Red Sky in the Morning?

 The day couldn't have broken very much better with for starters this

ROSIN SKY
a harmonic cluster od bird songs and no overnight wind or rain. Thinking things could not get much better the phone rang and it was Jose the Solar Panel Foreman reporting that the 5th

and final Moth Trap was connected and running and

a corral to keep the sheep away from the power source, and that

All Steaming Lights Were Burning Brightly!

 Not a catch that was going to break any records at 10 Insects x 6 Species best of which was again

OAK BEAUTY
and ironically Moths in every trap except for this one.

Otherwise, and to the clatter of a passing

CHINOOK

HELICOPTER

up north and across both ponds no more than this lone male

TUFTED DUCK
representing the Wildfowl while also at the

Gravel Pit
firstly a single then a brace of fine looking

LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLs
with that being reflected (unusually) by considered more than a dozen

difficult to click and impossible to count

due to the ever thickening of the tree-line along the course of the
Moors River.
Returning south it looks every bit as though the

Subsiduary Pond
MUTE SWANs

have followed in the Webbed Footsteps of their Pals on the Main Pond,
while at great distance from another veiwpoint

a couple of
HARES

which at one point but not captured a brief spell of
'BOXING'

and at the final knockings took a look at the still partly flooded

RIVER STOUR
which doesn't seem to be receding very much!

The Kids are Alright - The Who

 There was some overnight rain but nothing to wright home about and nicely balanced by the +10C temperature almost throughout! Unfortunately this was not reflected at the 2 home Moth Traps with only a single Insect between them, but ever onward! At the Solar Panel Compound a turn in the right direction as this

STREAMER

was our second ever and followed in quick time by a First for the Year

PALE PINION
More common fare included numerous and vocal

CHIFFCHAFF

CARRION CROW

finding something edible between the panals?
On leaving was where our luck changed again as a seemingly lone and unseen

WILLOW WARBLER

was knocking it out
Double-Four-Time.
It is at such moments that the thoughts of a 'Hat Trick' might be on the cards but all we could muster was this lone and not very obliging

STONECHAT
Home for a coffee the 3rd of the Hat Trick did manifest itself but not in a way that was a expected. Seen before they even knew I was at home but with nothing in the way of a Bolt Hole I was obliged to answer the door to my

3 APPRENTICES

who loved our forays out into the wild but find they don't have time for all their passions and interests. The little girl is well away with her qualifications in the world of dance while the lads, both having played for Bournemouth Cherries have found themselves 'poached' by 2 quite seperate accadamies - Well Done all 3, but that was not the end of it. As regular reader may remember we have been surprised at the appearance of a few Pheasants in the garden this year but even more so when they took me by the hand to show me in a most outrageous location the

Children's Play Area
the nest of the afore mentioned

PHEASANT
holding 4 eggs with a 5th,

damaged beyond repair.
Along with that there were also the

First Signs of

GREEN ALKANET
and the rapidly fading

DAFFODILS
maybe reason enough to publish one last image

and then begin the wait until next year for more!

Baa Baa Black Sheep - Have You Any Wool

With a very quick reply from those far more well versed than myself, it was unanamously agreed that yesterday's conundrum was not a Whitetroat at all but far more likely to be a

Very Pale or maybe Partial Leucistic

DUNNOCK

(My Thanks go to Valued Friends)

The Dawn Chorus was mainly attributed to the deeper tones of

SONG THRUSH
and the occassional squeeks of a less than common in the garden

GREY SQUIRREL
with descants from the ever present

ROBIN
With more

BLOSSOM

found en-route to the
Solar Panel Compound
where was found the acivities of nocturnal

BADGERs
activity both 'grubbing'

and

re-excavating the

Exit and Entry Holes at the Sett
so getting close to breeding time again - we will be making evening visits in the near future.
While back to the Sheep where there seemed to have been something missing a

BLACK SHEEP

of which, thus far

we have only found this singleton.
Returning home for that welcome cup of Douwe Egberts the final stroke of
Good Luck
as from the doorstep we could hear the calls of c2 un-clicked

MEDITERRANEAN GULLs

not discimilar to these images plucked from the archive.

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway - Genesis

 With foot firmly in mouth, yes conditions did get worse with the overnight temperature bottoming out at Zero but again not effecting the Dawn Chorus! Amoung that there were 2 tiny birds at about 30 feet feeding in the margins so just took a snap to see if they could be identified later. Still not 100% but leaning on the side of

WHITETHROAT
(maybe Bomber and / or John might give me a bell, E-Mail duff, with their oppinion)

 Again, despite the 'zero' there were Moths in all Traps, no First for the Year but represented by

TWIN-SPOTTED QUAKER

along with

CHESTNUT

at the very best and while exiting the Solar Panel Compound found the first

ESCAPEE LAMB
(you'll note the Solar Panels are the other side of the fence!
It had been practice in the past to phone the Shepherdess on such occassions but she insisted that they would find there own way back.

This was true in part but my concerns were still that a wanderer might just get to thr main road and cause havoc!!!! Plenty of Bird Song first brought

NUTHATCH
to the Day List followed in the same area by

this pair of obliging

BLACKCAP

c2 vocal
GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKERs

between our first couple of clumps of May Blossom inspiring us to start casting

 'CLOUTS' 

without delay.

All that was recorded across both ponds were these c2

CANADA GEESE
with the 'float' being an unlikely nesting site but we'd like to see that happen!
Long before we are likely to there was the matter of heading back south with,
'unbeknown' as yet the 2 surprises that did lay in store.

Firstly therse 2
RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE

which were considered long gone from this area only having seen the lone bird up north for a number of years. While maybe in a similar league a most unexpected and maybe rather tardy 

FIELDFARE

Looking as though still 'Bunkering' for the long flight back to
Northern Europe?

 

There is lambswool under my naked feet, 

the wool is soft and warm gives off some kind of heat.

Carpet Crawl - Genesis