Some you win, some you Junco!

With a warm muggy and cloud laden sky, last night was ideal for moths, and so it proved this morning with an absolute box full to trawl through!:

Poplar Hmth 4
Elephant Hmth 5
Privet Hmth 1
Yellow tail 2 MYL115
Poplar 1
Lime-speck Pug 1 MYL116
Green Pug 1
Smokey Wainscot 3
Common Wainscot 3
Snout 3
Swallow-tailed Moth 1
Common White Wave 1
Brimstone Moth 2
Fanfoot 3 MYL117
Plain Golden Y 2
Silver Y 1
Green Silver Lines 1
Dot Moth 2 MYL 118
Dagger sp 1
Large Yellow Uwg 15
Lesser Yellow Uwg 1 MYL 119
Mottled Rustic 8
Uncertain 12
Rustic 5
Clay 4 MYL 120
Double-striped Pug 2
Bufftip 3
Riband Wave 8
Small Bloodvein 1
Bright-line Brown-eye 2
Brown-line Bright-eye 3 MYL121
Burnished Brass 1
Flame Shoulder 2
Mother of Pearl 4
Dark Arches 5
Lychinis 1 MYL122
CREAM-BORDERED GREEN PEA 1 MYL123 (GL 233-Macro)
Large Fruit Tortrix 1 MYL124
Gold Triangle 1 MYL125
Udea prunelis 1 MYL126
Endotricha flammealis 1 MYL1
Short-cloaked Moth 1 MYL128
Small Magpie 5

Another half a dozen micro moths remain unidentified. The CBGP was a new one for me and may represent the first migrant of the year.

Short-cloaked Moth


Udea prunelis


Cream-bordered Green Pea


Endotrichia flammealis


Gold Triangle


Large Fruit tree Tortrix


Mid July for a birder is a fairly 'safe' time of year, the odd rare wader may turn up, along with an occational seabird goody (but in the latter case you almost always have to be there when they go past because they dont hang around...unless its a fishing lake in Lincolnshire!) but generally not alot happens at all. So, after arranging to borrow a vehicle to do some around the house maintainence, I was rather chuffed at a garden and Parish year tick in the form of and adult Mediterranean Gull that cruised overhead with some Common Gulls as I scanned them for...Med Gull! However, as I sat eating my lunch a nonchalent glance at my beeping bird pager had me almost choking on my chicken sandwich as it read 'Dark-eyed Junco in gardens in Langham Norfolk'!!! This bird is a very rare straggler from the USA and is more likely in Cornwall in October than Norfolk in July! My main problem was transport, I had to get the van back to work, pick up my car and get to Langham, see the bird and get back home by 1630! Everything went to plan...except the bit after get to Langham and before get home by 1630!! Ofcouse I had to be there at the birds longest stay of absence during the afternoon, and it wasn't until I turned into my road in Aylmerton that the pager cheerily anounced that the bird was 'showing well' and apparently did so for the rest of the afteroon and evening...grrrrrrrr!
Oh well some you win, and some you envaribly, and seemingly more often than not, with not even a fifty/fifty ratio, that also appear to remain in your memory for longer...lose!!

Mediterranean Gull PYL 104