Highlights from a week spent on Lizard, at the usual address:
Barnside CottageA pair of 125W MV Skinner Traps were kindly provided by our good friend and landlord Tony. One or both of them was run each night from the Friday through to the following Wednesday, a trap was always run in the front garden, and as the week progressed the second was set up in the back garden. There was a good haul of migrant moths, along with a handful of the "local specialities" and amongst them a seasonal distribution of common species.
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Yellow-browed Warbler (Phylloscopus inornatus)
ringed on Lizard 3rd Oct 2024 |
The back garden was a highway for avifauna, with semi-mature Sycamore (
Acer pseudoplatanus), dense beds of
Hydrangea cultivars, and hedging along three of the boundaries providing plenty of cover and forage.
During the first weekend an unringed Yellow-browed Warbler was present along with a large mixed flock of tits, Chiffchaff (
Phylloscopus collybita), various finches including Chaffinch (
Fringilla coelebs), the latter being uncommon on the Lizard and therefore probably also an Autumn migrant (
pers comm Tony).
The hedge in the back garden is also home to
Favolaschia calocera a fungi "Lifer" that was new for both A and I, and for R and L, who joined us for the first weekend of the holiday. R also secured three other Lifers over the weekend: Radford's Flame Shoulder (
Ochropleura leucogaster) in the trap; and Great Shearwater (Ardenna gravis), and Eastern Atlantic Blue Fin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) whilst sea-watching with Tony from the Point. |
| Favolaschia calocera |
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| Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa) |
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| Autumnal Rustic (Eugnorisma glareosa) |
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| Black-banded (Polymixus xanthomista) |
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| Acrossus rufipes |
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| Delicate (Mythimna vitellina) |
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| Feathered Brindle (Aporophyla australis) |
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| Brindled Ochre (Dasypolia templi) |
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| Radford's Flame Shoulder |
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| Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria) |
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| Vestal (Rhodometra sacaria) & Springtail sp. |
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Scarce Bordered Straw (Helicoverpa armigera)
and Delicate |
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| Palpita vitrealis |
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| Rusty Dot Pearl (Udea ferrugalis) |
Sunday night's moth-trap rewarded me with a Convolvulus Hawk-moth (
Agrius convolvuli), I found it on the front lawn adjacent to the trap. It had not been apparent when I first started emptying the trap, and I suspect that I knocked it out of a Hydrangea, whilst faffing about. It is the first time that I have seen the species, and it provided several opportunities for bragging rights!
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| Convolvulus Hawk-moth |
A visit to Kynance Gate Settlement was enhanced by the presence of Golden Hair Lichen (
Teloschistes flavicans) on some of the central rocks. I have no eye-in for lichens but the species was described on the new interpretation board, so it would have been rude not to look for it? The species is noted as Nationally Scarce.
Teloschistes flavicans |
| Golden Hair Lichen |
On our final night in the cottage, we were awake into the early hours, having been texted by Tony at Ca 1AM to alert us to the Aurora Borealis showing overhead! We had missed the opportunity to see this spectacle in the UK earlier in the year, as we had been abroad at the time. What a cracking end to the week.
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Aurora Borealis over Lizard
Photo courtesy of Tony |
