Fish Out of Water - Tears For Fears

Yet another sparkling Spring-like day and one that was spent mostly on the Farm followed by a quick circuit of Longham and a peek into the Gravel Pit. One long outstanding item here has been to check out the abundance of small Fish at Parley Pond and endeavour to identify them as to species.

All in the 3 Moth Traps this morning was this lone

CATERPILLAR

thought to be that of either Rufous or Marbled Minor Moth?

and as a welcoming committee this male MALLARD was
almost on the front door step as I set out for the pond!

The return of the Prodigal

There have been a number of reports that 'the'
LITTLE GREBE
had returned, but this morning I saw it for myself!

MOORHEN in the MIST

PARLEY POND
stretching into the distance and the small waterfall which forms
the 'overspill' to the pond and then continues to run under the road.

It then forms this tiny subsidiary pond,

which is teaming with small Fish, before emptying into the
River Stour
by way of a small brook.

 

Armed with Hugh's dip-net and a slice of Janet's
home made bread (that nothing or no one can resist) the task

of catching a few specimens was very easy not to mention
reminiscent of Childhood Days.
Having taken a few photographs the walk was continued via
 
 the already mentioned brook.
 Here was found quiet a few Redwing,

DRONE FLY - Eristalis tenax

on DANDELION

an example of (Common) GORSE which I am told needs careful
study of the flower to determine Common oppose to Western Gorse.
A little beyond me, so sorted by John Gifford.

The walk terminated at the
RIVER STOUR
as I was anxious to get to Longham Lake to try and secure
the ID of the Fish.

Invited by the Water Bailiff, Ian Heyward, into the Inner Sanctum of the

Education Centre
(a fine purpose built construction)
we pawed through the Field Guide and agreed this is a

MINNOW

However, the second specimen was to cause something of a problem and by the time I left the riddle remained unsolved. Along the way no fewer than 4 'anglers' were consulted and shown the pictures, with a resultant 4 different answers ranging from Roach to Chub. In addition the images were sent to John who's ID of all things wild I have come to rely on, so will go with his finding of DACE. If you know differently Prey Tell!

OK, while all the waterside Willows have had to go
(a Legal Requirement it is said)

but elsewhere regeneration is being taken care of.

CHIFFCHAFF

to loud vocal accompaniment c7 were logged.

DUNNOCK

REED BUNTING

good numbers at Lakeside now.

STONECHAT

keeping its distance.

MEADOW PIPIT

PEACOCK BUTTERFLY

my 'first' of the year.

while at the newly discovered Gravel Pits the

SHELDUCK

numbers have now reached 2, let's watch for any developments!

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Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien

There was no intention of a Post today, but given the outcome of the prediction on Tuesday 11th March 2014 there is an urge to let the readership know that there was a

LITTLE RINGED PLOVER

this morning at the recently discovered Gravel Pits close to Hurn Village. The site cannot be described as 'inaccessible', but even with the aid of my favourite Banksy-ism even I am not prepared to broach the boundaries. Much human activity, heavy plant dashing hither and thither, warnings of quick sand etc was enough to keep me at the view-point close to the main road. On the strength of this the image above has been taken from the 'archive'.

With good weather predicted, with no signs of FOG, throughout tomorrow it was thought worthwhile doing a 'day list' (twitch) on the farm as the first inbound migrant was heard CHIFF-CHAFFING this morning.

KEEP THE FAITH

The Turn of the Screw - Henry James

Spring has sprung,

the grass is grise

I wonder where the Birdies is? 
With reference to our last Post,
my extremely persistent friend advises me that the 
Unidentified 'Fly' is not a Fly at all but a male

MOSQUITO

Culex Pipiens

 Thanks John.

At 03:00 this morning not even the glow from the nearby Moth Traps could be seen from the bedroom window, yet by 09:00, when I eventually got to Longham, all that was blocking the view were the swarms of Midges, thankfully not the aggressive type. Before all of that however, there were another 2 additions to both the Property and my Personal Moth Lists the first being the very dainty

 SMALL QUAKER

(please note the superb Lichen)followed by

 TWIN-SPOTTED QUAKER

also in the trap, joining the ranks of the 

Weird and Wonderful

 this rather large (by UK standards at least)

"a mature Tegenaria SPIDER Sp" and

BLACK MILLIPEDE

Tachypodoiulus niger

On the Farm today the Little Grebe was seen to be either 'back' or out of hiding as at least one Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard 'drumming', while the 'yaffles' of close cousin the Green Woodpecker seemed to be coming from all directions. Goldfinch are also back on the feeders, so a new sack of Niger Seed has been bought in, and with water levels much reduced the odd Little Egret has been dropping in to capitalise on the easy pickings. This is where I have spent the most of my day simply observing what the most welcome warm weather has stimulated and there was plenty to see.

SWEET VIOLET
Viola odorata

CULTIVATED DAFFODIL
one of dozens of varieties now springing up all over the place.

 The (Giant) RED-EARED TERRAPIN

has emerged for the first time this year from Parley Pond.
Loving the recent warm sunshine in spends most of the day on
this steep bank, and when disturbed simply 'lets go' and drops
back to the safety of the 'deep'.

FIELD SPEEDWELL
alternative names Persian or Winter Speedwell and Bird's-Eye.

COMMON DAISY

BUFF-TAILED BUMBLEBEE

the most numerous of its kind in Europe,
there were quite a few about during my wander.

RED DEAD-NETTLE

HAIRY BITTERCRESS
Then over to Longham Lakes for just a single circuit.

My skills on estimating large numbers of birds is POOR, which
is just being kind to myself. The number of Gulls at the Lakes
and the surrounding Farm Land on Friday were of 'swarm'
proportions and if a figure were to be guessed 5,000 would
surely be well short of the mark?

Unfortunately, it was impossible to capture the full dimension, but
sufficient to say that by far the most numerous were Black-headed,
followed by Mediterranean then just a few Common, Herring and
Lesser Black-backed. Closer examination of this image will reveal 

a number of Meds.

Some of the Gulls may be visible in this shot taken across the

previously flooded meadows.

immature HERRING GULL

REED BUNTING

numbers much increased here during recent days.

Close encounter with a

COMMON BUZZARD

and to end what I thought to be a most ingenious photograph

sent by one of our most devoted readers.

The Captain of Queen Mary 2 got a new perspective on the world's largest ocean liner when he posed for this amazing photograph. Captain Kevin Oprey stood on the ship's bulbous bow, which protrudes from the front of the 151,200 tonne liner, to pose for a portrait with his ship.

Well, if you think he's going to get away with that, try this for size!

Having attained the 'dizzy heights' of Able Seaman in the Royal Navy

by 1964, this shot was taken sitting on the screw (propeller) of

the Tribal Class Frigate

HMS ESKIMO

during refit in Portsmouth Dockyard prior to a years deployment 

to the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean.

15 - 2 that one Skips!

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