Sunday 7 August 2011

Birding still takes a back seat!

Over the past year I've ventured into Moths to the extent that between April and Sept I appear to do very limited birding. This new 'hobby' I find extremely interesting and it seems at times like a whole new World, akin to when i first started birding. Fortuantely with the help of Messrs Milton and Morris of East Kent I'm hopefully starting to id things correctly now though any mistkes let me know!! In fact I seem unable to go anywhere now without looking at peoples fences, walls, sheds, and only last week whilst in the queue for the tip I saw a Least Carpet on the wall from the car! The garden list grows slowly but at a guess is on 120+ Macro sp and 40+ micros. Only this week I added another couple of corkers to the garden list with Lesser-spotted Pinion and Pebble Prominent whilst a visit to Bromhey today bagged Rosy Footman, Black Arches. Pale Prominent amongst others whilst the fridge held Gordons' prized trophy, Many lined Moth, a first for Kent?

Hours and hours spent perusing UK Moths website and in the fieldguides really has helped me with some Ids yet some completely throw me, which is where Louise the wife comes in handy, as ace moth identifier and surely one of the vows of anyones marriage! In fact she was pretty good at identifying birds when we first starting going out but the early mornings, ie earlier than 11am tend to see her leave me to it these days. I don't think I'll get the dizzy heights of some people out there ie Franny, Dylan, and ace pan lister Dave Gibbs, but looking at Dyls blog certainly has me more aware of what's all around us 'beyond' birds. Keep up the good work. The recent re igniting of the Planet Thanet website is also for me another great asset to what's about and certainly until the birds start getting going again, the MV 125, the guide and a bag of pots does me fine. All above are photographed in the mothcervatory a handy way to photograph them then spend the next ten minutes trying to re catch them once I get behind the camera and they've flown.

Oh the joys of mothing!