Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

  From the age of 15 years, when first joining the Royal Navy, it has always been the intent to consider the “glass to be half full” while additionally, and even though we could have done without our 15^th puncture since we have resided here, we always feel that it is “an ill wind (that blows nobody any good)".

Were it not for being delayed by stopping to inflate the 'offending'

we would never have seen the

RED KITE

thermalling,directly above our humble caravan home,

albeit in shillouette.
Further harrised by the overnight conditions we only set a single Moth Trap but nevertheless came up with

DOUBLE LOBED

and

OBSCURE WAINSCOT

both added to a Year List which has now reaches a total of
201 species of Macro Moths!
Heading for the garden water-tap, to dhoby the pinkies, another nifty surprise as this tiny

CATERPILLAR

was navigating its way down to ground level and thought to be the larvea of either
Large White or Small White Butterfly??

From the dew-soaked hedge, creeps a crawly caterpillar,

when the dawn begins to crack.

It's all part of my autumn almanac!

Autumn Almanac - The Kinks 

while further west the solution to the mystery of this years crop which would appear to be

WHEAT
(and how lucky was capturing an 'in-flight' Swallow to boot.

It might seem that if that mentally deranged despot Putin will not lift the embargo,
then best grow your own - we have 2 window boxes!

Even further west it looks as if it could once again be
PUMPKINs?
Out on the main road from our view looks like the

SKYLARKs
are once again being brutally dislodged from their nest sites - a Criminal Offence according to the LAW of the Wildlife and Countryside Act! and further north a couple more surprises with at least

a single juvenile
COOT

in part fratenizing with prospective

MALLARD
parents and a juvenile

STONECHAT
and to end the saga

Kids on Quads
a new business venture up the north end

Off Piste
but doing no harm.

Oh For the Wings of a Dove - Felix Mendelssohn

 The day started very 'slowly' as we watched this

GARDEN SNAIL
complete with 'nesting material'? negociate our front door from top to bottom after which things simply went stratospheric by way of communication from Dave Foot. On the 29/11/2012 it was my luck to find a prospective

SIBERIAN STONECHAT
more correctly known as

STEJNEGER'S STONECHAT
named, we presume, after the first person to describe it to science. Being far more adept than myself at describing such a creature to the Power's That Be it was Dave who submitted the details to the British Birds Rarities Committee for their adudication resulting in them

Finding in Our Favour

Unfortunately, because of security reasons, this fine fella could not be opened to a wider audience!
On to the overnight Moths, which were thin on the ground and lacking in colour,  there were at least a number of First's for the Year including.

PALE MOTTLED

WILLOW

THE

LYCHNIS

along with

DOUBLE SQUARE-SPOT
while our dear friend Sheila in Weymouth was no more than on her early morning walk when tripping over this migrant

SILVER-STRIPED HAWK-MOTH
a belter we have never even had a sniff of!
Also close to home there have been sporadic sightings of the male

MANDARIN DUCK
along with some conjecture as to the parentage of the

('Mallard'?) ducklings but while he has most certainly been in close contact

we see no signs of hybridisation at this very early stage, but take an objective look yourself!
Continuing our legal passage we note the

HELICOPTER's
are forming on the Sycamore's

Pennies in a Stream, Falling Leaves the Sycamore, Moonlight in Vermont - Frank Sinatra

A moment to enjoy what must be the most overlooked Bird in the World, the humble

HOUSE SPARROW
(we love 'em)

While reaching the Northern Limits things did look as if they could turn inclement - but no

as we found, unusually, a 'trio' of

STOCK DOVE's

MEADOW PIPIT

(presumed feeding young - oh to witness that!)

LILAC
in full bloom, more

BLOSSOM
swaying in the gentle breeze while

CANADA GOSLINGs
passed full muster and only a shade away from being of adult size, and the rain still held off!

China Girl - David Bowie

 By contrast with yesterday a very quiet day in the field, but on the up-side once again the Moth Traps produced

starting with

BUFF ARCHES
duely added to the Year List

and followed by

FIGURE of EIGHTY

the appropriately named, for our money at least,

PEACH BLOSSOM
and

BARRED STRAW
Again there were 'aviators' about, not unusual perched just an arrow's shot from an
International Airport

but this time a little worryingly as we thought they may have arrived to take us back to the

OIL RIG?

but it wasn't us as done it sir!

Very little else to

capture the imagination save for this male

BLACKBIRD

on the lawn

along with this juvenile

STARLING
high in one of the
WELLINGTONIA TREES
with the afternoon being given over to keeping the Sheep away from the
Moth Traps with a faithful copy of the

GREAT WALL of CHINA

with some holiday snaps for comparison!