The Kids Are Alright - The Who Part I

 We think it was roundly agreed at the mention of the 3 Wise Men in a recent Post, that they hailed from the East and that my fantastic guide and mentor in Taiwan, Vicky Cheng, whom we will hear from again on Sunday, was also found in that direction. What we were not expecting, until recent days, was to get a hat-trick in such short time with the arrival of the Cambodians!

Taken at their last visit in 2015 - a drop of water under the bridge since then!

Benny, Alex, Fred and Lizzy

My 4 Grandchildren and their parents are all of British / Australian dual citizenship but currently live in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and now stretching their legs for a few weeks as the restrictions allow back here in the UK.

Only 2 at a time it was Lizzy and Fred who drew the 'short staws'

and after the 'brief' it was straight on to some serious

MOTHING

with Lizzy being facinated with the

BUFF-TIP

and Fred equally so with the much larger

POPLAR HAWK-MOTH
Unfortunately, the first mammal to be encountered was a dead

MOLE
but ever onward.

A short adventure with some of the
Heavy Plant

before heading from the Heath and finding a hatched

BLACKBIRD's EGG

WOOD MOUSE
before heading for an encounter with the

Rare Breed Goats

with the

FRENCH ALPINE
creeping up behind them before it was time for

Fried Eggs and Lindt Lindor Chocolates
before bed.
Moths again in the morning was followed by the

Equestrian Ladies

inviting them to take a ride.

A carrot or 2 seemed to keep the mount subdued as

as Fred took to it like a Duck to Water

with Lizzy

not being quite so enthusiastic.
What was guaranteed to please, as it had on the last visit,

was a trinket but full size
Bow and Arrows

purchased from the Navajo / Hopi Tribe during one of my wanders through
Deepest California
while it was just about at the point of departure that we found the

REED WARBLERs
chattering away at the Main Pond and the

Joggers

Approaching from the West.
IT IS SAFE TO SAY A GREAT TIME WAS HAD BY ALL!
Part II to Follow.

Lonely are the Brave - starring Kirk Douglas and the Wagtails

 With overnight temperature's rising still steadily hopes were high of another decent catch from the Moth Traps, which seemed to be the way of it!

The spectacle that is the bulky
EYED HAWK-MOTH

was followed by the far more dainty
SCORCHED CARPET

as the theme continued with a
GARDEN CARPET

and inquick succession a close cosin in a
COMMON CARPET

followed by a monster by comparison whicg simply could not ignore the bright lights
PRIVATE HAWK-MOTH

all additions to the Year List.

An unexpected stiff breeze across the Heath appeared not to distract either

CARRION CROW

or

DARTFORD WARBLER

from a little 'tail-wagging' display while the

Airport Fire Teams,

again, had little time for such trivialities!

Leaving that area we noticed the first signs of

BLOSSOM
bursting from the Apple Tree close to the gate and a royal mile behind all of the others,
but then came the 'Find of the Day'

as a real 'scarcity' hereabouts

with no year since

records began in 2013

have we recorded more than a 'single'

SPOTTED FLYCATCHER
which is why we made the most of it.

forced her way into the picture on our return and during that time ether

Lonely Were the Brave

as the other parent bird simply continued feeding or should we see it as simply

FOOLHARDY?
At the last knockings and with the clatter of

Merlin Rotor-blades Overhead

the local

BLACKBIRDs
were captured from the doorstep continuously feeding young

while the first GREEN WOODPECKER in the garden since March the 1st

stayed little longer than a few seconds!

Black is Black - Los Bravos

 Certainly a strange case of lightning striking in the same place twice as we started the day as usual at the Moth Traps with 2 cases of 'melanism' which is the increased developement of the dark pigment 'melanin', he utters very scientifically, in the skin or hair.

Firstly the more common and usual form of
TAWNY-BARRED ANGLE

and the darker type

and ditto with

PEPPERED MOTH
both of which have been secured already this year unlike

MARBLED BROWN

LEAST BLACK ARCHES
along with

COMMON WAINSCOT
Otherwise it was interesting to watch nature as its most wild
(not quite a Cheetah bringing down a Thomson's Gazzelle) but this

Spider Predator killing this hapless

MARBLED BROWN MOTH
in one of the traps.
Again a coincidence after yesterday's Post to find a

juvenile

GREY HERON
perched at the Main Pond.
All else of interest (and GREAT interest it was) as a result of a call from one of the tractor drivers

informing me of LAPWING activity at the field known as 18-Acre.

Nest so close to the pathway you could look almost directly down upon them,
but CARE had to be the byword!

Parent birds seemed not to be phased

all stages of hatching was going on

but in such situations there always seems to be a naughty one

with this individual having fallen down a hole to deep to escape from.

Eggs and Chicks

The Loner

looked marginally older and

thanks to the cooperative parent birds for not bombarding me!