I Feel the Earth Move - Carole King

under my feet

I see the sky tumbling down.

With overnight temperatures remaining in double figures (12°C last night) this mornings rummage through the Traps was infused with anticipation. Unfortunately nothing new to add to either list, but an eclectic selection of some most attractive Moths plus one or two others.

 COMMON MARBLED CARPET

 BEAUTIFUL HOOK-TIP

 a 'dark' version of the most attractive

FROSTED ORANGE

 LARGE WAINSCOT

along with 2 'shade' variations of

 BRINDLED GREEN

 BLACK RUSTIC

 TURNIP MOTH

 and what is now the most numerous each morning

SQUARE-SPOT RUSTIC

 Still plugging away at the Micros, I am sure one of my Mentors will

be quick to correct me if this is not

AGONOPTERIX YEATIANA

DOLICHOPODID FLY

(kindly identified for us by John Gifford)

who tells me that this is a female, the male having 'white dots' at the tips 

of the wings to attract a mate - rather like the Nightjar me thinks!

Not a new sight for me but both

 GIANT DIVING BEETLE

and

 POLLEN BEETLE

should be familiar to our regular readers.

We thought on 'size difference' alone they were worthy of

inclusion on today's Post.

 It is a few months now since the c8 Mute Swan eggs hatched and to date all of the Cygnets appear to have been in fine fettle. It was Saturday that the first of these took to the wing and with a parent bird in attendance each flexed their wings and while in flight let out a continuous high pitched 'peep'.

When flying operation finished on that day only c7 of the young returned to base, while today that figure fell to c6 and it didn't take long to find out why. Every year young Swans fledged both here on Parley Pond and on this stretch of the River Stour collide, fatally, with power cables but little or nothing is being done to resolve the situation.

 But Get This! The Service Providers in charge of the offending cables are more than willing to provide and rig Aviation Marker Balls or Bird Diverters, but there was such a 'local' HULLABALOO about cutting the power while such works take place that they have never been rigged. In this rural part of Dorset most go around claiming to be 'Country Folk' but in truth I can only think their knowledge and experience of Wildlife comes from being glued to the Idiot's Lantern night after night complaining of the Morons responsible for poaching Rhinoceros Horn or pumping Bear Bile! Moan over, so to continue with an

 EARTH MOVING EXPERIENCE

While work continues on back-filling the North Pond this huge pile of

fertile earth is being levelled next to the Irrigation Pond in readiness to 

become a horse paddock.

With the blessing of Lord Lawney and Hugh I have been keeping a sharp eye on these operations which, it should be said, are being carried out in a sympathetic, professional and very speedy way. By the end of the week all should be completed but during the interim I have been given something of a free-hand to develop, this Pond at least, into a mini Nature Reserve.

My thoughts are that most of what is here should remain untouched, but to 'scrape' some of the margins may encourage more Wading Birds (such as the Green Sandpipers) to frequent this site?

 As work continues it has now been agreed that the small

 Subsidiary Pond

should not be back-filling as was the original intention.

 Thought on Wild Flower Seeds are already well advanced,

 while a little more light gravel is planned for the area between the soil and the watercourses.

 What is to happen to the very large hole left after extraction of
material to in-fill the North Pond is yet to be discovered but

 COLLARED DOVE

and a 

Grey Heron 

have already been noted prospecting.

 The Bulldozer did break down this morning so there was opportunity 

a chat with one of the lorry drivers. A very pleasant personality came in the form of

Hungarian 

BALINT KISS

 'Kiss' for short commands excellent English, fine conversation and came

over as a very nice person.

Good to Meet You Sir!

 Don't panic I'm only letting off a Distress Flare.

 My visits to see The Secret Lemonade Drinker are always awash

with interesting things to see and at my last, a couple of weeks ago,
he produced this

Webley and Scott
VERY PISTOL

used to fire a Flare/Signal often in the event of an emergency.

During my time at sea I must have fired one of these about half a dozen times

but never for the reason stated above.

and finally, we leave you with the Gods not quite on our side

as this morning I found the remaining area of aggregate at the 

Hurn Gravel Pit

being 'covered' by yet another

Earth Moving Experience!

Entry	Pageviews
United Kingdom	538
United States	178
Germany	101
France	80
Russia	74
Ukraine	31
China	28
Canada	18
Italy	7
Poland	7

Hole In The Ground - Bernard Cribbins

The overnight temperature Thursday into Friday was, according to my weather station, more or less a constant 16°C raising early morning hopes of a little more to be reckoned with in the Traps. At a first glance into each it was clear there were Insects within with enough Craneflies to fill the Albert Hall, many dozens of Caddisflies and plenty of Hornets and Wasps, but where there any Moths? Indeed there were, at least more than in recent days with totals reaching 42 species of Macro x 537 Insects. Almost first out was an addition to the Property List a splendid male

FOUR-SPOTTED FOOTMAN*

 the sex of which I had never seen before.

 There had been a female at the

 Portland Bird Observatory

a few years ago.

 The beautiful

MERVEILLE du JOUR

 was a 'first for the year' as was

 L-ALBUM WAINSCOT

and an interesting contribution from our friend Dave Foot

who after last week-end took this

 LARVAE

 home to nurture. Not responding to the food provided Dave fully

expected it to have been invaded by

 PARASITES

(it had!)

Dogged by frequent pulses of drizzle and some increase in the force of the wind, the Traps took a little longer than has become usual and I was champing at the bit to head north to see what had been decided on the future of the North Pond.

Hole in the Ground - This Will Take You Back A Bit

 With the distinctive 'tracks' of Heavy Plant leading to the gate it was

plainly obvious what the decision had been,

 and the arrival of a Slew (Digger),

 3 powerful Water Pumps

 

 and associate pipework.

 works were already well underway.

 Lord Lawney had been unable to sway the Solar Farm people, not

just because of the liability of accident but adjusting the relevant 

paperwork that attends such a large project.

 Already the Diggers had got to work on the 'hard standing' between 

the 2 ponds with mounds of poor quality gravel already extracted and ready to transport.

 While the holes that already remain looked very deep there was much 

more material needed than that laying in wait!

 A few loads had already arrived with the

 BULLDOZER

now hard at work

 and for the rest of the day

 the Lorry's

 just kept coming.

 They tell me that in total it will take about 5 - 6 days to complete the 

 operation, during which time you will be kept updated.

On the up side at the Irrigation Pond (future yet to be decided)

today, Saturday, 

 TEAL

numbers have increased

 from this 'first sighting' mid-week to c6 today.

 MALLARD

 have gone from what has become a regular 'pair'

 to the highest c8,

 STOCK DOVE

 are both feeding and bathing her,

 PIED WAGTAIL

have reached 'double figures' while

 young

HOUSE MARTIN (left) and SWALLOW

 have turned up 'mob-handed'

 to enjoy a good rest, preen and meal

 before setting off on that long journey south.

Next Stop Africa!
It has been a little remiss of me not to have mentioned both
Dave Foot and John Gifford
for all their help over the past week or more.
My Knowledge has certain been extended
THANK YOU! 

Entry	Pageviews
United Kingdom	580
United States	185
Germany	122
Russia	80
France	46
China	42
Ukraine	22
Canada	19
Australia	10
Poland	9