MADAGASCAR - Part III

 After all that Bunny-ing,

this one has been there for a week now with no signs of Reynard,

about Butterflies (Wendy Craig) and Mister Blue Skies (ELO) yesterday, it was certain that we had drawn our Revolver (The Beatles) and loosed a Bullitt (Steve McQueen) into My Left Foot (Daniel Day Lewis), it hasn’t stopped raining since!

Confined to barracks for most of the day it just fell lucky that today is Sunday and time for a return to Madagascar. 

As we ended Part II of our journey with an Owl so we kick this one off with

BARRED OWL

and soon time to take in another sun rise before hitting the trail.

LITTORAL ROCK THRUSH

One for the Vine
(Genesis)

and be careful what you bump into!

Time to buy a new Frock.

MADAGASCA MAGPIE ROBIN

Wall to Wall Smiling Faces

BLACK EGRET

UMBRELLA-ING

ACACIA?

WHITE-FOOTED SPORTIVE LEMUR

You Wait an Hour and then Two Come Along

GIANT COUA

Oh No Not Another National Park

WHITE-THROATED RAIL

The Interior

MADAGASCA CUCKOO-ROLLER

Yet Another Lovely Smiling Lady

FOSSA
the King of the Predators on the Island, the size of a St Bernard's but slimmer, we found c14 in total and this ain't in a Zoo!

Safe to say this is an
ACACIA

The Archetype
RING-TAILED LEMUR

A FLOWER

CHABERT'S VANGA
Another 24 shots of an Amazing Place on Earth and with still a few left in the locker we see no reason not to extend the Trilogy on Sunday's to come - ENJOY!

Elusive Butterfly - Bob Lind

Not particularly a Sun worshipper myself, but we would be surely lost without it so a welcome change, if nothing else, to be kissed by the Current Bun yesterday! The biggest benefit were the Insects it encouraged into the open, particularly the butterflies which we will dwell on alone on this post.

Most numerous of them all and maybe the Poster Boy of the genre

RED ADMIRAL
and on this occassion obliging and even allowing a

PARACITE
to graze off of it while grazing itself.

BRIMSTONE

and

COMMA
(showing here from where the name originates)
were only in small numbers but it was a surprise to still see an

ORANGE TIP
on the wing close to the end of their season.

LARGE WHITE's
were also knocking around with not a sniff of their close cousins the
Small White
but adiquaitly backed up by the also numerous

MARBLED WHITE

SPECKLED WOOD
were as ever favouring the 'rides' along the tree-lined paths on the Heath with

SMALL COPPER
also holding teritory there as are the always unobliging

GREYLING
(on Bell Heather)
never seeming to open their wings and always hit or miss the often migrant

CLOUDED YELLOW

MEADOW BROWN

perching long enough to allow for this short 'clip'.

PEACOCK
always a welcome addition and we are calling our final insect

SMALL SKIPPER
but if not would welcome a 'correction'!

However, the final happening of the day was also WINGED as driving through one of the Solar Panel Compounds

THE RED ARROWS

flew directly above our head

and feel we did quite well

given the Short Notice!

Black is Black - Los Bravos

  BUT WHITE CAN BE WHITER!

Despite the lightest of rain and something of a draught coming from the south west again we did relatively well from the Moth Traps with

SMALL SCALLOP

SWALLOW-TAILED MOTH

BORDERED BEAUTY

CLOUDED SILVER
along with

SCALLOP SHELL
and while we don't wish to hit you with a BBC style 'repeat' of Monday's Post there was what we consider to be another wave of juvenile

SWALLOWs
which as a maximum we have never recorded

more than 2 pulses of such

in a single season

so make the most of it as

we may not see the likes of it again for

Another Year!
Just to put a slight slant on that there were also a couple of

JUVENILE STONECHATs

along with them.
All else included some other rather interesting and bizzare looking Insects away from the traps

such as

WESTERN CONIFER SHIELDBUG

TIGER CRANEFLY
and a

PINE CHAFER
but ALL out-bizzared by this almost totally albino / leucistic

PUFFIN
sent to our Editor by John Gifford.