Bitter Suite - Marillion

 With nothing in the Moth Traps other than a most nifty

NURSURY WEB SPIDER
one of the arachnids that bucks the trend of spinning a web, relying entirely on its own speed and agility to capture its prey, which was not the only one bucking the trend.

A spider wanders aimlessly within the warmth of a shadow
Not the regal creature of border caves
But the poor, misguided, directionless familiar
Of some obscure Scottish poet

Masked up like a Rag Man's Trumpet we left the Recording Area behind in favour of Longham, where the lakes are close to the general public as Bird Flu had struck. Fortunately, the adjoining footpath to the Hampreston Water Meadows is still open and the gateway to almost a dozen

WHITE-FRONTED GEESE

a borrowed image to emphisis the point

along with the reasonably long staying

WHOOPER SWAN
Apart from Greylag, Egyptian, Canada and often many hundreds of overwintering Brent
'Geese' are at something of a premium this far south so well worth the short drive.
Back to base and more Tales of the Unexpected as we found this

STONECHAT
in the southern reaches of our area

an occurance that has only been noted once before from thereabouts!
Otherwise, it would seem, the

CORMORANTs

have re-established thier Winter Roost on the distant pylons
as one of the local

PIED WAGTAIL

foraged for survival at the dung heap.
Without expectation the day ended almost as excitingly as it had begun during a dusk stroll along our beat of the River Stour where this

BARN OWL

was quartering the banks.

The mist crawls from the canal
Like some primordial phantom of romance
To curl under a cascade of neon pollen
While I sit tied to the phone like an expectant father
Your carnation will rot in a vase

Marillion