Rat Trap - The Boomtown Rats

It would seem the less we are able to get ‘out and about’ the more we have to cackle about but that seemed to reverse yesterday when we got respite from both wind and rain. We have already decided not to flash up the Heath Moth Traps but the 2 closer to home were worth a go, as proved to be the case! The pre-opening (the traps that is) reci to find residue Moths found the very first Insect to be on the grass close by and also a

 First for the Year

RED UNDERWING

One of the minor 'down-sides' to the study are the opportunist creatures such as Birds, Hornets and small Mammals like our numerous Short-tailed Field Voles nicking these residual Insects but this morning there was a new candidate. This

 

BROWN RAT
had tunneled under the fence but had totally missed the beauty above and our second

F.F.Y.

BLAIR'S SHOULDER-KNOT

 Otherwise and before heading north, we got the distinct impression that maybe some

potential

Winter Residents

 

might be moving in as a dozen+

PIED WAGTAIL
are feeding the soggy, but green tennis court.

Of course it could be equally argued that they are fattening up to head in the opposite direction?
A bit of a strange going on at the Irrigation Pond where c4 Mute Swans still reside,

is this one seriously contemplating 'nesting'?
We lingered for 15 minutes and still the 'construction', whatever, went on?
Apart from the 

c3 strong family of

LITTLE GREBEs

including the juvenile that is still being chased from one end of the
Gravel Pit
to the other by te presumed

Parent Birds
there was nothing, so to the Heath where another half dozen

HOUSE MARTIN
were feeding up along with a single

SAN MARTIN
with none of them landing hence the archive images for illustration, along with

(Creasted) Robin
'Other Perchers'

along the Sewerage Works Fence

were a little more obliging, where this small family party of

BULLFINCH
minus the female were in no hurry.
Finally, in the Solar Panel Compound it looked every bit as thought the rain had encouraged the

GOLDEN WAXCAP

into Bloom, if that is the correct adjective, where again Starlings outnumbered Meadow Pipits, by a large margin, along with the usual Corvids and Common Buzzard. We know not if the single

WHEATEAR

is still that of

recent weeks or another?
However, to find this on the Bird Table when we got back

WALLCREEPER

or was it simply that we clicked the wrong file in the archive and decided
to add the bird we found during a 2 weeks Birding Trip to Bulgaria with Sue back in 2007!