Eve of Construction (sic) - Barry McGuire

Yes, we know it's DESTRUCTION but that doesn't fit!

After featuring an Insect of one type or another on just about every Post over the past 8½ months,suddenly it seems very strange to be without them. There are still one or two candidates about, mainly Bumblebees, but our 'doorstep' Dronefly is still putting in the occasional appearance. Otherwise, and by comparison to recent weeks, it has been very quiet with Construction rather than Wildlife being the prominent activity. 

This preening

 KESTREL

was seen on Merritown Heath a couple of days ago 

while on the way back there was just a single 

STONECHAT 

We won't describe the long absent

 LITTLE GREBE

at the Gravel Pit as a 'returning' bird as suspicions are that it has just 

been keeping a low profile rather than having been on an

Away Day. 

It was fairly grim going inspecting the Reptile covers with just these

EARTHWORMS

to show for our efforts, but then Bingo under the final sheet c2

SMOOTH SNAKE

which make up numbers 32 and 33 for the year.

 Despite the quagmire, construction continues apace on

 Phase Three of the Solar Panel Farm

but we don't envy them there task this week when 'trenching' and 

'cable laying' commence in the very wet conditions.

 At the Parley side of Bournemouth International Airport

another area of Heath has been cleared to make way for what we

are told is going to be a Store for Aviation Spares?

 Walking what used to be open meadows, but have now become the
extended banks of the Moors River, the recent high winds have taken
their toll of the less deeply rooted
SILVER BIRCH

 while the river remains just partly swollen,

 it's going to get a lot worse before it gets any better?
and while in Arboreal Mode both the

ASPENS
and the

APPLE TREE
at Merritown Gate are looking a little forlorn!

More construction, the new pedestrian pathways leading through the
Parley Court Farm Gateway.
Finally, we are still enjoying the daily visit of the

GREEN WOODPECKER
to the now disused (until next season) Tennis Court.

Coincidental that Singapore should appear on the Stat Counter Radar today as the Memoir has just seen me leaving that country after a most pleasant weeks stay back in 2001. There, 'Little India' was selected as a base where much of the time was spent among the

 Hindu Community with a few Sikhs thrown in for good measure.

 SENTOSA ISLAND

and what would Singapore be without a
SINGAPORE SLING
in
RAFFLES

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The Tender Trap - Frank Sinatra

There had been adequate notice about its arrival and right on cue, Sunday morning, there it was laying deep and crisp and even, the

First Frost of the Season

On the strength of that warning we dedicated Saturday to gathering in the Moth Traps from far and wide, giving all the equipment a sailor's dhobie before stowing then under the bunk. That space is just about bespoke for the job!

THE TRAPS HAVE SERVED US WELL THIS YEAR!

Within the 5 traps, apart from a couple of Micros, there was just

a single

RED-LINE QUAKER

which, unless anything else is found around the bazaars, will

qualify as the final Macro of the Year.

c2 BUFF-TAILED BUMBLEBEE

COELICHNEUMON DELIRATORIUS

One of the Ichneumon Wasp complex 

 DRONEFLY

 ERISTATIS TENAX
we spent the whole of Sunday morning on the Heath at Merritown
to a total of very few birds, no Reptiles or mammals bu a fantastic
show of Fungi.

 Thought to be

PIPLOPRUS BETULINUS

SMOKEY BRACKET
BERKANDERA ADUSTA

SPLENDID WAXCAP
 HYGROCYBE SPLENDIDISSIMA

 a few of these unidentified heaps found across the Heath

 BRACKET or RAZOR STROP
PIPTOPORUS BETULINUS

 a Species of
HEBELOMS

DUSKY PUFFBALL
 LYCOPERDON NIGRESCENS

 PHELLINUS Species

 STERIUM Species

 STERIUM Species again but with a

JELLY TREMELLA Species

 Thought to be a Species of

PEZIZA

WHITE CHEESE POLYPORE
 TYROMYCES CHIONEUS

CANDLESNUFF FUNGUS
XYLARIA HYPOXYLON

Thought to be a 'ripe'
DUSKY PUFFBALL

PSILOCYBE SUBFIMENTANIA
THANKS TO JOHN GIFFORD and DAVE FOOT
the LEARNING CURVE on this SUBJECT CONTINUES!

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Satellite - Nickleback

Changeable and quiet just about sums up the last few day during which time we've hardly been out. Two days of rain have now turned to gale force winds, albeit at the lower end of the Beaufort Scale, but nonetheless blustery. Across the Recording Area the best on show have been the increase of northern Thrushes (Redwing and Fieldfare) but even then nothing dramatic. The Moth Traps have also taken a tumble and to forewarn the Readership this may be the final couple of days before we stow them away for the winter. This is what we have been seeing:-

Initially caught in early Spring, the return of

SATELLITE

MOTTLED UMBER

an addition to the Year List

DECEMBER MOTH

and yet another, our 5th,

OAK RUSTIC

The mightily destructive
VINE WEEVIL

and just how do things such as the

MILLIPEDE
get into the traps?

In recent days most of the action has been centred on

PARLEY POND

where some radical husbandry has taken place with the thinning
of the Sallows and the much needed removal of silt/mud.
All the action here hasn't deterred the early morning

CORMORANT
which a few days ago showed up as a record number of c45
overflying the farm.

Another record breaker has been

KESTREL
(this being the local bird seen hunting daily around the Pond and Harbins)

with at least c8 across the Recording Area.

MALLARD
well no records here but

the contrast of colours of this male against the pink of the
Aquatic Fern was thought worthy of a shot or 2.

Just a single juvenile
MUTE SWAN
remains here while the reappearance of

c2 males and a single female

GADWALL

was a welcome sight.

We can only think the Grey Heron has been on the prowl with this
abandoned and seemingly dead
EUROPEAN EEL
left languishing in a track-side puddle.

With the Supermarkets having been advertising it since Easter, surely
Christmas is just around the corner so remember

Of all the trees that are in the wood the
HOLLY
bears the crown.

All that was found under the metal sheets and roofing felt during this
week's rounds was a small ball of
Rodent Fur and a few Droppings, guess the Reptiles/Amphibians are
now in hibernation?

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