The Turn of the Screw - Henry James

Spring has sprung,

the grass is grise

I wonder where the Birdies is? 
With reference to our last Post,
my extremely persistent friend advises me that the 
Unidentified 'Fly' is not a Fly at all but a male

MOSQUITO

Culex Pipiens

 Thanks John.

At 03:00 this morning not even the glow from the nearby Moth Traps could be seen from the bedroom window, yet by 09:00, when I eventually got to Longham, all that was blocking the view were the swarms of Midges, thankfully not the aggressive type. Before all of that however, there were another 2 additions to both the Property and my Personal Moth Lists the first being the very dainty

 SMALL QUAKER

(please note the superb Lichen)followed by

 TWIN-SPOTTED QUAKER

also in the trap, joining the ranks of the 

Weird and Wonderful

 this rather large (by UK standards at least)

"a mature Tegenaria SPIDER Sp" and

BLACK MILLIPEDE

Tachypodoiulus niger

On the Farm today the Little Grebe was seen to be either 'back' or out of hiding as at least one Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard 'drumming', while the 'yaffles' of close cousin the Green Woodpecker seemed to be coming from all directions. Goldfinch are also back on the feeders, so a new sack of Niger Seed has been bought in, and with water levels much reduced the odd Little Egret has been dropping in to capitalise on the easy pickings. This is where I have spent the most of my day simply observing what the most welcome warm weather has stimulated and there was plenty to see.

SWEET VIOLET
Viola odorata

CULTIVATED DAFFODIL
one of dozens of varieties now springing up all over the place.

 The (Giant) RED-EARED TERRAPIN

has emerged for the first time this year from Parley Pond.
Loving the recent warm sunshine in spends most of the day on
this steep bank, and when disturbed simply 'lets go' and drops
back to the safety of the 'deep'.

FIELD SPEEDWELL
alternative names Persian or Winter Speedwell and Bird's-Eye.

COMMON DAISY

BUFF-TAILED BUMBLEBEE

the most numerous of its kind in Europe,
there were quite a few about during my wander.

RED DEAD-NETTLE

HAIRY BITTERCRESS
Then over to Longham Lakes for just a single circuit.

My skills on estimating large numbers of birds is POOR, which
is just being kind to myself. The number of Gulls at the Lakes
and the surrounding Farm Land on Friday were of 'swarm'
proportions and if a figure were to be guessed 5,000 would
surely be well short of the mark?

Unfortunately, it was impossible to capture the full dimension, but
sufficient to say that by far the most numerous were Black-headed,
followed by Mediterranean then just a few Common, Herring and
Lesser Black-backed. Closer examination of this image will reveal 

a number of Meds.

Some of the Gulls may be visible in this shot taken across the

previously flooded meadows.

immature HERRING GULL

REED BUNTING

numbers much increased here during recent days.

Close encounter with a

COMMON BUZZARD

and to end what I thought to be a most ingenious photograph

sent by one of our most devoted readers.

The Captain of Queen Mary 2 got a new perspective on the world's largest ocean liner when he posed for this amazing photograph. Captain Kevin Oprey stood on the ship's bulbous bow, which protrudes from the front of the 151,200 tonne liner, to pose for a portrait with his ship.

Well, if you think he's going to get away with that, try this for size!

Having attained the 'dizzy heights' of Able Seaman in the Royal Navy

by 1964, this shot was taken sitting on the screw (propeller) of

the Tribal Class Frigate

HMS ESKIMO

during refit in Portsmouth Dockyard prior to a years deployment 

to the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean.

15 - 2 that one Skips!

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