Good afternoon!

The morning was spent metal detecting in the garden trying to find something we'd lost. In the afternoon Barry came round to check a few Unst things over. That was all resolved pretty quickly so we decided to go off for a few hours - to North Cave . The better birds [yellow wagtails and common sandpiper] stayed out of camera range but others were photographed. Just a few photographs this time.

We wondered if this was a yellow-legged gull but it seems rather dark backed and is therfore a lesser black-backed gull.

Lesser Black-backed Gull

There were a number of juvenile shelducks on the main lake - only British ducks with red bills are red-crested pochard and shelduck.

Shelduck juv Common terns were present on all three lakes we visited during the afternoon.

Common Tern Common Tern The resident greylags are making the most of the farmer's maize/sweetcorn crop. They gave me a flypast in nice light...

Greylag Geese Greylag Geese A kestrel hovered fairly close in the hazy light but not really quite close enough.

Kestrel Kestrel A caterpillar caught Barry's eye. I put the macro lens on. I'll put this image on ispot and update this post if I find out more...

Apparently it's a peacock larva inachis io. Thanks to Vinny and chrisbrooks on ispot.

Peacock caterpillar This is what it will become. Photographed at North Cave last year.

Peacock Finally I fired a few optimistic shots at the swifts. They won't be with us for much longer. I'll miss them.

Swift Swift

Not too bad, I didn't think!

All photos 28.07.12 except the peacock butterfly.

Seawatching

At Flamborough Head. All photos taken on the day within 25m of my folding chair - for which I was very grateful. Barry drove us there and back and I had a relaxing day recovering after a rather frightening fall in the garden the day before. Any way the day went well: three year ticks in the form of manx and sooty shearwaters and arctic skua. Also seen were great skua [bonxie] and common scoters - along with other common seabirds.

Sea Carrot daucus carota ssp gummifer A form of daucus carota [wild carrot] covered in soldier beetles.

I took quite a lot of photos of great black-backed gulls.

Great Black-backed Gull Great Black-backed Gull Great Black-backed Gull Great Black-backed Gull Great Black-backed Gull

The skuas and shearwaters were too distant for the camera. A heavy crop or two captured the scoters, cormorants and the gannets out in the bay.

Common Scoter Cormorant Gannet Fulmars came closer...

Fulmar ...and puffins could be seen below us on the water.

Puffins The day cooled a little. Some of the other birders didn't just have chairs, they had very smart sport-brellas. £50 from Amazon apparently.

It seems to my statistically inexpert eye that the kittiwakes have had a good year. There are many pretty juveniles about.

Kittiwake juv Kittiwakes Just below us a pair of herring gulls were feeding young. Mum [or dad] is just flying in here.

Herring Gull Finally I spotted to our right a linnet on the cliff top singing. A long way off from the comfort of my chair but here he is - last shot of the day.

Linnet 249 UK; Yorkshire 120

I made a moth trap!

I found some help on the internet at http://www.meades.org/moths/moths.html#Trapping_Moths. See this website for the method - although I did a few things my own way.

Basically you need the following:

·  One sheet of 5mm or 6mm plywood cut into:

• one 40 cm square – base,
• two 30 cm x 40 cm - ends,
• two 30 cm x 39 cm - sides,
• one 7 cm x 39 cm - support for light.

·  One sheet of 2 mm Perspex [I used horticultural glass] cut into:

• two 30 cm x 39 cm,
• [one 30 cm x 30 cm for rain cover if desired.]

·  2 cm square baton cut into:

• two 35 cm lengths - at bottom of ends,
• two 39 cm lengths - at bottom of sides,
• four 25 cm lengths - along edges,
• four 6.5 cm lengths - two for Perspex/glass support, two for light.

Angle Shades

Perhaps I'll catch one of these. This is an angle shades moth from our garden.

Here's a couple of iphotos of the trap.

After the first night of trapping using the little halogen bulb, I had caught these moths plus some other micro moths that flew off! Many thanks to moremoth and chrisbrooks from ispot for the identifications.

Scalloped oak: crocallis elinguaria Riband wave - non banded form: idaea aversata ab. remutata

Scalloped oak: crocallis elinguaria

                                                                                                          Riband wave - non banded form:  idaea aversata ab. remutata

Gothic (Naenia typica)                                                                                         Gothic: naenia typica

Unknow moth

                                                                                               Species unknowm