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Foxy Business

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Moth trapping on Whixall Moss and in my garden: Large Emerald, Garden Tiger, Scalloped Shell and Elephant Hawk. Our moth numbers and species have increased significantly now we have so much lawn given over to wildflowers.

Below, a White Admiral we saw on a guided walk by West Midlands Butterfly Group. We also saw a Marbled White, an Essex Skipper and a Silver Washed Fritillary.


Below, a tatty Purple Hairstreak.




Water vole-feeding and a latrine at Edgeley Road.



Out walking, I spotted this vixen watching me. She was not willing to leave so I suspect she was guarding cubs. I left her in peace.


Butterflies Incoming!

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Red Admiral

Wood White


Small Tortoiseshell. Apparently they like dog poo because they need salt.

Small Skipper (I think).

Ringlet

Red Admiral


Purple Hairstreak

Painted Lady

Meadow Brown

Gatekeeper



Silver-washed fritillaries


Commas

Most of these were taken at Bury Ditches. The Purple Hairstreak was on Prees Heath.

Elusive Water Voles

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Plenty of water voles about at the moment, but photos are hard to come by. (Ignore the date and time on the video: the clock needs re-setting.)

 

The Big Butterfly Count 2023

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Comma and Small White


Silver Studded Blues

Small Copper

Gatekeeper


Purple Hairstreak

Holly Blue

Gatekeepers

Comma

Common lizard

Activity at Edgeley Road

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Purple Hairstreak butterfly at Prees Heath. It seems to have been a bumper year for them, on that site at least.

White Lion Meadow (Tesco) vole.

Raft spiderlings seen on Whixall Moss.





Into August

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Small Copper above, Small Heath below.


Green-veined White butterfly.



 

Mystery Droppings

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Edgeley Road water voles

Lots of beetles in this poo, but too big for hedgehog. Badger?


Red Admiral basks in the evening sun.

Rare Butterflies


Water Vole Droppings

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Black darter

Small Coppers

Water vole droppings are supposed not to be pointy-ended. However, not all voles read the textbook.

Speckled Wood



Postcard from North Wales

Coming to the End of the Summer

Baby Pigeons Are Called Squabs

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This squab was in the garden. I left it alone because it had water, was feathered and the parents were nearby.




End of Season Moth Round-up

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Coxcomb Prominent


Lime Hawk and Eyed Hawk moths



Silver Ys and an Angle Shades


Centre-barred Sallow

Small Blood Vein

Hummingbird Hawk moth

Maiden's Blush


August Thorn and Purple Thorn



Small Yellow Wave and Mint moth



Purple Thorn and Poplar Hawk


Canary-shouldered Thorns


A Pebble prominent, well-camouflaged in the top pic.

Eyed Hawk

It's been a stunning year for moths in our garden, something I put down to the fact we turned 3/5 of our garden over to wildflowers. I've had six species of Rustic, five of the Prominents, four types of Thorn, and three different Wainscots plus a lot of firsts like the Small Elephant Hawk moth, the Hummingbird Hawk, the Eyed Hawk and the Lime Hawk. Many Angle Shades, too. I will do the same next year, so let's see if the trend continues!

Meanwhile, this blog will go into semi-hibernation over the winter, as usual. See you in the Spring.

Merveille du Jour

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Had to pop back to show off this tremendous green moth, a Merveille du Jour. Having never seen one before, I suddenly had three in my trap last night, together with 5 other new species.

In the centre pic are two Red-green Carpets, superbly camouflaged.

Woodmouse in the Garden


Some Cool Fungus

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waxcap

pestle puffballs?

fly agaric

candle snuff

purple jelly disc

amethyst deceiver

common earthball

More Cool Fungus, plus Snipe and a Stoat

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Very recently dead stoat, unmarked.

Honey fungus surrounding a tree.



Stinkhorn

Dead Moll's Fingers





Lots of snipe at Venus Pool.

Waxwings

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Here's a bird I've wanted to see all my life. Finally caught up with a flock in Oswestry.

Birthday Birds

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yellowhammer

beautiful skies



kestrel

fieldfare

Into 2024, with Hares.

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meadow pipit above, fieldfares below








Corn Bunting!

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Really pleased to see this corn bunting, as I haven't seen one in this spot for five years. Also spotted a kestrel, skylarks, lapwings, my first chiff chaff of the year, and this badger sett where the occupants were clearly having a spring-clean.

Welsh Seals and Goats

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This male grey seal is moulting, hence the shabby look.

This is as close as you can get to the seals, and wardens watch to make sure the seals are safe from people and dogs. It is very stressful for seals to be hassled. I used a 125X zoom lens to get my photos.



Many curlews and redshanks at RSPB Conwy


The wild goats of Llandudno keeping the road verges trimmed.


Back in Shropshire, here are two water vole burrows off Greenfields Rise.


No Voles Yet, but Lots of Birds

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Willow Warbler

Male Redstart


Wheatears
 
Grey Wagtail

Siskin

Pied Flycatcher


male greenfinches


Mr and Ms stonechat.


Sneaky snipe.

red kite

egret

chiffchaff

Garden Sparrowhawk

So What About the Voles?

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The Staggsbrook at Edgeley Road has only recently subsided to its usual course. Up till now, it's been flooded. However, below are the water vole field signs that are beginning to appear.

prints

feeding station

Below, two photos of droppings.



Below, a single dropping at the Wood Yard behind Tesco, plus a print.




Orange Tip butterfly

Meadow Pipit above, and below, a male Stonechat.



Male reed bunting above and fledgeling thrush below.


Male linnet

A combination of building work at White Lion Meadow (Tesco car park), and horrendous rainfall, seems to have impacted on water vole appearances. But there are now the beginnings of signs on three sites, and I will continue to monitor those places and report any sightings.





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