Notes from the Doorstep

1st January 2016 The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland invites people every year to undertake a New Year Plant survey. The idea is to find as many flowering wild flowers you can within ...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2016/01/new-year-flower-hunt.html

A nice find on 11th October was this basking Roesel's Bush Cricket. 1% are this long wing form diluta although with the species becoming more common in the county, perhaps this form is increasing...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2015/10/roesels-bush-cricket.html

Rhododendrons are not especially highly regarded in the natural world. Being highly invasive, it  can be a real pest outside of gardens and is quite a toxic plant ( the causer of ' Mad Honey Dis...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2015/09/rhododendron-leafhopper.html

It was promising to be a cracking birding year on the patch, despite not a single Winter Siskin or Redpoll, and only one Brambling The year list was pretty much as good as it could be going into ...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2015/09/birdingautumn-passage-tries-to-make.html

Returning to a Sandy section of my patch on a sunny morning, I managed 3 very pleasing finds. The Hairy Legged Mining Bee Dasypoda hirtipes is a nationally notable species, and even the males i...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2015/08/hairy-legged-mining-bee-trio-of-nice.html

Here's a Conopid, or Thick Headed Fly from the patch. Once you discover their dastardly tricks, you cannot help but become intrigued by them. SICUS FERRUGENEUS On Burdock there were plenty ...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2015/07/couple-of-nice-flies-for-patch-list.html

Settled on a leaf in the garden, I was delighted to see a Hornet Mimic Hoverfly Volucella zonaria had swung by. Initially I approached with trepidation not knowing what it was, fearing it was som...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2015/06/volucella-zonaria-hoverfly-heavyweight.html

The moth scene through May and the first half of June was dire. After a few days away I returned with renewed enthusiasm, as I couldn't help but notice fellow moth-ers were starting to cheer up o...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2015/06/obscure-wainscot.html

My last encounter with Hornets was watching numerous workers gorging on Ivy in the Autumn of last year. Shortly after arriving on the South Western edge of the patch on 30th May,  just a few y...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2015/06/hornet-observations.html

I've been trying to see these amazing moths for a few years now, but timing and conditions coupled with their elusiveness have prevented an encounter. Yesterday, although very breezy, I managed ...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2015/04/emperor-moth.html

I had a Dotted Chestnut in my garden moth trap on the 10th April. A lifer,and  my first new species of the year. This moth overwinters as an Adult.Not much is known about its foodplant preferenc...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2015/04/dotted-chestnut-garden.html

I found Orange Underwing Moth on my patch last year. A day flying moth, easily missed or assumed to be a small butterfly, they can also be very difficult to pin down ! Sometimes they can be seen...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2015/03/orange-underwing-moth.html

The progression into Spring is far from linear, and with northerly winds keeping temperatures well down into single figures, there was not much spring cheer obvious to the eye or ear. A single S...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2015/03/frog-spawn-and-badger-loos.html

Despite a stiff southerly breeze taking the edge off the suns potential little, some of the inverts around the patch were not going to be held back any longer. From the moth trap, two new specie...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2015/03/bee-autiful-inverts-return.html

 Not a single sighting of Redpoll, Siskin or Brambling this year.However the year list is booming, with 2 lifers and a couple 'difficult to get' species added over the last few days. MANDARIN DU...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2015/03/patch-firsts-early-records.html

Last night I ran the MV trap for the first full night this year. The only 2 moths I've ever trapped in February are a Dark Chestnut (14/2/ 2013 ) and a Pale Brindled Beauty (19/22014). It was a ...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2015/02/dark-chestnut-kicks-off-mothing-year.html

My main aim today was to photograph some male Hazel catkins, also know as 'Lambs tails'. The sun came out as I did and it was positively balmy around midday. A bonus was that the female catkins w...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2015/02/ramshorn-gall-nice-find.html

January is all about walking off  the Christmas excesses and re- starting the only bird list I really keep, The Patch yearlist. Egged on by Brett Westwood's latest radio broadcasts, I have walke...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2015/01/dipper-on-doorstep.html

Its been a battle of the elements so far this year, heavy rain, freezing fog and strong winds. Nothing has deterred me from getting out and about though .The biggest reward has been discovering t...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2015/01/snowdrops.html

Its always nice to see mammals on the patch, unfortunately often the only way to record them is when they have perished, and this, literally is what had happened to this Common Shrew that I foun...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2015/01/stonechat-reward-rounds-off-top-patch.html

The regularity of postings has diminished, but I've not finished blogging. Quite simply, there are not enough hours to live, work and play ..and blog. So I hope you will keep dropping by and appr...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2014/11/autumn-highlights.html

With Everything being a bit earlier this year I've been on the lookout for Purple Hairstreaks on the patch recently. Starting with the trees on which I have recorded them previously, I came acros...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2014/07/purple-hairstreak-time.html

It was nearly two weeks since my last visit to Patchshire, so I arrived on the 20th keen to see what the new kids on the block were. In this blog I will just focus on the Moths, Butterflies and D...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2014/06/marbled-white-on-patch-lepidoptera-and.html

The big birding kick on my few hours last Saturday on the patch was observing a LITTLE OWL. It's the 1st time I have connected with this species on the manor, despite having a good inkling they m...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2014/06/little-owl-little-inverts-little-time.html

A brief afterwork visit on the 21st was principally to do a bit of netting with my new sweep net, to see if I could nab a few moths. As I pulled up, a BROWN HARE showed very nicely for a minute u...

http://doorstepbirding.blogspot.com/2014/05/moths-and-some-hare-raising-additions.html