Monday 19 June 2017

I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing - New Seekers

Don't panic, it wouldn't be fair to burden you with the Link!
Having just recover from the frivolity of last weekend, 
BLINK,
and what do you know, it's the weekend again!
However, with this warming of the atmosphere and to a degree
a fair old whack of southerly airflow, we are seeing favourable returns from the
Moth Traps.
Despite its abundance it is always a pleasure to take
SMALL ELEPHANT HAWK-MOTH
 but leaning towards favouritism there's a very long way to go before you can beat
CLOUDED BUFF 
Certainly in my Top Ten, it was probably due to a sudden change of wind direction
that we caught this 'beauty' at all. Jinking round to the north east for just a hour or two
was enough to blow this single off the Heath and into our hearts.
DARK ARCHES
 wasn't quite such a joy, but nevertheless an addition to the
Year List
and welcome for all that.
It looked right, but the size gave reason to doubt this was a
COMMON WASP
but we are assured that is exactly what it is, half size as freshly emerged.
 While monitoring, sorting and photographing our specimens an even larger
an far more menacing weapon flew directly overhead a
BOEING AH-64 APACHE ATTACK HELICOPTER
As Rory Gallagher once said "don't go Messin' With the Kid"!
There's always time to take a look at the
RIVER STOUR
as it wends its way through 
Parley Court Farm
and, being this time of year, having donned the full regalia of
COMMODORE STRAWBERRY
it is once again time to utter those immortal words,
"come to me oh plumptious one"!
 and not to be outdone we also stopped to take stock of the latest crop of
NEW POTATOES
in Hugh's equally new allotment.
Up at the Irrigation Pond, for a while at least, everything seemed 'rosy' for the
 COOT FAMILY
 it isn't always a good idea to be so adventuresome when you are a juvenile
 with tumbling down being quite easy
by comparison to
 getting back up again - there are dangers in wait.
We can report that on this occasion the chick made it back to the top
to enjoy the delights of the male bird bringing food, but it was all to be short lived
as from c6 eggs c3 juveniles hatched but have, since these shots, all been predated.
THIS WAS A 'SECOND BROOD'!
Far more delightful encounters up ahead to meet for the first time
LORAN
the new Shepherdess, there today to undertake worming and inoculating duties.
At least we'll have something to talk about over the dinner table later.
The juvenile Little Grebe continues to thrive at the 
Gravel Pit
where this morning a 
ROBIN
was 
King of the Mount
only for a few minutes before being dethroned by this
BLACK-HEADED GULL
while with no sign of the male in recent days the female
TUFTED DUCK
still remains quite at home, while the
SEDGE WARBLER
brings up his
50th
day of none stop 'singing', we do hope 'she' happens along!
On the Heath it was GREAT to see our first and only this year
 juvenile
 PIED WAGTAIL
we hope it wont be the last.
 PURPLE TOADFLAX
is shooting up all over the place and 
 HOUSE SPARROW
are still nest building likely for a 'second brood'?
Eventually back to
Slight Return II
where yet another juvenile and now daily visiting
GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER
is just one of maybe as many as 4 individuals, they seem to have done very well.
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