Moths; take 4

I have been diligently setting my moth trap, for the last week or so but with no success, until two night ago. I presume this is because we have been getting frosts, night time temperatures down to minus two or three, also clear skies so monlight and thus the light from the trap would be less visible.

The last two nights it has been above freezing but still not particularly warm. On Wednesday night I caught a Hebrew Character and an Early Thorn, which I have caught before.

Early Thorn

Hebrew Character

Last night the same two again but also another specimen which I am fairly sure is a Caddis Fly. Though I would have thought it was a bit early in the year for these. Comments welcome.

The weather is warming up now so I am looking forward to some new specimens.

Moth Trap

I have had a moth trap for many years, right back to the 1980’s when it was part of the equipment at the Field Centre.   It needs a 12 volt battery to run it and I did not have one and was too mean to buy one just for a moth trap.  Recently my truck needed a new battery and so I kept the old one, which still works and is fine for just powering a moth trap.

You put a torn up egg box inside so that any moths that enter over night have some where to cosy down. I set it up a few night ago and caught nothing. Last night 11th/12th March was my second attempt and I caught two moths.

 

They are very common and called Hebrew Character, because of the mark on their side.  Are there any Jewish readers who could enlighten me more as to whether it does resemble a Hebrew character.

According to a well known internet source of information.

The Hebrew character (Orthosia gothica) is a moth in the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found throughout Europe.

I photographed one on the egg box and then I placed both of them on a bit of bark so that you can see the camouflage.

 

I will post photos of any other moths if I catch them as the year progresses. The location of the trap is Clearwell in the Forest of Dean Gloucestershire, in case you are interested.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gran Canaria giant lizard (Gallotia stehlini)

This is a first for me, it is endemic to just Gran Canaria.

I have seen several they normally remain in the scrub areas but are partial to banana and will even take it from your hand.

Canon Extenders

I had a Canon 1.4 Mk 2 extender some while ago and used it with my 100 to 400 telephoto but that was the original Mk 1 telephoto.  I did not seem to be that good so I sold it.  Then I got the Mk 2 telephoto which is a good lens. At the airport on a trip to Mozambique, I bought, on the spur of the moment, a Canon 2.0 extender and it was OK but reduced the light so much that I did not use it that much……. so I sold that one. Hey ho.

Now I have bought the Canon 1.4 Mk 3 extender and we will see how I get on with this one.

Here are a few of my first photos. Initially the same shot first with the telephoto at 400mm, second is with the 1.4 extender attached so in effect 560mm.

 

 

Next some close ups of feathers,

 

Then some flowers in the garden, the Pink phlox were taken at a a little distance, the honeysuckle was quite close.

 

Not many birds about but this little plane flew over.

And finally a few other random pics.

 

So I am OK with these for starters.

However I have now discovered that the autofocus willnot work with the 100 mm to 400 mm telephoto It only works with top quality/ expensive lenses.

The pomegranate (Punica granatum)

Ripe and ready.

Possibly the origin of why Australians refer to Brits as Poms… the colour our skin goes after a bit of sun.

 

Other explanation is Prisoner of Mother England, as we all know Australians are all descended from the ‘ne’er do wells’ of the past..

Also may be a bit of cockney rhyming slang  as the way Australians pronounce Pomegranate sounds a bit like immigrant…. so I have been told.

Beat them in the rugby though…..

 

More birds along the Rio Guadalquivir

Apart from a Purple Gallinule which I was delighted to see, there was lots of other interesting stuff.

This is a marshland area, but its salt marsh as the river is tidal, big ships come up all the way to Seville.

There are tidal lagoons, this one had lots of Black-winged Stilts and a few Spoonbills. There is a bird hide but I was not sure how to get to it…swim maybe.

Plenty of small brown jobs, commonest ones were Crested Larks, Fan-tailed Warblers, Stonechats, Cetti’s warblers and Chiffchafs…. always Chiffchafs.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Not bad for raptors, I saw 4 species which were Red Kite, Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel. I am never sure if it is a Kestrel or Lesser Kestrel, both are found in this area.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

An interesting little bird is the Waxbill, a pair turned up whilst I was waiting for a good view of the Purple Gallinule…. you have seen my Purple Gallinule haven’t you?  I am sure you would like to!

Also a rabbit made an appearance.

And there were several Moorish Geckos on an old building enjoying the sun…  Moorish like chocolate truffles or Turkish Delight?…. no North African.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Milky Way

Several FB friends have recently posted  some stunning photos of the night sky, with the Milky Way.

Here in central France the sky is full of stars and the Milky way is visible, not mega but it is there. So two nights ago I made various attempts to photograph it but they were all rubbish.

So I contacted Phil North and member of the Forest of Dean Camera Club who specialises in night time photography for advice and he said f4, ISO 3,200 and 20 second exposure and this seems to have worked. Thanks Phil.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Not stunning but it does show what was there.

Black and Yellow Longhorn Beetle (Rutpela maculata)

Saw this Longhorn beetle in our patch of Ninewells wood today. It was the first time I have seen this species there.

They are not that rare but are only around for  few weeks of the year.They can be up to 4 years as a grub living on rotten wood. Then when they hatch in June they are only around for 2 to 4 weeks.

They are quite big, up to 20 mm, I would say this was about 15 mm long. Also the pattern of the dark brown /black marks on their backs does vary quite a lot. Sometimes more banded other times more spotted. This one is sort of intermediate.

I notice there is a small drop of liquid on the leaf just behind the back end of the beetle. It had not been raining so I wonder if this is beetle juice/wee.

Slimbridge

Had a good day at Slimbridge, today so here are some of  my photos.

 

I felt sorry for the everyday birds so I snapped a few of them in order that they did not feel left out and develop a complex.

It’s all about the light.

This is a female blackbird… not the most ‘stunning species’ but a species is a species and just because one is brown and another is electric blue and orange does not make it more special and in the right light even brown can look good.