, Sharp-angled Peacock, Peppered Moth, Canary-shouldered Thorn, September Thorn, Flame Carpet, Cream-bordered Green Pea, Four-spotted Footman, Dun-bar, Lesser-spotted Pinion, Haworth's Pug, Small Rufous and Common Wainscot amongst many others.

Peppered Moth.

Grey Poplar Bell Epinotia nisella.

Golden Argent Argyresthia goedartella.

Dun-bar.

Common Purple-and-gold Pyrausta purpuralis.

Cream-bordered Green Pea.

Jersey Tiger aberration. Not seen this one before. Eleven JTs in the trap last night.

Lime Bent-wing, Storks

One of two Juvenile Black-tailed Godwits off Mudbank yesterday.

Off Mudbank today - 1 Redshank, 1 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 3 Mediterranean Gulls, the Yellow-legged Gull and c200 Mallard. A large flock of 25+ White Storks (presumably the 'Knepp 28' seen earlier in Torquay) flew hurriedly across the river at 1650, watched from the back garden, and a Tree Pipit flew over Mudbank, calling, earlier on this morning.

Of note off there yesterday - 2 Black-tailed Godwits and a Grey Plover, along with the summering Dark-bellied Brent Goose.

First-summer Yellow-legged Gull.

Lime Bent-wing Bucculatrix thoracella. One of two trapped last night. The larvae apparently feed on Small-leaved Lime and sometimes Common Lime.

Endothenia species.

Silver Y. Just this and a single Diamond-back the only evidence of any immigrant activity, unless you include Turnip and Rusty Dot Pearls.

One of two Orange swifts trapped last night.

Small Rufous.