Tuesday 6 July 2021

The Emerald - Thin Lizzy

  There's a feeling I get when I look to the west
and my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees
and the voices of those who stand looking!


And it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune
then the piper will lead us to reason
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter
Do You Remember Laughter?

Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
It looked rather ominous early doors but only a token light shower tried to mar the activity at the Moth Traps
Straight in with the Big Kids as we plucked our first of the year
LARGE EMERALD
from the collar of the trap and shown here with one of the smaller species of that division
Small Grass Emerald
for size comparison which we have yet to capture in 2021.
Additionally and of the same f.f.y. distinction.
RIVULET
BUFF ARCHES
in all its glory
SMALL FAN-FOOT
along with
DOUBLE LOBED
and once again the irrisistable
SCARCE MERVEILLE du JOUR
which has become just about daily over the last 2 or 3 weeks!
The weather got no brighter, but no mind, as we did wander into something of a
Purple Patch
starting with just a 30 second 'fly-by' of a female
HEN HARRIER
flying to the east across the open moor until disappearing over the trees.
We have never been lucky enough or stealthy enough to capture such a magnificent raptor on celuloid, hence the borrowed image, but this all to short flash was a carbon copy of a similar event back in December 2016.
It was the chattering calls of
CROSSBILLs
'plaural' from afar which had us catch sight of this
male while only minutes later another familiar rumble from above, the mid-morning
AIRBUS
Delight only tells part of the emotion on finding a
'second'
LITTLE GREBE
on the Gravel Pit so still time yet for a bunch of Humbugs as their young are described
while this juvenile
MOORHEN
has been here for a few days now.
As if the cherry were not already firmly on the cake as we sat in the 
Mobile Wildlife Hide a.k.a. the Strange Rover, yet another familiar trill from above caught our ear
as landing not 10 yards away was what we have to describe as the first 'returning'
GREEN SANDPIPER
and as predicted in a previous post the first flowering
MULLEIN
That might have been the end of it, but it just seemed to be one of those everlasting days as we made aquaintance of yey another brace of ladies from
EDDIE STOBART's
HAREM
but it was to be the
ROYAL AIR FORCE GLOBEMASTER
which had the final say on a none to tardy day!

Down from the glen came the marching men,
with their shields and their swords.

To fight the fight they believed to be right,
to overthrow the overlords.
To the town where there was plenty,
they brought plunder, swords and flame.

When they left the town was empty,
children would never play again!

The Emerald - Thin Lizzy

This morning started very much as yesterday ended and looks like we wont be strayin to far today?

"Oh to be in England now that Summer's here"

A slightly abridged version of Robert Brownings sentiments, he refered to April!