Sweet Painted Lady - Elton John

 First up on yet another chill and wet morning were a 'pair' of rather large

GARDEN SNAILs
directly under the doorstep and seemingly doing "the what comes naturally"?

 However, the chill and the damp didn't seem to have detered the Moths with

a docile

FOX MOTH

LIGHT EMERALD

and

COMMON WAINSCOT
being added to the Year List.
Down south, for all our efforts, there were but 2 newly placed

Cranes (well one Crane and one drilling rig) on the horizon

but whatever, enough to stimulate our memories of the only c2 we have ever recorded here COMMON CRANE
back in 2017

and remenicent of our occassional visits to the

Somerset Levels

A quick visit into Bournemouth International Airport had the desired effect as finding at least 3 dozen

HOUSE MARTIN

already gathering nesting material from a

nearby pond followed by our 'third' overflying

COMMON GULL
of the year which is a 'rarity' here!
Back on home turf the stratigically placed

CABLE DRUM

had produced the desired effect

as having been placed there purposefully to attract nesting

PIED WAGTAIL
c2 already fledged and a third still being fed within.

This relatively bare-boughed OAK contrasted sharply with the one at the gateway to the Heath

which is hopefully just waiting to host this years batch of
Purple Hairstreak Butterflies

while in the next breath

along came our first

PAINTED LADY

of the year with our wander ending with

MEADOW PIPIT
feeding young and

young

STARLINGs

feeding themselves!

Little Gem - The Verve

 Despite the continuing overnight chill we still seem to be catching the odd 'first for the year ' Moth last night in the shape of an immigrant

GEM

GREY PINE CARPET

along with a

SCORCHED WING
In the wider world there appeared to be a contretemps

going on between an invading

CARRION CROW

and the resident
KESTREL's
now with fleging chicks which would make a fine breakfast for some!

Meanwhile at the Gravel Pit the return of one of the prodigal

HUMBUGs

without a sign of the 'third'!

maybe a victim of the equally local

GREY HERON
(open wide)
It is also at this time of year when our attention turns to the success of the

HEDGEROWs
planted by our friend Chris Sugden on behalf of Brighter Green the parent
Solar Panel People
and said to have been a massive 20,000 plants in all! while within still a few feeding

STARLINGs

a scruffy

but no less welcome juvenile

ROBIN

along with this

GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER
and the

APPLE TREE
just inside the Heath now in full bloom.
Far quieter than Sunday but that's the Wild World for you,
Roundabouts and Swings!!

Six Months in a Leaky Boat - Split Enz

 Just when you think you have seen and heard everything Rock 'n' Roll has to offer along come

SPLIT ENZ

my own memory of them playing the Portsmouth Guildhall as the final gig of their 1982 Britsh Tour while supposedly refitting the Experimental Trials Vessel E.T.V. Whimbrel in the nearby Dockyard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXlswmbIxos

 Despite the continuing overnight chill and the all to fresh breeze and even the occassional

CLOUD BURST
there is little to complain about when your day kicks off with a KIWI, yes a genuine, bedouin Kiwi, read on!

Evenin' from New Zealand

Just wanted to say as an ex pat Brit brought up in Southampton and Verwood Dorset that I enjoy your daily rambles around your place. Keeps me up with the changes since I was doing much the same in the 1960s. No great rarities. Just the usual Chiffchaffs, Little Grebes and the like. Egyptian Goose, Cetti's Warbler, Little Egret you must be joking. Back then Dartford Warblers and Woodlarks were just hanging in there but Yellowhammers, Bullfinches, Tree Sparrows were two a penny and even the odd Cirl Bunting was still nesting on Southampton Common. Oh yeah and the dog rose in your latest post is Rosa rugosa originally from east Asia. We have one in our garden half a world away. Cheers Derek Onley - Keep Posting.

Continuing into a day when the conditions were much as described above, there was nothing new plucked from the Moth Traps with the best representatives, if we may call them that, being

EYED HAWK-MOTH

performing rather well, an as usual a rather lethargic

PRIVATE HAWK-MOTH
and a

WHITE ERMINE
showing its sunny-side-up while being overlooked by an

unusually confiding

GREY HERON

which didn't bat an eye-lid

even at a distance of a very few yards.
Doing the rounds in reverse order to clear the traps before the wet stuff closed in we returned to the Main Pond to find yet another Stranger on the Shore, following on from the recent

CETTI'S

and
REED WARBLER's

still attendent

MANDARIN DUCK

in preening mode with today's contribution being by way of what we feel sure Derek in N.Z. will not be pleased to know as a 'scarce and brief sighting'

of an extremely vocal male

YELLOWHAMMER
(unlikely to have reached double figures here across my own decade on perfect habitat)
Also across the Southern Sector another visit it would seem by none other than

SIR EDWIN LANDSEER
of
Stag at Bay / Monarch of the Glen fame, as along with the original

statue here in Portland Stone, there is now a second

in bronze which didn't seem to be bothering a

CARRION CROW issuing grief to a COMMON BUZZARD
among the towering Cumulus clouds and the now fully mature Tree Line.

We look foreward to welcoming more New Zealander's soon, if you would all kindly pass the link to Friends and Families, and might even publish a re-run of a most enthralling trip to North and South Islands back in 2008 - what a Country!!