Immigrant moth numbers/variety increased conspicuously, with totals of 42 Rusty-dot Pearl, 40 Diamond-back Moth, 4 Silver Y, 3 Rush Veneer, 2 Hummingbird Hawk-moth and 2 Small Mottled Willow caught overnight in the Obs traps; other sites recorded lower numbers of a similar variety of mainly routine fare, including another Small Mottled Willow at the Grove where 2 Dark Sword Grass and 2 Pearly Underwing were additions to the species list. By day, single Hummingbird Hawk-moths were at several sites and there was a noticeable increase in Diamond-back Moth numbers everywhere.
Shags - West Cliffs, 23rd June 2016 © Martin Cade
It's been a few years since we've actually seen breeding Shags at the Bill rather than having to rely on the circumstantial evidence of eg seeing adults carrying nest-material: there was a time when the QinetiQ fence was damaged and it was possible to sneak through/take your life in your hands to access a much better viewpoint from where one or two active nests were visible. However, whilst having a look at the baby auks leaving the cliffs yesterday evening we discovered that by going down the slope off the top of the cliffs it was possible to get fairly long-range views of two active nests in a 'new' area of the seabird colony (below the end of the fence in the view below):
...one of these nests is much more advanced than the other, with the young already active on the ledges; the much more downy youngster at the other site was still on its nest yesterday but had begun to get a bit more adventurous this evening.
