Night Owl - Gerry Rafferty (not for the first time)

 As the wind persists up to gusts of 20 knots+ forcing pulses of heavy rain inland and river levels get back to what has been the norm, a bit of a strange start to the day as at 04:30 a

TAWNY OWL
welcomed the day with not the usual succession of hoots but the occassional prolonged and loud single outburst. Followed at daybreak by a

LITTLE EGRET,
flying west about along the course of the River Stour, given the prevailing conditions and the time of year not at all a bad start to the day, but it was about to get better!

A brief encounter with the Owner, he considered there to be fewer

COMMON SNIPE

at Mash, the most westerly field on the property, which is viewed every day as part of our rounds

without having added this Little Lady / Gent to the Year List.
In fact something of a record breaker as never before have we added Jack Snipe to the list before its bulkier cousin. Bringing up the 75th species of the year for the Recording Area put a spring in the step, while returning to the nearby horse paddocks to find signs of maturity

with someof the

BLACK-HEADED GULLs

already showing signs of 'black' breeding plumage.
With still no sings of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker on the Heath we had to content ourself with both

GREEN WOODPECKER

and

GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER

seen there while

resiteing the traps

in anticipation of another productive Moth season.
It may have been the low level

HELICOPTER

out of Bournemouth International, or even myself, that flushed the tiniest female

SPARROWHAWK
from cover which landed so far away not to allow even a half decent shot at full zoom.

One we caught earlier as

Returning to the Archive.
Meanwhile the tugs were buisily clearing away the last of the unwanted debris at the

Newly Established

Wide Open Spaces

The irresistable

BELTED GALLOWAYs
are always worthy of a Click and a Clip as we headed for the final destination of the day the

MOORS RIVER

where

TEAL

have re-established themselves with

Green Woodpecker
just audible on both clips. 

"Thanks For Joining Us and Passing on the Link for yet another hit increase"