Feathering its Own Nest

 Had it not been for the collossal number of errors on Sunday's Post this may very well have been the post relating to Monday - But No!!

Corrected by our Long Time Not Seen friend Steve Smith we are happy, by way of thanks, to promote his own Blog but only if you do not forsake ours!!

http://birdingpooleharbourandbeyond.blogspot.co.uk/

Not unusually, we begin with the traps and a couple of additions to the Year List starting with

STRIPED WAINSCOT

and the usually very tightly closed winged

LESSER YELLOW UNDERWING

and as a matter of interest having only captured c2 this year
LOBSTER MOTH
and only a second

WASP
which will by no means be the last, and also maybe of interest we have only got away from being 'stung' during one year here, and of minor interest the (a) male

TUFTED DUCK
has returned / arrived on the Gravel Pit. While heading for the Heath we came to an abrupt halt when sighting busy

SWALLOWs

gathering nesting material of

Mud and Dead Grasses alike

maybe intent, given the lateness of the hour, on a
Second Generation?
and while viewing one of 2 now daily

RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE
once again, and for a third time in as many weekends

we caught the full effect of the
Bomb Blast

and a 'lone red arrow'

with a bit of a jerky Coxswain,
maybe heading back to base?

An absolute favourite met me on reaching the heart of the Heath with the
ASPENs
now in full leaf swaying in the breeze. Unfortunately to heavy handed on the camera the video is over-long for the site - we might get them before the leaves fall??
In the opposite direction and seemingly consigned to the pad the

EUROPEAN CARGO'S
haven't moved for month

while at the height of Covid they never seemed to stop then,

enter the

the most welcome herd of

ENGLISH WHITE's

as the HEATHER starts to show its colour.
Not a lot of Birds and no Reptiles or Mammals as

GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER
put on something of a show while its close cousin

LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER
was in the view-finder for no more than a few seconds.
While there was not a single Dartford Warbler seen and

STONECHAT
remained thin on the ground while

WOODLARK

stole the show

in various stages

of

plumage

and of course pleased not to have missed the
GOATs

LIVING in the PAST - Jethro Tull

Late afternoon the previous day and once again the

RED ARROWS
brought the day to a close and while we have not been keeping a log it seems that their presence has been felt across a full week or maybe as many as 10 days, 'with no complaints there'! However, that didn't induce much in the way of Moth Life with the best from the traps not being a Moth at all but a female

SCORPION FLY
clarified by our friend John and otherwise the most eye-catching of those that did pop in

BORDERED BEAUTY
only our second of the year

SHARK
along with the eye-catching daytime flier

THE CINNABAR
and just before the

CLOUD-BURST
We seemed to be following in the foot-steps of the nearby Lytchett Fields Reserve on Saturday as our patch was graced by a single

LITTLE RINGED PLOVER
once an established breeding bird here, but alas no more - we won't go into detail except for a moment of as the headline suggests!

Confiding small Wading birds there was never a problem getting at close quarters during nest building which would see the birds tossing tiny stones and flints over their shoulders forming a perfectly circular nest area as above. Or for that matter

INCUBATION

First Steps

A Few Days Older

and close to adulthood!
"Will Ye No Come Back Again"?

Having dodged the Rain
we found a few more juvenile

MALLARD

on the
Irrigation Pond
thought to be at least a dozen now?
Not so much luck at the Gravel Pit where seemingly it is only the male Tufted Duck occupying the waters, but a flush of new growth

GREATER REED MACE

once incorrectly accepted as Bull Rush on Pointless as a correct answer!
Apart from just a single

juvenile

MEADOW PIPIT
all else of interest (and interesting it is) to someone who has not an inkling of the workings of

Mechanical or Electrical Devices

preparing to cut mostly the

NETTELS

New Plant

now screening the panels and causing an unacceptable loss in production.
With Electrician Geoff having now sources a new control unit for the long time redundent Moth Trap, and Jose the Maintenance Foreman having brought the whole caboodle together it was left to 'yours truely' to knock up another

CORRAL

to keep the Sheep at bay.

The added trap in the far distance and the

Nettle Cutters

coincidentally clearing the same compound.

FIREING ON ALL 5 TRAPS FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS YEAR, ALL WE NEED NOW ARE THE MOTHS!