Mallow Yallow - a Slant on the Donovan 'hit'.

 With overnight temperatures still hanging on dogedly to double figures we have been reaping the benefits at the Moth traps with the likes of

MALLOW

along with

BLAIR'S SHOULDER-KNOT

and the much sort after

RADFORD's FLAME SHOULDER
but unfortunately not enough to keep the attention of our rapidly dwindling audience!
Just 14 days ago we were commanding daily counts as high as 1050 'hits' while a rapid decline to a meagre 356 were recorded yesterday. We thank those who have not forsaken us whole heartedly!

Meanwhile, in the wider world, departing

CHIFFCHAFF
have been vocal and numerous as

a couple of still juvenile

WOOD PIGEONS
continue to feed and frolic on the lawn.

Better still and gracing the flightpath from the Main Pond to the Garden Pond on a daily basis

an ever welcome
KINGFISHER
which has been absent for to long and with no evidence of breeding here this year.

Further afield on the Gravel Pit more
MALLARD

have been joining the female
TUFTED DUCK
(centre on the 'still' and right on the 'clip')
while we also logged the first Autumnal

LAPWING

Solar Panel Compound

as mostly vocal

WOODLARK

have been returning to the Heath which we hope might attract other absentees.

The Charm of Sharm - Part III

 The start of the final day of our all-to-short vist to Egypt's South Coast started with yet another welocome encounter on meeting

Apprentice Tarak and again mentors Assam and Mohamed.

After what had become the warm and welcoming ritual coffee the search began in earnest with

EGYPTIAN (White) WAGTAIL

and
ISABELLINE WHEATEAR
taking no time at all in making their presence felt, with a

LONG-LEGGED BUZZARD
showing its flying skills, while

RED-THROATED PIPIT

was familiar from previous jaunts to neighbouring countries.

Our final encounter at this haven for birdlife was a male

WHITE-CROWNED BLACK WHEATEAR

which might have made a welcome finale to these visits to the
Sewerage Works had not the taxi driver been late.

Not even on the 'Might See List'

YELLOW-VENTED BULBUL
was an unexpected addition to say the least, but there was more to be done before the trip was over.
Droping me at the seashore once again there was but one target bird but others which would be welcome on the Trip List, such as

PALLAS'S GULL
an adult in winter plumage.
The 'target', enticed by a slice or 2 of bread, soon showed up a dozen strong

SOOTY GULL

which reduced the World Gull List by one, but having spent a full year in the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean this spieces must have been, unknowingly, seen before but not a 'birder' then!
The final moments of this fulfilling journey still remains something of a conundrum as we have always considered this Gull to be the sub-species of Herring Gull known as

STEPPE (Barabensis) GULL
so if the Hully Gully Man himself, who is Kieth Prichard, happens to read this his oppinion would be readily welcome via the 'comments box', it has been a long wait!

For myself at least, no better way to end this saga than with Ille,
we may return to her in days to come?

Simply the Best (Part II) - Tina Turner

 Continuing our second 8 of Patch Rarities, the first in this series was bizarre to say the least as we caught no more than a few fleeting glimpses of a

SANDWICH TERN
tooing and froing as it progressed to the west along our beat of the River Stour. However, maybe not such a strange sight as a Common Tern was reported further north along the river, close to Wimbourne, a matter of a few days later.

GARGANEY

has also only been registered here on a single occation, but a fine male at that, but had Dave Foot not been in attendace some years later the

SHORT-TOED EAGLE
which graced Dorset airspace for several days would not have been seen at all from the Irrigation Pond. The only

TURTLE DOVE

to grace the list was also heard singing from the confines of our caravan home while c2

COMMON CRANEs
were noted transiting the Heath in a north westerly direction with the presumed same birds being reported again from the village of Alner, Dorset (in that direction) the following day.

A considered 'rarety' indeed was the lone

ALINE SWIFT
in company with a dozen or more Common Swifts (which are scarce enough here in their own right) so not upstaged by our only winter

HAWFINCH
and

also in the scarcities division, a number of

SIBERIAN CHIFFCHAFFs

but mightily upstaged by a Rare

 SIBERIAN STONECHAT

which is likely the rarest bird ever recorded here?

That's the Way We Are - Chicken Shack

 Another quiet day but at least the rain held off and a few Moths to sort through

the best of which amounted to

FROSTED ORANGE

along with the equally delicate

WHITE-POINT
Much overlooked, we ventured across the southern sector of the farm on the day, to find

a small number of

juvenile

PHEASANTS
along with a construction we had never noticed before

CHICKEN RUN et al
unless it was built overnight?
Being a fan of such things the neibouring herd

were also of welcome value before turning our attentions to the north.
In line with the afore mentioned things here were also thin on the ground

but did manage to make contact with the now loan female

TUFTED DUCK

now having been abandoned by the recent male, while close by a

GREEN SANDPIPER

was munching in the margins and to end the visit on another 'high note' our own small herd of

RARE BREEDS
hove into view. Having been committed to the 'sattelite' part of the Heath for a while now, we see very little of them these days, but always great to see and report 'all present and correct'!
from left 2 x Belted Galloways, Old English White steer along wth 2 Shetlands.