Iron Prominent early by a mile

Minimum temperature down to a chilly 3.3C last night so not surprisingly there were only 9 moths of 7 species in teh trap when I checked this morning but the catch included my earliest ever Iron Prominent by 4 weeks.

Oak-tree Pug (Eupithecia dodoneata) 1
Iron Prominent (Notodonta dromedarius) 1
Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda) 1
Powdered Quaker (Orthosia gracilis) 1
Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) 3
Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) 1
Early Grey (Xylocampa areola) 1

Iron Prominent - First of the year and very early

An early walk over the fell this morning produced 2 new birds for the year, 2 Swallow over over and there was a fine singing cock Common Whitethroat in the first bit of scrub.  

Kestrel hunting over the fell

A few butterflies were on the wing, a single Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Small White and 3 Orange-tip, together with a queen White-tailed Bumblebee. Several new flowers were noted too, both Sycamore  and Pedunculate Oak were in flower, as were a few Apple trees , though I think I had one earlier in the week but forgot about it and a Cherry Laurel. In the hedgerow as well as the Apple, flowering Honesty, Cultivated Tulip, Oregon-grape (Mahonia aquifolium), and Cow Parsley were noted, with the first Meadow Foxtail nearby.

Cow Parsley

Meadow Foxtail

Honesty

Oregon-grape

Pedunculate Oak

A bit tidy up in the garden this afternoon was all I did. The Blackbird hen slipped off her nest and I used the opportunity  to have a peek. Three Eggs. The Tawny Miner Bees in the  garden now number at least  5 occupied mines and found another adult drowned in the pond.  Small White, Orange-tip and a Comma made an appearance all feeding on the Alpine Rockcress, Arabis alpina I have in the far corner.


My OFFH yearlists currently at stand at

Birds - 90
Mammals - 6
Moths - 30
Butterflies -7
Hoverflies - 2
Flowers - 85