RXwildlife Sightings

This impressive spider was lurking in my moth trap this morning, having had one of the 4 Common Marbled Carpet moths for breakfast (at least it left the rarer moths alone!). Body 12 mm long, legs each about 20 mm. Many thanks to Richard, Robin and Chris who have identified it as a male Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis), a hunting spider that lives in dense vegetation. The female carries her egg cocoon in her fangs; when the eggs are about to hatch she attaches it to vegetation and spins a silken tent over it, standing guard until the young spiders disperse.

And the small ones too. The first photo shows my first Eyed Hawkmoth of the year (60 mm across), and the bottom photo my second Poplar Hawkmoth. These were among 31 species in my trap in Rye this morning, up from 16 on Wednesday and just 6 on Tuesday, showing the cumulative effect of several mild damp nights following the cool dry winds earlier. The more unusual moths today included Scalloped Hooktip, Chinese Character, Sharp-angled Peacock, Fern, Freyer’s Pug, V-pug, Buff-tip (3) and Iron Prominent.

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A damp and dull dawn produced a few highlights from Ternery Pool 5 BlackTern, Wood Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper. Also present in good numbers Black-headed Gull,MediterraneanGull, Sandwich Tern and Common Tern.