From Mighty Oaks - The Moody Blues

 Only our third edition of the newly resurected Blog and it looked weather-wise as though we were going to be rained off from the word go - luckily not! Despite weather also holding good over-night the Moth Traps were none to busy with 22 specis of 'macro moth' (usually the larger of the group in oppose to 'micros') with a total of 22 Species x 87 Insects. On future posts this early morning count will appear something like 

"22 x 87".

The tiny migrant known as the

VESTAL

  and now in decent numbers can appear in various hue's determined by its area of origin which in this dark shade is likely to have originated from somewhere across France while the

more pale specimen may have come from as far south as the arid regiond of the  The Sahara.

THE STREAK
is also common at this time of year and before we drift off the subject something of an induction for any new readers and maybe a reminder for others of some of out layout. We run 5 Moth Traps every night except in very cold conditions with one stowed thorughout the day on the monitoring table close to home while at night it is moved alongside the

Wooden Fence as something of a Double-Whammy

as some Insects choose to rest in the trap and others on the palings.
The second of the homeward bounders is strategically placed atop of the

BUND
where, theoretically it is more likely to attract migrants having recently crossed the English Channel which is no more than 8 miles from home. After monitoring these we then head north checking out all sites which may hold any sort of Wildlife such as the

IRRIGATION POND
named by myself as used for watering acres of high-quality turf which has now been superceeded by Solar Panels and where yesterday it was a great surprise to find a pair of

SHOVELER
(male)

(female)
a 'scarce' species here while at the other watercourse, known as the

GRAVEL PIT
for that is what it was and where was found a lone

LITTLE GREBE
along with an occasionaly

flighty pair of

MUTE SWANs
Within the largest of the Solar Panel Compounds stand another c3 Moth Traps but not before studying the overnight workings of the

FAIRYs
having formed their little circles but without much joy from the traps with this being designate

No. 3 within the Solar Panel Compound, very close to the woodland and Carp Pond where

DAUBENTON'S BATs
exist, a borrowed image.

Traps 4 and 5, also within the S.P.C. along the tree-line which along with the Moors River is the property boundry and where the

BALSAM CARPET MOTH
flies in season, the barriers are to keep the Sheep at bay.

PUFF-BALL FUNGI

have just about worn their season out, while across the southern extremity all trees are looking

Beautifully Autumnal

COMMON BUZZARD

while the row of ornimental
CRABAPPLE TREES
are bowing with fruit awaiting the arrival of the northern Thrushes as are we!

FROM MIGHTY OAKS - The Moody Blues

Inspiration - The Tale of an Unmarried Moth'er

 The third and final burst of inspiration for re-juvinating the Bagsy Blog came as a result of a completely unexpected but most longed for catch from the Moth Traps.

TOWERING CUMULUS

looked unlikely to marr the daily rounds of our 'patch' here in East Dorset but kicked off by finding

c3 ABERDEEN ANGUS
along with

c2 BELTED GALLOWAY CATTLE
on the loose informing the owner with haste before they took to the Main Road!

A far more welcome find within the main Solar Panel Compound was the first of the year

GOLDEN WAXCAP

where , on the previous day, there was not a sign with Birds also at a bit of a premium save for a single and not very obliging

RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE

Again no more than a single

MISTLE THRUSH
Alway considered of great value despite thier origins sparring

COCK PHEASANTS
With the year growing long the likelihood of more Moth deminishes by the day,
("stand up the boy who shouted HURRAH")
but still enjoying the beauty of the likes of

MERVEILLE du JOUR
and the reatively scarce

OAK RUSTIC

The OAK part refering to 'Holm Oak' rather than the Major Oak of Acorn fame, and now daily as a Holm stands right outside of my door.

At the last of our 5 traps, also within the Solar Panel Compound, not the Moth of the Year, or that of the Century and certainly not that since we have been actively interested in such things! Whoever could have predicted about the most sort-after Insect across the whole genre,

close your eyes

and open you hands for the magnificent

DEATH'S-HEAD HAWK-MOTH

Note the ('Scull Shape') head pattern

from which its name derives

and also emits a 'sqeeking sound' when disturbed

which may be audible from the video clips?

We have only ever seen a single 'live' one before along with a dead example use to highlight migrant creatures on a BBC Wildlife Documentary featuring wildlife, mainly birds, of North Sea Oil Rigs in which I featured. We may return to that in days to come - bit of an Eye-Opener!
TIME TO STOP WHILE WE ARE AHEAD, WITH HOPES OF BEING WITH YOU AGAIN MANANA!

Will Ye No Come Back Again - Carolina Oliphant

 Inspiration is a strange old bird shied away from by many, held by others as a means of further education or enlightment which has visted me no fewer than 3 times in the last few days. These formed most of the reason for a halt to the hiatus that has seen the absence of the Bagsy Blog since Sunday 24/08/2022.

Firstly, during that time period there has never been a day without 'HITS' being added to our previous efforts ranging from a low of 586, on our first full day of absence, to a 'high' of 972 and that's without a Post. We like to believe that this might be that our efforts have been inspirational, having covered so many subjects and so many countries and hope our revival will continue in the same vein. 

The second of these was a visit to the Portland Bird Observatory,

on a pleasant enough day but calling in firstly en-route to Lane End to find a few each of both

YELLOWHAMMER
and

BROWN RAT

considered a

decent start while at

Ferry Bridge, the Gateway to Portland, a decent number of

BRENT GEESE
unfortunately at quite some distance.
As with everyone else we always enjoy a warm welcome at the Bird Observatory, and find inspiration at every visit. Not having even "shut down main engines" we found the Warden, Martin Cade calling my name and beckoning me, surely indicating something of interest was afoot and to find him gentally holding this 'long distance migrant'

PALLAS'S WARBLER

between thumb and fore-finger

and already sporting that all important identity 'ring' on its right leg

allowing any future finer or trapper to add to its movements!

Also of great value was to find the lounge full of many familiar faces all within view of the active
PORTLAND BILL LIGHTHOUSE
However, the Bird was not to be the only 'scarcity' as Martin produced one of the 'beauties' of the

Moth World

CRIMSON SPECKLED
of which many have been seen by myself across Mainland Europe but this a first for G.B.
As the saying goes "all good things must come to an end"

but not before paying on the way back to the
Maiden Castle Ironage Hill Fort
where it looked ever bit as if they were concreting the footpaths????

SKYLARK

We thought they were late harvesting the
SUNFLWER SEEDS
at our end of the county, but this was a full month later, 

with just a single

CORN BUNTING

and finaly the whitest

SHEEP
we have ever seen, the pink hue coming as part of camara incompitence!!
We hope, in turn, you will all be kind enough to alert your Families and Friends to our return, as we will make best efforts to continue Daily Publication.
VERY BEST WISHES TO ONE AND ALL!!

P.S. - This first Post was met by Heavy Rain, doubt we are alone in that!

All Things Must Pass - George Harrison

Despite a

PEREGRINE FALCON
cutting across an early morning 'clear blue sky' and a

CETTI'S WARBLER
issuing 2 familiar blasts from the banks of the River Stour,

 we remained in something of a quandry as a result of fading interest towards

The Bagsy Blog

In the first instance we considered Peter Cook and Dudley Moore to have the right lyrics to present the case!

Now is the time to say Goodbye
Now is the time to yield a sigh (yield it, yield it)
Now is the time to wend our waaaayeeeeee
Until we meet again some sunny day.

Goodbye, Goodbye
We're leaving now,
Tatty-bye
Goodbye
We wish you all goodbye
Fartatata, fartatata....

  But giving us a little more leeway for a hoped return, when things brighten up again, maybe John Mayall's Bluesbreaker make it a little more eloquent fist of it?

 I can't quit you babe, so I'm gonna put you down for a while.

I said now, I can't quit you babe, so I guess I guess I gotta put you down for a while!

See even this infernal machine is kicking against the traces at the prospects, but believe you get the point. Of course there is no way of letting you know of a return so the occassional CLICK might do the trick but for now hope it doesn't amount to this! P.S. it may be worth checking from time to time to see if there has been a Change of Heart!

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

We sincerly thank each and every one who ever clicked on our humble efforts! THANKS.