The Continental - Con Conrad

                The crux of our Sunday Post as we pay a visit to each of the 7 Continents with an              Avian Theme drawn from our Archive.

SOUTH AMERICA

BLACK-CHINNED MOUNTAIN TANAGER
(Ecuador)

FIREWOOD-GATHERER
(Argentina)

MEDIUM CACTUS FINCH
(Galapagos)

TORRENT DUCK
(Colombia)

ASIA

SWINHOE'S PHEASANT
(Taiwan)

ORIENTAL WHITE STORK
(South Korea - maybe extinct by now?)

GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL
(Japan)

SILVER-EARED MESIA
(Fraser Hill - Malasia)

AFRICA

JACKASS PENGUIN
(Cape Town)

CABERT'S VANGA
(Madagascar)

OSTRICH
(The Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho)

AUSTRALIA

BLACK-FRONTED PLOVER

BLUE-BILLED DUCK

COMMON BRONZEWING

WHITE-TAILED BLACK COCKATOO
and of course including both
NORTH and SOUTH ISLAND's of NEW ZEALAND

N Z BELLBIRD

PARADISE SHELLDUCK

RED-BILLED GULL

WRYBILL
TO BE CONTINUED

Going Home (Local Hero) - Dire Straits

 Another light

Ground Frost
tried once again to subdue the Moths with the final score being  Insects 3 Jack 0.

First out and first for the year a delightful
OAK BEAUTY

a far more delicate but of no less value

MARCH MOTH

and just to make up the numbers, as already captured this year a
CLOUDED DRAB

while overhead (we do enjoy these views) another 'flier' returning to base

as we clicked these 3 new arrivals all withing 4 yards of the doorstep.

DAISIES

FUNGI
(species)

CROCUS

while at the Airport

All Was Safely Gathered In
Outside of the, it was a struggle with just poor / record shots of the pair of

COOTs

still favouring this patch of dead reeds plus a now full Summer Plumage

LITTLE GREBE
maybe the 'partner' is incubating??

and another confiding
RED ADMIRAL
We simply cannot close without mention of
LOCAL HERO BEN
"no names no pack-drills"
who last week jumped into huge transit van packed to the rafters with humanitarian goods and single-handedly transported them to Ukrine. A decent drink and a hefty donations is all we could offer but
Every Penny Helps those Inocent People!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe7oxMkG9aA

Gold - Duran Duran

Despite a light

Ground Frost
some Moths were in evidence but nothing to get excited about with a couple each of

HEBREWs and QUAKERs
along with a single Micro

which we really should not enter into - no idea!

Our daily wander down to the banks of the still swollen
River Stour

in search of the elusive Cetti's Warbler,

without success, did throw up a new plant for the year

GREEN ALKANET
a member of the Forget-Me- Not family along with the first 'vocal'

CHIFFCHAFF
of the year

which across the whole day turned into a minor blizzard and with many dozens of

HERRING GULLs

flying inland with these 2 investigating the possibilities at the
Main Pond

and after an encounter with a maintenace man carrying a
Decorated Gothic Mirrored Window

among another crowd of
BLACK-HEADED GULLs
across the southern paddocks this individual still showing some

Juvenile Plumage
(we just love to see any species of Gull in this state)
Up north it was the turn of the delightful

GOLDFINCH

to take over from where the

Chiffchaffs

left off, many dozens!

You'd likely think you had visited the wrong Site were there no mention of the

RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE
which was found over a mile away from yesterday's sighting and even though they can, and do, fly they always seem reluctant to do so.
All within the Solar Panal Compound was this rather young looking

and totally static

RABBIT
as the wander ended in a small blaze of colour by kind permission of this

PEACOCK BUTTERFLY
which may well have hibernated overwinter in the nearby stables.

Slim Pickens

 Probabley best remembered by us Senior Citizens as Sheriff McKay in the late 1950's TV show Rawhide, alongside a budding Clint Eastwood, just about sums up todays little adventure! A decent start while plucking a

TAWNY PINION

(a First for the Year)
from the Moth Traps but it was a long wait and something of a disaster to locate anything else,

with those laying the new pathways in and around the Solar Panel Compound unwittingly piling the top dressing oacross the puddle often used by Green Sandpiper, Grey Wagtail et al with the later having found a new

food souce at the

Gravel Pit
and further on just a small showing of what we believe to be the rather eye catching

COMMON GREENSHIELD LICHEN
while the

RED-LEGGED PATRIDGE
(having had enough coverage in recent days)
was found as far west as the main bridleway, something of a 'wild rover'!
All else here amounted to no more than a local

WILLOW
showing signs of breaking into Leaf while a most fortuitous and un-programmed visit to
Chloe and my surrogate nephew Dylan produced the best viewing of the day as a number of

EGYPTIAN GEESE

were both prospecting the bows of the Oak Tree's in their garden
(just to slow to capture that action) but

caught in his and her

WATER-MEADOWs

displaying

and end with one on their last visit to me.