Night Owl - Gerry Rafferty

Not a drop of rain overnight on Thursday and with the wind being no more than a zephyr, surely we were in for a decent return from the Moth Traps, but NO! By dawn the temperature here had plummeted to a chill +6° C bringing with it another dramatic drop in Insect numbers and just a single addition to the Year List by way of

 SHORT-CLOAKED MOTH

 certainly one of the small of the Macros.

The best of the 'also rans' tells a story in itself with the most attractive

 BLOTCHED EMERALD

leading the way and followed by

 BLOOD-VEIN

 and

KNOT GRASS

 GARDEN PEBBLE

 was representative of the Micros

 while a beautiful and tiny

 16-SPOT LADYBIRD

brought up the rearguard.  

 On Merritown the Erica's or Heather are now starting to bloom

poker-dotting the area with purple Patches of 2 distinct Species.

 CROSS-LEAVED HEATH

 and

DORSET HEATH

ANT'S NEST with abundance of EGGS.

Before leaving we were able to grab this short video clip of a

disappearing

SLOW WORM
Walking back to the Strange Rover we did nothing more than 'hear' a

 DARTFORD WARBLER

but reason enough to draw a couple of images from the archive.
To say that the situation regarding the status of these tiny and most vulnerable
Warblers is of 'great concern' would be an understatement to say the least.
This time last year we had estimated 27 juvenile birds across the Heath,
in various stages of development,
while yesterday's record was the 'first' and 'only' record during June this year!!

With the exception of the Trail Camera Updates all of the rest

of the days action turned up more or less on our front door step!
These 3 predated 

 MALLARD
eggs were only a few yards away and found within a 6 foot circle,

 and soon after finding

 we were paid a very brief visit by an overflying

COMMON BUZZARD

 c2 Species of Fungi have now sprung up all across the lawn

 MYCENA
and

PANAEOLUS

 While this male

 KESTREL

 having wreaked havoc among the smaller birds, especially nestlings,

finally perched long enough for a photo-call.

JACKDAW
videoed through the window taking the bread scattered for the smaller birds.
As afore mentioned, the Trail Cameras showing a New Addition.

Male STONECHAT with juvenile.

TAWNY OWL

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The Green, Green Grass of Home - Tom Jones

Returns from the Moth Traps remain seasonable low, but on the bright side

the odd First for the Year does slip through the bad weather net.

This is what we refer to in England as

FLAMING JUNE

 SMALL FAN-FOOT

TREBLE BROWN SPOT

 and the Micro

 EUROPEAN CORN-BORER

Thought to be the Larvae of

YELLOW-TAILED MOTH

From a dew-soaked hedge creeps a crawly Caterpillar,

When the dawn begins to crack.

It's all part of my Autumn Almanac.

The Kinks

also caught in one of the traps.

An absolute delight to start our wander

 as close to the Sewerage Works

 we found this white (albino??)

 FOXGLOVE

not a variant we have ever noted in the Recording Area before.

There have been up to c10

 EGYPTIAN GEESE

in our area over the past few days, but a chance encounter with 

Greg, the neighbouring farmer, showed the number to be closer to c15.

 Young

 CHAFFINCH

benefit from the endless food supply in the Solar Panel Compounds'

from the likes of 

 MEADOW FOXTAIL

 ROUGH-STALKED MEADOW GRASS

 SMOOTH MEADOW GRASS

we thank our friend John Gifford for enlightening us as to identification.

 'Ragged' ROBIN

the breeding season is extremely tough on birds, particularly the smaller ones!

There are but 2 known

 ALDER BUCKTHORN

 within the Recording Area which at the moment are like many other

Plants are in full bloom. Not of a spectacular blossom but certainly enough

to attract many 'hundreds' of

 WHITE-TAILED BUMBLEBEE

and

COMMON CARDER BEE

the collective 'drone' could be heard at great distance.

On the drive back to Base we came across this

 juvenile male

 KESTREL

 which was attracting the attention and intolerance of a host of small birds.

Most daring of the c15 passerines present were

PIED WAGTAIL

with Greenfinch, Meadow Pipit and Mistle Thrush also a part of the group.

Restricted in our Ability to Maneuver

The Strange Rover

all of these images and video clips

had to be taken through the windscreen.

We'll have to drum-up another excuse for the rest!

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Clutching at Straws - Marillion

Yet another period of heavy overnight rain, about the 5th
in a row by my calculation, the only advantages being a
Guard and Steerage,
 the Royal Naval expression for an extra lie in the bunk,
and not having to water the Strawberries.
ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE!
From the Moth Traps, and all New for the Year, we had

 CABBAGE MOTH

 CYPRESS CARPET

 DARK SWORD-GRASS

 DWARF CREAM WAVE

 not a particularly inspiring looking bunch but all grist to the mill.

The Dark Sword-grass is likely an 'immigrant', always welcome!

Not a lot of action to show for the first part of our wander today in fact the Wildlife was more of a 'static nature' than the mobile (Bird/Mammal) kind. A wander round Parley Pond threw up

 WHITE CAMPION

 RAGGED ROBIN

and

RED CAMPION

and then something of a lull until reaching the Irrigation Pond where

more a case of Clutching at Straws than anything else

we recorded one of the

COOT

patrolling the nest.

On the way round to the Heath we took a closer look at the

 ROWANS

 which are now all in full bloom and again the realisation of just how many 

GREENFINCH

 we have here. 

A large and healthy population which seem to have had

a terrific Breeding Season.

and we simply title this clip

"The Grass is Always Greener"

While it is general practice to monitor the

Reptile Covers

every second Sunday, sometimes it become all too much 

of a temptation to take a peek which was the case yesterday

when the (just) 2 that were turned produced a thriving

 ANT COLONY

plus a rather chunky

SLOW WORM

 For no other reason than it looked attractive we captured this

BRAMBLE of BLACKBERRY

 What followed next could be described as a 

Mini Purple Patch

as in quick succession 3 things not seen here before were noted.

Instantly recognised, due to many years spent on Portland,

where it is prolific,

 VIPER'S BUGLOSS

was something of a surprise but only 2 stems.

 The next we are told by our friend John Gifford, who worked at the Airport
for a number of years, is not unusual here a

 BROWN HARE

followed, as if there needed to be 'icing on the cake', by a

 KINGFISHER

 at the recently dug

Balancing Pond.

It should be note that thus far we have resisted the temptation to start a

Balancing Pond List, 
but now more's the pity!

 Our final location for the day was the

 Eco Recycling Works,

or perhaps more correctly the rubble-strewn area behind,

 where we quickly picked up on one of the 'many dozens' of this years

PIED WAGTAIL

 but as usual our main target were the

LITTLE RINGED PLOVER

which, due to the continuous 'location calls' of the parent birds

are rarely difficult to find.

Our final record for the day concerned this pair of

STOCK DOVE

cavorting on the roof of one of the large sheds.

As promised in a previous Post we can now bring you

footage of the completed

SOIL BUND

(open to visitors Monday to Friday £20 per head

but please don't let the Dampney Family know

they are sure to want a 'discount'.

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