Peter Jones Wildlife blog

My daily dog walk doesn't tend to throw up much in the way of surprises, mostly along pavements along the edge of the village, the occasional Red Kite, Buzzard or Sparrowhawk, the odd flower. One section along an alleyway, does have an extensive stretch of undisturbed dense weeds / bushes. I do see the odd surprise along this stretch.. Earthstar, Fungi, Annual Honesty, and today, my first 14-Spot Ladybird! It was a hurried affair as two ladies who walk their cat, were rapidly approaching. my dog and cats spell disaster, so I grabbed a quick picture then walked round the block returning to have another look. No joy, but did photo another Ladybird nearby, which was a 10-Spot, a species that I've only seen previously in France.

After many weeks in lockdown, I was pretty quick out of the blocks once the restrictions were lifted slightly allowing unlimited drives for exercise. My chosen exercise was a decent walk across Prescombe Down, West of Salisbury. First surprise was how quiet the roads are despite the partial lifting of the lockdown. Salisbury looked to be starting to get busier, but the countryside roads are still owned by cyclists at the moment. The downs, I saw just one distant pair of walkers. Superb place, I'd hoped to see Adonis Blue and Marsh Fritillary, both of which I haven't seen for many years, but neither were showing in the mostly sunny late morning. did see Green Hairstreak and Small Blue which was always a treat. Also Dingy Skipper and Grizzled Skipper. Did see 5-Spot Burnet moth which was a first for me, and luckily a couple of the pics I took confirmed the i.d. from the commoner Narrow-bordered 5-Spot burnet. (The flight seasons also pointed to 5-Spot.) Best

My regular Moth trap has a MV bulb which lights up the whole street! Last night, I was unable to run this one due to a few locals having post VE day parties in the area. So I switched to my battery LED Moth trap, which was designed to take out into the countryside. Due to COVID19, it has never made it beyond the house. One of the battery packs had a faulty wire, so it was just a single set of UV LEDs running. It works, but is not as effective as the MV I don't think. I got a handful of Maybugs, plus three moths: Little Thorn the best, also Treble Lines and Green Carpet. Very lucky, as Little Thorn wasn't on my radar, and I assumed with the resting position it was a Dingy Shell and left it free to fly off! Half out of boredom, I later brought it in to double-check and then realised things weren't right for Dingy Shell. Also, the illustration in the Waring guide wasn't helpful. It looked like a Thorn but was much too small. As soon as I saw "Little Thorn",

Well, the Covid19 pandemic has put paid to all my plans for 2020, as it has for most people. The moth trap, in the back garden, is about the only activity I can regularly do at the moment! So it has gone on pretty much every other night throughout April. No completely blank nights, there has always been something to identify the following morning, and 12 lifers so far has been a surprise. Hornets and Maybugs have made regular appearances, the maybugs peaking into double figures recently, but worth it for the regular surprises I'm getting. Album below has some highlights.. https://photos.app.goo.gl/fCj6ZUNeXDMmRLkm7 Pine Beauty, Spruce Carpet, Chocolate Tip, Shoulder Stripe, Iron Prominent, Waved Umber, Small Seraphim, Great Prominent, Sharp Angled Peacock, Coxcomb Prominent, Flame Carpet, Green Carpet.