Heigh Ho Carrion Crow - Nursery Rhyme

Still Drab, Dank, Dreary or whatever 'D' word you would favour to describe the day we again bucked the system by starting the Daily Doing's within the Solar Panel Compound.

First up was noted an increased 'fall' of

MEADOW PIPIT

40 or so

but for the fist time this Winter

roundly outnumbered by

REDWING

not overly obliging but likely clipping 3 figures,

oh, at last, a friendly one!
Additionally, there were also glimpses,

"shrouded by fine mist"

of the
RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE

still being chaperoned by the male

PHEASANT
maybe an argument for inter-breeding?
Otherwise, and maybe of more interest a couple of

CARRION CROWs

seemingly finding something nutritious atop of the solar panals?
On closer inspection they were also seen to have still 'brown' primary and secondry wing feathers which likely makes them candidates for part of the brood that were fledged nearby and of which

we rescued one in late Spring?
All else amounted to no more than a new arrival female

TUFTED DUCK
on the Gravel Pit.

Time For Another 'Away-Day We Thinks!

Mister Blue Sky - E.L.O.

 It looked plainly obvious from the

Rosy Glow
that the

O'l Current Bun
was up there, and getting brighter by the minute, but were we going to get even a small 'kiss from it?

Seems not, as this was the picture just 15 minutes later, and seeing little more of it for the rest of the day. So much for the Solstice!
However, this didn't seem to deter yet another

DECEMBER MOTH
and accompanying

MOTTLED UMBER
along with a back-up cast of

GREEN LACEWING

an assorted group of SLUGS with a tiny SNAIL

and a lone
CADDISFLY
At what might have been considered DAYLIGHT both

 female

KESTREL

and male

were plying from perch to tennis court in persuit of an

Early Breakfast
preferably of plump Earthworm, "who could ask for anything more" as the song goes!

Also down south there appeared to have been another arrival of

CHAFFINCH
(this a male)

with a young and seemingly unperturbed, by our prescence,
MOORHEN

at the garden pond.

All else and confined to the Gravel Pit up north

2 pairs of

rather serene looking

and new arrival

GADWALL
with the first

CORMORANT
of the Winter on this particular watercourse.

Horse With No Name - America

 Having drawn a 'blank' at the Moth Traps it was

MIST
  decided, for no particular reason, to conduct our rounds in reverse order to the usual with just some of the hundreds of

STARLINGs

clinging to the overhead cables and the / a

LITTLE OWL
(unseen or heard for a while now) at a favoured perch but nothing to reort from the equally grey

Stubble Fields.
Back-tracking coincided perfectly with the latest

Equestrian Event

with the extrodinary tallents of these

YOUNG LADIES,

surely only in their early teens, shining through!
In our little world a Gull is a Gull,

so regaurdless this

HERRING GULL
at the main pond

was fare game before heading further north where at the
Eco Recycling Works
was something of a surprise as this delightful and once resident

FERAL PIGEON,
not seen throughout 2021 thus far,

had returned to base, wonder is "how long will it stay"?

Maybe unfortunately for the reader, and certainly for us, there was little change at the
Irrigation Pond save for the addition of a couple of

CANADA GEESE

among the now semi-resident Mute Swans, Mallards and male

TUFTED DUCK
During the colder months we only visit the Heath on one day a week, although we can get an idea of activity by viewing from the farm, with our rounds, under much improved conditions, producing only the expected but valued

DARTFORD WARBLER

(singular)

similarly

STONECHAT

but a winter record count of no fewer than 15

WOODLARK
would be nice to have them stay!

Spring is in the Air

 It used to be “Grease is the Word” but in these rapidly fading last few days of a decent year (not counting Covid) 'Persistence' has become the Word! With overnight temperature still hovering close to or just below ‘double digits’ we persisted by keeping the home fires burning and reaped the benefits from the Moth Traps with the candidates below.

To kick off with a

DARK CHESTNUT

a far more striking and maybe slightly late
FEATHERED THORN

and to complete the trio a
RED-LINE QUAKER

and a backup
MINOTAUR BEETLE
Seems like our luck was IN on the day with not 'rare', 'scarce' or even 'uncommon' but a stranger to these parts with only c3 previous records, a female

SHOVELER

(we have added an image of the male to show the contrast)

on the Irrigation Pond but within seconds she had taken to the wing.
All that could be found next door on the Gravel Pit was this large

Plastic Container
which has been on pond-side for weeks now and our investigation (as it did hold a small amout of blue chemical) came to naught but surely an inevitable ending? Otherwise, a return of the

Mute Swan Family
along with a clip of the male

TUFTED DUCK
in a brief but heavy downpour.
Back to base via a scace view of a couple or 3 of the Rare Breed Cattle

OLD ENGLISH WHITE

BELTED GALLOWAY
along with the other

OLD ENGLISH WHITE
Wonder was wheather the venture into the Solar Panel Compound was worth it or not

with just a small 'fall' of

MEADOW PIPITs
while within a stone-throw of the homestead and the most active part of the property

CORMORANTs

2 in number

are fishing

without concern as on our return we found the first

DARLING BUDS of WINTER

on the Lime Tree next to the Caravan - Spring has Sprung!