Rod's Birding: A day’s birding in Leicestershire & Rutland

I had put the trap out again last night and was being joined by Roger at 07:00 to examine the contents. I had been out earlier to catch any moths resting outside the box and had potted these for examination with Roger.

Roger arrived on time and we initially went through the moths I had potted before we examined the contents of the trap. We recorded seventy-seven moths covering thirty-three species, with eleven new ones for the year but no lifers for myself, although Roger had a few.

The following were recorded: Brown House-moth [3]; Light Brown Apple Moth [6]; Pseudargrotoza conwagana [1]; Celypha striana [1]; Epiblema rosaecolana [1]; Chrysoteuchia culmella [1]; Small Magpie [1]; Garden Carpet [1]; Common Marbled Carpet [2]; Foxglove Pug [3]; Mottled Pug [1]; Common Pug [2]; Green Pug [1]; Brimstone Moth [3]; Peppered Moth [1]; Willow Beauty [4]; Clouded Silver [1]; Lime Hawkmoth [1]; Common Footman [1]; Buff Ermine [7]; Turnip Moth [1]; Heart and Dart [17]; Shuttle-shaped Dart [1]; Flame Shoulder [1]; Bright-line Brown-eye [2]; Varied Coronet [1]; Shoulder-striped Wainscot [1]; Dark Arches [1]; Rustic Shoulder-knot [1]; Marbled Minor species [2]; Green Silver-lines [1]; Burnished Brass [1]; Spectacle [1]; Straw Dot [2] and Snout [1].

Foxglove Pug

Clouded Silver

Lime Hawkmoth

Turnip Moth

Varied Coronet

Green Silver-lines

Snout

After packing away the trap and references etc., we headed off to Eyebrook Reservoir.

We had a couple of Red-legged Partridge and a Buzzard on route but otherwise the journey was uneventful. Disappointingly there was no sign of the Little Owls in the old oak at Eyebrook Reservoir or at Slawston. We stopped at the bridge hoping for a Kingfisher without any luck but we did have two Great Spotted Woodpeckers and we saw a Whitethroat and heard both Willow Warbler and Blackcap. We parked on the Rutland bank where we could see the small area of mud were we found a summer plumaged Black-tailed Godwit and Redshank. There were six Shelduck present and a single drake Wigeon but there was no sign of Tuesday’s Garganey.

There were at least four Red Kites and three Buzzards observed and at least seven Common Tern. As we were thinking of moving on to Ketton, Roger noticed two small ducks that turned out to be the pair of Garganey. I called Andy to let him know that they were still present. He informed me would be going to Ketton this afternoon with some pheromones and was hoping to attract both Hornet and Six-belted Clearwings and also that there was a chance of seeing Scarlet Tiger. Roger and I decided we would change our plans and headed for Rutland Water, intending to go to Ketton with Andy this afternoon.

We went to the north arm at Rutland Water where we had four Buzzards over the fishponds area and a Spotted Flycatcher close by but there was very little else and we moved off to Egleton. After reaching the car park we set off to snipe hide on the wet meadow where the three Avocet chicks were all doing well. There was a third adult Avocet still sitting on a nest and four Oystercatchers in the area. A Curlew flew over and a Redshank made several attempts to feed on the flash but was always driven off by one of the Avocets.

We returned to the car park and had lunch before setting off to Ketton. When we arrived Andy was checking for Hornet Clearwings on the polar trees but we didn’t see any and the pheromone lure also drew a blank. We then went onto the reserve and there were circa fifty spikes of Bee Orchid right near the parking area. We continued through the sunken quarry and beyond to look for Scarlet Tigers but again drew a blank and so we returned to the sunken quarry. Roger lifted one of the corrugated sheets and we had brief views of an Adder as it slid into the grass. Andy then tried a Pheromone lure for Six-belted Clearwings and this time we had more success with at least six being observed. We also had two Marble White butterflies, which were my first of the year as were a couple of Ringlets.

Other butterflies included Brimstone, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Meadow and Small Heath. We also saw a Cinnabar and several Mother Shipton moths as well a White Sating Moth caterpillar.