Forever Autumn - Justin Hayward

 The first day of Autumn hoved above the horizon with a Whistle Stop Visit from our valued friend Dave Foot which brought with it the splash of beauty of this

 first for the year

FROSTED ORANGE
and ditto accompanied by a little mirth! 

Oh dear what can the matter be

2 OLD LADIES
locked in a lavatory, they were there from Monday to Saturday,

nobody knew they were there!

There were in fact c3 Old Lady Moths in the same trap with this drawing showing this large moth in its full glory, and with the luxury of outside toilets commited to the distant past these Insects find sheds or other out-buildings in which to 'aestivate' that is to say go into a collective torpor or shallow sleep after emerging.

Otherwise to herald the first day of Autumn there was another gathering of an estimated 1,000+

SWALLOWs
on the overhead cables while on the Heath there were free flying

ICHNEUMAN WASPs

a interesting find by way of a feather of a
JAY,
along with this tiny unidentified

no bigger than a couple of grains of rice
before falling among a small group of common and grounded migrant birds

starting with a lone

and rather frisky

WHINCHAT

followed by

c4

far more obliging

WHEATEAR
before retracing our steps by heading for the

RIVER STOUR
where both Reed and Sedge were heard but not seen.

Best on show there were

blooming

TANSY

a camera shy
Fox Cub

and waterside

REDSHANK
not to be confussed with

REDSHANK
which wasn't seen but a blink of the eye, flying, with prey

SPARROWHAWK
represented here by one from the archive!
We are hoping the trend will continue trroughout the Season.