The Bagsy Blog

Wednesday, 22 April 2015

Blue Suede Shoes - Elvis Presley

You can burn my house,
Steal my car,
Drink my liquor
From an old fruitjar.
Do anything that you want to do, but uh-uh,
Honey, lay off of my Moth Traps

Some wag had decided to mess with one of the Moth Trap this morning,
leaving a Pheasant's egg in one of the egg trays and in so doing
dishevelling the whole thing.
I feel a bit of a Tyre Slashing Spree
coming on!

PHEASANT's EGG
Ho, Freakin' Ho!

HEBREW CHARACTER

with eggs

SHOULDER STRIPE
along with

MUSLIN MOTH
both new for the year.

MUSLIN MOTH
sunbathing.
and while on the subject of The Sun, it was that which induced

ORANGE UNDERWING

to get into Flight Mode.
This individual, net caught, was just one of c5 seen.

NOON FLY

PIED SHIELDBUG

a new one to us here!
Sunday began before it even started as there was no need to leave
the comfort of the Hammock before the first Year Tick was recorded!
A presumed 'in fligt' and very 'vocal'

WHIMBREL
invaded Slight Return II airspace at 05:20 exactly. Otherwise as
the day progressed this

SQUAB

or in this case a'juvenile'
WOOD PIGEON
The strict definition of the word Squab relates to the young of
Domestic Pigeons but we like this little used word.

Presumed again, c2 of the c4 young
MUTE SWANs
hatched on Parley Pond
last year today on the River Stour.

SONG THRUSH
abound

mostly foraging to feed young, but not so evident are their larger cousins
Mistle Thrush
while more unusually the Northern version, Fieldfare, are still present
on the farm.

RAVEN (s)
have become daily once again, a sure sign the eggs have hatched and
both parent birds are on the look-out for victuals.
Now, that easy to recognise 'song' is going to be another
New Bird for the Year

LESSER WHITETHROAT

as can be seen singing its little head off.

Then, while surveying the recently ploughed pasture and noting a
'four fold' increase in Lapwing numbers, 40+, right from under my feet.

This little beauty

and only the second record

this year.

The 'first' was recorded behind Eco,

as dedicated readers may remember,

so little, if any, chance of this being the same bird.

As all
RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE

in Great Britain have been released, this definitely derives from
elsewhere as none are 'laid down' here.

Warblers continued to dominate the scene with

BLACKCAP,
this a male,

singing from every bush and tree.

Don't you just love it when they are so intent on finding
a mate that they simply stay put?

GREENFINCH

and

COLLARED DOVE

Lots of
WHITE DEAD-NETTLE
around while the same pair of

MUTE SWAN

responsible for the 2 above have now started sitting. Whether there

are any eggs is not known.

Now that's something you don't see here everyday, in fact not at all, a
RACING (Feral) PIGEON

The Sun Indicator is working fine as it slowly lifts the water from the
Irrigation Pond
we can now see the mid-Ocean Ridge.

We really did consider that they were gone, but look who turned up
yesterday.

Now thought to have just been lying low,

hopefully close to a nest,

one at least of the
LITTLE GREBEs
is back on the IP.

SMOOTH (Common) NEWT
also remain there with some still not having returned to the water.
Likely a wise move that remembering the feeding habits of the above
Grebe during early Spring.

MULLEIN
is sprouting everywhere, so hopefully the Moth of the same name
to follow?

Seems likely this is the excavation of a

TAWNY MINING BEE

we will bee keeping an eye open for the occupant.

On the subject of Little Grebe, there was an incident on Lodmoor

a few years back when a pair nested almost uncomfortably too close

to the pathway. All was clear to see by passers-by which now seems

to be the same here with

LAPWING
Usually much more at home in the middle of a field these 2, who are
infrequently at home, don't seem to mind the attention from the
Bridleway.

RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE

Finally, let me introduce you to the new Family Members
To Gavin (younger son) and his partner Sam

The Wonky Donkeys

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Monday, 20 April 2015

Something In the Air - Thunderclap Newman

EXTRA POST

YOU, OUR LOYAL READERS, DESERVE IT!

While we are sure no

LUCIES

are going to be awarded for Photographic Merit and as David Bailey and Lord Lichfield both remain

Huddled in the safety of a pseudo silk kimono
Wearing bracelets of smoke, naked of understanding

feel sure that our discerning public will be delighted at a behind the scenes glimpse of the private lives of

LITTLE RINGED PLOVER

We tend to moniter these delicate Waders on a daily basis as the potential

for breeding here is high, and as works were carried out to improve on this

our little feathered friends were cavorting.

We will bring you further news of what are hoped to be improvements

in a latter issue, but for now

Take a Peek!

(clicking on a picture should enlarge it and, if it's working,

you can run through the full series of images)

Observations were started at fairly close quarters,

they seem to take no notice,

but when the action began we backed off to watch this facinating display.

It started with each covering a wide area, selecting what looked like a potential

nest site then burying their breasts into the sand, shoveling some out with

legs and feet then trying to attract the other to take a look.

Think this might be the moment of insemination?

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Saturday, 18 April 2015

I'm So Glad - Cream

It was thought that the Spanish who undertook Phase I of the Solar Panel farm here at Parley had buzzed off without leaving so much as a Bird Table by way of fair exchange., but how WRONG can you be! On the other hand, German know how which was responsible for Phase II introduced Barn Owl Boxes, bat Boxes, hundreds of meters of hedgerows and a number of Wild Flower Meadows. So GLAD I didn't voice any derogatory opinions on the matter, as sure enough back they came and instituted similar 'fine works'. On completion of both parts of the project, the site was handed over to the Stewardship of

Silverstone Green Energy LINK

who seem even more keen (if that were possible) to continue enhancing the Welfare of Wildlife here. To that end I was certain to 'stick my nose in' with a first meeting with Site Manager Mathew Lewis. Mathew's day to day task is to oversee everything from maintenance to security (a tall order) but has found time to tour the area with me to find out what is to be seen. His own word described it as an 'eyeopener' not having realised just what Wealth of Wildlife we have here. He has also been instrumental in providing much needed backup and in turn introduced me to his colleagues. Silverstone have recently employed an 'in house' Ecologist, Post University Graduate Holly Game who had had the great pleasure not only to meet, but introduce to Parley Court Farm. Her 'PATCH', if you could describe it as that, covers 15 other smaller installations across England and Wales reaching as far as the Humber Estuary in the north, the Norfolk Coast to the east and the very tip of Cornwall to the west - me thinks she is going to be a very busy lady. It would be true to say that we 'hit it off' immediately and she was most attentive as I enthused about some of my ideas. While nothing is in 'tablets of stone' as yet, there is much potential for many of them coming to fruition - Early Days!

We will most definitley keep you updated.

but for now