In
just a few days time The Bagsy Blog will reach something of a milestone
in it existence, with that day also forming a crossroad and a dilemma
for us here. At that time we must decide whether to continue publication
or not? What has brought us to this juncture is twofold, with one
effect sustaining the other, Repetitiveness seemingly leading to an
unprecedented Decline in Readership. For many years after its inception
our Local Patch, so to speak, was The Whole World but in latter days it
has become no more than 2000 acres (809 hectares), but nevertheless of
interest to those who visit us on a regular basis. Before we make that
final decision we are going to appeal to those few Loyal Readers to
stimulate interest in others. For our part we have already handed out
hundreds of cards to people that we meet, have issued 'all addressees'
E-mails and in a much smaller way have ventured to use Facebook, Posting
to everyone who comes onto our Radar
OUR FATE IS NOW PARTIALLY IN YOUR HANDS
AND WE THANK YOU IN ANTICIPATION!
While there is little point bemoaning the lack or otherwise of Wildlife, except maybe in the occasional case of the Shy Talks strafing your dhobying, it is true to say that the Mothing this year has been fairly abysmal, but fear not! With the night sky covered by 8 oktas of cloud, the anemometer static and a dawn temperature of +10°C, even out here in the countryside, there were at least 3 good reasons why hopes were high!
Without going through each of the 5 Moth Traps individually,
even before opening the first of these what met the eye was encouraging indeed.
There, clung to the perspex collar, was a
WAVED UMBER
while in the funnel was found the
BRIMSTONE MOTH
and without removing the top another First for the Year (FFY)
CHOCOLATE-TIP
was seen within.
Passing the Harbins Garden Pond
a small, pale Carpet-like Moth took to the wing sending me
scampering all over the place in an effort to capture it. Unfortunately, no
time to activate the video as we feel sure any such footage would immediately qualify
for a BAFTA nomination and well worth the effort as it proved to be a
SANDY CARPET
Continuing, the FFY simply kept coming which included
SALLOW KITTEN
PALE TUSSOCK
WHITE ERMINE
SPECTACLE
( we often wonder how they came up with that name?)
SHUTTLE-SHAPED DART
MAY HIGHFLYER
and
GREY PINE CARPET
additionally, there was a 'first'
MAYFLY
Out in the wider World things appeared a lot more subdued until reaching the
Moors River
where a raucous cacophony was in progress, heard long before we reached the location.
Surely all this noise wasn't coming from the
c2 adult
EGYPTIAN GEESE
which have been holding station here for 4 weeks now, and suspected
of having a nest close by, but then a further c2 adults were spotted, but
even this didn't account for what was going on.
Still a mystery for a further 5 minutes when from the nearby Oaks
a 'skein' of c5
young
EGYPTIAN GEESE
which quickly became a 'gaggle'
and
a seemingly aggressive one at that.
What was likely only play
and stretching of the wings ensued for a full 20 minutes
and most entertaining it was.
These were thought to be the offspring of the adults we had been monitoring
all of this time but how could they have grown and matured so quickly
without us getting sight or sign of them during the process?
Reminiscent of a couple of our favourite images from Sri Lanka some years ago
of a
BLACK-NECKED STORK
9 Geese in total but we could only manage 6.
Look out for the Predator looking for an easy meal!
Also on site were a small squadron of c4
SHELDUCK
all to the bemusement of the
CHAROLAIS
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KNOT GRASS
EARLY TOOTH-STRIPED
