The Bagsy Blog: Smooth

Monday, 15 December 2014

Smooth - Santana

With the see-sawing weather pattern of late, hard frost one night, temperature nudging double figures the next, we have been selectively running at least one trap when thought suitable. Blank most nights agreed, but Sunday did produce a couple of specimens.

FEATHERED THORN
considered by others to be a female as lacking the 'feathered' antenna.

DECEMBER MOTH

We did promise ourselves that we wouldn't lift the galvanised metal
sheets placed around the Irrigation Pond to attract hibernating
Reptiles, Amphibians etc more than once a month, and then only for
the fleetest of moments.

Immediate success as

under 2 of them there were a total of c4

SMOOTH (Common) NEWT

a single
DUSKY SLUG

One of the

GLASS SNAIL Species

along with c2
COMMON KEELED SLUG

Up at Eco, in the northern part of the property there are usually a few

HERRING GULLs

to be found, but at the other end it is a rare bird to be found perched.
Nice then to get this young bird perched on Harbins Farm House roof.

SPINDLEBERRY

still adorn the hedgerows in good numbers, while also abundant here are

BADGERs
rarely seen except one, like this, meets its Waterloo
found dead on Merritown Heath.

More excellent news from GOLDBECK the German Solar Panel Company who after completing the contract have planted about 2 miles of hedgerows around the Northern Sector and constructed more hibernaculars for Snakes, Lizards etc.

They have now sited c4

BARN OWL
Nest Boxes across the area and already it might be said that interest has been shown.
I have never 'seen ' one on the Farm and only ever 'heard' 2, but as the last box was
being fixed to one of the fence post Chris Sugden watched a singe quartering the
panels as he did the job.
All else here involves plants, one of which

WHITE DEAD NETTLE
wasn't expected to be in bloom at this time of year??

The other, which maybe considered to be growing in plague proportions, is
CANADIAN FLEABANE
The huge area, again behind Eco, is covered in it and is attracting
various species of small birds, including the Siberian Chiffchaff
(which was still there yesterday), in their 'hundreds'!
and finally another trio of photographs taken by my friends
from their garden in Phuket, Thailand