Night Owl - Gerry Rafferty

The Superb

RED-NECKED AVOCET

(without all the unavoidable clutter)

The main feature yesterday morning at 02:00 was Tawny Owl activity with at least c5 clear and distinct birds going, what can only be described as, BONKERS! Often hear but seldom seen, two of these denizens of the night even showed in silhouette as they passed through the loom of one of the Moth Trap lamps - brief but brilliant.

TAWNY OWL

(a 'borrowed' image)
The Fabulous 'Night Owl' Link 
While we seem to be suffering a (hopefully) short hiatus regarding
additions to either or both Lists, we continue to catch a few eye-catching Insects.

 BIRCH MOCHA

 GOLD SPOT
always good to see

Heavily Pregnant

 ORANGE SWIFT
which along with her eggs were rapidly returned to the food plant

 SILVER Y

 A bit better image of
CENTRE-BARRED SALLOW
than the one that accompanied its inclusion onto the PCF List.

 FLAME SHOULDER

Another crack at the Micros with this thought to be

YPSOLOPHA SEQUELLA

what followed was a moment of Wildlife Magic.

When it came time to photograph this little beauty, by coincidence the track  'Threads' by Portishead (Link) was playing providing excellent accompaniment for a fine performance. Releasing this active little Moth from the specimen pot it firstly scurried forward, then via the reciprocal track backwards and completed the performance with a neat 'on the spot' pirouette.  If only I'd had the wit to switch to the video function! Somewhat overlooked in my opinion Portishead, who take their name from the Somerset town 8 miles west of Bristol, are ostensibly Beth Gibbons - Vocals, Geoff Barrow - Guitars and Adrian Utley - Drums. This trio is often augmented by additional musicians.  To push my luck even further this surely has to be GARDEN ROSE TORTRIX all else was this

BRONZE SHIELDBUG
Back at the ponds and

what is to become of the Water Pipe and associate Filter
is not yet known but this morning on arrival a

KINGFISHER
was sat on it so perhaps it should stay.
I hear a sigh coming on when mentioning that addition to yet another List,
but each to their own. during the following hour other additions included

 GOLDCREST

 BULLFINCH

 GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER

 SKYLARK
and

 KESTREL

3 large lorries are now being employed to back-fill

North Pond
where works there should be completed before the end of the week.

Progress at North Pond

The soil levelled in this area, east of the pond Irrigation Pond,
will eventually be turned into a

HORSE PADDOCK
but for now a fine source of groceries for Meadow Pipit, Pied and
Grey Wagtail, Linnet, Goldfinch, Robin etc.

A small subsidiary pond, which was initially marked for back-filling,
has been saved and may serve as a water source for the livestock.
Yellow Wagtails welcome.

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