Blustery Days

The wind and more particulary the strong gusts of wind do not make good conditions for bird ringing, moth trapping and insect photography.  Many thanks go to the Conservation Stewardship Fund who awarded Foxglove a grant to purchase a portable moth trap.  Despite the weather forecast the new trap was placed in the outdoor classroom to see what would be caught.

A good result, 51 moths of 23 species were recorded.  The highlight was this Ghost Moth, the second caught recently, after no records since 2005.

This trap will enable us to investigate the moth species in many different habitats across the reserve.  Our sincere thanks go to the people involved in applying for and awarding us the money to purchase this new apparatus.

Warm blustery weather ensures that the 'damsels and dragons' hide or fly so fast the chances of photographing them is almost nil.   A brief respite in the wind saw a Broad-bodied Chaser land fleetingly on a reed.

Andrew was out with his camera and managed to get this photo of a Painted Lady flying or probably been blown between sheltered flowers to feed.  You can see its unfurled proboscis .

He also caught a Ringlet with its wings open, hidden low in the vegetation.  Usually they sit with their wings closed.

However one Ringlet butterfly decided to take refuge from the blustery wind by hiding underneath Jan's scarf!

Thank you to Andrew for the photos.

Different weather forecasts give different information, but it does look like warmer, calmer weather may be on its way.  Fingers crossed!