Seb Buckton

Little Gull and 2 ad sum Med Gulls on South Lake @slimbridge_wild #glosbirds

Nice afternoon in the water park. 2 GN Divers together on pit 16 this afternoon and 1 male Goldeneye before everything scared off by a motorboat. 30+ Goosander on pit 41, 12 RC Pochard and a GW Egret on Pit 42. #GlosBirds

Firecrest from decoy boardwalk 1.50pm @slimbridge_wild #glosbirds

@ClevedonMoths @gmtord I found photos of obvious (now) individuals from my garden going back to October 2021.

I have kicked myself about a lack of personal historic Watsonalla Hook-tip pics but this week, I did find a Spiny Hook-tip pic from my garden on 13th September 2022. I know @gmtord has found other pics from before this. A comparison to a Clevedon gendetted one from this year.

Steady trickle of Swallows (c. 20 so far) heading south over the house in Rodborough this morning #GlosBirds

@ClevedonMoths Me neither. Had success with Dewick's Plusia last autumn, but things like that are relatively easy cos they develop really quickly and aren't too fussy.

@SebinNature I'll be separating out the egg batches once I am sure she has finished. Not much experience of breeding. A few things bred that I ticked as larvae including a few pugs easier to find as such.

I provided my presumed Spiny Hook-tip (23rd September) with a choice of Oak leaves overnight. She laid 30 eggs on Holm Oak. I am happy with the identification. A couple of pics. From the experience of @SebinNature, it will be about 3 weeks to hatching if fertile. 🤞

Osprey just flown N over Frampton green #glosbirds

@trapsite @ClevedonMoths Yes that looks like a clear Oak, makes a change!

Another excellent night for migrant & resident sps in new romney traps last night with over 80 sps inc two 4-spotted footmen, no fewer than 14 Palpita vitrealis & what I'm fairly sure is just an oak hook-tip @ClevedonMoths 🤔

@FlyinginFordham @MigrantMothUK It does look a bit deformed doesn't it.

@MigrantMothUK Some improved pics, keeps doing this weird 'hunched' pose and rolling around the pot :D

Moth mystery from last night at Chippenham Fen... specimen will be dissected this week.

@ClevedonMoths I think it would be valuable to get unclear ones like this dissected so we can get a better idea of what ID features are consistent.

Bob's garden trap this produced (I believe) our third patch Spiny Hook-tip. I scratch my head on identification. Records in last ten days from Stone Allerton & Weston-super-mare & regular in Bristol. With no south coast records, an adventive for me? Certainly resident locally. 🧐

@SteveOrmerod @cardiffuni Congrats Steve. It was a pleasure to share a small part of your time there, and I'll always be immensely grateful for the opportunities to work on some great projects and complete my PhD.

Downland Villa and Hornet Robberfly from Swift's Hill in Gloucestershire yesterday #invertebrates

@gmtord Here's the reporting rate from Kent moths website - suggests a slow down, though the drop off last year might be record uploads not complete?

@gmtord Very similar pattern here in Stroud - first 2 in 2020, 770 last year. But I don't see any signs of damage around here, as I don't seem to pass any box when I'm out and about. I trap at Box Wood near here (where there is box!) and I've only seen it there once, so 🤞.

A short 🧵 about Box Moth (Cydalima perspectalis). This non-native moth arrived in Cardiff in 2018, having spread rapidly across southern England since 1st record in Kent in 2007. It didn't appear in my garden until 2020. By 2023 it was the commonest species in the moth trap!

@gmtord Sound like the kind of answers I get from some of my students....🤔

If you're ever in need of Moth Facts, look no further than ChatGPT!

@KaneBrides Really sad to hear, such a lovely bloke.

It is with a heavy heart that we announce the sad news that our friend, valued colleague and leader of the Duck Specialist Group, Richard Hearn, has lost his battle with illness and has sadly passed away. Read about Rich's work - ducksg.org/2024/02/status…

#GlosBirds 2 cattle egret on South Lake @slimbridge_wild this afternoon

@gmtord @ClevedonMoths @SteveJTurner76 Given insect dispersal capabilities and the dependence on a food plant, the distinction between natural and human-induced spread in moths isn't always clear I guess.

@ClevedonMoths @SteveJTurner76 I have to admit I hadn't considered it might be an introduction. Apparently it's spread across Brittany in recent years and seems to have been on Channel Islands a few years. Assumed the UK records a continuation of that spread, but the pattern of records is a bit odd...

I was too tardy but Peter Hall far more efficient. Two Spiny Hook-tips confirmed as first (for now) Bristol Region records. Very convincing local probables predate these. Confirmed ones since. So a likely resident. Watsonalla uncinula, Clevedon, North Somerset 18th October 2023.

@gmtord @ClevedonMoths @SteveJTurner76 It wouldn't be the only moth that is absent from areas of abundant food plant though would it! At the moment we're too reliant on trappers having photographed Hook-tips in the past, hopefully next summer we'll get a better picture.

@ClevedonMoths @SteveJTurner76 ...there's plenty of Holm Oak in Dorset and elsewhere on the south coast, and there don't seem to have been any records down there (though maybe we just haven't heard about them)