I didnt manage to photograph the wood mouse or hedgehogs last night before the pub quiz. However I did see a roe deer cross the road just before Whalley, on my way to the pub.
One of the questions in the quiz last night was "What kind of creature is a "whippoorwill"?
I have never heard of this before, even though I think I have a good knowledge of birds and animals. The answer was a bird, namely the nightjar!!!! When I googled this today, I found that it is an American nickname for their nightjar. We didnt do to well in the quiz last night as there were too many politics and history questions and these are definately my worse subjects.

Today I had to do some deliveries to Preston and Blackpool, so I stopped in at Marton mere to see if I could get any more of the summer arrivals for my 2007 uk list. There was a Whooper swan at the first hide!!! A late stayer. Plenty common whitethroats and also my first house martins and swifts for this year. The long eared owls that I saw here earlier in the year seem to be gone. Heres the list for Marton mere today.

reed bunting
common whitethroat
sedge warbler (heard)
whooper swan
mute swan
canada goose (pr)
greylag goose (pr)
moorhen
coot
mallard
teal
tufted duck
wren
robin
magpie
carrion crow
blue tit
long tailed tit
song thrush
blackbird

Not so great but, my heart wasnt really in it, as I was a bit hungover from the night before.

Back in the garden I found the first nice moth of the year, an "angleshades".















In the evening, I managed to digiscope the 2 owls from about 150 metres away, so as not to disturb them. My scope is a Opticron iMagic with a x27-x80 zoom eyepiece.
Click on the images to see larger version.