Rich Ford's Birding Diary

In the trap last night - 53 moths in total comprising of varying numbers of the following.

Poplar Hawk Moth, Elephant Hawk Moth, Dark Arches, Fan Foot, Snout, Scalloped Oak, Large Yellow Underwing, Heart and Dart, Drinker, Common Footman, Green Carpet, Mottled Beauty, Riband Wave, Phoenix, Swallowtail, Bright Line Brown Eye, Buff Ermine, Small Blood Vein, Small Emerald, Flame Shoulder, and Single Dotted Wave.

A more unwelcome visitor to our garden in the night was a Fox. For the first time ever I forgot to shut three of my hens away in their ark. I was greeted by the sight that every poultry keeper dreads this morning. Feathers everywhere and no sign of the birds. I'm feeling a bit bad about it now. Fortunately it didn't get the bantams.

In the trap last night were 88 moths, which is my best result so far.

The following species were present in varying numbers- Small Magpie, Poplar Hawk Moth, Cinnabar, Mottled Beauty, Heart and Dart, Buff Ermine, Riband Wave, Swallowtail, Snout, Flame, Dark Arches, Fan Foot, Small Quaker, Barred Straw, Large Yellow Underwing, Bee Moth, Green Pug, Spectacle, Peppered Moth, Bright Line Brown Eye and a couple of Minor sp.

A migrant Silver Y moth was flying around the bushes outside my front door as I left for work this morning.

A Little Bittern on the Somerset levels on a rare day off for me, was too much to resist this morning. I didn't arrive until 11 am and stayed until 1.30 pm, but despite pager and birdguides reports to the contrary the bird was not seen in this period. I couldn't stay any longer due to other commitments. I'm sure the bird will be seen later on in the day.

The large crowd did have cracking flight views of at least three Bitterns, and several Hobbies were also putting on a fine display. I also heard a Cuckoo.

I ran the moth trap last night for the first time in a month. Two Muslin moths and two Esperia Sulphurella were all I could manage! I'm going to have another go tonight.

Severnside regulars will know that I have an uncanny knack of arriving five minutes after any Pomarine Skuas have vacated the area.

This evening I had just put my slippers on and lit my pipe, when my mobile phone burst into life. The name on the screen coinciding with a high tide at Severnside in May could only mean one thing: Poms on Severnside! Blinkin' 'eck........ I'll be there in 10 minutes, tell them not to move.

Luckily for me they were still there when I arrived. There were eleven of them, along with one Arctic Skua sat on the water in front of the sea wall. Fantastic! The one bird that I wanted more than any other on my local patch, and there were eleven of the buggars bobbing around in front of me. It was good to have the Arctic for comparison, as it looked so much smaller than the poms, and for a long time was keeping a respectful distance from them.

A flock of Kittiwakes was knocking around in the background, but I have absolutely no idea how many of them there were. I barely gave them a second glance.

I was lucky enough to see a Red Kite drifting over Yate this evening on the way back from a training course near Bath.

A Purple Heron at Chew Valley lake this afternoon was a welcome addition to my county list . I saw it in flight for a few seconds at Herons Green Pool.

An evening visit to Severn Beach for the high tide didn't bring any of the hoped for terns or skuas. There was a mixed flock of 100 Dunlin and Ringed Plover on the beach and a Whimbrel and a Little Egret flew past.

The first three of my local Swifts were screaming over my garden early this evening.

The Great-spotted Woodpecker that I first saw in my garden a few days back has become a regular visitor to the garden this week.