Tuesday 1 November 2011

Last offering of the year...


 We travelled back up the River Soar and moored at Millers Bridge near Pillings Lock Marina. It's a lovely spot that we've stayed at loads of times in the past. We had a couple of visitors, one of which was only my second moth of the trip, another Micro moth, a Garden Rose Tortrix (Acleris variegana). A bit ironic that our travels around the countryside only turned up 2 moths...a house moth & a garden moth!

Garden Rose Tortrix
 
I rememeber years ago being on a birding trip in Norfolk when I popped into a tiny village Post Office and overhead the Postmistress & another customer discussing the identification of Micro moths. I came out chuckling about sad people in anoraks... .

  
  
Our second visitor was a Green Lacewing of which there are between 14 &18 species in the UK depending on which website you look at. Lacewings live for about 10 months & are good for the garden as they eat aphids. They readily go into houses, & apparently boats, in the Autumn. As usual there are a lot of similar species but I think this one is the Com
mon Green Lacewing (Chrysoperla carnea) as it had dull pink patches on the body & this species turns pink in the Autumn for hibernation.

 
Common Green Lacewing

We moved down the canal a short distance & moored outside the marina for a spot of polishing. Whislt taking a short break I spotted a dragonfly land in a bush next to Muriel. It was a Migrant Hawker & it stayed there for about half an hour sunbathing.


Migrant Hawker (mature male)




A Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)came to feed on the same bush & also stayed for a while.


Red Admiral






We're now back in Exmouth for the winter where I'll be doing lots of birding & wildlife spotting! I may even decide to start a blog..........







1 comment:

  1. Nice last post with some good pics.
    Funnily enough, I remember you coming back after the trip to the shop and telling me about the micro moth conversation (I'm sure I remember a look of disdain). See where 10 years has gotten you!

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