29 Nov 14 - Insect Photospot5 - Dorset Hawk Moths

The recent Oleander Hawk Moth has given me the urge to put together a Post of the Dorset Hawk Moths. I very erratically get in the mood to run my Moth trap for a few months, before the Birding or work commitments puts an end to running the trap. Over the last 17 years of living in Dorset, I've just about managed to get through all the seasons, but with the months spread over several years. I only really worry about running the trap in the garden & haven't worried about trying to run a trap elsewhere. Occasionally, I will make the effort to see the occasional good Moth that other people have caught, but I don't do this often. Hoping one of these years, I will get more time to run my Moth trap more regularly & catch some of the more regular vagrants I've yet to see in the garden. Anyway, for a touch of colour & elegance on the Blog, here are the Dorset Hawk Moths.

Convolvulus Hawk Moth: I have only seen one Convolvulus Hawk Moth (due to not having made any effort to go & see them since seeing my first one). I currently don't have any photos of this scarce migrant Hawk Moth. There are a number of photos on the Dorset Moth Group website, including this one: Convolvulus Hawk Moth taken by Weymouth Birder Paul Harris

Death's-head Hawk Moth: This is a rare migrant to Dorset with 72 records listed on the Dorset Moth Group website. Unfortunately, it is a species I have yet to see. A photo taken by Les Hill can be found on the Dorset Moth Group website

Privet Hawk Moth: This is a fairly common & widespread Hawk Moth in Dorset. Swanage (8 July 10)

Pine Hawk Moth: This is an uncommon & restricted resident in Dorset. Swanage (28 July 10)

Lime Hawk Moth: This is an uncommon & widespread resident in Dorset. Swanage (30 June 10)

Eyed Hawk Moth: This is an uncommon & restricted resident in Dorset. Swanage (12 June 10)

Poplar Hawk Moth: This is a common & widespread Hawk Moth in Dorset. Swanage (22 June 10)

Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk Moth: This is a rare & local resident. Powerstock Common (18 May 14)

Broad-bordered Bee Hawk Moth: This is a rare & local resident. A poor photo, but despite several attempts this Summer, I failed to photograph any of the individuals seen. Studland (2 June 13)

Hummingbird Hawk Moth: Despite being a erratic but regular migrant visitor to my garden, I still need to get a decent photo of a Hummingbird Hawk Moth. A great photo of a Hummingbird Hawk Moth in flight by Martin Cade can be found on the Dorset Moth Group Website

Oleander Hawk Moth: I was lucky to see a tweet that one was recently on display at Durlston and could get there with the camera before it was released that evening. This is a vagrant species to Dorset & it is only about the 5th Dorset record. Resting in a display box at the Durlston Castle isn't an ideal location for a photo, but it better for the Moth than being moved around to allow people to photograph it, with the risk it will become active & try escaping. Durlston (24 Oct 14)

Bedstraw Hawk Moth: This is a rare migrant with less than 40 Dorset records & one I have still to see in the UK. A photo of two Bedstraw Hawk Moths at Portland Bill can be found on the Dorset Moth Group website

Striped Hawk Moth: This is a species I haven't seen in the UK. The Dorset Moth group website lists this as a scarce & coastal migrant with about 450 records. Fortunately, I have seen this great looking Moth at En Gedi, Israel (7 April 14)

Elephant Hawk Moth: This and the next species are just great Hawk Moths. I never tire of seeing them. Swanage (15 June 14)

Small Elephant Hawk Moth: This is smaller & less commonly caught in my Moth trap. Swanage (26 July 10)

Silver-striped Hawk Moth: This is a species I haven't seen & the Dorset Moth group website lists this as a rare migrant with just 24 records. A photo of a Silver-striped Hawk Moth with a Striped Hawk Moth for comparison can be found on the Dorset Moth Group Website

14 May 14 - Family Photo Tick

In the Centennial Postings Part 1 & Part 2, I promised you I would start to add to the 84 families of birds I had already managed to photograph with the new Canon camera. That total ignored a few additional families of Birds that I had already photographed with my little Lumix, a video camera & quite a few more families with the old fashioned cameras that used film (young readers ask your parents about this, but stop listening if they start rambling on about the good old days). But I'm not going to count any of these families, as the quality of those photos is generally pretty average compared to the Canon. Anyway, if you can't stand the suspense of wondering what the family photo tick is, then go to the end now (as I've doing this post in order of the day's activities).

Common Frog: They are non breeding visitors in my ponds & haven't been very regular this year

After a few warm, sunny days, the birding was pretty quiet & I decided to switch to looking at insects. Last year while out at Studland looking for Downy Emerald & Hairy Dragonfly at this time of year, I found a Broad-bordered Bee Hawk Moth. So it seemed a good idea to try & see if I could find some more as well as look for Butterflies & Dragonflies.

Holly Blue

Wall: A bit tatty, but it was the only once I saw in a couple of hours of looking

Downy Emerald: This appeared on the Rhododendron on a couple of occasions. I really like their bronzy-green colouration

Four-spotted Chaser: The dark spots in the middle of leading edge of each wing is diagnostic

As for the Broad-bordered Bee Hawk Moth. It would appear for about 20 - 30 seconds with 5 sightings in total. Each time it flew around like a cross between a Hummingbird Hawk Moth & a Bumblebee, briefly stopping on a flower to grab some nectar, before disappearing out of my field of view again for another 15 minutes. I failed to get any photos, so here are last year's efforts with my Lumix.

Broad-bordered Bee Hawk Moth: A photo of last year's individual, as I've failed to get a photo after several attempts this year (2 June 13)

Broad-bordered Bee Hawk Moth: Another shot (2 June 13)

The final stop was the Studland churchyard, hoping for a migrant or two to be lingering there. No joy, but did get the family photo tick: an adult & recently fledged juvenile Dunnock. Dunnocks are the only regular member of the Accentors family in the UK, although there are also 45 accepted records of Alpine Accentor in the UK to date. I suspect many UK birders ignore looking at Dunnocks, but the birds in my garden are usually feeding very close to the kitchen, even more now since I installed several feeders there. As a result, I get to see them close up daily & they are full of character. Recently, the male is displaying & I'm also seeing begging actions from the female, as they are preparing to breed again (sexed based upon behaviour). I've also got a young bird from their first brood feeding regularly as well. Despite having only appeared in the last few days, it's very capable of feeding & looking after itself, although it's still a bit nervous & domineering compared to the very laid back adults.

Dunnock: Adult. The sexes are identical in plumage & aging them once the juveniles have lost their streaky juvenile plumage is very difficult (seem to remember there is a subtle difference in eye colour)

Dunnock: Juvenile

On the way back home, I spotted a sailing ship, the Royalist, which is a Marine Society & Sea Cadet sail training ship at mooring in Swanage Bay.

The Royalist sail training ship