When I'm Cleaning Windows - George Formby

George Formby (Link) - What A Card

With the wind determined to cling to the northern quadrant, accompanied occasionally by sometimes heavy rain showers and overnight temperatures falling to unseasonable 'single figures',(a ground frost this morning) it's not surprising that things have slowed down. However, despite all of that there have been a few migrant Insects to capture the imagination starting with

 GEM

 a handful of

 SILVER Y

 along with a itinerant

 RED ADMIRAL
other new Moths for the Year have included

 BLOOD-VEIN

 COMMON WAVE

OAK-TREE PUG

 At Parley Pond-side the Mute Swan is still 'sitting' but appeared to

have jettisoned one of her eggs.

On closer inspection it was considered all to small to be one from

a Mute clutch, so may have been laid by one of the tame Geese?

Titivating the Nest.

MOORHEN

 carrying out morning domestics.

FEMALE MALLARD

also still 'sitting' at the side of the Harbins garden pond,

 while one of the local

PHEASANTS

may have been predated??

Behind the Eco Recycling Works

 at least c3

 WHIMBREL

remain contentedly feeding but occasionally a

Little Flighty.

 Female CHAFFINCH

for no other reason than she was there!

In the Solar Panel Compound we may have found the most likely site for the

LITTLE RINGED PLOVER NEST

also a ???? but all the right traits.

Finally, this was considered extremely novel.

After their recent appearance at the 

PETRONAS TOWERS

and the

LONDON SHARD

the Window Cleaners turned up yesterday with 250,000 panels to

clean which is only the 'first phase' of the full contract.

We are reliably informed that such an endeavour has the effect of increasing production by 14%

THAT'S A LOT OF ELECTRICKERY!

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Streamer (sic), Nothing but a Streamer - Supertramp

A nice little bonus before shutting shop last evening as during a nocturnal stroll
a 'large Bat' was noted circling the lawn, and while right outside of my comfort zone,
on size alone would like to think it was a Noctule??
Additionally, from the murk overhead came a short series of single calls of a

 GOLDEN PLOVER
(image from archive for illustration)
At daybreak, while the Moth Traps weren't exactly brimming over
there were a couple or 3 additions to the Year List in the shape of
the most elegant

STREAMER
what a cracking little thing and well worth the headline pun!

SILVER GROUND CARPET
and

 the very striking

CINNABAR
In the 'also ran' category there were

PINE BEAUTY
and just to prove we do Micros occasionally

TWENTY-PLUME MOTH
is one of barely a handful that we can do without reference to the
Field Guide.

Lots of
MAYFLY
now on the wing and this as a novelty

MAYFLY
carrying the very easy to remember passenger

 PSEUDOSWAMMERDAMIA COMBINELLA
(which did require a little help from my friend - thanks John)

 While this fairly large Spider was found under one of the traps

 TEGENARIA GIGANTEA 

Out in the field a couple of

BULLFINCH

were proving quite showy as we visited the Reptile Covers

to find a couple of

SMOOTH SNAKES
along with a colony or two of slightly more mobile creatures

BEETLES?

RED ANTS
and

BLACK ANTS

One of, and likely the most confiding, of the c5 surviving

MALLARD DUCKLINGS

from behind Eco, there were originally c9.

 Something that maybe on another day you might just pass by

but this 'pair' of 

COLLARED DOVE

were undertaking a good deal of 'billing and cooing' which was worth 

putting in that extra 10 minutes.

Collecting Nesting Material

it was an eye-opener to note just how discerning these birds are 

when deciding which twig to take back to the building site.

Followed by that defining moment of

COPULATION!

The pair of

SHELDUCK

continue to appear behind the

ECO Recycling Works from time to time

Female Preening

Male Feeding

Now for another novelty.

These are the Galls of the Sallow Clearwing Moth, collected for me to

nurture by my friend Dave Foot, and planted close to

Slight Return II.

As the story goes, the female lays her eggs on the stems, when hatched

the caterpillar burrows into the stem to pupate. When the adult emerges

it finds its freedom through the same hole. What a story and what a great

chance to see a completely new Moth, when they decide to arrive.

All was going well and a net was being organised to hold the adults for

inspection before being photographed then released.

However, that's when the GARDENERS arrived

and in their eagerness to get everything spick and span they decided to

Prune them - end of tale! and end of Post!

THANKS FOR TUNING IN

and please pass our Link on!

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Border Song - Elton John

While we have caught a few Moths already in 2016, 54 species of Macro to be precise, we did have it in mind not to consider the season 'open' until such times as we took a specimen from the palings on Janet's stable. Just a 'boy thing' that does it for me, but we got a whole lot more than we had bargained for! The Forecaster had predicted heavy rain to start at 07:00 yesterday morning, and he/she was right, so forewarned we made an early start on the traps. Reaching the stable there was a small Moth clinging to the side which on closer inspection appeared to be something not seen before. A beautifully patterned little thing which it was thought best to photograph before consigning it to a specimen pot, which is what we did! Turning to grab a pot, only an arms length away, we turned to see the little blighter take off and make its way across the paddock. Had the BBC seen what followed they would have turned their attentions away from The Invictus Games to film for posterity my dashing hither and thither in an effort to capture the creature. Foiled in my efforts there was at least an image to prove the event, hands up all those who would have believed just a written description?

 Clinging to the woodwork Dorset's 4th and only photographed

LACE BORDER

Davey, P., 2009 (extract from the Dorset Moth Group Website describes the status of this extremely rare Moth far more eloquently than would I).  A rare and much decreased double-brooded species now restricted to Kent, Surrey, Norfolk and Gloucestershire, the larva feeding on Wild Thyme (Thymus polytrichus) and Wild Marjoram (Origanum vulgare). In Dorset, individuals have been seen at light on only three occasions and were all thought to be suspected immigrants from the Continent:- Upwey, on 5 July 1960 (H Warry), 2 September 1945 (A Russell) and Scar Bank, on 21 July 1934. Ten days prior to the Upwey record, a single Lace Border was recorded at Abbotstone Down; which remains the only Hampshire record to this day.

IF INDEED THIS IS THE 'START OF THE SEASON'

THEN THE ONLY WAY FROM HERE, IS 'DOWN'!

Not at all prepared for a Post today we will,

just for the fun of it, include this other novel snippet. 

We had decided some time ago that this lone tree stump might make

an ideal 'plucking post' for a Raptor, or more particularly a 'singing post'

for a Nightjar, neither of which have as yet taken up the option.

However, the Trail Camera itself, mounted on a tripod, proved to suit what

is presumed to be a Common Buzzard as an ideal perch.

This is surely the same bird that features in the Last Post rejecting
the mallard carcass and leaving its own 'deposit'. Watch the video
closely for the same reaction (deposit).
MANANA!

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