Pegwell Rain

I decided, having seen the pictures and read about the bird, to go and have a look at the American Golden Plover at Pegwell Bay. Good pictures on Planet Thanet, I guess Tim, Dylan and Gadget had kinder weather than that provided this afternoon.

Just before we arrived at the car park the heavens opened and we sat and waited for the monsoon to subside. I did pop out to have a listen to Steve Spooner having a moan (as usual) and a chat with Franco, sheltering from the rain behind Steve. When the rain eased off I made my way the few hundred yards up the path and got some good views of the bird. Unfortunately, the rain never quite stopped and the bird was never quite close enough, so my camera stayed in its bag and I contented myself with watching a really striking bird. Pam, a fair weather birders companion, did the sensible thing and stayed in the car. You can see, she stayed sheltered when she took the picture above.

It didn't rain at St Margaret's and I tried to get couple of moth pictures using my Canon EOS 40D and an extension tube, as my Nikon coolpix has developed a fault. I haven't quite go it right yet, the depth of focus is too limited. The moth above is a Small Square-spot, one of a group of moths in the genus Diarsia with a similar pattern.

This little moth (FW 11mm) is in the group of Minors, genus Oligia. There are several very similar and in some cases the only way of certain identification is by dissection. Just for making a garden list this isn't justifiable in my mind, although in some cases where a site is being survey for a conservation purpose it may be necessary. I think that this is probably a Marbled Minor. By the end of the year my note book will have many records of Minor sp.