As Time Goes By - Sam (Dooley Wilson)

If we are prepared to seek it out, it is a fact that when one door shuts another is waiting to be opened. However, it is rare that the one that needs unlocking falls into your lap. I refer, in the first instance, to the 'unavoidable' decimation of the former Hurn Gravel Pit habitat where this year alone at least c9 Little Ringed Plover chicks, more than a dozen Lapwing, c2 broods of c11 and c15 respectively Shelduck, c5 Greylag Geese plus unknown numbers of Mistle Thrush, Stock Dove, Whitethroat, Blackcap etc, to name but a few, young were also brought into the world. Then came the Bolt Out of the Blue which are the two new ponds on Parley Court Farm. Still in embryonic state, the first thing will be to establish whether they are going to remain for the long-term? then document all that they hold. In fact that process has already begun as, like a child on Christmas Eve, I have been unable to keep my hands off the presents. 

It has come to my notice during this spell of cold mornings the advantages of being a

Born Again Moth'er on Virgin Territory.

While all around me there are comment relating to the lack of

numbers and more particularly reduced numbers of species, we

are still adding a few things  to what is, by comparison to others,

still a fairly Depleted List

MARBLED BEAUTY

is new to the property while this rather ragged

 OLD LADY

(no disrespect meant Ma'am)

is the first for the year.

It's been a while since

 GREEN CARPET

has graced the traps so this rather nice specimen joins the throng.

STRAW UNDERWING

 holds no particular significance while a personal favourite

GOLD SPOT

are now showing on a daily basis.

To complete today's haul the Micro

CARCINA QUERCANA

does hold some significance not only as the 'single member' of that 

family group to grace our shores, but also as the 'cover feature' of the new

Sterling/Parsons/Lewington collaboration

Field Guide to the 'Micro Moths' of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

where I gleaned the above information in the first place.

The BEETLE
ABEX PARALELLEPIPED

What I'd like to know is how a small
COMMON TOAD
gets into a Moth Trap. Whichever way it would seem it has done
itself some damage en-route.

The only memorable (for all the wrong reasons) part of my brief visit to the fantastic Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve, was an encounter with 2 Loud Mouthed Louts in the Tern Hide, masquerading as Birdwatcher, 'shouting' the odds about the recent visit of Volunteers clearing away vegetation that is blocking the view. Their view was that it was they who had flushed all the birds close to the hide yesterday so, while closing the shutters, I suggested tersely that it might just be the volume of their conversation. That kept them quiet until I left. All on view there was a single juvenile

LAPWING

which was quite a way off, while best from their Moth Traps was this

(Worker) HORNET
Driving past Parley the temptation of the North Pond was simply too great.
Along the approach road to the pond and the Eco Recycling Unit

HIMALAYAN BALSAM
has a foothold but I don't know if this, like its close relative

Orange Balsam,

is the food plant for another scarce Moth????

Not 'wild' at all, the pair of Hanging Baskets outside of the Fencing and Shed

Manufacturing Office (another part of the Business Community here) 

looked splendid and thought worthy of sharing.

Greeted at the pond by this

ROBIN,

seemingly determined to get on the Blog,
Otherwise there was a Cuckoo still prowling around the Oak Wood,
c11 Mistle Thrush flying above the Solar Panel Farm, a Skein of
c32 Canada Geese over Parley Pond and at the same location c3
new arrival Mute Swan including a particularly aggressive male.

Entry	Pageviews
United Kingdom	571
United States	349
Germany	151
Russia	112
China	26
Turkey	19
Canada	13
Estonia	12
Sweden	12
France	10