When Will I See You Again - The Three Degrees

Maybe the headline should read A Winter's Tale - David Essex, but as the temperature at 04:30 this morning was a searing 3°C and not freezing the Ladies in question are probably more appropriate? Maybe needless to say that there was Nothing of Great Interest except to say having seen my first Ni Moth 'ever' just yesterday it was soon denigrated to the ranks of N of GI (photo to follow). However, flicking though the cupboard we had come up with a few Insects which should have been produced earlier in the year, so take the opportunity to redress that deficit. As for the title of the song, well if all goes as planned a small group of us like minded people should be meeting up for lunch this very day. 

 OAK NYCTEOLINE

GREEN PUG

 PALE OAK BEAUTY

 GOLD SPOT

 With some variation of patterning

 MILLER

 FLAME
and the Micros

AGAPETA ZOEGANA
and

PHAULERNIS FULVIGUTTELLA

Starting the daily 'rounds' of the Farm and again some of the
 600 or so SHEEP grazing the Solar Panel Compounds,

and get through some grass, are moved from time to time.

The path is clear though no eyes can see,
the course laid down long before.
And so with gods and men the Sheep remain inside their pen,
though many times they've seen the way to leave 
Firth of Fifth - Genesis
from the album
Selling England By The Pound
Note the scintillating solo piano intro by Anthony (Tony) Banks
and Steve Hackett's haunting guitar break mid-point.

 We can hardly do the Moths let alone

LARVAE

 but even Caterpillars are a joy to behold.

The first August record here at PCF of

MEDITERRANEAN GULL

which was a 'fly-over', first heard calling then seen only briefly.

The image is from the archive for illustration.

A most welcome sight 'within' the Solar Panel Compound

as this family group of c5

 RAVEN,

 often seen overflying,

this having been the first and only time

 we have been able to get

 anywhere near to them.
Not so this inattentive juvenile

 HERRING GULL

 which seemed to be unaware of the approach until the very last second.

 Everywhere in Large Numbers

 appropriately describes the humble
STARLING

 which has done remarkably well again this season.

 Along the grassy fringes outside of the compounds, now virtually
untouched by humans, Insect populations are also extremely healthy.

SEVEN-SPOT LADYBIRD

LESSER MARSH GRASSHOPPER
and a completely 'new one' for myself

 which we 'potted' and brought back to photograph

STRIPED LADYBIRD
(Live and Learn)

In addition to

 WHITE STONECROP

and a couple of short clips of feeding

MISTLE THRUSH

While lifting the Link to Firth of Fifth we came across this,
which will surely be of interest to some, if not ALL of our readers?
This is Gabriel at his level best and the first time we have seen Banks playing guitar!

Genesis Live - 1973

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In Dreams - Roy Orbison

The Galoshes and Sou' Wester were already on before it was realised that it wasn't raining, strange but maybe it's Summer at last? As noted yesterday, for technical reasons (makes me sound important) we are still a day behind with the Moth Images so what was considered a Good Catch yesterday.

 A 'first' for PCF

 SCARCE BORDERED STRAW

 and after only a 'single' last year

SALTERN EAR

is the first of 2015.

 Also new to the Recording Area

 NI MOTH

(which we are told are being caught in many areas right now)

 with another years first being

COPPER UNDERWING

(we did make a bold attempt to make it Svensson's Copper Underwing

but were advised against)

Back to today and given the dry weather a little more time was put

'in the field' but not a great deal to show.

Approaching the Irrigation Pond the 'pale'

 COMMON BUZZARD

 was perched on what has become its 

 Favoured Vantage Point.

A decent start at the Pond as a 

 YELLOW WAGTAIL

was 'heard only' flying overhead, c3 Green Sandpiper were feeding

in the margins accompanied by the c7 juvenile Mallard and the 

similar aged Coot. Between there and the Gravel Pit a

 COMMON WHITETHROAT

was viewed atop the Fat Hen, but there was nothing to add at the watercourse.

On the Merritown Heath Wildlife Front things were very quiet save for
c5 juvenile Stonechat along with c2 adult Dartford Warbler and

plenty of

ANT EGGS
(will have to get a Goldfish)

Considered most intriguing and thought to be a (regurgitated)
PELLET
it is no more than an inch long and deposited on the top of a fence post.
Any ideas or theories would be gratefully received either via the
Comment facility or to
captbagsy@btinternet.com  

c2 SLOW WORMs
after which at the back of
Bournemouth International Airport
even the noise of aero-engines was being blocked out by that of

HEAVY PLANT
just as the
Purple Haze
crept in, was that a

Black-winged Stilt?

Working Saturday = Overtime
so they really must be in a hurry to get what have been described as
Balancing Ponds Link - Further Reading

no thought not just a
Green Heron

 EXCAVATED

Blue-winged Teal
Diggers and Lorries were at it none stop and it is thought that these

'stills' will give the reader more idea of the dimension.

 Squacco Heron

 Allan's Gallinule

Black-crowned Night-Heron
not a bad start considering there ain't even any water in there yet!
I watch the sun go down like everyone of us.
I'm hoping that the dawn will bring a sign.
A better place for those who will come after us, this time.
I'm just a Dreamer, I dream my life away (oh yeah).
I'm just a Dreamer, who dreams of better days.
Your higher power may be God or Jesus Christ.
It doesn't really matter much to me.
without each others help there ain't no hope for us.
I'm living in a dream of fantasy, oh yeah yeah yeah!

and finally, I received a communique from an ex-colleague, Old Shipmate and Good Friend on-board the Floating Oil Production Platform 'Buchan Alpha, some 120 mile north east of Aberdeen. I had known Dave Penney a number of years before on the 27/12/2007 he approached me and asked "what is it you do for all those hour 'every' morning on the upper deck, when you finish work"? Dave, a most intelligent man anyway was no virgin as far as 'birds' were concerned as all through childhood, and beyond, he had bred Parrots, and can in fact name every Psittacine on the Planet by its Latin name. I invited him to join me and reaching the upper deck asked what he could see on the dormant flare boom. "Yes Dave, Sh*te Hawks but can you see the difference"? He immediately spotted the 'creamy' coloured bird and I have kept that video clip, for posterity, ever since

GLAUCOUS GULL
"Remember this Old Ships"?
It was that very moment he caught the Bug and would often accompany me around the deck and even visit me in Dorset from time to time and vice versa.
When I retired he took over from me the mantle of
North Sea Bird Club Representative and Committee Member.
As those of us who have been 'in the game' for a while know well
the interest is infectious with others, particularly Crew Members
wanting to rub shoulders and bring things to your attention.
This very morning one of the lads plonked this in his hand, a

WRYNECK

a member of the Woodpecker family

and an annual but limited visitor to our shores.

At the time of my leaving the North Sea

WRYNECK
was not on the NSBC List and have not heard of it being added until today.

The
NORTH SEA BIRD CLUB
is considered in the same way as each County of the British Isle and
has its own Bird Recorder, Committee and Archive.

North Sea Bird Club - LINK

WELL DONE DAVE AND GOOD TO SEE YOU HAVE 
REMEMBERED EVERYTHING I TAUGHT YOU - 
THAT WAS THE LONGEST 5 MINUTES OF MY LIFE!

THE 'INVITATION' REMAINS FIRMLY OPEN.

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Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones

It has only been a few days since we returned to a Daily Post but already we find ourselves a day adrift. Today has been none stop rain ranging from light drizzle to heavy showers, from 04:00 to noon, making monitoring of the Moth Trap even more difficult than of late what with Wasp numbers now at plague proportions and this morning made even more hazardous by the arrival of a seemingly very irate

Juvenile MUTE SWAN

standing between myself and the Collection Station.

Gimme Shelter - Link

Not bad for a bunch of 

Septuagenarians

(except for Ronnie Wood that is!)

Returning to yesterday's perambulations, both the Wainscot Family of Moths and Finches in general featured strongly. Of the former there were no fewer than 5 species represented in the traps that morning, while the latter, as far as breeding is concerned, seem to have gone 'bonkers'.

 COMMON WAINSCOT

(which is not the most numerous at the moment)

were taken from the traps in 3 distinctly noticeable 'shades'. 

 with the 'pinkish' individual being the

 most eye catching.

 SMOKY WAINSCOT

 is presently the most numerous of the family while this

 WEBB'S WAINSCOT

 is only the second to be caught here.

 The largest of the group,

BULRUSH WAINSCOT

is the first seen this year at PCF,
while saving Best until Last

 TWIN-SPOTTED WAINSCOT

is not only new to the property but to myself as well.

Of the Finches, it would now be safe to say that there are 'thousands' here, particularly at the northern end and favouring the 'untouched' Solar Panel Compounds. Whether that is 2, 3, 4 or even more 'thousands' we could not even hazard a guess but at times it amount to small swarms. Not surprisingly Goldfinch and Chaffinch are most numerous, but proportionately Greenfinch seem to have fared the best. Linnet are at the bottom of the 'flock' list while there has been no evidence as to the success or otherwise of Bullfinch.

On what was considered by and largely a 'quiet day' we did manage to get close enough to the

 GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER,

now favouring the Tennis Court, to secure these images.
Late afternoon there was another visitation from above as the

RED ARROWS
again put in an appearance. Maybe practising for the upcoming Air Day
at the end of this month, the 'cloud base' will have to improve otherwise
they will be reduced to doing their performance in the
Bournemouth Winter Gardens Theatre?

However, the best was saved until last as Hugh and I we chatting
just short of Slight Return II as a

HOBBY

flew directly overhead.

Despite the weather there was a decent return from the traps today, which we continue to work on right up to the time of going to press. Some promising signs among that haul of 294 Macros of 72 Species with still a small of identification to follow and which my well increase these figures. We will endeavour to bring a few images of these to the Readers attention via the next Post, and just for interest yesterday's numbers read 253 x 66.