Wednesday 7 September 2016

Grasshopper Green - Trad Poem

An unavoidable drive to Weymouth did have a bright side
as we took the opportunity to visit the 
Portland Bird Observatory and Field Centre
as well, to avail ourselves of the Second Edition of
 Talk about striking it lucky, as firstly the only 4 people
in attendance were those I was most pleased to see, in addition to which
only the 'second ever' in modern times
 PORTLAND MOTH
had just been plucked from one of the traps.
It might be thought that being on the Isle of Portland this Insect might
be common there, but the name relates to a former
Duchess of Portland
and not the place itself.
There were also, convieniently percher on the garden wall, a couple of
CONVOLULOUS HAWK-MOTHS
GIANTS that are always nice to see - we await one of our own!
Back at Parley Court Farm our own traps have produced a
First for the Year
 NEGLECTED RUSTIC
 The first of a 'second brood' of
DARK-BARRED TWIN-SPOT CARPET
 and undoubtedly the most interesting of all a
LONG-WINGED CONEHEAD
Later at the 
IRRIGATION POND
 now looking at its best, with water-levels perfect for Waders,
the only action (if indeed it could be called that)
 was the continued building of the now gigantic
COOT NEST
which now has a 'top-dressing'.
with the male and still thriving juvenile watching the missus doing all the work.
 A feeding
 CARRION CROW
and an already nervous looking
GREY HERON
 were spotted simultaneously at the Gravel Pit and took a bit of
stealthy manoeuvring to bring to the view-finder.
 Just on the point of leaving a flash of blue met the eye, but disappeared as 
quickly as it had arrived. However, we did offer up the camera and
loose off a single round and ask - "can you see it yet"?
 No, nor did we until getting it to the editting room where it could just be seen as a
KINGFISHER
'Birdwise' the Heath was a dead loss and more as just 'fillers'
we did capture just a 
 TREBLE-BAR (moth)
plus
MEADOW BROWN BUTTERFLY
 Fortune smiled a little more brightly when reaching the
Solar Panel Compound
and finding just a single
 WHEATEAR
which, maybe surprisingly, is an addition to the ongoing September List.
Same time, same place manana!
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