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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · 6d

New 'Just a Bird' diary/blog post - July 2025: Trip to UK, day 3 - Wheatfen, Strumpshaw, and finding a second for Britain!
www.gyrcrakes.com/blog/2025/9/...

July 2025 - trip to UK (day 3) — Just A Bird

The moth trap had been set in the village garden the night before, and in the morning, there was a literal smorgasbord of tasty morsels to pick through, many of which were new for me. It had been good...

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · 13d

The island's first Short-eared Owl of the autumn seen on L'Ancresse Common this afternoon.

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · 16d

My dad, who lives in Driffield, insists that he saw a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in his garden earlier this year. I don't suppose that it is at all likely? There's none at all round there is there? (I've said it was probably a GSW that just looked small)

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · 27d

New 'Just a Bird' diary/blog post - July 2025: Trip to UK, days 1&2 - Pottering round Windsor Park & a Norfolk village
www.gyrcrakes.com/blog/2025/9/...

July 2025 - trip to UK (days 1 & 2) — Just A Bird

Late morning on 24th July , I set off on the ferry for a week of wildlife with the BUBO lads in Norfolk. This was the first time that I had been on the new ferry, and I was disappointed to see that...

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · Sep 6

Trap out on the cliffs at Pleinmont this evening in Guernsey, ready to suck in the stream of southern vagrants, streaming in across the sea.

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · Aug 31

My birding card game "Name That Bird" has been updated and new cards have been included. Ideal for long autumn evenings on birding trips.
Download free printouts at the link below:
static1.squarespace.com/static/57652...

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · Aug 28

Dusky Scalloped Oak trapped on Corbiere cliffs a couple of nights ago with @andym105.bsky.social
I've been wanting to see this Guernsey speciality for a very long time, but it only lives on the south coast cliffs in small numbers and so is hard to find.

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · Aug 25

New 'Just a Bird' diary/blog post - July 2025 part i - Echium Stilt and Peacock Beetles :
www.gyrcrakes.com/blog/2025/8/...

July 2025 part i — Just A Bird

Mid-summer and it is all insects, with no birds of interest turning up. A highlight was the Entomology Section setting up a series of moth traps in the reedbeds at Grand Pre on 12th. We had the usual ...

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · Aug 24

Saw a Dotterel this morning fly in off the sea over the cliffs at Pleinmont, Guernsey. I found it again an hour later in a nearby field.

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · Aug 19

Greater White-toothed Shrew out in the open yesterday at Jaonneuse, Guernsey.

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · Aug 18

Phyllonorycter scopariella beaten off Broom at the weekend - a rarely-seen species it seems, and new to me.

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · Aug 15

Dusky Hook-tip to light in Guernsey on night of 13th - a new sp for me and only, I think, the 3rd record for the island.

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · Aug 15

New 'Just a Bird' diary/blog post - June 2025 - the 700th moth species for the garden:
www.gyrcrakes.com/blog/2025/8/...

June 2025 — Just A Bird

June was all about the moths. A few really hot, sticky nights producing some superb catches and a number of rarities. My current policy of only setting the trap when the conditions look really good me...

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · Aug 12

there's been a couple so not the first, but a first for me!

Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · Aug 12

Light Crimson Underwing caught in my trap in Guernsey last night. A rare visitor, the first for Guernsey afaik. Also new for the garden, an Oak Processionary.

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · Aug 10

Sunset off the Guernsey cliffs last night.

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · Aug 8

The outstanding and very rare fungus Artomyces pyxidatus (Crown-tipped Coral) at Strumpshaw last week. I'd like to say that we discovered this ourselves, but we were shown it by the warden Ben.

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · Aug 7

I netted this Diamsemiopsis ramburialis last Wednesday in the daytime beside Hatchet Pond, New Forest. They are generally a rare migrant but perhaps they are breeding at the pond?

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · Aug 6

New 'Just a Bird' diary/blog post - May 2025 pt ii - Black Kite
www.gyrcrakes.com/blog/2025/8/...

May 2025 part ii — Just A Bird

The bird of the second half of May was bumped into whilst in the car on a family outing. There were lots of birds of prey in the sky on the sunny afternoon of 18th May and, as well as plenty of Buzza...

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · Aug 5

Of course, many thanks to the lads for a superb weekend of merriment and tomfoolery: @andymus.bsky.social @bubomike.bsky.social @inchgarthbirding.bsky.social @pilning.bsky.social

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · Aug 5

Didn't expect to find something so rare on the BUBO wildlife-weekend in Norfolk. This is Grapholita delineana, the Hemp Tortrix, at only the second location it has ever been recorded in Britain, after first being discovered in Suffolk last year - although more records may surface this summer.

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · Jul 16

Found a superb beetle at the weekend - Elaphrus riparius, one of the Peacock Beetles. There was quite a few running on the bare, dried mud at the Grand Pre nature reserve. I don't think it has been recorded very often in Guernsey before.

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Reposted by Gyr Crakes

inchgarthbirding.bsky.social @inchgarthbirding.bsky.social · Jul 5

Scanning wires for Corn Buntings near Crimond this afternoon to give @rogbroadbent.bsky.social a year tick, I found the anti-Corn Bunting - a Bee-eater present for just over 10 minutes #birdingscotland

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · Jul 5

New 'Just a Bird' diary/blog post - May 2025 pt i - flycatchers, Painted Ladies and a wandering stork.
www.gyrcrakes.com/blog/2025/6/...

May 2025 part i — Just A Bird

First day of the month, I called in at Fort Hommet before work and was greeted by a trio of flycatchers in the pines - 2 Spotted and a Pied . These few trees are definitely the best place to see ...

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Gyr Crakes @gyrcrakes.bsky.social · Jun 25

It may be a little grotty, but this Holly Tortrix (Rhopobota naevana) at the weekend becomes the 700th species of lepidoptera that I have recorded in my garden!

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