Swifts and Twin-spots

 After yesterday's exploits down at Brook Lake, what happened in Sheffield, last night, ensured I went to bed a very contented soul. If George Best, Gazza or Christiano Ronaldo had scored a goal similar to that which Alessia Russo did, at Bramall Lane, it would be lauded as genius by the footballing pundits. How was it reported on the BBC Sports website? "Very naughty" as her Lioness team-mates stated in their post match interviews. Will it matter if they meet France or Germany at Wembley, on Sunday? The confidence and self-belief, that they clearly have, should surely see them lift the trophy and with it, the spirit of our nation because one thing's for sure. Sunak and/or Truss can't!

I had toyed with going back down to Brook but didn't bother. Plenty to occupy my time around the garden, dead heading the planters and baskets plus general tidying around the drive and patio. Around 10.50 hrs it became obvious that there were numbers of Swifts passing overhead. A ten minute sample count revealed 307, mainly East, and so it continued for another hour before numbers fell away. The birds were moving on a very broad front right over Newlands Farm and, as I write this, at 17.45 hrs, there are still odd groups passing through, although now they seem on a more Northerly path. There is no way I could provide an accurate count, because I couldn't be arsed! The numbers were certainly in the thousands and by far the largest movement I've ever witnessed.

Overnight moth trapping provided plenty of interest with some fairly decent species being present on the egg trays. Three more Jersey Tigers, a Gypsy Moth and male Oak Eggar were the real, in your face, moths as I examined the contents of the Robinson Trap today. However, on the very first tray, I espied a superb Golden Twin-spot. This species was a real "rare" during those early years but, now, thanks to climate change being recorded in ever increasing numbers across the UK. 

Other bits included the likes of Turnip Moth, Nutmeg, Plain Pug and Small Fan-footed Wave. Garden moth trapping, as does local patch birding, has the ability to elevate the status of "common" species purely because of the location and restricted boundaries involved. And so it proved today, I discovered a Twin-spotted Wainscot on one of the final egg trays. It constitutes only the third garden record in twenty-one years! To say I was delighted would be doing the moth an injustice - I was buzzing like a newbie to the dark art and for that I must thank, once again, a certain Gavin Haig!