30 Days Wild 2022 - Day 3 - In The Night Garden

 

 Yes, it's the third day in a row in the garden but this time it's a bit different. No, it doesn't involve Igglepiggle or the Ninky Nonk but it does involve Bats, Moths and Hedgehogs 😊🦇🦋🦔

 With the weather staying drier and less breezy but still a bit on the chilly side for this time of year, I decided to put out the Moth light in the garden.

 

 Whilst awaiting the arrival of our Lepidoptera I switched on the Bat detector to see if the Moth's nemesis were also out and about.

 Throughout the 90 minutes I had the detector on, it picked up 4 fly-bys of our flying mammals. With the detector set at 45kHz and due to the area our garden is in, the most likely culprit of the clicking signal picked up is the Common Pipistrelle.

I caught some of it on video for you to hear.

 We hardly ever cut our grass at the back and leave it as long as possible to grow with whatever wildflowers arise so if in the garden after dark we have to tread carefully to avoid these 2 which are regulars. They are usually snuffling around in the long grass for the food we have put out and intermittently huffing at each other.

 The main reason to spend the night in the garden is to see what Moths have our garden on their flightpath. With us now at the start of June I did hope to see a few Hawkmoths about but no such luck last night. There were still 64 moths though of 27 species identified. Below are some photos of a few of last night's visitors.

                                             Lesser Swallow Prominent

                                                        Buff Ermine

                                                      Peppered Moth

                                                      Small Magpie

                                                          Brimstone

                                                Common White Wave

                                                         Treble Lines

                                                           Cinnabar

                                                               Snout

                                                    Brown Silver-lines

                                                          Purple Bar

 It's amazing what wildlife frequents our urban gardens throughout the nights. There will probably be more moths in the weeks to come.

Thank you again to all who have taken the time to have a quick browse through my wildlife blog, it is very much appreciated and I hope you all have a great day surrounded by our wonderful Natural world.

Stay safe.

Kindest regards

Stuart

#30dayswild #wildlifetrust #leidoptera #moths #bats #hedgehogs #gardenfornature #britishwildlife  #connectwithnature #lovenature #lovelife  

 

30 Days Wild - Day 13

  Yes, I know unbelievable a #30DaysWild blog on the correct day (just) ;)

Day 13    Coasting Around County Down

  I am staying at my partners Mum's house in Newry so we decided to head to the County Down coastline, starting in Dundrum about 40 minutes away.It's a great place to see Brent Geese in Winter but today they were replaced by 26 Mute Swans.
  Dundrum Bay

  Also dotted around the bay were a few Curlew, Herring Gulls, Little Egrets, Hooded Crows and 7 Grey Herons.

  Walking along I noticed a lethargic Tree Bumblebee in the road so carefully let it climb onto my finger and relocated it on a Dog Rose.

  On the way out there was a Male Bullfinch on the grass verge.I managed a quick pic from the car before it vanished into the hedgerow.

  We continued South down the coast a few minutes in the car and arrived at Murlough National Nature Reserve.A massive sand dune system known as a stronghold for Marsh Fritillary Butterflies and 250 species of Moth.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/murlough-national-nature-reserve

  The Dunes

  Unfortunately I didn't find any Fritillaries but there were plenty of Small Heath Butterflies instead.

  Four moth species were found, 3 Micros and this Yellowshell.
 along with a Drinker Moth Caterpillar on the path.

  Drinker Moth caterpillar.

  Hooded Crows patrolled the dunes

 
and the song of the Meadow Pipits drifted on the sea breeze.

  After returning to the car we had another short drive further South to the coastal town of Newcastle.It's a high street with a beach and mountains and one of my favourite places in Northern Ireland.

  We grabbed lunch, went in and out of a few charity shops and then headed to the small boating lake which is always good for some Gull action.

    Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls and Black-headed Gulls were all in attendance.
  Black-headed Gull

  Herring Gull

  Lesser Black-backed Gull

  The Gull creche.

  The sun was starting to warm up so it was bath time for a Mallard and Hooded Crow.

  Another Grey Heron was doing its best to ignore the Gulls and concentrate on fishing until it gave up and moved away to the other end of the lake.

  We avoided the temptation of buying ice creams and walked back to the car along the promenade while deciding we still had time to move a bit inland and visit Silent Valley situated in the Mourne Mountains.

https://www.niwater.com/silent-valley/ 

  There are numerous trails to trek round varying from the lower Nature trail to the more adventurous steeper trails into the mountains.Of course I decided to do the "easy" nature trail along the Kilkeel River.It was a relaxing walk with the songs of Blackbirds, Blackcaps and Long-tailed Tits serenading us along the way.

Kilkeel River

  A Treecreeper, one of my favourite(non-bird of prey) bird flew from tree to tree trying to unearth bugs from beneath the bark.

  We finished the day by having a break at Sally Lough, a very peaceful place with just Mallards for company.

  It was time to head back to Newry on the coastal road through Rostrevor and Warrenpoint and it was in the latter that the real highlight of the day arrived.AS we drove through the town along the sea wall I saw a few birds bobbing on the water and screamed "stop the car, turn around!" Majella said "what!" and continued on before finding a place to turn and park up.

  I had seen three Black Guillemots in the sea.I got out the car and walked over the road to lean on the sea wall and try to get a photograph of these stunning sea birds.

  It was then I realised there were actually seven of them and incredibly a couple of them flew in and landed along the wall, ambled within a few feet of me and just sat down, unfazed by my presence.

  What a fantastic way to end our day out.What stunning birds :) 

  I am not sure what tomorrow will bring but I hope it will contain more "wild" encounters.

  

  Get out and get WILD!! :)