Stormy Monday - T-Bone Walker

Following on from the extra Post of Monday we can now
report that a second

LITTLE RINGED PLOVER 
They call it Stormy Monday, but Tuesday's just as bad!

The Eagle flies on Friday 

A few days of both wet and windy weather have ensued making it almost impossible to walk the Recording Area and is likely what is keeping most migrant birds at bay? It's on such days that the Strange Rover comes into its own making for not only a dry outing but also serving as an ideal Bird Hide (or 'blind' for you guys across the pond) allowing in some instances close encounters. See previous Post.

When visible SUNSET has coincided with a

 'FULL' MOON RISE
with Jupiter in close attendance but
unfortunately doesn't show on this image.
Moths also have been scarce despite a reasonable rise in
overnight temperatures but there has been

 another new species for 2016

 TWIN-SPOTTED QUAKER
and in the traps at the same time

 A really smart and tiny 'species' of
BEMBIDION BEETLE
thought most likely to be
PUNCTULATUM
along with the Micro Moth

DEORESSARIA DAUCELLA
we still don't do Micros so ID credits should go to

John Gifford for the Beetle and Dave Foot for the latter.
A little late in coming, but we have now finally got round to publishing
these images of a

GOSHAWK

which we very fortunately made contact with some days ago.

Not surprisingly, for such a 'rare' species in Dorset,

it was another addition to the
Year List.

The same has to be said of

YELLOWHAMMER

which showed itself

on the same day.

All birds are now getting into their prime but none more so than

GREAT TIT

and

BLUE TIT

The first of this years
CHAROLAIS CALVES

GREYLAG GEESE

NETTING
now in place over part of the Balancing Pond.

Living in such close proximity to an International Airport
one has to be tolerant of aircraft noise pollution with the exception of
these regular visiting

CHINOOKS
which get right on my Coal, Blue, Great and Long-tailed!

The new CHICKS arrived in the week, a lucky half dozen
saved from the clutches of Mr Heinz.

and we also had a short visit from our friend Dave Foot earlier in the week

who managed to secure these 2 video clips.

In my case it was only luck that allowed brief glimpses of the Woodpecker!

LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER

GREY WAGTAIL

TRAIL CAMERAS UPDATE

GREY SQUIRREL

MAGPIES

WOOD PIGEON, PIED WAGTAIL, CARRION CROW

and before we say hasta la vista a couple or 3 images from our friends

Roong and Jean Francois in Thailand 

CRESTED GOSHAWK

in their garden pond,

 ASIAN OPENBILL

with 

GIANT SNAIL

and

ORIENTAL PRATINCOLE

"Oh for one of them on Merritown".

There is something a little uncanny about the combination of the Blog Stats and the continuation of the Bagsy Memoir, Not for the fist time has the start of a new chapter coincided with the appearance of that particular country on the list below. On this occasion it was my first visit to Poland in 2006 and what a memorable visit that was, we will try and dig out a few images as an extra Post in the week. 

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United Kingdom	260
United States	201
France	18
China	15
Germany	12
Ireland	10
Canada	9
Estonia	9
New Zealand	7
Poland	6

The Lord of the 'Ringed'

Easter Sunday was not a day intended for a Blog Post given the weather forecast and that which had gone before overnight. It had seemed that the near gale force winds and occasional showers during the hours of darkness were bad enough, but then came daybreak, a full hour earlier than what we have been used to. The precise second the torrential stuff started, driven even harder by a much increased wind, is well remembered as the very second we stepped from Slight Return II to embark on monitoring the Moth Traps, an exercise which was quickly abandoned until later in the day. It was possible to watch each rain filled 'front' roll in from the direction of the English Channel, just a few miles away, while to make matters worse even the short periods of sunshine were blinding!  So, in a nutshell not at all conducive with Bird Watching. However, those of us 'addicted' to such things were not deterred but only finding a 'partner' Coot which had arrived on the Gravel Pit overnight to join the long-stayer and a lone Green Sandpiper in the Puddle of Mud we turned for home. En-route, the large Solar Panel Compound proved to be too much of a temptation and even while twiddling with the combination lock the call of a   

 LITTLE RINGED PLOVER

 

 was heard

 but took a further full 10 minutes to locate.

 IT'S RAINING!

What followed was the inspiration for this Extra Post

 a chance to share

the return of this fantastic little bird!

The only interruption to this

 was what was thought to be an arrival of

MEADOW PIPIT

with attention being diverted for no more than a couple of minutes.

Although this Little Beauty was initially located on 'call' it was, after

being sighted totally mute save for a single 'call' that can be heard on

this clip.

It is hoped you enjoy this as much as we did even though

Not in the Flesh!

Ride a White Swan - T Rex

Still early, and still very quiet on the migrant front but the Moth Traps have perked up slightly, despite overnight temperature remaining seasonable low. After the rounds of the afore mentioned it was decided, after the briefest of looks around the Recording Area to wander off piste in the hope of seeing what has, over the years, become something of a scarce bird in the southern counties of Great Britain.

 

RED CHESTNUT

with an

EARLY BUMBLEBEE

All that was found on Parley Court Farm was this

ROE DEER
so time to "set the controls for the heart of the sun".
Crossing the border into Hampshire and arriving at Harbridge,
after a grueling 15 minutes behind the wheel, even though there were only 32
Mute Swans in the field it still took a full 10 minutes to locate todays
Target Bird.

Once fairy plentiful overwintering on the Ibsley Water Meadows,

as years have gone by

BEWICK'S SWAN

numbers have become less and less.

This is the only bird reported from these part during the Winter Period,

and to our knowledge there have been NONE at all in Dorset.

Whatever the reason, Global Warming, reduction in numbers or whatever,

let's just hope it is the milder weather allowing them to fine
a ready supply of food further north nowadays?
With this site being so close to Blashford Lakes it would be well worth
the 5 minutes detour to see what was on offer there.

Nothing 'mind-blowing'

but this

COAL TIT

did put on a fine performance, while on the lake side of the road it
was MIDGES that were most evident - millions of them.
Brushing them off and reaching the hide unscathed or bitten

it was found that the Waterfowl were taking full advantage
of this unexpected bounty.

What a sight to see such things as


LITTLE GREBE
surface feeding while

SHOVELER
were also scrabbling for this nutritious fare!

Arriving back at Slight Return II, just in time to see the relatively new

BOEING 787 DREAMLINER
about to take to the air.
To end this Post a few clips of the
BEWICK'S SWAN

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United States	275
United Kingdom	273
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Germany	17
Thailand	16
Ireland	10
Canada	9
Estonia	9
France	8
New Zealand	8