Jersey Tiger!

Another early start, another lie-in spurned. But seeing as this blog has been far too bird-heavy of late, before I left for Wanstead Flats I thought I'd check the moth trap.....whoa!! Three Jersey Tigers! I've caught a Jersey Tiger before, but it was dead underneath the trap and half of it was missing, so it was somewhat anticlimactic. These three however were very much alive, and simply gorgeous, in so far as an insect with wiggly antennae and creepy legs can be gorgeous. I eargerly scooped them up and popped them in the fridge to photograph later.

Here they are, none the worse for wear. Now I know one Jersey Tiger looks much like another, and one photograph would probably suffice in place of three, but....

Out on the Flats all three Garden Warblers were still present, though I only saw one. Later Nick saw another in the Park, so they're coming through thick and fast. That was the best of it though, so I just wandered about looking for things to point a camera at. The only thing that really came close enough was a Whitethroat, part of a family group of five birds all in the same tiny hawthorn. A few Swallows were heading south, but once again there were no waders. What will the weekend bring I wonder? Tree Pipit has to be on the cards in the next couple of weeks; looking back at my records suggests that August 24th & 25th are the best dates, but Hawky had one over Dagenham Chase this week, so a few are already on their way.