Lounge Lizard - Ian Hunter / Mick Ronson

 We are neither Nigel Mansell or Lewis Hamilton so generally stick well within the bounds of the Highway Code, which was the case last evening. For no reason of logic it suddenly came to mind that we would check the time it takes for the round trip of flashing up the traps on the heath. It would have been 30 minutes 'on-the-nose' had it not been for the unusually high volume of traffic as we attempted to turn into the main gates, but had it not been so we would have missed the ghostly apparition of a

BARN OWL

cutting our track from right to left across the main pond

before disappearing across the Golf Course.
A late, but always welcome addition to the Year List!
At first light there were no prizes for guessing where we were as in the first insyance a couple of

CLOUDED DRAB

were plucked from the traps followed by similarly 'first for the year' c4 in number

DOUBLE-STRIPED PUG
While emphasising once again that "we don't do Micro Moths", who wouldn't break with tradition  when finding such a beauty as

ACLENIS LITERANA
within? Add to that a dozen or so Dor Beetles and but a single

MINATOR BEETLE
left and sporting the horns the day had started with a bit of a bang!
Long overlooked, it used to be regular practice to monitor the

COMMON or SMOOTH NEWT
under covers at the Irrigation Pond before returning to the water after their

Winter Hibernation.
A natural progression from that was surely a visit to the Solar Panel Compound and the only site we know of for

COMMON LIZARD

before they also dissapear in Spring.

At the Gravel Pit there was to be a further addition to the list as a

REED BUNTING
betrayed its own presence with a series of short vocals while the picture turned to 'gloom' on the

HEATH
but nevertheless one or 2 things of note

such as the return of the presumed female

KESTREL

of last year looking none the worse for the

Winter Sabbatical.
With still no signs of a Dartford Warbler and the Linnet's seeminly having abandoned ship

it was left to this overly obliging

STONECHAT
to pad out the page while keeping the other eye on our

first signs of nesting with feather carrying

LONG-TAILED TIT

then  returning via the Moors river and a small pod of

MALLARD
to find firstly c2 juvenile

MUTE SWANs

followed by a trio

and finally a full

QUARTET
Considered strange as for the first year ever we found no signs of successful breeding right across The Recording Area!
Finally, a little Food for Thought!
"What odds do you think Ladbrooks might have offered against us capturing such a clip"?

Through the Caravan Window!