Under the first visual sign, 1%
gibbous, crescent of the newly
Waxing Moon
we toddled off to
activate the Moth Traps last night
and with the
temperature still in mid-double digits
Hope’s were High!
Metaphorically speaking, once again we had to force our way through the dozens of
NIGHTJARS
and just as an experiment and no more
we had a bash at sound recording them for your delectation!
The haunting sound of a summer dusk especially when a few of them get going together!
Talking of dusk, seemingly very close behind came dawn and with it,
from the doorstep the contrasting colours of a
KINGFISHER
at the garden pond and attendant
GREEN WOODPECKER
on the tennis court but still a little gloomy for 'happy snaps'.
Among the 254 individual specimens of Macro Moth taken from the traps
the bulk of the gentle giant that is
OAK EGGAR
was a 'first for the year' as was
SMALL RUFOUS
SIX-STRIPED RUSTIC
and when we catch the likes of
SCARCE SILVER-LINES
despite it having been recorded and published already in 2020
it is worthy, like good old Aunty BBC, of a 'repete'!
Another interesting little bauble was a 'melanistic'
(dark form)
PEPPERED MOTH
with the archetype shown for comparison.
The departure committee (singular) at the main gate and perched high on the good old
Huawei Telecoms Cables
was this
SWALLOW
likely taking a breather from the
toing and froing that is bringing up the next genreation and while on the
subject of overhead cables we were treated to a 'pass' of the all to infrequent
ELECTRICITY BOARD 'CHOPPER
when we here that whirring sound we're always afraid
that they might have come to take me back to
The Oil Rig.
and while we feel sure that our readership are still
Gunwhales Under
with tales of dithering Grebes, you can never get too much
Good News!
as this morning the
LITTLE GREBEs
were found, seemingly content,
with one hopefully incubating while the other appeared to be on guard?
With little more on the Heath than
Plant Life
we can bring you a couple of these such as
HEMP AGRIMONY
HOARY WILLOWHERB
and
WOODY NIGHTSHADE
also known as
BITTERSWEET
as in the Symphony except without the 'space'.
A more or less empty
Bournemouth International Airport
now that Aladin's Lamp has disappeared but they must surely have made
'a drink' out of all those 'stacked' jet airliners????
Otherwise, we turned our attetion to the acre upon acre of invasive
FERN / BRACKEN / WHATEVER
Look, even the poor
OLD ENGLISH WHITE
steer
is up to his Plimsole Line in it
but every year they spray and spray it again to no effect!
Not in our lifetime perhaps, and certainly not in mine, this will be all
that is left of what was once a completely health heathland.
Maybe better than building houses and a nuclear power station on
⅔ of it across Dorset, all in the name of ‘progress’!!
Again we thank John Gifford for some of the ID's and agreeing others!
