Rosy - Don Partridge

 With overnight temperatures now just nudging double figures it was refreshing to find a 

'first for year'

NEGLECTED RUSTIC

among an otherwise predictable haul.

However, additionally there was a beast we have never encountered before
and which caused some conjecture a

TANNER BEATLE
which also goes under a number of other names as the

WASPs
continue to predominate.

Across a more than gloomy Solar Panel Compound we found what have become usual, juvenile
GREENFINCH
which have done remarkably well this year only out-flanked by Goldfinch.
Looking across the panels and beyond the

SHEEP
we had to move a little closer for a double-take

as there all alone

was a feeding

RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE
absent from here for all to long - welcome back!

Not seen within before a healthy looking clump of
DWARF GORSE
while the

final encounter

was with

a small 'fall' of

of most welcome

WHEATEAR

May there be more Migrants heading our way soon!

Forever Autumn - Justin Hayward

 The first day of Autumn hoved above the horizon with a Whistle Stop Visit from our valued friend Dave Foot which brought with it the splash of beauty of this

 first for the year

FROSTED ORANGE
and ditto accompanied by a little mirth! 

Oh dear what can the matter be

2 OLD LADIES
locked in a lavatory, they were there from Monday to Saturday,

nobody knew they were there!

There were in fact c3 Old Lady Moths in the same trap with this drawing showing this large moth in its full glory, and with the luxury of outside toilets commited to the distant past these Insects find sheds or other out-buildings in which to 'aestivate' that is to say go into a collective torpor or shallow sleep after emerging.

Otherwise to herald the first day of Autumn there was another gathering of an estimated 1,000+

SWALLOWs
on the overhead cables while on the Heath there were free flying

ICHNEUMAN WASPs

a interesting find by way of a feather of a
JAY,
along with this tiny unidentified

no bigger than a couple of grains of rice
before falling among a small group of common and grounded migrant birds

starting with a lone

and rather frisky

WHINCHAT

followed by

c4

far more obliging

WHEATEAR
before retracing our steps by heading for the

RIVER STOUR
where both Reed and Sedge were heard but not seen.

Best on show there were

blooming

TANSY

a camera shy
Fox Cub

and waterside

REDSHANK
not to be confussed with

REDSHANK
which wasn't seen but a blink of the eye, flying, with prey

SPARROWHAWK
represented here by one from the archive!
We are hoping the trend will continue trroughout the Season.

Autumn Almanac - The Kinks

Dodging the prevailing elements once again the Moth Traps did provide some solace in the form of a couple of additions to the Year List

with the dainty

CHEVRON

being joined by the even smaller
WHITE-SPOTTED PUG
and only a second appearance of a

JULY BELLE

acknowledging the end of Summer,
while further afield the departing migrants were, on the day, represented by

a more than obliging

WHITETHROAT

which we like to believe was 'home grown'?
At the Gravel Pit only the plaintive calls of the Little Grebes proved their continued presence while all indications showed that the male

GADWALL
had been abandoned by his beau in the female sense!
Across the Heath,

or more particularly, the

BRISTLEBENT FIELD

 we found the larva of a 

From the dew-soaked hedge creeps a crawly caterpillar,
when the dawn begins to crack.
It's all part of my Autumn Almanac

FOX MOTH

Breeze blows leaves of a musty-coloured yellow,
so I sweep them in my sack.
Yes, yes, yes, it's my Autumn Almanac.

which, should it dodge the predators, may one day next year become one of these

Male left and larger female the other.
With numbers rapidly dwindling we once again show

the only juvenile

STONECHAT
(blink and you'll miss it)

as the wait for the next may well be 12 months?
Finally, if you like Gulls, which for us goes far further than that

the

Bird of the Day

or even last month was this juvenile

HERRING GULL
inside the Solar Panel Compound

and most likely from the disasterously low breeding attempts across the airport roofs?

Perhaps an Ideal way to pull the curtain down on Summer!