From Mighty Oaks - Ray Thomas

A mightily (no pun intended) competent solo offering from Ray Thomas,

 erstwhile flautist with the Moody Blues, but much more than that 

Thomas was a celebrated multi-instrumentalist of some renown!

Ray Thomas
While the New Moon was still in sight as we moved to flash up the traps,
we were more interested in getting
New Subject Matter
such as this jet airliner cutting across a clear sky

with the setting Sun, now below the horizon,

highlighting the vapour trail.
(they don't half chuck out some stuff don't they?)
Glad I wasn't up there as he / she seemed to be a bit of a jerky pilot????

The first joy of the early morning was the local

SONG THRUSH

on the lawn which seemed to have beaten me to it by a 'royal mile'
as continuing to provide for the brood, but on to the traps
where from those at home there was nothing new!  while at the main pond

 CANADA GOSLINGs 
are now half the size of the parent birds
having survived in total those first couple of dodgy weeks.
If we are allowed to mention
Little Grebe
again so soon, the news continues to be good as far as the nest and adults are concerned

 but danger is lurking nearby

 with the arrival of this 
GREY HERON

which would make short work of any youngsters
 just like you or I eating a marshmallow!
Additionally, we found what looked every bit like a 'juvenile' Wader

taking a nap but seemingly alert to the danger metioned above 
and maybe taking advice from the lyric of
Enter Sandman by Metallica........

Sleep with one eye open, gripping your pillow tight

Exit light, Enter night,
take my hand
we're off to Never-Never Land
with identification proving difficult until it was flushed by a young Moorhen
with the white rump enough to confirm
GREEN SANDPIPER 
with

PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE
now adorning the banks.
From the 53 species in the remaining traps there was but a single addition to the
Year List

 WORMWOOD PUG
with the also-ran's including this pristine but poorly photographed

PURPLE BAR

along with a

PRIVATE HAWK-MOTH
seen here warming up prior to take-off.

HORNET
taking a wander.
All of this time and directly above my head a male

 BLACKBIRD

 had been shipping berries from this

ROWAN

to a presumed hungry brood?
And while still in the midst of the wood our mindset turned to

 "From Tiny Acorns

Mighty Oaks do Grow"!
although the sentiment is usually utter in the reverse of this
Mighty Oaks from Tiny Acorns do grow!
but we don't like putting the horse before the cart!
Additionally, we did capture a couple of sub-standard clips of firstly a

CARRION CROW
preening along with a

COMMON BUZZARD
circling,
but before signing off we'll return to the seemingly over-substantial gate
which we featured a couple or more posts ago.

We still have no clue as to the intent but coincidently, close to the same time, we 
did recieve this rather intersting documet from our valued informant John Gifford.

Bison to be Re-introduced to England

A small herd of European Bison will be released in Kent in spring 2022, Kent Wildlife Trust has confirmed, representing a major landmark in Britain's short rewilding history.

The Wilder Blean project will take place at Blean Woods, near Canterbury, famed for its ancient woodland, and is estimated to cost £1m. Steppe Bison were last found in Britain some 6,000 years ago and the descendant of this species – European Bison – is listed as Vulnerable, meaning the Kent project will help secure the future of an endangered species. 

Furthermore, they will naturally regenerate a former pine wood plantation by killing off trees, creating a healthy mix of woodland, scrub and glades, boosting insect, bird and plant life – it is hoped Common Nightingale and European Turtle Dove will both benefit. During the initial phase, one male and three females will be released. Natural breeding will increase the size of the herd, with one calf per year the norm for each female.

The bison will come from The Netherlands or Poland, where releases have been successful and safe. Paul Hadaway, from Kent Wildlife Trust, said: "The Wilder Blean project will prove that a wilder, nature-based solution is the right one to tackle the climate and nature crisis we now face. Using missing keystone species like bison to restore natural processes to habitats is the key to creating bio-abundance in our landscape."

The project, funded by the People's Postcode Lottery Dream Fund, will cover 500 hectares (1,236 acres), with the bison first placed in a 150-hectare area where there are no right-of-way footpaths. This will provide plenty of space for them, even as the herd grows, according to Smith, and normal cattle fencing is sufficient to stop them wandering further afield.

Once the bison are settled, the public will be able to visit the area with rangers and watch the animals from viewing platforms. In The Netherlands, where bison projects have been running for 15 years, people walk through the areas without incident. Free-living longhorn cattle, "iron age" pigs, and Exmoor ponies will also live alongside the bison and assist in restoring the woodland.

"The partners in the Kent project have long dreamed of restoring the true wild woodlands that have been missing from England for too long," said Paul Whitfield, of Wildwood Trust, the native species conservation charity that will ensure the welfare of the bison. "People will be able to experience nature in a way they haven't before, connecting them back to the natural world around them in a deeper way."

The bison will not be given any food or artificial shelters, though their health will be monitored by observing their coats and examining their dung. "We need to keep them as wild as possible," said Smith, who added there was no intention to introduce predators such as wolves. As the herd grows in size, the plan is to move some animals to other sites in the UK. But, he said, "if we absolutely had to, we would cull animals as a last resort".

WE HOPE TO BE WITH YOU ONCE MORE ON THE MORROW!

Bitter Sweet Symphony - The Verve

Under the first visual sign, 1% gibbous, crescent of the newly

Waxing Moon

we toddled off to activate the Moth Traps last night

and with the temperature still in mid-double digits

Hope’s were High!  

 Metaphorically speaking, once again we had to force our way through the dozens of

NIGHTJARS

and just as an experiment and no more

we had a bash at sound recording them for your delectation!

The haunting sound of a summer dusk especially when a few of them get going together!

Talking of dusk, seemingly very close behind came dawn and with it,

from the doorstep the contrasting colours of a

KINGFISHER

at the garden pond and attendant

GREEN WOODPECKER

on the tennis court but still a little gloomy for 'happy snaps'.

Among the 254 individual specimens of Macro Moth taken from the traps 

 the bulk of the gentle giant that is

 OAK EGGAR

was a 'first for the year' as was

 SMALL RUFOUS

 SIX-STRIPED RUSTIC

and when we catch the likes of

 SCARCE SILVER-LINES

 despite it having been recorded and published already in 2020

it is worthy, like good old Aunty BBC, of a 'repete'!

 Another interesting little bauble was a 'melanistic' 

(dark form)

 PEPPERED MOTH

 with the archetype shown for comparison.

The departure committee (singular) at the main gate and perched high on the good old

Huawei Telecoms Cables

 was this

SWALLOW

likely taking a breather from the

 toing and froing that is bringing up the next genreation and while on the

subject of overhead cables we were treated to a 'pass' of the all to infrequent 

 ELECTRICITY BOARD 'CHOPPER

when we here that whirring sound we're always afraid

that they might have come to take me back to 

The Oil Rig.

 and while we feel sure that our readership are still

Gunwhales Under

with tales of dithering Grebes, you can never get too much

Good News!

 as this morning the

LITTLE GREBEs

were found, seemingly content,

with one hopefully incubating while the other appeared to be on guard?

With little more on the Heath than 

Plant Life

we can bring you a couple of these such as 

 HEMP AGRIMONY

HOARY WILLOWHERB

and

WOODY NIGHTSHADE

also known as

BITTERSWEET

as in the Symphony except without the 'space'.

A more or less empty

Bournemouth International Airport

now that Aladin's Lamp has disappeared but they must surely have made 

'a drink' out of all those 'stacked' jet airliners????

 Otherwise, we turned our attetion to the acre upon acre of invasive

FERN / BRACKEN / WHATEVER

 Look, even the poor

OLD ENGLISH WHITE

 steer

is up to his Plimsole Line in it

 but every year they spray and spray it again to no effect!

Not in our lifetime perhaps, and certainly not in mine, this will be all

that is left of what was once a completely health heathland.

Maybe better than building houses and a nuclear power station on

⅔ of it across Dorset, all in the name of ‘progress’!!

Again we thank John Gifford for some of the ID's and agreeing others!

Strange Brew - Cream

"kill what's inside of you"

 What would do the exact opposite was stepping outside first thing to the strains of a

 WILLOW WARBLER

 not at all a Garden Bird here although not uncommon

which is poles apart from what came next!

There is a relatively high 'bund' that runs down the western edge of the garden

atop which, for a number of years, a Moth Trap has been placed

in an effort to catch any passing migrants. There have been a few but none of the 

magnitude of the maybe considered 'rarity' that is

 LIGHT CRIMSON UNDERWING

which it would seem has already or is still colonising 

Mainland Europe

 Our turn now it would seem with some authorities already conviced

 that it is now breeding in our neck of the woods.

Our experiences might suggest the same as last year we caught one

in a quite different location and habitat and this one knocking on our own front door!

It started off strangly as we witnessed what was considered the early arrival of the first

 LITTLE GREBE

on the Irrigation Pond, late February, were eventually considered a pair made up the sum total

for the year that far which is unsual.

It was a full fortnight later when the next showed on the

Gravel Pit

where only one other bird joined it some days later.

That was also the sum total for the site which has always supported c2 pair

while in 2018 there were c3! 

Considering we observe both of these watercourses on a daily basis,

and with some enthusiasm, it was as late as

 the 14th of July that we saw this tiny head appear from between the 

wing feathers of a parent bird.

 During that run-up we had noted no signs of nest building, warding off other birds,

which is usual, no signs of pre-copulation displaying or the act itself

and had quiet frankly given up the ghost!

The following day there was no sign of the chick or one of the parent birds,

but again common place as they can be seriously sectretive, it has still not been seen

to the date of this post!

However, on the

 19/07/2020

this was the picture with perfectly viewable nest holding a single egg

(the clutch size is usually c4) but was not visible the following day.

That too is not surprising as the parents do cover the eggs with pond weed

during any absences which might have been the case as next they were both seen constructing

  another nest altogether!

Stamping down weed to make for a firmer platform.

If that were not enough (and we hear sighings from some that it is)

 the following day, to which this Post relates (Wednesday),

one parent bird returned to the original nest, presumably with egg/eggs, 

and appearing to be incubating,

tidying the nest which they often do

 and presumed

Egg Turning

which is also part of the ritual.

Strange Brew Indeed!

WE NOW PROMISE "NO MORE GREBE IMAGES / CLIPS

UNTIL THE NEXT LOT"!

A couple more specimens, to lighten things up a touch, from last night's catch

PURPLE THORN

LARGE GREEN EMERALD

yet again

PINE HAWK-MOTH

SCLLOPED OAK 
and

CLAY