Bob Chapman
@bobchapman.bsky.social
170 followers 230 following 170 posts
Retired after 40 odd years of conservation land management. Birds, Inverts (mainly moths, Diptera, Odonata, Orthoptera) but anything really. S.Hants patchlisting, New Forest area.
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bobchapman.bsky.social
I came across what seems to be Leopoldius calceatus on a low Ivy hedge on the Hants coast today not sure if this is a new county record but certainly a first for me. @dipteristsforum.bsky.social
bobchapman.bsky.social
I have risked it, looks pretty good until around midnight, then grim, I may well turn off before I retreat.
bobchapman.bsky.social
Not bad for such a wet day, I did not even run my trap last night and still to get Barred Hook-tip this year, although being on the edge of the Forest I usually get the odd one. Good luck, tomorrow does not look great either.
bobchapman.bsky.social
A "lifer" for me in the garden actinic trap last night, a Striped Hawk-moth, in very good condition as was the Small Marbled, a moth I had not seen before this year's influx. #teammate #hantsmoths
bobchapman.bsky.social
Thanks, do you find the Skinner combination significantly better than the 2x25W tubes? I am still using a 125W mv for one of my traps, but it's days are numbered so looking at a replacement setup.
bobchapman.bsky.social
What trap are you using? I ran 3 traps of different kinds on the Hants coast last night and the total for all 3 did not come close to yours.
bobchapman.bsky.social
I had them at two sites, both new, this year and have heard of a good few others, not sure if it is just a good year or if they migrate.
bobchapman.bsky.social
I'm thinking just a very dark Ectophasis crassipennis?
bobchapman.bsky.social
Any Dipterist's out there, does this look like Phasia aurigera to you? Picture taken today in S.Hants garden also lots of Ectophasia crassipennis about too. #Diptera #flies
bobchapman.bsky.social
Mothing continues to be good here in S.Hants, with Lunar-spotted Pinion NFG last night, but top spot went to the ladybird Calvia decemguttata aka the Jersey Ladybird, I got one a couple of weeks ago but it escaped before I got a picture. #teammoth #Hantsmoths
bobchapman.bsky.social
Having yesterday bemoaned my failure to see a Lappet for many, many years, I caught one today! A wonderful beast indeed, but sort of eclipsed by this rather tatty Dark Umber, which is strangely very infrequently recorded in SW Hants and the first that I can ever recall seeing. #teammoth #Hantsmoths
bobchapman.bsky.social
Certainly a common bird in S. Hampshire these days, I have just been watching some in my front hedge. Goldcrest only seem to outnumber them in pure pine stands these days.
bobchapman.bsky.social
Extraordinary! Did not get a fraction of that down south and not seen a Lappet in years, actually maybe decades.
bobchapman.bsky.social
Fig Leaf Skeletoniser NFG this morning, I had only ever seen the larval feeding signs before and that not locally. #teammoth #Hantsmoths
bobchapman.bsky.social
Ran 2 traps in the S.Hants garden last night, 125w MV & 20w actinic. More moths of more species in the MV but actinic had all the quality and all the migrants, including Small Mottled Willow, Bordered Straw and 2 Small Marbled (new moth for me). #teammoth
bobchapman.bsky.social
A new moth, at least as an adult, from the garden last night Acrocercops brongniardella. #TeamMoth
bobchapman.bsky.social
Thanks, I thought it was just me, hope ot gets fixed soon.
bobchapman.bsky.social
Q. Is iRecord down at present? I don't seem to be able to enter records, either I cannot login at all or if I can the records don't upload. The backlog is growing fast!
bobchapman.bsky.social
There were a few sites for them in Mayo 35 years ago, especially in the Moy Valley, I think the records should have made it onto the appropriate database. Good to know they are still there.
bobchapman.bsky.social
An interesting Villa from a weedy field margin beside the Beaulieu River today, photos only unfortunately.
bobchapman.bsky.social
I saw my first White Admiral of 2025 today in the New Forest when looking for hoverflies. @ukbutterflies.bsky.social
bobchapman.bsky.social
Much of the Thrift habitat at Needs Ore has been lost to management for waders. Although it might seem unlikely, it should be noted that the record there was by someone who had just returned from Lundy and I believe had the same bag with them, so possibly a stowaway?
bobchapman.bsky.social
I tried a lure at the site that produced the only known Hants record without success, of course, but figured I had the lure, I'm in Hants so what else was I going to do with it!
bobchapman.bsky.social
The only butterfly I saw in the garden today was this newly minted Dark Green Fritillary, I see the odd one most years but typically much later in the season. @ukbutterflies.bsky.social
bobchapman.bsky.social
A few from Ynyslas on Friday on a failed Pamponerus germanicus hunt. Philonicus albiceps, Dasypoda hirtipes, Thereva nobilitata & Yellow Shell.