Cute Spider Alert!

I was idly looking out of the window this afternoon when this little chap trundled down my widow sill. It's Pseudeuophrys lanigera which was first recorded in the UK in 1930 and is almost always found in houses.

Montpelier Station!

I had a wander to the station between the showers this morning. There were several Small White butterflies on the other side of the tracks and some Enchanter's Nightshade was in flower nearby. A Rose Chafer was feeding on Buddleia. Towards the TV mast I was amazed to see lots of Broomrape plants - presumably Ivy-leaved Broomrape as the host plant was present. This seems to have been gradually colonising the railway land around Montpelier in recent years. I couldn't get better photos as it was behind a fence. A Marmalade Hoverfly was sat on a Hazel leaf. Halfway down Station Road a Harlequin Ladybird was trundling around. An Impressive Great Mullein plant was flowering near the Cheltenham Road arches.

Small White

Rose Chafer

Marmalade Hoverfly

Enchanter's Nightshade

Ivy Broomrape

Harlequin Ladybird

Great Mullein

In the garden a Dunnock was singing.

Dunnock

The last couple of nights I've detected Noctule bats hunting when sticking my bat detector out of the window.

Moffs, False Widows and Ravens!

The moth trap produced my first ever Vapourer this morning, a moth I've always dreamed of seeing. It was unfortunately sat on the outside of my kitchen window, so the only way I could see it properly was by leaning out of the adjacent (attic window) and taking a distant shot of it. It was pretty scary as I had to lean onto the sloping roof below the window to get the shot and and at times I could have actually fallen out of it! Other moths included:
Heart and Dart 10
Dark Arches 3
Swallow-tailed Moth 1
Heart and Club 1
Flame 1
Uncertain/Rustic agg. 3
Codling Moth 2
Common Footman 1
Large Yellow Underwing 2
Lesser Yellow Underwing 1
Chrysoteuchia culmella 1
Pseudargyrotoza conwagana 1
Euzophera pinguis 1

Swallow-tailed Moth

Large Yellow Underwing

Common Footman

Flame 

Euzophera pinguis

Vapourer

Lesser Yellow Underwing

My resident False Widow Spider is becoming a bit too assertive in the bathroom and is expanding her web. Will have to  think about relocating her but she is only active at night and hides behind a tile during the day.

Three Ravens were on the TV mast in Station Road this morning - presumably the St Werburghs birds.

Raven

Late moth news from yesterday, there was a Marbled Beauty also in the bathroom last night.

Marbled Beauty

Moffs!

This morning's haul included a micro-moth whose foodplant is Scots Pine - there is a specimen of this tree in Montpelier Park but it's till quite a way for this tiny moth to fly! The full list as follows:
Riband Wave 1
Common Plume 1
Bright-line Brown-eye 1
Heart and Dart 8
Dark Arches 2
Grey Pug 1
Small Blood-vein 1
Setaceous Hebrew Character 1
Diamond-backed Moth 1
Pale Mottled Willow 1
Clepsis consimilana 1
Lozotaeniodes formosana 1

Common Plume

Lozotaeniodes formosana (Scots Pine specialist)

Grey Pug

Small Blood-vein

Moffs, spiders and Goldfinches!

I ran my moth trap again last night. Nothing particularly exciting or new ventured in but never mind.
Heart and Dart 19
Dark Arches 2
Bright Line Brown Eye 1
Silver Y 2
Codling Moth 1
Box Tree Moth (dark form) 1
Willow Beauty 1
Rustic/Uncertain 2
Notocelia trimaculana 1
Possible Spilonota ocellana 1
Tachystola acroxantha 1
Eudonia lacustrata 1
? Bird-cherry Ermine 1

Box Tree Moth

Codling Moth

Dark Arches

I was delighted to see a Running Crab-spider wandering across my laptop last night.

This morning a Goldfinch was singing outside my bathroom window.

Pretty Pollinators!

A quick lunchtime stroll around Montpelier produced a Tree Bumblebee, an Early Bumblebee, a Marmalade Hoverfly and a Eupeodes corollae  hoverfly.

Tree Bumblebee



Marmalade Hoverfly

Early Bumblebee

Eupeodes corollae

Moffs!

Last night I set up the moth trap and caught the following:
Riband Wave 1
Light Brown Apple Moth 1
Double-striped Pug 1
Shuttle-shaped Dart 3
Heart and Dart 22
Lime Hawkmoth 1
Ptycholoma lecheana 1
Treble Lines 1
Marbled Minor agg. 2
Peppered Moth 1
Eudonia mercurella (NEW) 1
Brown House Moth 1
Vine's Rustic 1

Peppered Moth

Riband Wave

Lime Hawkmoth

Eudonia mercurella

Double-striped Pug

Garden birds seen today included Woodpigeon, Robin, House Sparrow and Blue Tit.

Woodpigeon

St Andrews Park!

Highlights in the park this morning included several Azure Damselflies, a Cinnabar Moth, a couple of Leaf-cutter Bees, a Harlequin Ladybird larva, a 7-Spot Ladybird, masses of Black Bean Aphids, a couple of Ichneumon Wasps and the hoverflies Eristalis pertinax and Helophilus pendulus.

Azure Damselfly

Leafcutter Bee

Harlequin Ladybird Larva

Cinnabar Moth

Black Bean Aphids

Back in Montpelier, butterflies were represented by a Large Skipper in Fairlawn Road and a Comma on the station.

Large Skipper

Comma

A single Perforate St John's-wort plant was in flower at the station.

Perforate St John's-wort

Birds today included a singing Coal Tit at St Andrews Park, a male Blackcap which perched briefly out in the open at the station but was too quick for my camera, a Robin and Collared Dove also at the station and Blue Tits and House Sparrows in the garden.

Lots of moths!

I was glad I set up the moth trap last night as I had an extremely good haul with several new for me. The list is as follows:
Light Brown Apple Moth 1
Scarlet Tiger 2
Treble Brown Spot 1 NEW
Heart and Dart 20
Treble-lines 1
Dark Arches 1
Heart and Club 1
Lime-speck Pug 2
May Highflyer 1 NEW
Willow Beauty 2
Privet Hawkmoth 1 NEW
Peppered Moth 1
Bright-line Brown-eye 1
Setaceous Hebrew Character 2
Small Magpie 1
Apple Leaf Miner 1 NEW
Barred Fruit-tree Tortrix 1
Tachystola acroxantha 1

Heart and Club

Dark Arches

May Highflyer

Treble Brown Spot

Privet Hawkmoth

Apple Leaf Miner

Also a Mirid Bug Deraeocoris flavilinea