Despite what seemed like promising conditions, it was another visit from the Irish entertainer for me last night 😢 #teammoth @pmandrews1973.bsky.social

Holding onto the moth pots in case any decide to float past…..

The most interesting thing in (or anywhere near) the moth trap this morning was a pair of copulating Wood Gnats (Sylvicola sp.). All the moths in the area have presumably drowned in the biblical rain of the last couple of days… #teammoth @pmandrews1973.bsky.social

Hill Hook LNR lived up to its designation as ‘wet woodland’ today, but the birds didn’t mind: 23 species recorded, including 2 Song Thrushes singing loudly. A flock of c. 30 Siskin moving through the Alders around the pond was another highlight. @pmandrews1973.bsky.social

First time I’ve actually seen a Sparrowhawk with a kill in my garden. This male spent a good 10 minutes or so plucking and eating his victim, a female Blackbird. @pmandrews1973.bsky.social 🪶

Put the trap out last night and managed to attract 3 Pale Brindled Beauties to nearby surfaces. Nice to see some more moths but my January list still stands at just the one species. #teammoth @pmandrews1973.bsky.social @bcwarwickshire.bsky.social

Finally I have my first moth of 2026! A Pale Brindled Beauty, discovered on the wall above the kitchen window after I'd packed away the trap and dismissed last night as a Wogan. #teammoth @pmandrews1973.bsky.social

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free

I’ve been catching up with my recording and found this photo from July 2024. It looks like a good match for the braconid wasp, Aleiodes praetor (the darkened rear tarsi and lower tibia are distinctive), a parasitoid of Poplar & Lime Hawk-moth. @gavinbroad.bsky.social @jasboparai.bsky.social

Just done the #BigGardenBirdwatch, highlight was seeing a male Blackcap chase a female away from the bird table. 12 species in total, Jackdaw which is usually regular round here was a no-show, as was Long-tailed Tit. @rspb.bsky.social

Remembering my first and only Clifden Nonpareil for #MothFaceFriday #teammoth

Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42, post the second sentence: ‘Consequently, conifer plantations can have plenty of lures to attract hoverflies and the hoverfly recorder’.

A couple for #WildflowerHour, the Dandelion was expected, Scentless Mayweed rather less so! South Staffs. @wildflowerhour.bsky.social

My annual visit yesterday to Little Aston Pill Box to count overwintering Lepidoptera: a record 25 Peacocks, 1 Small Tortoiseshell (better than last year’s 0), and 1 Herald, the lowest count (by 3) in 5 years #teammoth @vc39moths.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social @pmandrews1973.bsky.social

Two Rhingia campestris #hoverflies from WWT Slimbridge last May @wwtworldwide.bsky.social

"And we now have María on the line who would like to swap a Nobel Peace Prize for the presidency of Venezuela..."

Been going through some photos from my visit to WWT Slimbridge last May, very pleased to find that I managed to record two uncommon mining bee species: Andrena labialis (Large Meadow Mining Bee) and Andrena proxima/ampla (Broad-faced/Water-dropwort Minjng Bee) #solitarybees

A couple of shots of the Barnacle Goose at Hill Hook LNR yesterday. Probably a feral bird, but very attractive nonetheless & a nice addition to the site list. @pmandrews1973.bsky.social @ecorecord.bsky.social 🪶

First moth trap of the year was also my first Wogan of the year. Forecast doesn’t bode well for any more attempts in the near future either. #teammoth

After much moaning on my part about how I hadn’t seen one all winter, a Fieldfare finally appeared at the top of my Poplar tree this morning! Shortly after, a Raven flew over (an increasingly common occurrence here). @pmandrews1973.bsky.social @ecorecord.bsky.social 🪶

It was ‘second time lucky’ for me today catching up with the Sutton Park Firecrest (a lifer). Special thanks to @pmandrews1973.bsky.social for collating and sharing information about the location with me. @ecorecord.bsky.social 🪶

Two Blackcaps visiting my Sutton Coldfield garden this morning, a male and a female, but turning up separately & not meeting. Also a flock of at least 51 Goldfinches! @pmandrews1973.bsky.social @ecorecord.bsky.social 🪶

Some seedheads (Lavender and Tansy) and rose hips in the garden this morning #snow #Don’tCutYet

A little bit of bird photography at Hill Hook LNR this lunchtime. Pond was mostly frozen so relatively few waterbirds (no diving ducks), but as well as Robin & Long-tailed Tit, a flock of Siskin was active high in the Alders. @pmandrews1973.bsky.social @jamiehicken.bsky.social

Can anyone suggest a truly frost-proof container that I can put out water for the birds in? This is what happened to my bird bath after several nights of sun-zero temperatures… @bto-gbw.bsky.social

A rare sighting of a Song Thrush in my garden this morning. Though regularly present at Hill Hook LNR only 1/4 of a mile away, they don’t usually move far from there. @ecorecord.bsky.social 🪶

Snow and frost this morning at @ladywalknr.bsky.social but plenty about to start my 2026 list. Highlights were great views of a Water Rail, decent numbers of Redwing and a Peregrine on the pylon. Managed to find Hazel in flower too and Coral Spot fungus.

You wait all year to see a Pochard, then like buses they’re everywhere … A female at Hill Hook LNR this pm made a nice end to my year’s recording there; also notable: Jay, Goosander (m) and a Redwing (in the meadow area). @ecorecord.bsky.social @pmandrews1973.bsky.social @jamiehicken.bsky.social

A couple of hours at #RSPBMiddletonLakes yesterday in the hope of adding a couple more species to my year list. Managed Pochard but failed with Goldeneye (as I did earlier this year). Other highlights GWE, Egyptian Goose, Water Rail. Thrushes and finches conspicuous by their absence…🪶

Gorse and a rather tattered Groundsel in bloom on Boxing Day for @wildflowerhour.bsky.social. #WildFlowerHour

Temperature is only 5C outside so quite surprised to find this Angle Shades caterpillar on the patio (at around 7pm)! #teammoth

A photo from my Boxing Day walk: hawthorn berries in a hedge with a lichen-topped fence post. Sadly the sunshine has been replaced with thick cloud.

Boxing Day walk along Footherly Lane from the Birmingham Rd end towards Shenstone produced 17 bird species, best being a flocks of Lapwing (47)& Yellowhammer (c.20). Also large numbers of Rooks & Jackdaws feeding in horse paddocks. 🪶 @pmandrews1973.bsky.social @jamiehicken.bsky.social

Moth stats from 2025, my 6th year of trapping. Year list was 376 (143 micro, 233 macro) from 83 traps plus pheromone lures & dayflying species. 76 NFG (29 macro, 47 micro), garden list now 482 so with any luck 2026 should see my 500th species… #teammoth @pmandrews1973.bsky.social

And here are the Micros, all NFGs, with the possible exception of the Dichrorampha aeretana which I saw last year in the same location (near a pot of Ox-eye Daisies) but had one confirmed via gen. det. this year. @pmandrews1973.bsky.social #teammoth

Finally got round to making a collage for my garden moths of 2025. Here are the macros (names in ALT text). Mostly NFGs with a few exceptions. @pmandrews1973.bsky.social #teammoth

I was saying to my husband recently that though we had a Sloth, a Seal, a Pigeon and a Hummingbird on our Xmas tree there were no moths. And today he surprised me with this! 🎄💚🦋 #teammoth

A make Blackcap has been a welcome visitor to my Sutton Coldfield garden today, feeding on suet pellets on the bird table. A female was also seen first thing in the apple tree. @pmandrews1973.bsky.social @ecorecord.bsky.social 🪶

A walk round Hill Hook LNR saw the Shovelers still present (2 males and a female), a few late leafmines, Seven-spot Ladybirds and Candlesnuff Fungus. @pmandrews1973.bsky.social @ecorecord.bsky.social

I’ve been compiling a spreadsheet of leafmines that I’ve recorded in the VC38 section of SK10 between July and November 2025. There are 31 species, 8 of which were new for the gridsquare & most of the rest hadn’t been recorded since a 2012 survey. #teammoth @pmandrews1973.bsky.social

I’ve just been offered a bunch of historic publications about the Lepidoptera of Staffs, I’m not sure I have room to give a home to all of them but I wondered if any VC39 #teammoth were interested in taking some? @sj84turner.bsky.social @lesevanshill.bsky.social @dominiccollins.bsky.social

My Christmas tree came with an added bonus: a Western Conifer Seed Bug (Leptoglossus occidentalis) which I found on the living room wall! First time I’ve encountered this attractive (tho’ non-native species) #truebugs @britishbugs.bsky.social @rockwolf74.bsky.social @ecorecord.bsky.social

Some impressive surveying work in Northern Argyll! #teammoth speciesontheedge.co.uk/mhairi-redis...

White Stonecrop (Sedum album) found growing from a crack in a neighbour’s wall. May be a garden escapee though I don’t recall seeing any nearby. Sutton Coldfield B74 @bsbibotany.bsky.social @ecorecord.bsky.social

Two Ravens mobbed by two Carrion Crows, flying from the direction of Hill Hook LNR over Clarence Rd. this afternoon. An impressive sight and the first time I’ve seen Ravens locally for a bit. @pmandrews1973.bsky.social @ecorecord.bsky.social 🪶

You’ve got to love a Woodpigeon, the heavens open and it thinks: ‘great, someone turned on the shower!’ 😀 #birds #gardenbirds

It’s Friday, it’s December, so here’s a December Moth for #MothFaceFriday…#teammoth

We have Winter Moth! As usual, appeared on the patio door, no trap needed. Photo of underside through door, will take a better one tomorrow. #teammoth @pmandrews1973.bsky.social

More local birding this afternoon: 4 Shoveler (2 male, 2 female), Drake Goosander at Hill Hook LNR; Sparrowhawk flew over Blackberry Lane on my way down & flock of 11 Ring-necked Parakeets (a record number locally?) on the way back 🪶 @pmandrews1973.bsky.social @ecorecord.bsky.social