"Out on the Wiley, Windy Moors" (River) - lyric Kate Bush

 Another fine day ended yesterday with another fine barbecue.

DARYL at the controls giving me a break from
Walking On Hot Coals - Rory Gallagher.

 All meals this time of year, including BBQ's,

come with vegetables straight from the garden.

 Ever in attendance, the latest canine addition to the family,

FLIPPER

 aka Flipmeister and For Fox Sake Flip!

With the revelation from Brooks' 'Dragonflies FG' reference Orange-spotted Emerald still firmly in my head, an optimistic attitude and another bout of fine weather it was thought worthwhile to visit the Moors River again. As with most other rough pasture on the farm the easiest access was via this

HORSE PADDOCK
something I didn't feel quite as confident about.

 

Nevertheless, we reached the watercourse safely and began the search.

'Dozens' of BANDED DEMOISELLE on the wing, this one a male,

outnumbered at least 2 to 1 by
The Female of the Species - Space 
A 'cracking' track.

How anything in nature can turn from an insignificant
Black Blob

to this I don't know.
PEACOCK BUTTERFLY

SMALL WHITE
A rustling in the reeds drew my attention to this family of

 

MUTE SWANs

A few BLUE-TAILED DAMSELFLIES

and a bit further on the first
ACORNS
seen on the property in 2 years.

BLACK-TAILED SKIMMER

MEADOW BROWN BUTTERFLY
not that often 'opened winged'.

Heard long before spotted, this distant

COMMON BUZZARD
was quick to fly off.

REDSHANK
not to be confused with

REDSHANK
which wasn't seen today.

Also called Persicaria, Lady's Thumb or Willow Weed,
it is a common and invasive weed throughout Great Britain.
John Gifford must be thanked for the identification.
With no disappointment and certainly no  
Orange-spotted Emerald
it was time to move on to the

AVON CAUSEWAY
where, even from the car parked some distance away,
'hundreds' of Gulls could be seen resting, preening and feeding
on the meadows.

Closer inspection showed that the majority of these were
BLACK-HEADED GULLs
with just a sprinkling of
MEDITERRANEAN GULLs.

Closer still and the c19 EGYPTIAN GEESE came into view
along with a few Mallard, c2 Lapwing and a single Little Egret.

Back at the Parley Pond there seemed to have been something of an invasion as the recently discovered 'new arrivals' had been joined by even more unwelcome 'invaderss'. Mostly Khaki Campbell, a breed of domesticated duck that originated in England and are valued for their high level of egg production. The breed was developed by Adele Campbell of England at the end of the 19th century with the "Khaki" portion of the name referring to the duck's typical colour. It may well be their value (or now lack of it) that has brought them here, likely the laying has ceased and an irresponsible owner has dumped them here. Along with the predominantly white Call Ducks they look attractive enough, but I have had some personal experience of some of the damage they can do, particularly to the 'truely wild' Mallard population. My prediction - they won't see Christmas! Oh yes, let me be first to wish you A Merry Christmas - BAH HUMBUG!!!!

Among the above is this 'dapper chap' which, had it been a

(male) SMEW
particularly at this time of year, would have caused a real stir.

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Black Is Black - Los Bravos

While what overnight Insects there are seem to be going into the trap, after removal of the white sheet, the weather seems to be against any good numbers. Cloudless, starlit and chill again last night, there were no additions to the Property Moth List, however there were a couple of things rather pleasing to the eye along with a couple of points of interest.

CLOUDED BORDER
is a 'regular' in the trap, while as time goes on

PEACOCK MOTH
is also becoming frequent.

STRAW DOT
An abraded specimen of this Moth completely fooled me last week,
so identification of this 'text book' individual was much easier 

BLACK ARCHES

the nominate (white) form which was caught here some days ago.

BLACK ARCHES

Today we caught the 'melanistic' (dark/black) form which in
Great Britain is restricted to the New Forest, which here at Parley 

we are on the western edge of.

Two colour variations of

ROSY RUSTIC

STRAW UNDERWING

If my memory serves me this is a MICRO (the smaller Moths)

but equally as big as many of the Macros.

A WASP in the trap.

Part of this mornings catch with The Drinker being the largest.

The 'egg trys' provide a perfect roost for the Insects,

while the Mercury Vapour Lamp sends out the right 'waves'

to attract them. Can you see my Mate left of picture?

Just one of a number of opportunist BLACKBIRDs, Robins and Pied Wagtails that attend the trap each morning. Every effort is made to release them to the undergrowth and out of reach of the predators.

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GOOD TO HAVE YOUR COMPANY AND SUPPORT!

Ruby Tuesday - The Rolling Stones

It would have been good to know exactly which button I did press the other day causing a number of the images to show a 'blue hue', as there have been a few comments about the 'technique', all favourable. The rain now seems to have passed through leaving an almost clear blue sky with just the odd wisp of Cirrus and a crisscross of vapour trails. Having taken the advice of Paul Harris the 'white sheet' was not deployed last night and BINGO, the trap was full of Insects this morning. Only one new species for the property, all assuming I have the identification correct, but some beautiful creatures nonetheless.

 THE LACKEY (light form)

I just love the
CANARY- SHOULDERED THORN

PALE PROMINENT
in good numbers today

DOUBLE LOBED?

if you know something I don't please let me know!

A good part of the day was spent at the north end of the farm where runs the MOORS RIVER. Having found my copy of Steve Brooks 'Dragonflies and Damselflies' Field Guide while browsing I came across a remarkable fact about the

ORANGE-SPOTTED EMERALD

Brooks states - "now considered extinct in Great Britain, previously the species was known for certain from only two localities the Tamar River, which forms the border between Devon and Cornwall, plus the Moors River, Dorset". What more reason would you need to go dashing up there? Best make it clear at this point that I didn't find one - photo courtesy of Wiki.

 female KEELED SKIMMER

 Juvenile PIED WAGTAIL

 GOLDEN-RINGED DRAGONFLY

Sometimes the wildlife comes to you as was the case with this
FIELD GRASSHOPPER
which landed on the windscreen.

 ROWAN (Mountain Ash) BERRIES

plenty of these along the hedgerows.

and there were c7 MOORHEN CHICKs on the lawn early morning.

They are now brave (or foolish) enough to come right up to the

front door. I say foolish as there is a Lurcher in the family.