Hummingbird hawk-moth, York, October 2020

For the past 3 or 4 days we’ve had a series of visits from a delightful hummingbird hawk-moth. It’s been a few years since I saw one, and it’s the first we’ve had in the garden.

Happily I managed to get a brief video of it.

It seems very keen on the Salvia, which has long flowers that suit the 3 cm tongue on the moth.

The bird-like appearance is clear, especially in the ‘tail’. Those orange flashes on the wing are distinctive too.

The hummingbird reference becomes even more apt when the moth goes flying past your head, wings humming as it does so.

The Collingham hoopoe, October 2020

A bird I’ve always dearly wanted to see is the hoopoe. Sitting at the back of bird books it attained a near-mythical quality, an exotic visitor from another world. I don’t think ever really believed I’d see one, certainly not in the UK.

New Earswick Nature Reserve, July 2020

At the end of July we had a lovely quiet walk round the local nature reserve. The brick pit pond was alive with big dragonflies, mainly brown and migrant hawkers. The undergrowth was alive with something else.

A garden update

It’s been a while since I last posted, so I thought it was worth a quick look at some of the animals that have been frequenting the garden the past couple of months.

A couple of hedgehog videos

We’ve still got the hedgehogs frequenting the garden, and I’ve had the camera out a couple of times to capture them.

On declining grasslands and the nature of conservation

Over the weekend I found myself in a quiet part of Yorkshire along the east coast, far from everyone else. Having seen the traffic heading for Scarborough, it was wonderful to be somewhere without another human soul.

Frog city

Last week I added a few new plants to the pond. I’ve been doing this on and off over the spring/summer since completing work.

Sparrowhawk and starling

It’s brilliant that starlings do well where I live, and as annoying as their constant calling can be, it’s great that I get to see so many. But every now and again, I’m reminded they are part of a broader ecosystem.

Baby blackbirds

I mentioned a few days ago that one of the moths released from the trap was almost immediately caught and fed to a hungry blackbird fledgling. So it’s worth briefly saying more about them.

Not-just-moth trapping

Yesterday I posted about the moths that were caught in the moth trap. But it’s not just moths attracted by the light that then settle into the nooks and crannies of the trap.