11th April - Night-time flight

The daylight hours produced a few avian highlights.  However the real action kicked off under the cover of darkness.

Birds seen:
Red kite x2
Common buzzard x7
Sparrowhawk x1
Kestrel x2
Grey heron x1
Redwing x6
Swallow x3
House Martin x1

Nice to have a crossover of wintering birds (Redwing) with incoming Summer migrants (House Martin & Swallows).


As dusk descended I decided it was time to dust off the moth-trap and give it a go for the first time this year.  Results were surprisingly good as overnight conditions were far from ideal.

Moths caught:
Nut tree tussock x1
Water carpet x3
Hebrew character x2
Streamer x2
Clouded drab x3
Brindled beauty x1
Small quaker x1
Waved umber x1
March moth X1
Early grey x1
Frosted green x1

Water carpet

Waved umber

Streamer
(When freshly emerged they have a lovely purple sheen)

Early grey

Frosted green

March moth

Surprise of the night for me happened at 11.10pm when a large flock of Common scoter were heard calling right over the back garden.  They will be on their way back to Northern Europe to breed.
    There are only 50 pairs of these all-black sea ducks breeding in the UK but they are a common enough sight off our shores in Winter with around 100,000 birds spending it here.