Sheep - Pink Floyd

From the Album

Animals

After the 'goodies' of Sunday it was rather a case of

After the Lord Mayor's Show

and with the overnight temperature only able to cling to rather low double digits

there was little to recover from the Moth Traps.

Best of the Bunch and both First's for the Year were the rather delightful

LILAC BEAUTY

along with a little less colourful

CREAM WAVE

 A rather poor crack at 

snapping and videoing this juvenile

 GREENFINCH

was fllowed by a wander through the  

 OX-EYE DAISIES

to the bank of the River Stour to find that the neighbouring farmer had managed to

MOW and BALE his HAY

Best get that under cover before the predicted 'heavy rain' arrives on Thursday

and also to find the first 

 MARSH MARIGOLDS

 starting to bloom, we will try to bring you a 'full carpet' in days to come.

Good and Bad news from the main pond-side where the new arrival

 LLAMA'S

seem to have settled into their 

 new surroundings and where the 

Mute Swans

Have finally abandoned their 4th attempt to procreate?

Up until this morning we had recorded but c4

 SAND MARTIN

so something of a 'golden moment' to find this singleton briefly resting on the

 Solar Panel Compound Fence.

Unfortunately, it would seem that gone are the days when these scenes were

the norm here!

 2016

was the optimum year

Nest Hole

ADULTS

 JUVENILES!

and just look at that plumage - 'stunning'

FAMILY GROUP

in that year there were 36 nest holes most, if not all, producing young.

On the Heath the

 VETCH

 is starting to take hold

 but all else new from there was the arrival of this new

AIRBUS

with fancy blue livery.

According to the Shepherdess all is not well in the Solar Panel Compound as

shortage of rain was the reason for very little 

Spring Grass.

Hopelessly passing your time in the grassland away
Only dimly aware of a certain unease in the air
You better watch out
There may be dogs about
I've looked over Jordan, and I have seen
Things are not what they seem

They came to weigh the Ewes and the Lamb today but the signs are not good!

What do you get for pretending the danger's not real
Meek and obedient you follow the leader
Down well trodden corridors into the valley of steel
What a surprise

The look of terminal shock in your eyes
Now things are really what they seem
No, this is no bad dream

 All else within were about 18 distant

 LAPWING

including

a number of

juvenile birds.

What A Day for a Daydream - The Lovin' Spoonful

An executive decision had been made before swinging into the

hammock on Saturday night, not to publish a ‘post’ for Monday,

given the acute shortage of material - but oh how wrong you can be!!

With the exception of the odd Moth precious little has been added to any of the

Year Lists

in recent days so a rest was going to be as good as a change?

We hadn’t even reached the half-way mark with the early morning coffee before the first contender of the day revealed itself by its distinctive calling as an overflying

 

MEDITERRANEAN GULL

was first to reach the log!

 This image to show just how spectacular they can look in adulthood!

(no pun intended)

The next time we opened the door, now all dhobied and dressed

and heading for the Moth Trap, the next to be seen were a ‘first's for year’

 COMMON SWIFT

or simply Swift if you prefer hawking Insects above the tennis court.

 We doubled up on this from the trap as the tiny

 VESTAL

was secured to amazement, as some of these smaller than a one pence coin 

Insects come from as far affield as the Sahara, and additionally the only slightly bigger

SMALL RIVULET

At the main pond it was once again a case of not being able to resist the temptation of a couple of

ROOKs

(we'll try not to do it again0

preening while balanced on the overhead cable and to the song of a nearby

SKYLARK

if you listen carefully.

Also noted there was the regeneration of the

PARROT FEATHER

which has been attacted from all sides but for my money just one of those invassive species that

Napalm wouldn't eradicate!

The local

SONG THRUSH

was trying to eradicate the local

EARTHWORM

population in the name of feedig its young as time arrived to head up to

The Common.

The focus there was to check the youngster in the poorest year we have witnessed with the

MALLARD 

family just about holding it together

as most other Waterfowl have not fared at all well.

(listen out for the Wren)

On the Heath it was again partly about 'immatures', but enough about me,

as we also enjoyed the best of 2020 thus far for Butterflies.

The ever reliable

STONECHAT

were well represented

 with some in

Good Voice

before the first of the Butterflies arrived and proved to be

most sociable but not the first to be seen this year

RED ADMIRAL

Being Sunday it was again time for one of my favourites of any week

the turning of the 

Reptile Covers 

just a 'posh' name for a rusty piece of scrap corrugated metal from where we did have a bit of joy.

Anouher

SMOOTH SNAKE

was most welcome but stationary while that wasn't quite the case with the 'second brood' of

ANTS

Next came an extrordinarily long

shedded 'Snake Skin' of unknown species before uncovering another nest of

FLYING ANTS

before the first of the sort after 

Butterflies

turned up, a

 a 'first for year'

LARGE SKIPPER

A

not unexpected

MEADOW PIPIT

 the first sign of the

 HEATHER (Erica)

coming into bloom,

a ffy and rather ragged

 MEADOW BROWN

and a very short staying

 JAY

 The search along the Eco Bund didn't turn up the hoped for

Brown Argus Butterfly,

but still plenty of time for that, but the toe path to the Carp Lakes came up with

 a relatively 'scarce' bird for here a ffy

 

 

SPOTTED FLYCATCHER

Turning to find a small 'pod' of mostly juvenile 

 LONG-TAILED TITs

might just have put the 'cherry on the cake' but that was left to my arrival back at

Slight Return II

where both Chloe, my adult apprentice, paying me a 'socially distanced' visit with a ffy

RINGLET BUTTERFLY

buzzing around the garden, talk about a 'double Wammy'!

17:00 and already looks like we are in for

Some Overnight or Sooner?

Albatrross - Fleetwood Mac - Part I

Armed with a little 'good advice' from our valued friend Mark Forster
my then ladyfriend Sue Hallam (who I still thankfully see occassionaly) and I embarked on
what for anyone would be a 
Trip of a Lifetime!
Starting in Beijing and for the second time conquering the Great Wall, we then moved on to
Xian to marvel at probably the most fantastic sight either of us had ever witnessed the
Terracotta Army.
Transiting south overland with 'stop offs' we spent a few days in Hong Kong before doing similarly in
Brunei - fabulous!
Flying into Perth, Australia we the drove the coastal path to Cape Leeuwin the most south westerly point on the continent before spending 5 days in the Stirling Ranges, WA.
From there it was to Darwin from where we flew to a flooded Alice Springs (the highest rainfall ever recorded) then the Ghan Train to Adelaide then onward to Sydney to visit some of my family members. A decent amount of time was spent on both North and South Islands of New Zealand but it was on the latter that the afore mentioned 'good advice' kicked in! Mark had recommeded

"if you do nothing else, be sure to pay Captain Gary Melville of  Kaikoura a visit"
so we did and this is just part of what we found!!

 The lie of the land before leaving harbour.

 Not the best of New Zealand views but nonetheless still spectacular.

A few 'Goodies' even before reaching the open ocean.

BLACK-BILLED GULL

a breeding colony of

 WHITE-FRONTED TERN

 PINTADO PETREL
(Painted Petrel)

 sometimes refered to as

Cape Petrel

before encountering our first, but by no means last,

 Albatross

 WANDERING ALBATROSS

 Only 5 of us on the boat made for perfect viewing

with some close ups of

 DUSKY DOLPHIN

 HUTTON'S SHEARWATER

KELP GULL

NEW ZEALAND FUR SEAL

The other 'seal' was that of approval and we were only still half way through.

Keep Watching!