David Bradley – Page 38

Summering American Black Tern

An adult (breeding plumage) American Black Tern, Chlidonias niger surinamensis has turned up at the tern sanctuary in Long Nanny Northumberland for the third season in a row.

It’s been here for at least three or four days, at least a week earlier than last year and a couple of weeks earlier than 2020. It will probably depart the land in July again. It’s not likely to find a mate among the 800+ Arctic Terns that are present on the dunes right now. Nor their neighbours on the sand, Common Terns, Little Terns, Sandwich Terns.

The bird would normally be seen migrating to South American coasts in the northern winter and returning to Canada and the northern USA in the spring to find a mate. At some point, this bird has most likely been far north in the Americas and got caught on a Westerly wind that’s driven it towards Scandinavia and it presumably took a turn south before reaching that part of the world and has found a likely patch on the Northumberland coast that resembles its usual North American breeding grounds. Juvenile C. n. surinamensis have been reported in the UK previously, but this individual is the first adult of the species “ticked” here.

We walked five miles from Seahouses to the tern sanctuary in Long Nanny in the hope of seeing terns and having heard this species might be visible.

It had departed just minutes before we arrived at the site and were just about to leave after two hours of waiting when it suddenly reappeared, almost within minutes of the high tide beginning its flow. It was dull so did my best with low light and high ISO on the camera.

Moth larval nests

UPDATE: I mentioned this larval nest to the County Moth Recorder, Bill Mansfield, and as he was not too far from the site in question, he took a look. It’s on a type of cherry tree, he found, so he’s narrowed down the moth species, to Bird Cherry Ermine, Yponemeuta evonymella. He points out that the tree is largely defoliated at this point and the web mostly now covering evergreen fir trees.

Friends often come to me with their lepidopteral and avian queries, it’s often a bird they’ve seen that they imagine is some great rarity, a mega, but often turns out to be something common, a Long-tailed Tit mistaken for a Great Grey Shrike for instance. One friend spots lots of moths in his farm-facing garden and on his allotment and jokingly emails me as MothMania…I can usually put him straight.

Another friend’s sixth-former offspring was perturbed to see what she thought was a huge spider’s web on the way to college, it shook her up a little. The friend asked me to take a look at the photo, I immediately thought – not spiders, moth larval nest! But, I didn’t know which species.

From the photos I’ve seen, I initially thought it to be the caterpillars of the Small Eggar moth, but that’s quite rare and present in the UK in specific, sporadic colonies. Other moths that make nests like this on bushes and trees would be The Lackey and the Brown-tail of which I’ve talked here in the past. It would be worrying if it were the invasive Oak Processionary Moth too, but thankfully it’s not that.

Over on Facebook, friend and fellow Cottenham moth-er Martin Fowlie suggested one of the ermine moths (Yponomeuta species) and that is what we’re settling on for the ID. Can’t be more specific without additional details at this point.

Photos kindly shared by Ken Bateup who posted on the Cambridgeshire Moths Facebook group.

Introducing Mother Shipton

Let me introduce Mother Shipton. This is the moth Euclidia mi. It’s a day-flying moth, darts between resting places quite quickly during May and June. It’s a fairly common species, but I’d only ever seen it briefly once before and didn’t get a decent shot of the upper side of its wings. This one was feeding on hawthorn alongside some Common Heath moths on Devil’s Dyke in Cambridgeshire. The larvae feed on trifolium, clover, and some grasses.

Oh, one more thing, some people might call it a Mother Shipton butterfly because it flies during the day, but all butterflies are moths by definition.

The vernacular name alludes to the renowned 16th Century soothsayer and alleged witch Mother Shipton (aka Ursula Southeil (ca. 1488–1561) of Knaresborough in North Yorkshire, England.

The markings on the moth’s forewings are said to resemble a fa fanciful and cartoonish impression of Mother Shipton’s profile featuring a beady eye, prominent nose and chin, and toothless maw. Judge for yourself.

Also seen on Devil’s Dyke: Green Hairstreak (21x), Brimstone butterfly, Orange Tip, Blue (possibly Adonis, given time of year as opposed to Chalkhill, which emerges much later)

Brimstone butterflies courting on the wing

Bluebells and Oxlip at Overhall Grove

We discovered Overhall Grove woodland many years ago through a book of woodland walks given to us by the aunt and uncle of Mrs Sciencebase. It’s a small nature reserve, mature woodland, lots of Bluebells and Oxlips in spring, various butterflies too, including White-letter Hairstreak, which I mentioned here in the summer of 2021. Anyway, a visit today was mainly for the Bluebells, the walk, and the fresh air.

Join me on Mastodon

UPDATE: There is another exodus from Twitter happening right now (November 2022) following the controversial buyout of the microblogging site by billionaire Leon Umsk [anag. 4,4]. I left my account relatively dormant in May this year but have updated a little in the last couple of weeks and connected with a few more people.

If you’ve joined you can search for me with the following handle

@[email protected]

You may have heard mention of the various “new” alternatives to Twitter and other such social media sites, Counter.Socia, Tribel, Cohost! None of them is actually new, but changes and issues with the old-school social media has brought them to the attention of the masses in the last week or two…basically in April 2022, Musk offered to buy Twitter.

One of them is part of the so-called Fediverse and is called Mastodon. I’ll leave it to you to search those terms and decide whether you’re in or not. It turns out I’d joined in since November 2019 having signed up to “Mastodon.Social” back then on a whim and probably a recommendation, but probably because it was the big, generic one and there was no decent niche alternative for a science writing, photographing, singer-songwriter.

There are pros and cons although I’ve not really seen any cons other than that having been used to my tens of thousands of Twitter followers, I am not looking at a couple of dozen followers on Mastodon at the time of writing, hopefully, that will grow in the coming weeks.

So, if you’re so inclined sign up for an instance, and follow me [email protected]. Incidentally, you don’t have to be a member of Mastodon.Social to follow me you can be on any instance, they all communicate with each other by virtue of shared software and protocols and what have you.

The bottom line: Where twitter was once friendly watercooler chit-chat and is now a hate-filled cesspit of trolls and ugly-on-the-inside celebrities, Mastodon is a much friendlier place where people share their creative output and have civilised discussions.

Cetti’s Warbler, Cettia cetti

I hear (but don’t often see) Cetti’s Warblers all year round out here in the Cambridgeshire Fens. They have a loud and distinctive call, which varies from region to region (they have dialects) and sometimes vary between individuals even on the same patch. To my ear, it sounds like “whi-choo, whi-chooey-choo, whi-chee-choo” or something like that. Quite harsh but a not unpleasant song, can’t be confused with anything else I hear in the fens. Have a listen to some across the UK here.

But, they’re rather shy birds and lurk deep within trees and brambles. Usually, they prefer not to have their photo taken although I have snapped them once or twice before as Sciencebase Instagram followers will know.

There are lots of them on the local bird reserves, including RSPB Berry Fen, where I got a snap of one after it called and popped out from hiding. I hear them in Winter, all through the Spring into Summer and across the Autumn. I’m sure some of them will be migratory like other warblers, but there are enough that stay put that you can catch their call any time of year.

Incidentally, the bird is named for Francesco Cetti (9 August 1726 – 20 November 1778) an Italian Jesuit priest, zoologist, and mathematician. IN case you were wondering, it’s pronounced cheh-tee, not seh-tee, although you do hear a lot of birders saying it with an “s” and not a “ch”.

A gateway guide to mothing

Other people’s hobbies are weird, aren’t they? Bird watching, trainspotting, stamp collecting…what’s that all about. But, some are particularly strange, at least until you find yourself introduced, intrigued, interested, and then heavily invested in that particular hobby.

Take mothing, it’s like birding, but with moths. What could be weirder? Many people think of moths as pests, dull grey and brown fluttery things that fly around lights at night and eating clothes and carpets. But, nothing could be farther from the truth. There are indeed some moths that are grey or brown and just two species whose larvae (caterpillars) eat textiles. However, there are about 2500 species in the UK alone and something like 150,000 species around the world and they come in all shapes and sizes, colours and patterns, many that outdo their lepidopteral cousins, the butterflies, for glamour and flamboyance.

Moth-er extraordinaire James Lowen who first went from intrigue to interest to investment when he first set eyes on the magnificent and enormous Poplar Hawk-moth has travelled far and wide to see some of those tens of thousands of species of moth. Now, in “British Moths – A gateway guide“, he reveals some of that intrigue and interest in the hope of enticing his reader into sharing his investment in the world of moths. And, what a world it is from the aforementioned Poplar Hawk-moth to the Angles Shades from the Emperor to Mother Shipton. The names are as diverse and distinctive as the shapes and patterns of this richly diverse group of insects.

In the pages of this handily spiral-bound book, Lowen introduces to what might be our first 350 or so ticks (as it were) on a novice moth-er’s list. Each described in crisp detail with an equally crisp photo. Labels highlight the highlights of each moth’s features, patterns on its wings, their antennae, even the males’ pheromone-releasing tail, its so-called hair pencil.

There is much to learn, but you will learn fast if you take a seasonal tour through Lowen’s lovely introduction to what some of us already see as the most fascinating of hobbies. Many of us see make use of our hobby as citizen scientists reporting sightings to the professionals and the county moth recorders and such.

Be warned though…your trainspotting and stamp-collecting friends will think you’re weird. Let them! Maybe even invest in a copy of Lowen’s book for them, intrigue them, interest them, get them invested in this fascinating hobby. Don’t let moths flutter by without taking a closer look.

Operation Pondlife

This is a bit of an update on a series of #PondLife articles I ran when I first resurrected our garden wildlife pond. Here’s how it looks right now. Very different from the nitryl-lined hole in the lawn back in April 2019. The original pond was twice the surface area, but I filled it in not long after we moved here, as we had very small children and it seemed too much of a risk.

Back in the day, we had a relatively large garden wildlife pond, lots of frogs lots of aquatic plants. But, we also had small children, back in the day, and with health and safety rather than nature conservation in mind, I filled in the pond, turfed over the patch and we had some good kickabouts for many a year with the children. The children are grown. It was time to resurrect the pond.

I dug out the old patch to about half the size of the original, created some terraced edges and the like, sharp side for the base, nitryl liner cut to size, filled it with water. I then chatted to village friends who had well-established ponds and acquired some plants – water soldier, flag irises, sedge, barred horsetail, reeds and the like. I even acquired some aquatic snails – the helical type and the spiral (ram’s horn) type. Three summer’s later and it’s well established.

I can usually count at least half a dozen, sometimes more, frogs on the edges of the pond after dark (Son has counted 9 one evening). We’ve had spawn two years running so far and seen tadpoles and then froglets. No newts yet, which is perhaps a saving grace for the frogs. Lots of dragonfly and damselfly larvae last season. Moreover, the garden birds use the pond for bathing and drinking. We even had a chiffchaff (the first in the garden) bathing several evenings on the trot during the warm spell back in April.

There is also an occasional heron that swoops in to take a frog. It’s a wildlife pond. It’s all part of nature’s way. Watching from a garden chair, tipple in hand on the annual balmy summer evening, it’s almost like being in a David Attenborough TV programme. And, speaking of which during the first lockdown, I occasionally did a live broadcast on social media from the pond.

There are plenty of online resources on “how to create a garden pond” with tips on how to make it work for local wildlife, including hedgehogs. A pond can be a simple affair, sunken watertight vessel, such as a Belfast sink or old metal bathtub, a lined dug-out patch like ours, or a bigger watering hole. Small scale it is relatively easy to do and will boost your eco-credentials in the eyes of the local wildlife. Well worth the effort. I’m keeping my eyes peeled for the arrival of the first wildebeest any day now…

Moths over models

What if famously mono, celebrity photographer David Bailey had opted for moths over models?

This is a Spruce Carpet, so-called because its larvae like spruce trees and its patterning reminded the 18th-century naturalists of the beautiful patterns of carpets (fairly novel and a grand status symbol at the time).

David Bailey is a well-known British photographer who gained fame in the 1960s for his iconic portraits of celebrities and models. He was born in 1938 in Leytonstone, London. He left school at the age of 15 and worked as a freelance photographer for various publications before being hired by British Vogue in 1960.

Bailey’s style was characterized by his use of high-contrast black and white photography and his ability to capture his subjects’ personalities in a candid and intimate way. His subjects included many of the most famous people of the era, such as The Beatles, Mick Jagger, The Kray Twins, Andy Warhol, and Catherine Deneuve.

In addition to his work for Vogue, Bailey also worked for other publications such as The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, and The Face. He also became known for his work in advertising, shooting campaigns for brands such as Burberry, Sony, and Jean Paul Gaultier.

Bailey’s personal life has been marked by a series of high-profile relationships. He was married to the actress Catherine Deneuve for a short time in the 1960s, and later married the model Marie Helvin. He has also been linked romantically to many other famous women, including Penelope Tree and Jean Shrimpton.

Throughout his career, Bailey has received numerous awards and honours for his work, including being made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE, in 2001. He continues to work as a photographer today and has also directed several films and documentaries.

Overall, David Bailey is considered one of the most important photographers of the 20th century, and his iconic images continue to be admired and emulated by photographers around the world.

Grasshopper Warbler, Locustella naevia

If you’ve never seen or more to the point heard a Common Grasshopper Warbler, Locustella naevia, then a visit to East Anglia right now might be merited. There are quite a few noted in our local countryside and on nature reserves (April 2022).

They’re summer-visiting migrants and will depart in August. The male’s song, isn’t so much a melody as a churring, turring, reeling tone reminiscent of the sound made by grasshoppers.

I was lucky enough to catch sight of one this morning and with a decent-sized zoom lens it didn’t mind me recording a snippet of video while it reeled. I used an audio editor to add a low cut (high-pass filter) and a high cut (low pass filter) that bracketed the bird’s sound to isolate it from the noise of the gravelworks, wind, and aeroplanes. You can see the spike that is the warbler’s reeling on the right of the image, the mound of noise on the left is rumbling works and wind.

Nearby where the street has a name…