Lucky Stars - Dean Friedman

"and you can thank your Lucky Stars 

that we're not as smart as we like to think we are"!

Had we been that smart, the Weatherman would have got the prediction right and there would have been no lull in yesterday's foul conditions between 05:00 and noon! As it was we were given ample time to check the Moth Traps, reported yesterday, and then get about doing some serious fieldwork. The first part of that has already been covered so now we can continue at 08:00 heading north to the Common and Merritown Heath. Among the Solar Panels were hundreds of 'mixed' Finches but out of all of them it was left to this single

GOLDFINCH

to linger long enough for us to get a snap.

MEADOW PIPIT
were also well represented, but we were hoping to improve on what was
achieved at the first attempt.

ROE DEER
broke cover briefly

and we did encounter more

MEADOW PIPIT

with only slight improvement on previous shots,
time to turn some corrugated metal sheets.
For our labours we managed to find and photograph

BLACK SLUG

VIOLET GROUND BEETLE

a small 

COMMON TOAD,

not much bigger than a 50 pence coin, along with a few

EARTH WORMs
(don't think Earth Worm has ever featured through these pages??)

Further along the run of panels

MISTLE THRUSH
had started to pose but not enough to keep us hanging about.
At Merritown Gate and still under the watchful eye of CCTV

We again encountered

WHINCHAT,

this time c2, but the images showed no improvements.
Now the 4 Belted Galloway Cattle have been confined,
by electric fence, to the small area known as The Island

there is nothing to Hoover up the 'fallers'

and there are still 10x as many yet to drop.
DO BADGERS LIKE APPLES??

Then came a little more excitement as
REPTILES
started playing a part

with first to show a couple of

SMOOTH SNAKE
(which were later added to by a further 3)

COMMON LIZARD
plus c2 Grass Snakes

and another

SMOOTH SNAKE
(that is considered to be c21 for the year thus far)

It was almost
SPINDLE-BERRIES
that brought the morning to and end, but no once again it was the
Heavy Downpour of Rain.

We are well aware that you would feel 'seen off' if you were not
bored shipless by even more

SMOOTH SNAKEs

If you have got this far and seen all the footage you can surely put the
NYTOL

to bed!

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Rastaman Chant - Bob Marley and the Wailers

Although GLOOMY this morning (we can do GLOOMY) the heavy rain band predicted to hit us at about 05:00 fortunately didn't materialise, and held off for all of the morning. However, as we take our seat to scribe today's epistle, at 14:00, the heavens have just opened and it looks like there is plenty more to come.

A gathering of

STARLINGS

as we collected the Moth Traps this morning.

Within, were good numbers of Insects

and while nothing Rare or Additional there were a couple of flurries of Interest.

 SCALLOPED OAK

not recorded for a while now.

 RED-LEGGED SHIELDBUG
The proceedings were interrupted by the 'take-off' of this

 most impressive looking

 Military Transport Aircraft

the
AIRBUS A400M 'FLYING TRUCK'
well worth the interlude wouldn't you say?
to continue

 As the name suggests this is by no means a scarce Moth but,

 like many individuals of the 'Carpet' Family being so delicate they

are often damaged to one extent or another.

Excellent then to see such a pristine

 COMMON MARBLED CARPET

and 'finally', from the traps that is, this was immediately a

SETACEOUS HEBREW CHARACTER 

but so strange looking being so pale.

Doubt that this is as unusual as might be thought, but we have

never seen one like it before!

Over the past week or so there has been a little apprehension about

a plant that has sprung up amid the Game Crop sown during early

Summer to give the Pheasants some cover and food. That was my

first destination this morning to see what all the fuss was about.

On arrival c2 

 YELLOW WAGTAILs

were flushed from the edge of the field before we continued the investigation.

 During my life and particularly during extensive travels lots of

MARY JANE

has been seen growing in various countries as a crop, in private gardens

and even by the roadside as was the case in 

 Bulgaria (2001) in the company of

BIG FAT BILLY

seen here supporting his Ol' Dad

"I still don't think that Marijuana was kosher Billy"

so we have a rough idea what it looks like.

Well, it looks something like it, although the leaf doesn't look quite serrated enough

compared to the Hydro Grown Plant (Wiki).

Just to be on the safe side this plant will be destroyed tomorrow!

Inspection completed and images sent off for a second opinion, within 

5 minutes we had encountered c2

GREY WAGTAIL

and in short time, to make up the 'hat-trick' a small group of

PIED WAGTAIL

As we go to Press the rain is still 'chucking it down' but
this is only Part One of today's offering. As we are indisposed for all
of tomorrow, it would seem unlikely that we will have time to publish a
Post. Therefore, the remainder of today's action, complete with images
and video clips, will be published tomorrow.
MANY THANKS FOR TUNING IN!

O, to be in England now that Autumn's (sic) there!

Robert Browning

If it keeps on raining - yes we know!

Just to Prove CRAFTSMANSHIP is Surely Dead

The Music is Pretty Solid too!

Our THANKS to Willie Wine for yet another

Magic Moment

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Fox on the Run - Sweet

FOR FOX-SAKE!
If it keeps on raining the Levee's goin' to break,

If it keeps on raining the Levee's goin' to break,

When the levee breaks I'll have no place to stay.

APPALLING is about the only adjective to describe the overnight weather which once again amounted to heavy and almost persistent rain, driven by a gale-force wind albeit low on the Beaufort Scale. The same word was being conjured applying to the Moth Traps, as we reached the end of the fourth with all to show being

 MAGPIE

and

 ROSY RUSTIC

that, however, was before arriving at the penultimate egg tray

deep in the bowel of the 5th and last which produced a far more

striking and obliging

 PINK-BARRED SALLOW

 than yesterday's individual.

Right along side of that was this

FROSTED ORANGE 

yet another addition to the 

Recording Area Year List.

Sporadically wet, continuously windy but with a little success that was the
story of the Moth Traps followed by a visit to the
Irrigation Pond
to where a lone

GREEN SANDPIPER

 had returned and was found in the company of a

 PIED WAGTAIL
and

RABBIT
Further on, the Gravel Pit was all but devoid of Birds
but a movement in the corner of the eye revealed a

 FOX

heading for the undergrowth then changing its mind.
A short wander through the long grass to Merritown Heath produced both

 RED ADMIRAL

 and

PEACOCK
BUTTERFLIES
while on the Heath

DARTFORD WARBLER
and

STONECHAT
were both quick to appear which certainly hasn't been the trait
in recent weeks.

 Another
FIELD VOLE

was found under one of several sheets of corrugated metal, while at the
Bournemouth International Airport Perimeter Fence

there was a small gathering of juvenile Stonechat

among which was a long awaited addition to our Bird List here.

 WHINCHAT
is a common enough migrant which up until today has remained a total strange
to both Parley Court Farm and Merritown Heath.
Just to maintain a high degree of ego and kudos, we would describe our own images

 

of the bird as PATHETIC so the 2 above are drawn from Wiki for illustration. 

There are at least 2 Families of

KESTREL
which have reproduced on the Heath this year, but apart from in the
'high tops' of the surrounding Pine Trees they are rarely seen
at perch.

 Today was an exception, but as can be seen by shift of location this
individual was also a bit mobile.
It is thought that today added credence to the adage
IT'S AN ILL WIND THAT BLOWS NOBODY ANY GOOD!
we done alright!

Cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good.

Now, cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good.

Cus when the Levee breaks, mama, yer gotta move!

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GREAT to see you back and bringing memories of heady nights in Bucharest! CHEERS.