Cowboy Song - Thin Lizzy

Have suffered a minor glitch with the Internet Connection over the past few days, but all seems well this morning. Foul weather more or less prevented any 'field work' yesterday, so once again gainfully employed on the Memoirs - have now reached the Seychelles 1966, 130 pages, 67,000 words.
Otherwise, we did spend some time among the Solar Panels on the other days which are proving to be a great attraction and sanctuary for Birds and other Wildlife alike.

DUNNOCK

plenty of them,

with Solar Panel backdrop.

CHIFFCHAFF

also in double figures but no sign of the 'Siberian' since Tuesday.

Unusually 'Off Piste' on Wednesday as no more than a whim took

me down to the River Avon Causeway.

c2 EGYPTIAN GEESE

were among a throng of

c214 WIGEON

and put on a fine preening display.

BLACK-HEADED GULLs

along with a lone

LAPWING

before I headed back to Merritown Heath and a rendezvous with

GARY CLARK

the Herdsman who has the c4 Belted Galloways (among others) under his charge.

While I contact Gary each time I spot the bovines on the Heath

this was our first meeting at the occasion of TB and Pregnancy Testing.

Romanian Vet Micheal was there to do the 'dirty' work

first measuring skin thickness

before administering the 'jabs'

while I thought it best to spare the reader the images of the

Pregnancy Tests.

Results are now know and the news is part Good, part Bad.

While there is no sign of any TB in any of the animals there is also

NO signs of any Calves.

Just a trace of

STEREUM HIRSUTUM

on the Heath and a final

ROBIN
again at the Solar Farm.
We hope for no further Communication Breakdown, so will talk soon!

Entry	Pageviews
United Kingdom	434
United States	144
Germany	108
China	57
France	56
Russia	55
Estonia	26
Canada	23
Ukraine	19
Czech Republic	10 - GREAT to see the CZECH REPUBLIC back in the frame!

Smooth - Santana

With the see-sawing weather pattern of late, hard frost one night, temperature nudging double figures the next, we have been selectively running at least one trap when thought suitable. Blank most nights agreed, but Sunday did produce a couple of specimens.

 FEATHERED THORN
considered by others to be a female as lacking the 'feathered' antenna.

DECEMBER MOTH

We did promise ourselves that we wouldn't lift the galvanised metal
sheets placed around the Irrigation Pond to attract hibernating
Reptiles, Amphibians etc more than once a month, and then only for
the fleetest of moments.

Immediate success as

under 2 of them there were a total of c4

SMOOTH (Common) NEWT

a single
DUSKY SLUG

One of the

GLASS SNAIL Species

along with c2
COMMON KEELED SLUG

Up at Eco, in the northern part of the property there are usually a few

HERRING GULLs

to be found, but at the other end it is a rare bird to be found perched.
Nice then to get this young bird perched on Harbins Farm House roof.

SPINDLEBERRY

still adorn the hedgerows in good numbers, while also abundant here are

BADGERs
rarely seen except one, like this, meets its Waterloo
found dead on Merritown Heath.

More excellent news from GOLDBECK the German Solar Panel Company who after completing the contract have planted about 2 miles of hedgerows around the Northern Sector and constructed more hibernaculars for Snakes, Lizards etc. 

They have now sited c4

BARN OWL
Nest Boxes across the area and already it might be said that interest has been shown.
I have never 'seen ' one on the Farm and only ever 'heard' 2, but as the last box was
being fixed to one of the fence post Chris Sugden watched a singe quartering the
panels as he did the job.
All else here involves plants, one of which

WHITE DEAD NETTLE
wasn't expected to be in bloom at this time of year??

The other, which maybe considered to be growing in plague proportions, is
CANADIAN FLEABANE
The huge area, again behind Eco, is covered in it and is attracting
various species of small birds, including the Siberian Chiffchaff
(which was still there yesterday), in their 'hundreds'!
and finally another trio of photographs taken by my friends
 from their garden in Phuket, Thailand

OLIVE-BACKED SUNBIRD

ORANGE-BELLIED FLOWERPECKER

CRIMSON SUNBIRD

Entry	Pageviews
United Kingdom	493
United States	147
Germany	101
Russia	47
China	46
Estonia	25
France	23
Canada	11
Ukraine	10
India	7

Pheasant Plucker's Song - Traditional

Notice:- Readers can take heart that the 

Reverend William Archibald Spooner

has been BANNED from this Post!

Me husband is a keeper, he's a very busy man, 

I try to understand him and I help him all I can, 

But sometimes of an evening I feel a trifle dim, 

All alone and plucking pheasants when I'd rather pluck with him. 

I'm not the pheasant plucker, 

I'm the pheasant plucker's mate 

And I'm only plucking pheasants 

Cos the pheasant plucker's late.  

There has been a varied selection of weather over the past 3 days as the Full Moon started to wane. Bright and sometimes warm Sunshine, Mist, Rain, a small burst of Hail, relatively High Wind and even a Frost - certainly keeps life interesting! All of that time has been spent at PCF with each day including a cursory search for the Siberian Chiffchaff from Saturday. It was located on Sunday when, believe it or not, it was seen 'displaying' (quite a sight), but since then there has been neither sight nor sound. However, the first set of images on this Post hail from a little further back than that and although agreed some are slightly unseasonable, all were taken in the last 10 days.

 FEATHERED THORN
along with an unidentified

 (Tortix) Micro Moth
may represent the last of the Moths for this year, but we are still
running a single trap whenever it is considered there is half a chance.

 DRONEFLY

 FLESHFLY

 HARLEQUIN LADYBIRD
(from the interior of Slight II)

The Spider 

PISAURA MIRABLIS
along with the following have visited the trap, or as stated otherwise,

 On the doorstep at Slight Return II awaiting MY return a large

 BUFF-TAILED BUMBLEBEE

JAY

of the slightly bolder variety,

visited Harbins Garden along with

 just what we have been hoping for,

RED SOLITARY BEE

sometimes known as

Red Mason Bees

Not surprisingly 'on its own' it was immediately taken to the latest

 BEE HOTEL

newly stationed amid the Ivy Bank where a

 RED ADMIRAL

 was still showing some interest in the Ivy Blossoms and Fence Palings.

A stranger to Parley Pond over the last few months, but as the
weather grows colder, guess we'll be seeing a little more of this

CORMORANT

With most of the deciduous trees now bare of their leaves we start
to see some of the hidden secrets of the Spring.
GOLDFINCH NEST
Otherwise, at the Irrigation Pond there have been plenty of 'small'
birds, but except for Mute Swans totally devoid of any form of
Wildfowl.

From there, the best we can offer is the 'first'

PHEASANT
to visit that sacred soil since the refurbishment.

HE was there with his Harem of c2 female both of which were
sticking very much to the dense cover.
Barrow Poets Link 
Still a bit of Fungi to be found including

 RAZOR STROP

on Silver Birch

RUSSULA AQUOSA

 XYLARIA HYPOXLON

and still a few blooms of

SCENTLESS MAYWEED

Entry	Pageviews
United Kingdom	472
Germany	181
United States	149
Russia	67
China	48
France	35
Ukraine	34
Estonia	13
Canada	11
India	8