RXwildlife Sightings

A walk around a local Peasmarsh farm yesterday morning and I found this Hornet Moth (or Clearwing) Sesia apiformis in the hedgerow. A first for me. Wikipedia.

A Roseate Tern was reported on the Quarry this afternoon, visible from the Steve Denny Hide at about 3.30 pm.

The highlights today were mainly micro moths, so I’ll apologise for the tongue-twisting names in advance. Best of the bunch was Eulamprotes wilkella, a species whose name is considerably longer than the moth itself! This is a largely coastal species in Britain, the larvae feeding on common mouse-ear, with only a handful of records for the reserve. Also of interest were Synaphe punctalis (sometimes referred to as Long-legged Tabby, though this English name is for some reason shared with another micro) and the grass moth Pediasia aridella, a rather drab species which in common with it’s kin spends a lot of time pressed up against grass stems trying to look inconspicuous. Best of the bigger moths wasn’t a rarity, in fact it is a fairly common species, but it is a super looking thing - Burnished Brass. Looking at this image you can see where it got it’s name!

Burnished Brass

Apologies for the poor quality of this image, but it is the only one I have of a very lucky stinking hawk’s-beard.  Not because it’s seed fell on stony ground Read the rest of this entry »