Elusive Butterfly - Bob Lind

Although overnight temperatures continue to be unseasonably low

we are still getting a few decent returns from the Moth Traps.

 LEAST YELLOW UNDERWING
usually difficult to see any 'yellow'.

 LARGE EMERALD

 CLOAKED MINOR

 MAGPIE
all new for the year, and the almost obligatory Macro is

ACLERIS FORSSKALEANA

22-SPOT LADYBIRD

 ALDER BUCKTHORN

 is a scarce plant in our neck of the woods but having shown the
Bee infested pollen some time ago, we are now able to give you
the fruits of their labour.

 On the other hand

GOLDFINCH
are common but no less thought of!
After that brief excurssion to the Heath, it was decided to visit one
(if not 'the) most productive areas for daytime Insects.
Those of you who have been with us for a while may remember the incident
where we (I) managed to quite badly damage the port quarter of that most beauty of beasts the
STRANGE ROVER ?

well this is the track.
Another border at the western edge of the farm seperating it from
Parley Heath.
It's just the Bright, Elusive Butterfly of Love!
Not abundant in Plant verieties but what is here is certainly attractive to
Butterflies et al.

 First up and perched on
GREATER BINDWEED

 LARGE SKIPPER

 ROSEBAY WILLOWHERB
and

 COMMA BUTTERFLY
on
MEADOW GRASS

and also on the far less welcom
RAGWORT
It was at this point that for the first time this year we heard the low-key cracking of

GORSE PODS

sending the next generation scattering to the wind.

ESSEX SKIPPER
on Ragwort, a new Species for here after a correction from Nick ? 

SMALL SKIPPER
on
KNAPWEED

 ROWAN or MOUNTAIN ASH

 are now bowing under the weight of berries but, particularly

juvenile
MISTLE THRUSH
 are taking full advantage of the bounty using the nearby Solar Panels as a springboard.
Something a little different, but not unexpected, was to follow as a magical

 GOLDEN-RINGED DRAGONFLY

landed in out path.

If truth was without, this was singularly the reason for visiting
this particular site, we were well rewarded!
Other Birds, associated with the Heath included juveniles of

 STONECHAT
and

 MEADOW PIPIT
but it was soon back to the Butterflies as

 RINGLET

RED ADMIRAL

SMALL TORTOISESHELL
and 

MEADOW BROWN

Finall, a rather daring

JACKDAW
landed right before us but didn't stay for more than a single shot!

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Nights in White Satin - The Moody Blues

Have just got up 04:30, went out to check temperature
and to see the International Space Station cut across the sky.
Nice start to another day. 
Nights in White Satin never reaching the end.
Letters I've written never meaning to send.

Beauty I'd always missed with these eyes before,
Just what the truth is I can't say anymore.

Another decent overnight as far as the Moths were concerned
with little wind, mostly complete cloud cover. a gentle breeze
from the south west and a dawn temperature of +15C, we
were not to be disappointed.

Firsts for the Year included

WHITE SATIN

BORDERED WHITE
which is an Insect that simply 'will not' open its wings when at perch.
The only way we can bring to you the full beauty of this delicate Moth

is by way of an extract photo-plate of an extremely variable creature.

SMALL ANGLE SHADES

  and the 'token' Micro, when we catch one easy to identify,

LOZOTAENIODES FORMOSANA

Moth Trap Residue.
During the above process and in the first light of day

 GREY HERONS

fly over from the roost.
 At the Balancing Pond, an integral part of
Bournemouth International Airport, which forms a natural boundry
between the two properties, another significant discovery was made.

 
 Firstly one

 GREY WAGTAIL

 and then a second, both juveniles, surely indicates that this Species
breeds in our Recording Area

 which is the first time this has been proven here.
Grey Wagtail has, of course, been added to the
Breeding Species List.
 There was also a

 GREENFINCH
there taking on water.

Juvenile STARLING with an adult bird.

LAPWING

There has been a significnt drop in the number of
Breeding Pairs

across the property this year but at least one pair have brought off young.

Chick calling for Parent Bird.

It isn't every day either that we record a new Species of Butterfly here,
in fact it is not even as frequent as every year, so

SILVER-WASHED FRITILLARY
is also of importance as the first of that Family Group.

It was also noted that a large number of

HOUSE MARTIN
were favouring the roof of the new In-Flight Black Box Recorder Factory roof.

Not unusual for any of the Hirundines to congregate in such masses
and feed-up prior to migration

where the buzz-word is also 'safety in numbers'.

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Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf

The visitation of last weekend by Paul and Annie Harris, along with Dave Foot, was in part something of a Moth Festival but this weekend will be 'strictly for the birds' when we welcome and hopefully entertain Paul and Tess Lifton from Emsworth. Our friendship goes back as far as 1978 when he and me attended the Merchant Navy College at Greenhithe, Kent and later convinced the Department of Trade and Industry to allow us to 'sail the 7 Seas' as Captain's of our own vessels, the blind, hapless, fools! History shows that we both got away with it and lived to tell the tale but, there have been a few Sea Stories well worth revisiting once again. For those who do not believe in such things as coincidence, turn away now, but that is precisely what happened just moment after their arrival,

THE RED ARROWS

the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Display Team

also did.

With the runway perimeter fence being no more than 600 metres from
Slight Return II (my caravan home where I live 'by choice')
we all enjoyed a Grandstand view.
"We saw them all out" and

"we saw them all in".

Not exactly the best catch of the year but a most significant one

BALSAM CARPET

from the only 'known' breeding colony in Dorset! An irony really 

as this was a particular 'target species' at last weekends

Moth Fest when Paul and Dave were here.

Sod's Law it simply wasn't to be.

Also new for 2016

LACKEY

EAR MOTH

and what is fast becoming the obligatory Micro the eye-catching

PYRAUSTA PURPURALIS

Our first encounter in the Other World was thought rather unusual,

JUVENILE HOUSE MARTINS
feeding on the ground.

A little research revealed that this is not unique!
Except for the persistent Coot which is still sitting on the nest at the
Irrigation Pond there was nothing else but,

moving along to the Gravel Pit the Mountain was occupied by this

STOCK DOVE
while

a female

TUFTED DUCK
and a

LITTLE GREBE
 have returned after an absence of 2 weeks or more to join the resident

CANADA GEESE

A First for the Year
was this

SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY

 YARROW
 Later in the day we simply retired to the Heath

to sit among the

BRISTLEBENT GRASS and HEATHER
as the wind freshened just enjoying the tranquillity.
There were a couple more items we would have liked
to include in this Post, but due to the sporadic fluctuating
of out Internet signal throughout the day we are unable to do so.

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