I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing - New Seekers

Don't panic, it wouldn't be fair to burden you with the Link!
Having just recover from the frivolity of last weekend, 

BLINK,

and what do you know, it's the weekend again!

However, with this warming of the atmosphere and to a degree

a fair old whack of southerly airflow, we are seeing favourable returns from the

Moth Traps.

Despite its abundance it is always a pleasure to take

SMALL ELEPHANT HAWK-MOTH

 but leaning towards favouritism there's a very long way to go before you can beat

CLOUDED BUFF 

Certainly in my Top Ten, it was probably due to a sudden change of wind direction

that we caught this 'beauty' at all. Jinking round to the north east for just a hour or two

was enough to blow this single off the Heath and into our hearts.

DARK ARCHES

 wasn't quite such a joy, but nevertheless an addition to the

Year List

and welcome for all that.

It looked right, but the size gave reason to doubt this was a

COMMON WASP

but we are assured that is exactly what it is, half size as freshly emerged.

 While monitoring, sorting and photographing our specimens an even larger

an far more menacing weapon flew directly overhead a

BOEING AH-64 APACHE ATTACK HELICOPTER

As Rory Gallagher once said "don't go Messin' With the Kid"!

There's always time to take a look at the

RIVER STOUR

as it wends its way through 

Parley Court Farm

and, being this time of year, having donned the full regalia of

COMMODORE STRAWBERRY

it is once again time to utter those immortal words,

"come to me oh plumptious one"!

 and not to be outdone we also stopped to take stock of the latest crop of

NEW POTATOES

in Hugh's equally new allotment.

Up at the Irrigation Pond, for a while at least, everything seemed 'rosy' for the

 COOT FAMILY

 it isn't always a good idea to be so adventuresome when you are a juvenile

 with tumbling down being quite easy

by comparison to

 getting back up again - there are dangers in wait.

We can report that on this occasion the chick made it back to the top

to enjoy the delights of the male bird bringing food, but it was all to be short lived

as from c6 eggs c3 juveniles hatched but have, since these shots, all been predated.

THIS WAS A 'SECOND BROOD'!

Far more delightful encounters up ahead to meet for the first time

LORAN

the new Shepherdess, there today to undertake worming and inoculating duties.

At least we'll have something to talk about over the dinner table later.

The juvenile Little Grebe continues to thrive at the 

Gravel Pit

where this morning a 

ROBIN

was 

King of the Mount

only for a few minutes before being dethroned by this

BLACK-HEADED GULL

while with no sign of the male in recent days the female

TUFTED DUCK

still remains quite at home, while the

SEDGE WARBLER

brings up his

50th

day of none stop 'singing', we do hope 'she' happens along!

On the Heath it was GREAT to see our first and only this year

 juvenile

 PIED WAGTAIL
we hope it wont be the last.

 PURPLE TOADFLAX
is shooting up all over the place and 

 HOUSE SPARROW
are still nest building likely for a 'second brood'?

Eventually back to
Slight Return II

where yet another juvenile and now daily visiting

GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER

is just one of maybe as many as 4 individuals, they seem to have done very well.

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