All Quiet on the Sunday Front

Apologies for the late publication due to lack of Internet,
maybe weather related?
Now leaning heavily on the old adage
Rain before 7 - Dry by 11
Sunday’s here have traditionally become the

‘search every nook and cranny day’

which includes not only visiting every corner of our Recording Area,

but also monitoring the Moth Traps and turning the Reptile Covers

Extra effort was put in this week as a deficit of

Migrant Birds still exists but have to report, here and now,

that the search was mostly in vain hence the much reduced post!

The only Moth recorded was yet another

ENGRAILED 

bolstered by this large

 FLESH FLY

Otherwise

HM COASTGUARD RESCUE

keep up their good works as we headed south for a reminder of the song

'April in Paris'

CHESTNUTS

in blossom, holiday tables under the trees

Francis Albert Sinatra

and the day some years ago when, with my then currant ladyfriend,  we stood at the end of the

Pont de Notre Dame

with me singing this beautiful refrain much to the bemusement of the passing crowds!

There are some things you just have to do!

Heading north it was mostly what Rory Gallagher would describe as

'The Same Old Story'

with maybe just one exception

Again we tried to capture a

HERRING GULL

with a beak full of nesting material but with only 50% success before happening upon

newly hatched

and not overly obliging

 MOORHEN

chicks being fed by one parent bird while the other

kept an eye on things from a lofty perch

The

MALLARD

family also seem to be getting on alright

and thus far haven't lost any of their number

while 'surely' the

LITTLE GREBE's

are now sitting on eggs??

Had it not been for a spooked 

ROE DEER

the Heath itself along with the afore mention covers would also have lain bare

Finally, and away from the Moor we did find a wayward daytime flying

COMMON HEATH MOTH

which brings this EPIC to an end!

HERE'S HOPEING FOR BETTER TO COME
but if not we will dive into the Archive!

Stupid - but Only All of the Time!

A good start to the day as the ‘dawn chorus’ continued to extend with the likes of

Whitethroat, 

Green Woodpecker

 and

Skylark

joining the Cuckoo knocking out his continuous chat-up line still all night long!

It would surely be similar for the Moths as even at dusk presumed

Common Noctual 

and 

Common Pipistrelle Bats

(images borrowed)

comparing the sizes, were at work nicking the goodies

while the overnight temperature stayed firmly fixed

at +11°C with again little wind, total cloud cover along with an interesting

FRONT

cutting across the early morning sky

Yes, we were blessed as not only a first for the year with a

 POPLAR HAWK-MOTH

 but this was also our first 'HAWK' of 2020

 the Larvae (Catterpillar) is shown just for the magnificent creature it is!

 DINGY MOCHA

From the garden our speciality which as far as we know still the only site at which the

 BALSAM CARPET

breeds in Dorset?

 CHOCOLATE-TIP

HEART and DART

 Yet again we show a 

SCARCE PROMINENT

as evidence of the colony here!

Additionally, it would seem at least one 

GREY HERON

has returned to the River Stour with hopes that this year we may prove breeding on our patch?

There is only one thing that can be guarunteed about videoing wildlife and that is,

the very moment the button is pressed the subject disappears as was the case when we found one of the adult

COOT

building another nest before the 

Sprogs,

a little more cooperative, are even a ¼ grown

and seen here feeding

 While we have stated that we know not whether or even where the Grey Heron may breed

there are a host of others that are now well into it, some of which include

HERRING GULL

now back mob-handed and incubating on the hanger roofs

 We don't purposeful search for nest, which in itself is illegal

but should we come across one we will quickly snap and even more quickly back off

Again today this

DARTFORD WARBLER

was all too quick for us only allowing a few seconds

but we hope to be luckier when the new generation present themselve

for us to publish

Just a moment in time as this male 

LINNET

more or less showed us the whereabouts of his

 NEST

close to the path 

The new arrival

 STONECHAT

first showed themselves today

while the

 GOLDFINCH

are most certainly at it

but who knows where

On our way to the 

Solar Panel Compound

we loosed off the luckiest shot in weeks to capture this

JAY

carrying nesting material

Once there the breeding situation turned to 2 halves with both

 WHEATEAR

 a pair

 and

PIED WAGTAIL

the only one that breeds there

 in attendance

Finally, I have to come clean here and admit that over the past few day this newly arrived 

 AIRBUS A340-600

has been viewed from various angle, but who the hell are NHS Airways?

Yes, I even Googled it!

I'd rather be Stupid than Senile - How About You?
What a Paint Job and
WHAT A TRIBUTE TO OUR GIRLS and BOYS ON THE 'FRONT LINE'!