Sleepy Fox and Breeding Bird Survey results in full!

A Fox was sat in the grass near the tunnel this morning - looked like a young one (the Fox, not the tunnel) and was completely unfazed by a train passing within a metre of it!

I'm always delighted by the tiny delicate flowers of Cleavers - lots growing above the wall this morning.

The moment you've all been waiting for has arrived - details of yesterday's BTO Breeding Bird Survey round Montpelier, St Andrews and St Pauls:
Lesser Black-backed Gull 8
Herring Gull 2
Woodpigeon 19
Collared Dove 6
Swift 7
Wren 6
Dunnock 1
Robin 4
Blackbird 15
Blackcap 2
Great Tit 1
Magpie 9
Carrion Crow 6
Starling 2
House Sparrow 23
Goldfinch 9
Feral Pigeon 28

Surprising absence of Blue Tits and Jays and only one Great Tit, although of course the survey is only a snapshot of what's about at any given time. House Sparrow numbers seem to be holding up well and as I said yesterday, it's good the Swifts are hanging on.

Breeding Bird Survey!

Did my Breeding Bird Survey this morning - I haven't had time to enter the data but I'm pleased to report there were quite a few Swifts recorded which is quite heartening. Full results tomorrow hopefully.

Last night had a Bee Moth in the flat - I saw a female a couple of years ago but this one is a male. They like bee and wasp nests so there must be one somewhere close by, possibly in my roof!

Moth improvement!

Last night I put my stronger moth trap up and had a better catch than yesterday, including a couple of new species for the patch:
Heart and Dart 2
Shuttle-shaped Dart 4
Seraphim 1 (my first ever! Interestingly its food plant is Poplar - there are one or two in Montpelier)
Grey/Dark Dagger 1
Vine's Rustic 1 (First ever - difficult to ID but likely to be this species)
Willow Beauty 1
Tachystola acroxantha
Codling Moth Cydia pomonella
Plume Moth sp.
Light Brown Apple Moth

Seraphim

Coddling Moth

Grey/Dark Dagger and probable Vine's Rustic

Heart and Dart

Plume Moth

Shuttle-shaped Dart

Tachystola acroxantha

There were a couple of spiders attracted to the trap - a Philodromus (Running Crab Spider) and a Pholcus phalangioides (Cellar Spider).

Pholcus phalangioides

Philodromus

Nothing new at the station this morning - a Woodlouse on the wall looks like Common Rough Woodlouse.

Probable Common Rough Woodlouse

Rose Chafer!

My first Rose Chafer on the patch this morning - on Red Valerian along the path to the station - I love these guys. Nearby a Nursery-web Spider waiting for its breakfast. Four distant Swifts seen through binoculars beyond the TV mast.

Rose Chafer

Nursery-web Spider

My moth trap produced just three moths this morning and one of them escaped so I was left with a Willow Beauty and a lovely Buff Ermine. Also in the trap was an Ichneumon Wasp - probably either a Netelia or Ophion species.

Buff Ermine

Willow Beauty

Ichneumon Wasp

Spiders, hoverflies and Starlings!

This morning at the station I was checking the wall for spiders and found a Theridion sp., a small blackish spider with a pale pattern on its abdomen. I thought it might be an odd-looking Zygiella at first but the spider experts on Facebook put me right. Nearby a Myathropa florea hoverfly was on  Hogweed near the tracks and a Marmalade Hoverfly was basking on some Ivy. I could hear baby Starlings calling but couldn't  see them. Oh well, maybe tomorrow...

Theridion

Marmalade Hoverfly

Myathropa florea

Swifts!

This morning at the station there were at least 4 Swifts seen distantly by focussing my bins on the TV mast and scanning the skies. I hope I get to see more of them this summer but they are sadly declining.

I would so love to cross the railway line near the tunnel and have a rummage amongst the vegetation but as I'm a law-abiding citizen I have to make do with binoculars. It's surprising what you can see through them when looking for insects - there was a Myathropa florea hoverfly, a Yellow Dung Fly, a Thick-thighed Flower Beetle, a Large White butterfly and a Green-veined White all seen through my bins!

Large White

Myathropa florea

Green-veined White

Yellow Dung Fly and Thick-thighed Flower Beetle

Narroways!

A lovely morning on the reserve, with lots of baby Long-tailed Tits everywhere! Also a couple of Ravens, a fly-over Jackdaw, a pair of Jays, calling Bullfinches and singing Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs.

Jay

Young Long-tailed Tit

Insect highlights included a Cream-spot Ladybird (my first!), Harlequin Ladybirds, mating Green Shieldbugs, a Speckled Wood, and some Oedemera sp. beetles. Hoverflies included Syrphus sp., Dasysyrphus tricinctus, Myathropa florea, Marmalade Hoverfly and Helophilus pendulus. Also an attractive Ichneumon, a sleepy Common Carder Bee and a Yellow Dung Fly .

Cream-spot Ladybird

Dasysyrphus tricinctus

Marmalade Hoverfly

Helophilus pendulus

Oedemera beetles

Myathropa florea

Syrphus hoverfly

Yellow Dung Fly

Green Shieldbugs

Common Carder Bee

Back in Montpelier there was a Nomad Bee along Fairlawn Road.

Nomad Bee

In St Andrews Park the highlights were a family of Magpies and 3 Large Red Damselflies - my first of the year. Also a couple of Holly Blue butterflies near the pond. Hundreds of Toadpoles were in the pond.

Large Red Damselfly

Young Magpies

Toadpoles