The Bagsy Blog

Saturday, 7 January 2023

CUCKOO COCOON - GENESIS

While continuing to monitor the Moth Traps in the eye of yet another gale and to the tune of

Same Old - Same Old

WINTER MOTH
and

MOTTLED UMBER
(we won't post them again)

the minor miracle of nurturing the eggs of

GOLDEN TWIN-SPOT

continues under the watchful eye of Dave, our much valued friend in Weymouth, with the

LARVAE

emerging before the turn of the year and now just waiting for the

COCOON / CRYSALIS
to pop and allow the adult

GOLDEN TWIN-SPOT
to take to the wing.
Otherwise, on the day, just a few additions to the Bird Year List amounting to

CANADA GEESE

CHAFFINCH

(again publishing the nest safely built in the Spring

under the eves of the Golf Club entrance)

and continuing with a prial of

CORVIDs

JACKDAW

MAGPIE

at perch, or is it a Red-Billed Oxpecker?

ROOK

SONG THRUSH
and finally a lone male

PHEASANT

Friday, 6 January 2023

Don't Give Up on Us - David Soul

The continuation of the Year List was hampered by a very poor day both weather-wise and lack of participents and not a shot being fired, but included

one of the local
KESTREL's

in its favoured tree.

MALLARD

and

MOORHEN
on the Main Pond and with

DUNNOCK
and

CHIFFCHAFF
at the Sewerage Works Fence and bringing the New Year total to just c17, gone being the days we would retun from a County Bird Twitch with 60 - 70 - or even more species!

Thursday, 5 January 2023

Good Times - The Animals (1967)

Given the relentless bad weather of the early week we were very much confined to barracks but on our next outing we firstly took a look at the swollen

RIVER STOUR

followed by an event we could well have done without. A dog with no restraint and seemingly no attendant owner (a full search being made of the bridleway both ways) was chasing a

young

FOX

with bad intent until disuaded.

Something of a barrier to contend with entering the Solar Panel Compound

as the path was blocked by the same escapee

CATTLE
and still no signs of the herdsman.
We found no Moths within the Traps but adding both

MEADOW PIPIT

and

STOCK DOVE
to the Year List spurred us on further

where also found were a number of

GREY SQUIRRELs

and
RABBITs

both preforming for the camera, while at the Sewerage Works this smart

GREY WAGTAIL
came to us rather than we trying to gain position on it!
A purposeful visit on our return to within Bournemouth International Airport had the desired effect of a Tick Worthy

GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL
while at the same location we found the

ROOKs,
early nesters, had already taken to the

BEECH TREEs
with these 2 images, only a small part of the wood, supporting 40 odd? individuals already.

CORMORANT
on the main pond was the final addition to the Year List for the day, but not the final entry.
To hear news of another, or maybe the same, lone

WALRUS
now residing on the coast-lines of
NORTHUMBERLAND

brought back extremely fond memories of the one Dave and I twitched at

Tenby in Wales back in 2021.

Wednesday, 4 January 2023

One of the most spectacular Meteor Showers of the year peaks this week, offering sky-gazers the chance to see dozens of ‘shooting stars’ illuminate the night sky. The Quadrantids are set to peak on 3 - 4 January 2023, but the first meteors have already begun to pepper the Earth’s atmosphere. The phenomenon is a result of the Earth passing through the debris left behind the asteroid (196256) 2003 EH1, which was first observed by Chinese astronomers more than 500 years ago. Anyone hoping to see the first major meteor shower of the year will not need any specialist equipment, however clear skies are essential. Don’t know about that as right now we cannot even see the Tennis Court 20 yards away!