It's been another quiet and floodless week on the Meadow. We've returned to some nice warm weather which of course has done nothing for the lack of water on the Meadow. Still it's meant a bit of a reprieve for the garden mothing so there is some benefit. That's not to say that there are no birds on the Meadow. In fact there's been a steady build-up of Golden Plover, Lapwings, Meadow Pipits and Linnets all taking advantage of the plentiful supply of insects on the Meadow. There have also been up to six YELLOW WAGTAILS in amongst the cattle this week. The only water bird of note has been a single LITTLE EGRET loitering on the grass and the usual loafing Black-headed Gulls. Chiffchaffs have been moving through or joining in with the roaving Tit feeding flocks.
In my garden I was lucky enough to have a HUMMINGBIRD HAWK MOTH visit my Buddleia one day this week.
Some video of the Hummingbird Hawk Moth
Talking of moths, things have certainly quietened down of late and numbers in the trap are usually below 20 and often in single figures. Still I've managed to catch a few nice autumn species including Brown-spot Pinion, Pink-barred Sallow and the lovely gold-flecked Large Ranunculus.
Brown-spot Pinion
Large Ranunculus
Pink-barred Sallow - a classic autumn moth
In terms of what one can look forward to our best bet for a good bird lies with the possibility of another American Golden Plover in amongst the Plover flock. As far a passerines are concerned let's hope that some of the huge numbers of Yellow-browed Warblers that
have hit the east coast this month will filter through to Oxfordshire. At the very least we might get a Spotted Flycatcher moving through the Patch. Fingers crossed!
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