Garden birds and insects

[ivan]

Haven't seen humming bird hawkmoth for many years - we had loads one summer when winds blew them off-course. Im guessing they're most likely seen on south coast. They're unusual in that they fly during the day.

When I was young, all the groundsel weeds would be covered in orange/black stripy cinnebar moth caterpillars. But there seems to have been a big decline in our area - I hardly ever see groundsel - used to be one of the commonest weeds Mind you, the cinnebar moth should be ok - there seems to be a huge increase in ragwort!

[Bugtownboy]

We’re in South Somerset and see them every year - Lavender is a good spot for them.

As well as having a ‘colony’ of Scarlet Tiger, which are very colourful and day time flyers, we also get the other ‘tigers’ - Jersey and Garden, but in smaller numbers.

[richbee]

We have Mint Moth frequenting the mint too - always good to see what your plants, including ‘weeds’ support before removing them.

The most impressive moth we regularly get, and probably my favourite, is the Humming Bird Hawkmoth.

They are amazing to see, we get them occasionally.
We had at least 1 poplar hawk moth caterpillar on the willow last year, they are quite amazing creatures

[ivan]

You guys probably already know about this, but for anyone that hasn't seen it already, there's a really good bird-song app called 'Merlin Bird ID' - start the app on your phone and click 'record' and it listens for birds and identifies them for you. Really quite addictive, and it reveals many birds which you rarely get to see, but which might be lurking in your garden just out of sight. It will also identify birds from pictures - so if you get a good photo, you can usually ID your bird from that - wonder if there's something similar for moths and butterflies?

[richbee]

I didn't know about that - might have to try it, it's, fascinating to sit out & hear the, various bird songs & try to work (unsuccessfully) which bird they belong to

[Bugtownboy]

Agree with Ivan, it is an amazing free app.

Even if you move continents and/or regions, the uploads are still free.

Even though I’m a birder, bird song sometimes escapes me

What I’ve found interesting (I know) is that with well known bird song, when in different places it highlights that birds have regional accents/slightly different voices.

This app really supplements your existing knowledge.

Although there are plenty of other ID apps (insects etc) I haven’t found one that’s as easy to use.

[Tinbum]

I just walked out into our garden to be greeted by a massive bird of pry taking off as I'd disturbed it. 5 seconds later I spotted something in the hedge move to find a deer which then ran off and then about 10 seconds later a Little owl flew out out of the hedge 5m away.

[ivan]

I haven't seen a Little Owl for many years. Used to be one that perched on top of the streetlights alongside the dual carriageway in front of our house most evenings. These days, I occasionally hear a Tawney Owl, and three times seen a barn owl here...in the last 10years! Must try to get a few owl nest boxes sorted out around here. Haven't seen any swifts at all here for the last few years. Starting to think they are extinct in our area - their numbers are dwindling fast across the UK, due to lack of nesting sites. If anyone is interested in making Swift nest boxes to try to keep them here, I found this site to be really useful - full of nest box designs and ideas: https://www.bristolswifts.co.uk/