Lady of the Lake? - Arthurian Legend

 We kick off today's Post with something that would have been new to me had it been seen but these images of a

ZEBRA (Jumping) SPIDER

taken by John Gifford in his Weymouth garden.
We have further learnt that they are 'ground hunters' rather than web-spinners but we digress as back to Part II of yesterday and a second visit, in as many days to

LONGHAM LAKES
in hope of getting better views of the female Ring-necked Duck that has been gracing the watercourse for a few days now.

We did kick off with a Year Tick and a bird that rarely, if ever, graces our patch

GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL

in bright sunlight followed in quick succession by the usual candidates such as

GREAT CRESTED GREBE

never recorded on home waters and never likely to be!

POCHARD

passing

BLACK-HEADED GULL

before arriving at the

SOUTH LAKE
in the distance.
During that short walk it was found that none of the other enthusiast had yet seen it
so continued with the likes of

CORMORANT

posing perfectly

on the surface while

in sharp contrast to the previous day, when not a single Egret was seen, but a single

LITTLE EGRET
did make the effort.
While land-based contributions were made by

REED BUNTING
and our second Butterfly of the year a

PEACOCK
that was never going to fall to the lens (archive) and while there was a suspicion
of sighting this Duck in the deep dart distance it would be unlikely to satisfy the
British Birds rarity Committee!
However, there is an upside as this gives us perfect reason to reach for the archive again and publish the

pristine male

RING-NECKED DUCK

 

Pitlochry, Scotland

during April 2017
(with male Tufter Duck right for comparison)