Hold the Line - Toto

With the year getting old it has to be a good start when you kick off with an additionto the                 Year List

with a

RED-LINE QUAKER
not rare but none the less 'welcome' and maybe better still

another replacement batch of

Redundant Battery Chickens

having been rescued from the likes of Messers Heinz or Campbell

by Farm Manager Adrian and daughter Layla
and now enjoying something of a different kind of
SOUPADAY!
Once again from the Heath nothing new or extrordianry from the Moth Traps but with the

GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKERs

acrobatically plaural

it was simply amazing

to just

Sit and Stare

despite the distance

eminently watchable in the early morning light.

With just the juvenile (top) and single parent Little Grebe and rather worn

MALLARD
on the Gravel Pit, passing a remaining and even more worn bunch of

CATKINs

on the Irrigation pond we found not only a parant

LITTLE GREBE
but also proved at long last the existance of another

JUVENILE
but only allowing the single shot!

More Fence Panels from Eastern Europe
and a New Kid on the Block

G-LEGC
Embraer Legacy 600 Executive Jet
Geneva Based.
(don't remember seeing that here before?)

This May Be of Interest

 While gathering our thoughts and copping out at the same time on a day full of heavy and frequent rain showers, high winds and frequent but short spells of sunshine there was very little to hold our attention in the Wild World, so thank heaven's for John Giffords most interesting contribution!

Hi Bagsy

 

An adult White-tailed Eagle, identified in the field in 2020 by its ring, has been confirmed as the oldest known individual of this species ever recorded in Britain and Ireland. The eagle had been ringed as a nestling in Highland Scotland in 1996, ageing it as 23 years and 11 months old.

Furthermore, the oldest known British Common Chiffchaff was caught 10 years, 10 months and 27 days after it had initially been ringed at Rutland Water in July 2009. The typical lifespan of this species is around two years.

 

Lee Barber, Ringing & Nest Recording Surveys Organiser at BTO, said: "930,088 birds were ringed by our 3,000 highly trained, licensed volunteers in 2020, a slightly lower total than normal due to the restrictions imposed as a result of Covid 19.

 

"The most commonly encountered species was Blue Tit, with 118,771 individuals ringed, Blackcap (66,799), Goldfinch (56,742), Great Tit (54,405) and Common Chiffchaff (46,001). The large numbers of these species ringed allow us to compare how they are faring in different regions of Britain and Ireland, and in different habitats."

 

BTO Researcher Rob Robinson is one of the scientists who analyses the huge dataset generated by the efforts of these volunteers. He said: "By re-encountering these birds, either through reading of rings in the field or through recapture, researchers can determine whether survival rates are increasing or decreasing.

 

"These re-encounters of individual birds help improve our understanding of their movements, identifying where young birds settle to breed for the first time and how  pressures such as climate and land-use change, drive population declines. For example, recent BTO analyses based on the 15,000 Eurasian Curlew that have been ringed have shown that survival of adult birds is high, and that action to improve conditions for raising chicks is required."

More information can be found on the Online Ringing Report.

 

Cheers John.

Duck's Ditty - Kenneth Grahame

 Again not a lot from any of the Moth Traps but just to keep the interest going a

First for Year

BRINDLED GREEN
was a welcome catch from a modest haul.
Also on the Heath and in line with most years since we have been at it, a small party of c5

BLACK-TAILED GODWIT

crossed the clear blue sky and while these are not they

easily identifiable from the white wing-bars and rump.

Even more joy at the Gravel Pit where the female
TUFTED DUCK

had attracted a male, even thought outside of the breeding season making for a

Fine Pair.

All along the backwater through the rushes tall, Ducks are a-dabbling up tails all. Duck's tails, drakes tails yellow feet a-quiver yellow bills all out of sight busy in the river.

while we were at it and while in posing mode we once again took advantage of the juvenile

LITTLE GREBE

while across the Solar Panel Compound there was no more than a few sparkling young

STARLINGs

while at the end of the wander we were

happy to play host to this equally attractive

RED ADMIRAL

Blackberry Way - The Move

 Given what is considered a large number for here, the close on 30 strong skien of a previous post, it was no surprise to find a brace of

GREYLAG GEESE
circling the Heath, on the way to the Moth Traps this morning

before alighting just briefly on one of the small number of grassy patches.

With the air temperature at mid-night being +12°C and a lowly +5°C at dawn hopes were not high but in the event, at least we added

BROWN-SPOT PINION

to a Year List that is hovering very close to

360 species of Macro Moths.

Also buzzing around a was a

GOLDEN-RINGED DRAGONFLY
which in September at about at the end of their flight period while the

SPECKLED WOOD
sunning itself on the gate post may at least see October?

Maybe this is the last of the

SMOOTH SNAKEs
which we may have hinted before while, it looks by the pellets,

that the OWLs may have moved back in?

ALDER BUCKTHORN
is slowly shedding its leafs and at long last

and now bearing Fruit

as are the Brambles with

BLACKBERRIES
aplenty while the

female

TUFTED DUCK

is living in harmony with this year's and now self sufficient

LITTLE GREBE
and while there are still a few small clusters of last years

OAK APPLEs
we still haven't located a single Acorn yet!