Just Another Day - The Beatles

 With no more of interest in the home bound Moth Traps than this

CRAB SPIDER
we set about the hunt for more Birds and other Wildlife of interest, immediately finding what amounted to this

APPARITION
perched at the Main Pond-side. Perfectly positioned, down with the car window, switch on camera, bring to bear, focus and the Bird had Flown. All we can offer is a close representation of

KINGFISHER
from the archive.

 A beeline for the Heath Traps under lower temperatures and not much expectation we did add

SMALL QUAKER

to the Year List

along with yet another clutch of

DOR BEETLES
The clatter of the

COASTGUARD RESCUE HELICOPTER
didn't help matters  but if you live / operate either side of an
International Airport what else can you expect?

We are by no means finished with

WOODLARK

yet as the vocals continue

while for now at least

'displaying' seems to have been put on holdas

MEADOW PIPIT

(strangely singular)

kept up the good work.
However, best of the bunch for my money was this similarly lone

GREENFINCH

attempting to make a meal out of long dead

ROSEHIPS
Worth 2 clips and a still of anybodies money!
Leaving the Heath it was only a matter of minutes before bumping into another singleton on the

Moors River

not only 'scarce' here but also affording us a decentish shot and clip
through the Twigs and Branches a

LITTLE EGRET
as another 'egg-whisk'

this time a

 MERLIN

accompanied us to the
Solar Panel Compound.
There, in what seemed like the Land of Plenty everything was feeding such as this

COMMON BUZZARD

worming

under the panels

which is common practice,

most unusual just a 'single'

along with the smallest 'charm' of

GOLDFINCH

Hands up if you would like to introduce more of your friends to the Blog at no extra cost!

Bitter Suite - Marillion

 While the forecast overnight temperature of +7°C manifested itself as a +9°C there were not a lot of Moths to be found across all 5 traps. However, we were not about to turn our nose up at the only ‘first for year’

TWIN-SPOTTED QUAKER

or for that matter an additional bunch of odds and ends.

A diminutive

16-SPOT CREAM LADYBIRD

a species of

GLASS SNAIL
(how they get into the traps we may never know)

one of the 

TACHANID PARACITIC FLIES
and a

PISAURA SPIDER
of sorts.
(we thank John for his assistance with some of the ID's)
A spider wanders aimlessly within the warmth of a shadow
not the regal creature of border caves
But the poor, misguided, directionless familiar
of some obscure Scottish poet.    (Bitter Suite)

Foggy to say the least, but not enough to deter the birds from their

Early Morning (doorstep) Feeding Ritual
while at pond-side the first 'fully crowned'

BLACK-HEADED GULL
was noted

and here's one we caught earlies!

Looking across the Airport the fog was slowly clearing but too late for yet another hapless

WOOD PIGEON

with the

likely culprit
COMMON BUZZARD

still in attendance.
Across the Heath no Gorilla's in the Mist just

ROE DEER
the first vocal

Mistle Thrush with descant provided by 'drumming'
Great Spotted Woodpecker.
Not at all a familiar sight to see any bird on Dean's Ditch

FEMALE MALLARD
and the gentle breeze proving quite theraputis passing across this young

SCOTS PINE

The remains of the old
World War II RAF Base
close to the Moth Traps always conjure up thoughts of how it once was

before a more than welcome, but all too brief encounter with a small flock of

SISKINs
Final Port of Call was to be the Solar Panel Compound where again a feeding

MISTLE THRUSH

was encountered

but even more quickly dismissed as the familiar croaking of

RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE

was detected.

Over the past year there have been c3 on site but
only c2 found on the day making for another addition to the

Year List which ended the session with a most welcome Bang!
The mist crawls from the canal
like some primordial phantom of romance
to curl, under a cascade of neon pollen
While I sit tied to the phone like an expectant father

your carnation will rot in a vase.