About Two Owls

Saturday, 6 September 2025

August

August has been a an odd month with the hot weather, though very nice, didn't help with the wildlife as things seemed to edge off with lesser numbers of everything.  Though we had one or two highlights with the moths with twelve species being the first time I've caught them this year and if accepted one new species for the garden.  

Catching my 4th & 5th Portland Ribbon Wave as a nationally rare species was very nice to find in the trap. Another moth which was a little unusual for me was a Rosy Wave being only my sixth record here and for colour I caught several more Jersey Tiger. Also one or two moths which are considered as migrants Rusty Dot Pearl, Diamond-back Moth,  Rush Veneer, Vestal and White Point.

Portland Ribbon Wave Idaea degeneraria © Nick Hull

Rosy Wave Scopula emutaria © Nick Hull

The new species for the garden moth trap was Scrobipalpa ocellatella I have to say it isn't much of a looker and it is pretty small being a micro.

Beet Moth Scrobipalpa ocellatella © Nick Hull

One other moth that was recorded this time in the garden was our first Hummingbird Hawk-moth which we haven't recorded for a couple of years.

Hummingbird Hawk-moth - Front Garden © Nick Hull

As for butterflies we recorded 14 species during August and the highlight was our first Clouded Yellow for the year in the 16th on the home patch in the scrub patch at Turlin Moor.



Clouded Yellow - Turlin Moor © Nick Hull

As for the Odonata I recorded just six species in August but one of them was a lifer Willow Emerald a damselfly which has been exclusively a south eastern species in the UK but over recent years has started to move and expand its range.  They have been breeding on Hengistbury Head for a few years and last year one was found on Grove Pond at Upton Country Park and was seen again there this year. But Jackie and I had taken the grand kids to Blashford Lakes for a walk and I had been told that Willow Emerald had been seen there this year.  So as we walked the path that took us past the South Ivy hide we came to a slight open area where the sun was warm and there were a few Common Darter, a Migrant Hawker zooming around and one or two Blue-tailed Damselfly. 

Migrant Hawker Aeshna affinis © Nick Hull

After taking a look at everything that moved I eventually found a Willow Emerald which allowed me to take a few shots and allowed the kids to get good close views. To finish our visit a Golden-ringed Dragonfly flew around us before heading off again which Jackie enjoyed as its her favourite and her first this year.

Willow Emerald Chalcolestes viridis © Nick Hull

As for the birding, well August was an awful month for us we only added a single species in August with Wood Sandpiper at Lodmoor, in fact there were two present when we visited, both too far away for a good photograph. 

Wood Sandpiper & Lapwing - Lodmoor © Nick Hull

Otherwise we did have a couple of good days out, one with friends Neil and Michell who live up in Lancashire who we haven't seen for a few years, we had a great day out  catching up and doing a little birding.  Neil had a short list of birds he wanted to see and by the end of the day we had seen all but one.  Woodlark decided to be off the menu but we managed two, maybe three Osprey and we had pretty good views of the male White-tailed Eagle which flew out of the Wareham Channel carrying a good size fish and headed off towards Arne.

Male White-tailed Eagle - Hydes Heath © Nick Hull

Next day Jackie and I with friends went out on a Birdboat with Birds of Poole Harbour heading up the Wareham Channel then back to the Poole quay via Brownsea Lagoon.  As always it was a good trip, we saw 34 species in all the highlight were four Osprey and the male White-tailed Eagle.  The Eagle made an amazing effort crossing from Holton where it was sat in a tree, to Ridge in a powered flight to harass an Osprey for its catch.  The Osprey dropped the fish but the eagle didn't seem to be able to find it so all the effort seemed a bit of a waste of energy.  

Distant hunting Osprey Wareham Channel © Nick Hull

Male White-tailed Eagle powering to catchup with the Osprey © Nick Hull

We had a pair of Sparrowhawk which flew close by to the boat in fact one soared over us for a short time giving excellent views.

Sparrowhawk (No1) Wareham Channel © Nick Hull

Sparrowhawk (No2) Wareham Channel © Nick Hull


As always at this time of year there is always a few terns in the harbour whether they are from the Brownsea breeding colony or migrants passing through they are usually recorded from the boat trip and we saw both Common and Sandwich Tern. The highlight though was when we left Brownsea Lagoon heading for the quay I picked up two Little Tern flying off of the lagoon and they came right past the boat. Little tern though recorded most years in or around Brownsea are very hard to connect with as they never seem to stay for long, so it was probably my best birds of the trip, plus I picked them up first.

Little Tern - Poole Harbour © Nick Hull

Well that sums up August, so I will sign off now with a shot of an Osprey with Corfe Castle in the background.  Roll on September let's hope the weather doesn't stay as wet as it's started and brings a few good birds in for us to enjoy.

Distant Osprey with Corfe Castle in the distance © Nick Hull

Saturday, 9 August 2025

July in Search of invertibrates


July is always a strange month as mid summer is a quiet time for birds accept for the odd breeding survey for Nightjar etc. Which this year I decided not to do and have a little break and put a little more effort in on the local patch for inverts.   Ian found two Downland Villa bee-fly Villa cingulate which are a bit of a rarity and the fact they were out of normal habitat here at Lytchett Bay I tried to find them to no avail.  None-the-less you never not see something and with the very hot weather we decided to stay local.

On the 2nd Jackie and I joined friends to visit Winterbourne Downs RSPB reserve in Wiltshire to see if we could see Stone Curlew. It was fortunately a cool morning so there was little heat haze and almost as we arrived at the view point I spotted a Stone Curlew.  I directed the others to where I was looking and they replied "yes got it" then I realised they had a different bird which was to the right of my juvenile. We then managed to pick out another adult which disappeared behind vegetation leaving a single adult and two juveniles in view.

Spot the Stone Curlews © Nick Hull

Walking back to the car park I managed to get a couple of butterflies in the viewfinder one of them being a Ringlet but had no rings. 

Ringless Ringlet - Winterbourne Down © Nick Hull

After we had our fill of Stone Curlews we headed off to Bentley Wood for Purple Emperor Butterflies but we drew a blank. Though we did see a number of other butterfly species including Silver washed Fritillary and Purple Hairstreaks.

Silver-washed Fritillary - Bentley Wood © Nick Hull

On the 3rd we had two of our  teenage grandchildren,  so we decided to go and see if we could find Heath Tiger Beetles. They like to see rare species or local scarce species as they say in their lifetime you never know what will happen and they might not get a chance to see the species in the future.
Obviously when out we try and look for anything that moves and our first find was a Heath Dumble Dor beetle (Trypocopris pyrenaeus) This species is more or less confined to the heathlands of Dorset, Hampshire and Surrey. They are a good size with a shiny blue sheen to their elytra which lacks distinct striae.  

Heath Dumble Dor Trypocopris pyrenaeus © Nick Hull

You may notice a small mite hitching a lift many species of beetle can carry these around and they do them no harm in fact there is some evedence that when the beetle lays her eggs in her chosen dung these mites hop off and help care for the eggs. 

We continued to the area where I have found the Tiger Beetles in the past and with a pretty thorough search we came across three unfortunately the first two took flight and disappeared into the heather.  Then I caught sight of another that pitched in on a sandy patch and were were able to best pretty good views before it to decided to go off into the heather.

Heath Tiger Beetle Cicindela sylvatica © Nick Hull

Heath Tiger beetle are also known as Wood Tiger beetle they are the largest of the British tiger species measuring in up to 18mm.  Their population has declined by around 50% over the last 25years or so.  Like the last species above they are more or less only found in Dorset, Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex.

As we walked back I found several Mottled Beefly (Thyridanthrax fenestratus) These like other beefly are a parasitoid and Mottled's host is Heath Sand-wasp (Ammophila pubescent) and indeed we saw a number of the Heath Sand-wasps along the track too.  Again this species is mainly confined to the lowland heathland in the UK.

Mottled Beefly Thyridanthrax fenestratus © Nick Hull

I thought I would include the Heath Sand Wasp Ammophila pubescent for completeness.  They are slightly smaller than there relative Ammophila sabulosa the Red-banded Sand Wasp but frequents the same lowland heaths they predate of heather feeding moth caterpillars.

Heath Sand Wasp Ammophila pubescent © Nick Hull

By the time we were back at the van the day was pretty hot and we decided to call it a day and head home for lunch.

We visited Blashford Lake HWT reserve on the 8th, it was fairly quiet only the usual summer regular species like Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Common Tern and of course Sand Martin which there were around fifty out front of the Goosander Hide and they were good entertainment flying around feeding then swooping in to their nest holes below the hide.  

Sand Martin flying in to it's nest hole - Blashford Lakes © Nick Hull

When we left the hide we spotted a moth showing rather scarlet underwing as we watched, it flew into a bush and rested up.  It turned out to be our first Jersey Tiger of the year.

Jersey Tiger - Blashford Lakes © Nick Hull

On the 9th Jackie and I had an excursion up to the northern chalk and the Cranborne Chase and Wyke Down in search of Quail.  Well we blanked and the only consolation was we had good views of Corn Bunting and Hobby though we had  brief views of Grey Partridge though the partridge did put on an evening chorus from in the long grass.

Corn Bunting sing from top of an electricity pole © Nick Hull

This is the recording of the Grey Partridge you can hear one calling some distance away then one starts calling much closer.


We stayed until the moon started to rise over the wood in the hope we might see an owl but none showed themselves so we called it a day and went home.

Moon rise Wyke Down © Nick Hull

From the 10th to the 16th we stayed local either around the garden at home or around Lytchett Bay mainly due to bruising my ribs when the scope fell from the tripod and I trapped it between my ribs and the van to prevent it dropping on to the hard road.  All I can say is it was very painful for a few days.  So it was just a case of recording inverts around the bay and visiting the garden.  There wasn't anything that really stood out from the usual that we would expect to find.  Though I did find a number of Pantaloon Bees feeding on the Fleabane across the road.

Pantaloon Bee Dasypoda hirtipes © Nick Hull

Also we had a first for the garden though not rare but way overdue to visit the wildlife garden a female Emperor Dragonfly came and rested in the elder for a while giving me time to take a few shots.

female Emperor Dragonfly - Home Garden © Nick Hull

 I ran the moth traps on the night of the 11th and had good numbers of 197 moths of 82 species with 19 species new for the year and two species new for the garden Long-winged Pearl Anania lancealis and Hemp-agrimoney Plume Adaina microdactyla.

Long-winged Pearl Anania lancealis © Nick Hull

Hemp-agrimoney Plume Adaina microdactyla © Nick Hull

On the 17th Jackie's garden group were visiting Bennet's Water Garden in Weymouth and as I had been told it was a good place for Odonata I decided to go as well.  It was an enjoyable morning though we had the odd shower and the sun didn't really come out until after we had left.  

I did see a few Odonata Emperor Dragonfly, Black-tailed Skimmer, Common Darter and Common Blue, Blue-tailed Damselflies and Small Red-eyed Damselfly. Though the Green-eyed Hawker or Norfolk Hawker as it was previously known as couldn't be found.

Small Red-eyed Damselfly - Bennets Water Gardens © Nick Hull

On the 23rd Jackie suggested that we popped to Silverlake again this would be our fourth visit to see if we could connect with Broad Scarlet, Red-veined Darter and Lesser Emperor.  The last of these I did see on our first visit but I wanted to see if I could get a photograph of one.

When we arrived there was very few people around which was good as the dragonflies would not have been disturbed to much. So Jackie and I walked around the lake which originally was a gravel pit. There were lots of Black-tailed Skimmer and Small Red-eyed Damselflies a few Common Blue Damselflies.  Then I picked up a red darter but it flew past but it looked a little like a Common Darter but it didn't land.  As we approached the top end of the lake I picked up a another or same red coloured darter sat on the ground and as I was about to take a shot a voice from further round shouts out there is a Red-veined Darter near where you are.  

Red-veined Darter - Silverlake © Nick Hull

I took a closer look and indeed that was what I was looking at so shot off a few shots, then Jackie and I moved on and it was then we realised that the person that called out to us was Brett, a birding friend from Weymouth.  So we had a catch-up whilst looking for the other species, it didn't take long before we saw a Lesser Emperor and Common Emerald Damselflies and it was about this point when Jackie felt she had done enough and went back to the van for a snack.  

Common Emerald Danselfly Silverlake © Nick Hull

Lesser Emperor - Silverlake © Nick Hull

I continued on with Brett and eventually we saw a bright red darter speed by us and watching it come to rest on bare ground.   We slowly approached and we both were able to get a few shot off of this recently new British breeding species.

Broad Scarlet (Darter) - Silverlake © Nick Hull

On the 28th July we had the grandchildren and it is alway hard to know what to do to keep them occupied.  Well, a few days before I was our on a refresher wasp and bee identification walk on Hartland Moor with the Purbeck Natural History Forum.  During are walk we came across a Nomada Bee which we couldn't identify in the field and it got us chatting and during the conversion Purbeck Nomad Bee came up.  This is a species last recorded at Durlston CP in 1982 and thought to be extinct and it happens that the youngster like Durlston, so that solved a problem.  Well I showed them what we were looking for and off we went searching Wild Carrot and Ragwort it main food plant.  We also searched for the Andrena bee that it parasitise on.  Unfortunately the weather wasn't great it was cool and a bit windy and inverts were hard to find.  

 Eriothrix rufomaculatus - Durlston CP © Nick Hull

Though we did find things, like this Red-sided Eriothrix (Eriothrix rufomaculatus) they are a common fly which parasitise on moths.  We also came across this small picturewing or wingwaver This one was

Four-spot-Wingwaver (Herina lugubris) © Nick Hull

on Wild Carrot where it was living up to its name by waving it's wings. 

We also found a Ichneumon Wasp Ichneumon bucculentus these are another parasitic species which appears to be under recorded though this may be due to Dorset doesn't have a recorder for this group of species.

 Ichneumon bucculentus - Durlston CP © Nick Hull

The only other highlights of the month have been what I call by-catch in the moth trap this can be anything from wasps and Hornets to flies, Shieldbug and various sized beetles which find there way in attracted by the MV/UV lights.  When I find them I like to try and get an identification so I can add them to the garden checklist which grows slowly each year.

Recently I've had a few good finds in that none have been particularly rare or scarce but interesting in that I haven't recorded them before, such as this diving beetle.  It's strange I don't think we think of diving beetles being able to fly but they do very well.  This is Colybetes fuscus and is fairly large species at 15mm -19mm and likes well vegetated lakes and pond. They are a widespread and common species.

Colybetes fuscus - © Nick Hull

Another beetle which I've not come across before though have seen others in the genus was this Rove beetle species at around 25mm it's a good size and similar to the Devil Coachhorse (Ocypus olens) which initially I thought it was going to be. When I had it in the pot and had a close look at it I realised that its jaws were smaller and checking the references narrowed it down to Quedius dilatatus who's common name is Hornet Rove Beetle as they spens much of there early life in Hornet nests and as adult feed on diptera but they also will visit sap-runs on oak and beech trees. Their larvae grow within the nest detritus, eating other insects and, maybe, the dead and dying hornets too. As many as ten adult beetles and larvae may be found in a nest, and while they do not appear to prey on the hornets or their larvae, the nest must be occupied by hornets for the beetles to persist.

Quedius dilatatus Hornet-Rove-Beetle © Nick Hull

The third beetle was a longhorn beetle which I ended up talking to Tony, my beetle expert, and as it would need genital determination to decide which species it was I decided just to aggregate the record so it's either 
Leiopus nebulosus or Leiopus linnei.  None-the-less it is a truly stunning beetle with amazing long antenna.

Leiopus nebulosus agg. © Nick Hull

Well that sums up July with little in the way of birds but autumn migration has started with waders moving back through and into the harbour it will be interesting what wildlife August brings and how much Jackie and I get to see.

Wednesday, 9 July 2025

New for the Garden Scarce and Rare Moths

 I was going to end the previous blog with a summary of the month's moths which have been rather good if I say it myself so I changed my mind and thought it was best to just have a moth blog for the month.

On my birthday in May I asked the son and daughter for a few mothing items a 20w UV bulb and some more pots and both have come into their own as trap numbers have been the best I have had since living here in Upton.  Whether that is due to running two different types of bulb or the fact that the weather has been suiting the moths I can't say.

The first moth of note actually was in the last trap on the night of the 30th/31st May when checking the trap that I first use of the 20w UV bulb and there sitting on the top of one of the eggs cartons was a female Ghost Moth (Hepialus humuli humuli) in perfect condition I say this as two previously had been eaten in the trap one by a Great Diving Beetle and the other by a Hornet so I was very pleased to see it fully intact.

Ghost-Moth_female © Nick Hull

The next moth was new for the garden caught on the 6th June When I tested out some of the pheromone I purchased last year to see if I could get lucky. So I hung out the pheromone trap with Current Clearwing lure. I'm not sure quite how long it took to attract the moth as I didn't see it go in.  I found it in the trap when I decided to try another lure.  As I was about to open the trap I saw something fly around inside so I quick went into my office and carefully opened it up and there was a Current Clearwing another nice moth to have on the garden list.

Current Clearwing © Nick Hull

On the of the 18th I ran both the new UV and the old MV traps to see how the 20W UV would perform. It did ok catching 57 moth of 31 species but the MV had 139 moth of  66 species between the two trap it worked out to be 76 species in total as some obviously were the same.  There were three moths that stood out from the rest the first was a relatively common species but I had only caught it once before back in 2014 and that was a the very attractive Meal Moth Pyralis farinalis.  

Meal Moth Pyralis farinalis © Nick Hull

The second was much rarer also the second time I had caught the species, the first was in 2025 and it is also a very smart little moth called ac Small Marbled Eublemma parva.

Small Marbled Eublemma parva © Nick Hull

Small Marbled is considered a rare migrant the highlight of my trap has to go to another micro this time Diasemiopsis ramburialis the Migrant Sable.  A first for me and the garden.

Diasemiopsis ramburialis © Nick Hull

There was a fourth species Anarsia innoxiella that was first recognised as new to science in 2017, though it's status in Dorset is unknown however I did see a photo post from Tolpuddle of the same species a few day later. Unfortunately it escaped before I could pot it but I managed a quick photo.

Anarsia innoxiella - Maple Snout © Nick Hull

I managed to get the traps out again on the night of the 21st had good number of moths in both traps. New for the garden was a Small Yellow Wave a rather diminutive but attractive moth, but there wasn't anything outstanding only migrants were Diamond-back Moth.

Small Yellow Wave Hydrelia flammeolaria © Nick Hull


Diamond-backed Plutella xylostella Moth © Nick Hull

Rusty-dot Pearl is mainly a migrant species and numbers vary from year to year since moving to Upton in 2012 I've recorded them in all but two years 2018 & 2021.  

Udea ferrugalis Rusty-dot Pearl © Nick Hull

The 26th was the next trap night and the numbers were even bigger with a total 272 moth of 103 species and again I recorded migrants in the traps.  Vestal, Diamond-back, Rusty-dot Pearl, Dark Sword-grass and  (2) Palpate vitrealis Olive-tree Pearl and (2) Eublemma ostrina  Purple Marbled.

Rhodometra sacraria  The Vestal © Nick Hull

The Vestal I record more or less every other year why that is I don't know it maybe due to their breeding cycle and the Dark Sword-grass are fairly regular migrant species I catch them here most years like the Rusty-dot Pearl the Diamond-back Moth.

Argots ipsilon Dark Sword-grass © Nick Hull

Palpita vitrealis I first recorded in 2023 and last year I caught four they are a fairly common migrant but have been pretty rare for me until now they are a beautifully delicate looking moth with the golden costa and the translucent silky wings.

Palpita vitrealis Olive-tree Pearl © Nick Hull

The Purple Marbled is a rare immigrant and is a first for my trap and me, so another new addition to the garden moth list.  This moth is resident in the Mediterranean and North Africa region and is a transitory resident in Central Europe and occasional reaches southern Britain.  They were first recorded in Dorest in 1976.

Eublemma ostrina  Purple Marbled © Nick Hull

What an excellent month on mothing I would go as far as to say it's been my best month since moving in here.  I don't think I will surpass this for a while but who knows?

The question is what will July bring?