Monday 30 April 2018
Pollen clouds, Christophstal April 2018

Pollen clouds, Christophstal April 2018

It was warm and very windy today. The trees around us are producing huge amounts of pollen which is coating everything in  a yellow powder.

Sunday 29 April 2018

We were really surprised to see a pair of whinchats hunting behind the house today. This is the longest we've ever had any stay during the migration season.

The male looked really tired so maybe these are new arrivals.

Tired male whinchat, Christophstal April 2018

Tired male whinchat, Christophstal April 2018

Whinchat, Christophstal April 2018

Whinchat, Christophstal April 2018

Female whinchat, Christophstal April 2018

Female whinchat, Christophstal April 2018

Tuesday 24 April 2018
Black kite and carrion crow, Christophstal April 2018

Black kite and carrion crow, Christophstal April 2018

Black kite and crow, Christophstal April 2018

Black kite and crow, Christophstal April 2018

A black kite came into the valley today and was being chased by a crow. This is only the second time we've seen a black kite here and it is closest we've had to the house.

Sunday 22 April 2018

Last night after I posted the diary entry, I thought I had better check my puparium as I had a moth in there I was expecting to emerge at the beginning of May. Lucky I did as this beauty was sitting waiting to be photographed.

I posted some entries about the caterpillar and pupa back in July and September, so I already knew the species. I've never seen a mocha moth before and I was expecting something special. I wasn't disappointed.

I added a photo of a chiffchaff on the birch.

Mocha moth, ex larva Christophstal April 2018

Mocha moth, ex larva Christophstal April 2018

Chiffchaff, Christophstal April 2018

Chiffchaff, Christophstal April 2018

Saturday 21 April 2018
Snipe, Christophstal April 2018

Snipe, Christophstal April 2018

Snipe, Christophstal April 2018

Snipe, Christophstal April 2018

Snipe, Christophstal April 2018

Snipe, Christophstal April 2018

Snipe, Christophstal April 2018

Snipe, Christophstal April 2018

Enormous buzzard, Christophstal April 2018

Enormous buzzard, Christophstal April 2018

Balding squirrel, Christophstal April 2018

Balding squirrel, Christophstal April 2018

Violets in garden, Christophstal April 2018

Violets in garden, Christophstal April 2018

Violets on meadow, Christophstal April 2018

Violets on meadow, Christophstal April 2018

Mallard BiF, Christophstal April 2018

Mallard BiF, Christophstal April 2018

Mallard BiF, Christophstal April 2018

Mallard BiF, Christophstal April 2018

We got up especially early this morning, just in case more migrating birds had arrived.

We were rewarded with an unexpected new species, a Snipe, which was skulking down by the pond. Its markings are quite similar to the wryneck. Both are extremely well hidden unless they move. This is our 85th species of bird seen from the house. I've included a photo with the coot in the background as it shows that the snipe is quite small.

After that excitement, it was a bit of a disappointment to find that the whinchats were not around and that there were no other migrating birds around. There was an enourmous buzzard sitting near where the whinchats were yesterday so maybe he scared them away. This really was an extremely large buzzard. I was briefly convinced we had a golden eagle in the valley.

We had a lot of red squirrels though including this one which seems to have a bad skin problem. We hope it isn't mange. He was otherwise quite perkie so maybe it is just a moult.

We have the best show of violets we've even seen in the garden this year. The photo doesn't really show how impressive they are. The violets in our meadow are really good too.

Some ducks were flying around today and as the light was really good, I thought I'd try my Bird-in-Flight photographic technique.

Friday 20 April 2018

We've been looking forward to this day for weeks. This is the day we've worked out is the best day of the year for seeing migrating birds passing through the valley. Even so, I'd been watching out over the last few days as I wasn't really convinced that the birds would really be that punctual. I thought that maybe as the weather has been really good, the migration might be a bit early this year.

But no. Today the whinchats arrived right on time. They were there first thing this morning and all day today. There were at least three. Sadly, the only other migrants we saw today were a couple of swifts dipping into the pond. Maybe the others will be a bit late or maybe the good weather encourages them to carry on to their breeding grounds, skipping us completely.

There were plenty of other things to see though. This male blackcap was singing in the hawthorn close to the house and it was quite deafening.

A dunnock was sunning itself beneath the conifer and there was a bird I can't identify in one of the poplar saplings.

I've mentioned in previous years that the maple we have in the front garden only looks attractive for one or two days every year. Today the buds were backlit by the sun and it really looked spectacular.

Whinchat, Christophstal April 2018

Whinchat, Christophstal April 2018

Whinchat, Christophstal April 2018

Whinchat, Christophstal April 2018

Whinchat, Christophstal April 2018

Whinchat, Christophstal April 2018

Whinchat, Christophstal April 2018

Whinchat, Christophstal April 2018

Blackcap, Christophstal April 2018

Blackcap, Christophstal April 2018

Dunnock, Christophstal April 2018

Dunnock, Christophstal April 2018

Unknown bird, Christophstal April 2018

Unknown bird, Christophstal April 2018

Maple, Christophstal April 2018

Maple, Christophstal April 2018

Thursday 19 April 2018
Puss moth, Christophstal April 2018

Puss moth, Christophstal April 2018

Chocolate-tip moth, Christophstal April 2018

Chocolate-tip moth, Christophstal April 2018

Red chestnut moth, Christophstal April 2018

Red chestnut moth, Christophstal April 2018

Firecrest, Christophstal April 2018

Firecrest, Christophstal April 2018

Firecrest, Christophstal April 2018

Firecrest, Christophstal April 2018

Common redstart, Christophstal April 2018

Common redstart, Christophstal April 2018

Overheated blackbird, Christophstal April 2018

Overheated blackbird, Christophstal April 2018

Dapper blue tit, Christophstal April 2018

Dapper blue tit, Christophstal April 2018

We've had a protracted spell of warm, dry weather so I decided to put the moth trap out again last night.

It was a really good night and I had three new species for the garden; two puss moths, a chocolate-tip and a red chestnut. None of these are uncommon, but the puss moth is always a welcome visitor as it is a really attractive moth.

We don't see firecrests very often, but one was flitting around one of the conifers this morning along with a common redstart.

It was very warm today and this blackbird seemed to be finding it a bit too warm.

We've got a pair of blue tits nesting in our house martin nests. Here's a photo of the male who is looking remarkably well kempt.

Wednesday 18 April 2018

We haven't seen a coot in the valley since April 2016. This one arrived today. They're very difficult to photograph as they're so dark.

Coot, Christophstal April 2018

Coot, Christophstal April 2018

Sunday 15 April 2018
Wood pigeon, Christophstal April 2018

Wood pigeon, Christophstal April 2018

Wood pigeon, Christophstal April 2018

Wood pigeon, Christophstal April 2018

Surprisingly, we don't get many wood pigeons in the garden. We see a lot flying over, but they don't seem interested in our feeders. Today though, there were two fatties in the front garden. I'm not sure if they're a nice looking bird or not. That beak is a bit offputting.

Thursday 12 April 2018

A bat was flying around the house in the early evening. It was getting dark, so these photos are not very clear.

Unknown bat, Christophstal April 2018

Unknown bat, Christophstal April 2018

Unknown bat, Christophstal April 2018

Unknown bat, Christophstal April 2018

Unknown bat, Christophstal April 2018

Unknown bat, Christophstal April 2018

Sunday 8 April 2018
Small quaker, Christophstal April 2018

Small quaker, Christophstal April 2018

Twin-spot Quaker, Christhophstal April 2018

Twin-spot Quaker, Christhophstal April 2018

Female blackcap, Christophstal April 2018

Female blackcap, Christophstal April 2018

Black redstart, Christophstal April 2018

Black redstart, Christophstal April 2018

Brambling, Christophstal April 2018

Brambling, Christophstal April 2018

Blue tit, Christophstal April 2018

Blue tit, Christophstal April 2018

Jays territorial quiffing, Christophstal April 2018

Jays territorial quiffing, Christophstal April 2018

Jays, Christophstal April 2018

Jays, Christophstal April 2018

Common redstart, Christophstal April 2018

Common redstart, Christophstal April 2018

Sparrowhawk, Christophstal April 2018

Sparrowhawk, Christophstal April 2018

Sparrowhawk, Christophstal April 2018

Sparrowhawk, Christophstal April 2018

Great spotted woodpecker, Christophstal April 2018

Great spotted woodpecker, Christophstal April 2018

With the fine, dry weather, it was the perfect opportunity to run my moth trap last night. Despite the temperature falling to 2oC, it was a really good catch with lots of the usual spring moths. I managed to fill a couple of my photographic gaps.

Another fine day. No wryneck today, but the first blackcaps and common redstarts of the year were seen.

We saw 23 bird species today. Here are a random selection of photos of moths and birds.

I included a fine, male brambling as this is about as perfect as they get - and this is probably nearing the time when they will depart.

This male blue tit was really fired-up today. He was performing a parachute display and was chasing off birds much bigger than himself in the effort to impress a female. It seemed to be working.

The jays were fired-up too. Here there are three males seeing who's got the biggest quiff.

The sparrowhawk caught something in the copse. I've been struggling to see what it was from the photos. Could it have been a black redstart? 

Saturday 7 April 2018

We've seen a few wrynecks during migration time in Autumn but we've never seen them during the Spring migration. We thought they must come through this way in Spring too but we didn't know for sure.

Today Christine spotted one in the bird cherry near the house when we got back from a run. They are amazingly camouflaged when they're sitting in trees - I wouldn't have seen it. It stayed around most of the day. There aren't many ants about at the moment, but there's a nice big nest on the tree stump next to the drive and he was spending a lot of time down there.

It was a really warm spring day today and the temperature was well into the 20s.

There are only photos of the wryneck today though as it is such a special bird to see.

Wryneck, Christophstal April 2018

Wryneck, Christophstal April 2018

Wryneck, Christophstal April 2018

Wryneck, Christophstal April 2018

Wryneck, Christophstal April 2018

Wryneck, Christophstal April 2018

Wryneck, Christophstal April 2018

Wryneck, Christophstal April 2018

Wryneck, Christophstal April 2018

Wryneck, Christophstal April 2018

Monday 2 April 2018

This pair of ravens were spooning in the poplar tree near to the house today. They don't usually come this close to the house.

Spooning ravens, Christophstal April 2018

Spooning ravens, Christophstal April 2018