Friday 26 October 2018

Scilly 2018 Moths, dragonflies and birds!



Staying at the fantastic Watermill Cove area with my father 8th to 17th October, lots of very rare moths thanks to a strong southerly airflow from the Canary Isles. We were out dawn till dusk most days looking for birds as well as after dark looking for moths, so it was fairly full on and very enjoyable!
The following is a quick photo record of my trip to the Scillies. (I did a fuller write up, but when I pushed publish it deleted the lot...so this is a slimmed down version)

Marvelous moths!!

Silver Striped Hawkmoth, 1st for Scilly! I netted this moth while it was being chased by a bat... I thought it would be a convolvulus hawkmoth, so when I saw it in the net I got the surprise of my life, what a moth!

Herpetogramma licarsisalis 15th for uk!
Porters Rustic
Uresiphita gilvata- like a cross between a leggy Rusty Dot Pearl and a large yellow underwing!
Many Lined 47th for UK
Standard Flame Shoulder (for comparison)
Radfords flame shoulder (note the difference to above picture regarding the continuous pale costa leading to the patagia)
Wedgling- 3rd for UK, caught by Dave Grundy on St Agnes

Box-tree moth 1st for Scilly! (a 'true migrant')
A very good start to the trap when you can see this!








Dark Mottled Willow

Tawny Pinion





Bordered Straw
Palpita vitrealis
Scarce Bordered Straw
Hummingbird Hawkmoth
Pearly Underwing
White Speck
Vestal
Notable moth species (for me) recorded during my stay 8/10 to 17/10.
(peak means most specimens found in one night)

Blairs shoulder knot 4
Box-tree 1st for Scilly
Cosmopolitan 1 on several nights
Cyprus Carpet 9 peak
Dark mottled willow 1
Deaths head hawkmoth 1
Delicate 10 peak
Four spotted footman 1
Gem 1
Golden twinspot 1
Herpetogramma licarsisalis 15th for UK
Many lined 1
Opogoma omoscopa lots
Palpita Vitrealis 22 peak
Pearly underwing 1
Porters rustic 1
Radfords flame shoulder 2
RDP 75 peak
Rush vaneer 18 peak
Scarce bordered straw 3 peak
Silver striped hawkmoth 1st for Scilly
Small mottled willow 5 peak
Tachystola acroxantha 4 peak
Tawny pinion 1
Uresiphita gilvata 2
Vestal 9 peak
Wedgling 3rd for UK D. Grundy
White Speck 74 peak

 The moths were certainly pretty amazing, so it was great to continue the rare insect theme with dad and I finding a dragonfly hawking the strand line at Pelistry bay. The dragonfly was clearly a yellow colour all over with yellow tints to the wings and had an interesting flight pattern with lots of short glides, quite unlike a migrant hawker, then on a close flyby in binoculars I could clearly see an unmarked side of the thorax....VAGRANT EMPEROR! It soon disappeared over the bushes, but I soon relocated it perched and obscured in the middle of the field, it did confirm the long yellow pterastigmas to further the identification... a new odonate for me!








 ...And birds.
The birds were not quite as good as they could have been however I did manage a fairly respectable list during my stay.
Barred Warbler
lots of Yellow Browed Warblers
several Firecrest
Tawny Pipit
Red Backed Shrike
Greenish Warbler
Probable Aquatic Warbler (looked very good to me!)
Siberian Chiffchaff (self found)
Wryneck 
Black redstarts
Redstarts
Ring Ouzels
Red-Breasted Flycatcher (self found)
Eastern Yellow Wagtail (probable) (partially self found- heard calling near accommodation and reported as possible EYW)
....and probably more that I have left off by accident




Potential Eastern yellow wagtail


'standard?' yellow wagtail






Greenish Warbler

Whimbrel


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