Spirit in the Sky - Doctor and the Medics

It's back to the weekend when the anemometer was whirling like a dervish,
the wind was crying Mary and

RAIN BEARING FRONTS
were streaming our way from the English Channel then, just to make
matter worse,

JIM the MEDIC
decided to drive down from Yorkshire for a few days.

Undoubtedly one of my few firm and loyal friends, it would also be true to say that he is also among the Top 10 finest human beings it has ever been my pleasure to associate with. Like myself Jim is a 'journeyman' World Traveller having shared many a destination alongside me such as South Africa, Belize, Mongolia, Mexico, El Salvador, Japan, Guatemala and Skegness to name but a few. Never failing to seize an opportunity once, when he knew one of my journeys was taking me through Argentina, he E-mailed to say that he and his wife Liz would be in Buenos Aires on a certain date and would there be a chance to meet up? There was, and it would be safe to say, on their behalf as well as my own, that those 4 days were some of the most exciting and enjoyable any of us had ever experienced. Without labouring the point, something should also be said about his professional stance as the Medical Practitioner onboard the Oil Production Platform Buchan Alpha in the North Sea. Kind, compassionate and always understanding, my fondest memory was when consulting him with a severe case of tendinitis, which did in fact bring an end to my career in the Oil Industry, how he pulled out all the stops. Gently examining the shoulder, he asked me to give him some idea of the seriousness of the pain which was described as even preventing me from raising a comb to do my hair! "Not a problem Skipper" he declared, "I'll have you fixed before the end of the day, call in and see me at 18:00 and I'll shave your head"! 

Determined to show him as much of Parley Court Farm

and Merritown Heath as possible we started at the

Moth Traps

where, as of late, there had been little to show.

 A good start clinging on to the Harbins brickwork among the cobwebs
ANGLE SHADES

 HERALD
both 'firsts' for the year, along with a species of

 ALDERFLY
and an

EARWIG

 A pair of

REED BUNTING
the first ever seen feeding at the Harbins Bird Table.

Up at the Puddle of Mud were c2

most obliging

STOCK DOVE

which paled against the count of 14 on the heath

 which is a Recording Area record number.

The SHEEP are back

with just something aesthetically pleasing about their presence.

RABBIT
now starting to show in abundance and ready for a bit of the old
Proverbial Breeding!

Talking of which

DARTFORD WARBLER

where going ballistic all across the heath

fanning their tails and in full voice,

at least 12 were counted.

DARTFORD CLIP

SALLOW
in bloom attracting CHIFFCHAFF which are thought to be
new arrival migrants.

LAPWING

are seemingly holding territory in the Solar Panel Compound

while this 'first summer'

HERRING GULL
was simply Master of all it Surveyed at the Sewerage Works.

PAIR of KESTREL
at great distance.
Followed by 'close calls' with

DUNNOCK

PIED WAGTAIL
and

GREY WAGTAIL
With an update on the Trail Cameras which feature
Day and Night footage of seemingly the same

ROE DEER
Finally, a couple of images from our friends in Thailand

Jean Francois holding a

COPPERHEAD RATSNAKE
photographed by his wife Roong.

Also from their garden

WHITE-THROATED KINGFISHER

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What a Difference a Day Makes - Dinah Washington

It's beginning to look as if some thing or somebody (or a combination of both) doesn't want me to embark on Moth Trapping this year. It started in early March when refurbishing the gear for the coming season it was found that much of it had been vandalised, with one cable holder smashed to pieces and long sections of flex chopped from the run to a trap. This was followed by a particularly drafty period when three traps were blown away by the back end of Katie, maybe we should rephrase that by adding the word STORM, and destroying all the egg trays within. On Wednesday morning we awoke to find this none too pretty picture 

 GARDEN POND TRAP

synonymous with the none to common Balsam Carpet

JANET'S HORSE PADDOCK

THE 5th GOLF TEE

The Trap at that site and

the one at the Oak Wood.

Another pile destined for the

Egg Tray Graveyard.

The following day we plucked

 DOTTED BORDER

 and

 MARCH MOTH
from the traps, both being new for the year and a

 and a

TREE BEE

(not to be confused with our 'birding friend' Roger Treeby)
being the first recorded here.

Just 24 hours later the same areas

 looked like this

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES!

and the inbound migrants continue to trickle in with

SWALLOW

found on Friday and followed by a

WILLOW WARBLER

on Saturday.

 A scarce bird for here is the

TUFTED DUCK

 so these 2 pairs, making up only the 4th to 7th records at PCF,

 seen off and on over the weekend were a welcome sight.

 Again scarce here, there have been a couple more

 WHEATEAR
over the weekend.

 Wheatear Clips

 There are now

3

  LITTLE RINGED PLOVER

in the Solar Panel Compound.

MEADOW PIPIT

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