Joy

The Swallows that nest in the nearby farm buildings have fledged and are whizzing around the house and garden feeding on the wing. It's raining today and I'm watching from indoors as they tirelessly feed. But, in the sun, the last few days, with their calls continuous, it's hard not to think of them as joyful. They certainly bring us joy.

One of the Swallow families has taken to sitting on the house roof.

We've had so many t-shirt days, of course here that is a treat, but thinking a bit more about it, not such a good thing.

One of the other moth folk caught a Mompha but hadn't got the best pictures, fortunately they had kept it, so I drove over and fetched it. It turned out to be Mompha propinquella (thanks NV) which has only been recorded here a few times. In researching the record I found that the BC maps aren't quite as up-to-date as I thought they were, it seems that some of the Orkney data hasn't been integrated fully into the system.

Mompha propinquella.

I'd found a mine or two of the one Mompha that is found regularly here, M. raschkiella, which mines the leaves of Rosebay Willowherb, some weeks ago. But I've had a more careful look recently and found a lot more mines, some tenanted.

Mompha raschkiella, tenanted mine.

I've been missing my Shorties. Usually this species is a reliable early in the year visitor to the patch but not in 2023. It has taken until just this week for one, a very tatty adult, to decide to show itself. It then appeared on two days in a row. However,my usual early autumn Marsh Harrier arrived on schedule. Most notable though was probably the large number of Sand Martins down at Loch of Bosquoy, I estimated 300.

Sand Martins.

I managed a quick trip to Burray, partly on moth and hoverfly business, but there was an opportunity to have a meander with BH around his garden. Lucky we did, moth tick, Marsh Pug.

Marsh Pug, photos Barrie Hamill.

Marsh Pug, my not so good image.

I did take some decent pix of this Rhomboid Tortrix though.

Acleris rhombana.

A bit of a clear out of the fridge and I've a few IDs to catch up on. I did get around to this small beetle which I found on our Tansy.

Epuraea aestiva.

I think I may have had this species once before.

The Wild Angelica down at the Hawthorn Hedge has been covered in ichneumons. I was a bit overwhelmed, and not wanting to add to my fridge backlog just took photos. There's never any certainty that an identification is possible with photos of these wasps but, posting one of them, an identification was offered, and comparing my images with reliable ones online, the ID looks more correct than the identifier implied in his post (many thanks OV and ATM) - Endromopoda detrita.

Endromopoda detrita.

I've at least one more to post, but I do have a modern key so I'll have an attempt at the ID first. I did know that the above animal was a Pimplinae, I am making some progress with these.