Wildlife

James Lowen

Both Slender Brindle and Double Lobed were also new for my garden moth trap this week. Another newbie was a Crescent, which vied to be Moth of the Week with Dark Swordgrass and up to 18 Mother-of-pearl each night.

Among Hawk-moths, a large buff form of Poplar was enchanting. I wonder what the purpose of such pale forms is? And why they are so rare? Perhaps I'll call it the Desert Poplar hawk-moth...

I did manage a couple of twitches this week - but neither was further than the other side of Norwich. This trip was to Sprowston, where Ian Robinsonhad caught the above Bedstraw Hawk-moth and kindly showed it to me. Nothing like as exciting as watching them feeding at dusk, as I did in late May in north Norfolk, but much closer views and better photographs, for sure! Later that night I ran a trap in a friend's garden, by the river in Costessey. This caught surprisingly little in the way of excitement, although Gothic, Slender Brindle and Double Lobed were all acceptable. Better were the crowd-pleasing hawk-moths: several Poplars, Elephants and a big old Privet. The assembled kids loved them the next morning. Some nature converts, I hope.

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7 July 2017 Hawkish

It's not been the best week for me, wildlife wise. I've been constrained by work, by parenting and by husbanding (not husbandry, though). Such commitments reached a crescendo last night when I was unable to join any of the carloads heading southwest through the wee hours, then connecting with Britain's first twitchable Amur Falcon shortly after first light. #seething #livid #getoveryourobsessionlowen

The second twitch this week was all the way to Bowthorpe (about a mile). Here Dave and Christine were kindly hosting the Splendid Brocade caught earlier that morning at Glandford in north Norfolk. A big Norfolk rarity - but one slightly on the subtle side. I would hope that I wouldn't overlook one in my own trap, but I couldn't be sure. I mean nobody does that with Amur Falcons any more, do they...? #stillseething