Marvel Of The Day

October 10, 2023

Some might say ‘Its just a moth’ and to be fair that’s exactly what it is. Just a moth.

On Sunday night I put out the moth trap in the garden in the hope of catching one of Autumn’s specialities. A Merville Du Jour. On Monday morning I looked in the trap in near darkness and thought-that was a waste of time, and went back inside to finish my brew.

After about 20 minutes, I went back out and the light had improved slightly. Another peak into the moth trap and I thought, theres a couple in here that I didnt see earlier and I knew straight away that I had caught my firs Merville Du Jour. A couple of quick photos and a check over the inside of the trap left me satisfied that there were no more moths left.

I was just packing the leads away and notice another moth on the outside of the trap. It was another Merville Du Jour!

Now dont get me wrong MDJ’s are not rare. However to see one in real life, close up and in near mint condition, they are something to behold. Whilst I’d heard of a Merville Du Jour before and seen plenty of photos, I’d never thought much more of them other than-’I’d love to see one’.

Looking up the English translation was even more enlightening (and apologies to anyone thinking have you only just worked that out) Merville Du Jour’s literal translation is Marvel of the Day.

Marvel of the day-what a great name. The natural world is full of Marvels of the day. Deer in the fields on the way to work. Cobwebs in Autumn bejewelled with morning dew. Small shots of joy that are quickly lost to the demands of work and everyday life. Our connection with nature is quickly restored on the way home, a beautiful sunset. A barn owl hunting along the roadside.A robin singing in the back garden in last light of the day.

Today is World Mental Health Day, and maybe a present from Mother nature something that helps us reconnect in the form of a Marvel of the Day.

I was at Spurn at the weekend and had the absolute pleasure of seeing some of the reported 28,000 redwings that had arrived from Scandinavia. They were only redwings. yet being there to see them and hear them was a privilege. I was witnessing a Marvel of the Day and didnt even realise it. It was invigorating, special and memorable.

Next time I see a Merville Du Jour, I can guarantee that it will be my Marvel of the Day, even though its just a moth.

Thanks for reading.

Spurn Magic

October 09, 2023

To say Autumn on the East coast has got off to a slow start this year would be an understatement, but this weekend went a long way to making it better at least.

We arrived in very mild conditions on Friday and after a very nice ‘chippy tea’ I had a wander down to the Humber bank to watch the sun set.

A big bank of cloud obscured the sun bu5 the sky was quite dramatic.

Nothing of note was around and given that it was low tide, that would explain the dearth of waders on view.

However a few curlew, shellducks, a bar-tailed godwit and a few little egrets made for a tranquil scene, blissful in fact. A hunting barn owl and hundreds of pink footed geese was a nice end.

I put out the moth trap seeing as it was forecast to be mild. I was quite surprised at the amount of moths in the trap. Mainly Setaceous Hebrew Characters and Large Wainscott but a Scarce Bordered Straw was notable.

An early start at Kilnsea Wetlands, and it had a feel of Autumn about it. Pink Footed Geese, Whooper Swans and the odd flock of Redwings were a promising sign. One or two goldcrests and a few cliff-chaffs were around but with south westerly winds all week, it was no surprise there were few migrants in the bushes. A weasel in the verge was a highlight of a wander round Kilnsea

A showy Jack Snipe on Sykes Field was a nice bonus in the afternoon.

Saturday night was still mild so out went the moth trap again and the highlight this time was a black rustic.

Overnight the winds has swung easterly. There was definitely a sense that something big had happened overnight, I left the caravan at 6.30 and the air was full of the ‘peeep’ of redwings. I made my way towards the beach at Kilnsea and it was obvious there had been a big fall of thrushes. They were swirling around and lifting of the bushes-there were birds everywhere!

An hour on the beach produced a few ducks flying south as well as the odd red-throated diver and skua.

A walk back towards Spurn produced a rock pipit on the beach and at least 6 stonechats. As it got lighter more birds appeared. Flock after flock of redwings and song thrushes. Lesser amounts of fieldfares, but there were lots of finches around including a few brambling, goldcrests were flitting around in the bushes and ring ouzels were popping up amongst the redwings.

Two short eared owls came in off the sea, yet more stonechats along the canal and then news of a yellow browned warbler came on the radio. It showed well in the willows but it was against the light so not good for a photo.

The afternoon went on with more thrushes and seemingly more goldcrests- no doubt there was more. Also around were hawfinches, little bunting, arctic warbler and a very brief black-throated thrush.

So Autumn has finally arrived, it just goes to show that favourable winds make good things happen, today was definitely a sprinkling of Spurn Magic.

Late Summer at Spurn

August 28, 2023

I had a very enjoyable couple of days at Spurn over the weekend.

It started with a walk down to the sea at dusk on Friday night-on the way back there were 8 bats hunting along various hedgerows and sheltered spots.

Saturday morning had me down at Beacon Ponds. There were lots (over a hundred) little egrets about a dozen grey herons and a great white egret. They provided some nice photo opportunities as the sun rose. Interesting to watch them all disperse as the light improved.

Not much in the way of migrants around and a very small tide made it very quiet on the wader front.

A quick check of the moth trap when I got back to the caravan produced a rusty dot pearl, a bulrush wainscott and a bulrush veneer-all very interesting.

A wander round in the sunshine produced 11 species of butterfly including lots of small heath as well as a single wall and a single small copper.

I put the moth trap out again on Saturday night-this time in a slightly different spot but with very poor results.

Sunday morning had me back at Beacon Ponds-not much different from the day before with the exception of a flyby spoonbill.

A couple of crossbills were called out and it was nice to see a fine male feeding on the spruce in Church Field.

The weekend ended with a failed attempt for a rather elusive wood warbler, that had shown very well half an hour before I arrived.

A lovely late summer trip-not much in the way of migrants but nature filled nevertheless.