Holy Diver - Dio (Ronnie James Dio)

With Hugh and Janet having gallivanted off to the South of France, leaving me in sole charge as Lord Lieutenant of the Chicken Coup, there were also other responsibilities to undertake! With heavily pregnant

 BELTED GALLOWAY # 18

 due any day now, other duties in the immediate future involve

Daytime Maternity Watch

and when the waters break Midwife Number Two!

Otherwise, with overnight temperatures hardly increasing at all, we consider

ourselves very lucky to get any Moths at all let alone

 our first 'Hawk' of the year

LIME HAWK-MOTH

This was followed by just one other addition to the Year List

BRIGHT-LINE BROWN-EYE

 with a couple of decent size other Insects of interest.

GREAT DIVING BEETLE

 and the 'first' but unlikely the last

COCKCHAFER
or May Bug if you prefer.

The Moth Traps completed it was decided on just a mini-rounds of our
Recording Area
before scooting off a little further afield.
Our New Neighbours, right outside of
Slight Return II
and joining the likes of Goldfinch, House Sparrow and Greenfinch
nesting right outside the door.

 WOOD PIGEON
and

BLACKBIRD

A quick look from Chapel Lane to note developments at the soon to be
Aircraft Black Box Recorder Factory
they are doing very well!

Unusual for the Irrigation Pond which has never been proven to hold any Fish

a virtually static

GREY HERON
never was able to resist the song of a 

ROBIN
and now having moved in mob-handed

c45

JACKDAW

followed by something of a marathon drive for me, the
full 15 minutes over to
Longham Lake where after passing the

GREYLAG GEESE

 a 'first for the year'

 in fact a probable 4

 but both flighty and rangy it was difficult to tell.

 COMMON SANDPIPER

CONTENTED CATTLE

 LITTLE EGRET

If for no other reason, as we have never recorded

 GREAT CRESTED GREBE
on our patch, worth the visit for this bird alone.
Getting a little overborne with

GREY HERON
we just couldn't resist the pose.

 COMMON SWIFT

also an addition.

Last, but not least, this aberrant looking

CANADA GOOSE

Entry	Pageviews
United States	472
United Kingdom	361
Germany	131
Russia	109
Estonia	33
China	22
Brazil	16
Poland	15
Canada	11
France	5

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!

Entry	Pageviews
United States	474
United Kingdom	389
Russia	154
Germany	104
China	21
Estonia	20
Canada	14
Brazil	12
Poland	8
Ukraine	8

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!

Entry	Pageviews
United States	382
United Kingdom	316
Russia	208
Germany	103
Canada	22
China	16
Estonia	15
New Zealand	9
Brazil	8
Ukraine	7