August 10th 2010

The day started wet with overnight rain continuing on or off till mid-morning which brought a female Ghost Moth to Dave’s trap when I cleared it down this morning. You will have to make do with my blind Pugh efforts as Bob was not available for clicking duties.

Ghost Moth

There were two new arrivals to Draycote Water from my last visit with a female Ruff on the outlet and immature Osprey which after a couple of attempts caught a trout and flew off west down the Leam Valley towards Birdingbury. Also present were 8 Common Sandpiper, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Dunlin, Egyptian Goose, 2 Teal, female Goosander, 3 Yellowhammer, Whitethroat, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Willow Warbler, Green Woodpecker, Grey Wagtail, 3 adult Yellow-legged Gulls and a lone Swift.
Another search of the gardens around Draycote Village produced 3 juvenile Spotted Flycatchers, single Nuthatch, 2 immature Blackcap, 4 Bullfinch, 4 Buzzard, Green Woodpecker, Jay and 4 Mistle Thrush.
A long overdue visit to the Frankton Fish Ponds area was rewarded with a flyover Little Egret which is probably one of the commuting Draycote birds and another juvenile Spotted Flycatcher, also Raven and 3 Buzzard while a roving tit flock contained at least 23 Great, 12 Blue, 3 Long-tailed and a Willow Tit plus Goldcrest and 2 Young Willow Warblers.
Heading for a welcome cup of tea and bun at Brooms Garden Centre I called in on Draycote Meadows and though cloudy there were a few butterflies around with Comma, Gatekeeper, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Green-veined White, Peacock and Common Blue plus a few moths including Agriphila geniculea, Mother of Pearl and Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing.

Richard