Tiger Feet - Mud

I thought my luck had changed first thing this morning as there was a tickling sensation on my chest. No such luck, it was simply this fine specimen that had chosen to share my bed for a while, thankfully I didn't squash it!

 

 

ORB WEB SPIDER

A SPIDER wanders aimlessly within the warmth of a shadow,
Not the regal creature of border caves.

But poor, misguided and directionless

 Familiar of some obscure Scottish poet.
The mist crawls from the canal
Like a primordial phantom of romance
To curl, under a cascade of neon pollen.
While I sit tied to the phone like an expectant father.
Your carnation will rot in a vase.

Brief Encounter, the prelude to the Bitter Suite by Marillion. 
after all that excitement there was little more during the day than:-

COLLARED DOVE

The wet weather has been good for exposing many thousands of Slugs and SNAILs.

More GULLs

with c2 parent GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLs tending a small family

of c3 juveniles.

Otherwise, with only a PIED WAGTAIL coming within camera range, it was a quick scamper to the Bird Observatory to check out what had been caught in the Moth Traps overnight. Among many others there were representatives of

THE LACKEY

FLAME SHOULDER and

ORANGE SWIFT

 

 

COMMON BUZZARDs on Bill Hill.

Still some HOUSE MARTIN nestlings in Southwell Village.

Tiger Slaughtered in Cold Blood

Now, here's justice for you! (1) You capture and drag one of the most magnificent beasts on earth from it's natural environment and confine it to an Internment Camp, (2) You put it in the charge of what are unarguably self defining 'INCOMPETENT' human beings. (3) The afore mentioned leave the cage door wide open, proof if proof were needed. (4) The Tiger then follows its natural instincts and mauls to death one of the 'screws'! (5) Then the so called Senior Guardian of the Beasts takes a gun and murders it in 'cold blood' without further ado????

My view:- why not have left the hapless beast (or its fore-fathers) where they are suppose to be naturally, and what a pity it only managed to get one of the Incompetents!

Final Score

Screws 1  -  Wildlife 1

The Power & The Glory - Gentle Giant

Once again the weather forecaster got it right, and while it wasn't a blistering Summer's Day it was almost unbroken sunshine with just a few passing clouds and a gentle north westerly breeze.

With the exception of a rapidly departing LITTLE EGRET, things at Ferry Bridge had remained much the same as the past few days where among the 200 or so mixed Waders (mostly Ringed Plover and Dunlin)

c3 TURNSTONE,

the KNOT and c7 SANDERLING remained.

Reaching Southwell I was interested to visit what used to be the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment to see the status of the temporary accommodation provided for the 'Olympic' Police Force and was surprised to note it had all been removed. There were reports in the press (well not the real 'press' just the Dorset Echo) suggesting that it had been substandard, but talking to a number of those living there every facility had been afforded, sanitary and catering were both of the best with the single word description being 'comfortable'. Well done to ALL those who took care of us during this fantastic event!

Yes, we've all seen this image before, but when I reach the crest of the hill above Culverwell and see the sun shining on this lighthouse, which is the Portland Bird Observatory, I want to share it with everybody!

Within, there had been a decent overnight haul of Moths best of which was

THE COSMOPOLITAN, not rare but uncommon so well worth seeing again, and what a great name? Although the 'mist nets' had been deployed there was little to show for the effort, but there was some excitement to come from seaward 

 

as the ungainly looking MARSHALL BOAT

 

and the CROWDS took up station to view the 2012 Cowes-Torquay-Cowes Powerboat Race.

Here are just some of the entrants as they rounded The Bill.

Not surprisingly our friends Simon Earwicker and Deborah Tessier were among the throng and a perfect

opportunity to show off the beautiful 'garden tile' Deborah had made for me. It is now in pride of place!

 

Another section of the crowd with the 'Active Lighthouse ' as a backdrop.

Despite the rain, there has been something of a decent crop of Hay from the Bill Fields, here Curtis Gould completes the final part of the harvest loading and transporting the bales back to the Southwell Farm. This shot also features the 'oldest' of Portland's 3 Lighthouses, I for one certainly wouldn't want to leave that one out.

A WHEATEAR takes a rest and final feed before embarking on the English Channel passage

as Holiday Makers continue to arrive on the open-top bus service from Weymouth!

Fly On A Windshield - Genesis

There had been early warning of rain to come late afternoon, but leaving home at 06:30 my guess was it would be with us sooner rather than later.

At Ferry Bridge and looking towards Portland, it was a continuous flight of dark rain-bearing clouds that continues to motor in from the west but nil desperandum onward to the foreshore.

On the face of it things looked much the same as during the week except that Starling numbers appeared to have increased to 100+ and this DUNLIN was more or less 'asking' to be shot (by the camera that is).       

It would seem that the KNOT had also remained on site but with little else to delay me it was off to the Bill and straight into a 'Lifer'.

Having been dormant over the past 20 years I have forgotten most of what I had picked up during the 2 previous decades of Moth trapping, but still find these diverse insects intriguing. So no surprise then at the excitement when Martin Cade (Warden of the Portland Bird Observatory) presented me with a BLOXWORTH SNOUT.

Of local (Dorset) interest, this is the first time I have ever clapped eyes on this species. A rare Red Data Book species of sea cliffs, grassy slopes and undercliffs in parts of south-western England, was first recorded at the Dorset village of Bloxworth, in September 1884. It remained a very scarce migrant until 1990, when a small population was discovered at Torbay, Devon with the species soon colonising the south coast from the Lizard in Cornwall to Purbeck in Dorset. On the Isle of Wight since 2003, increasingly recorded hibernating in small numbers in outhouses and caves, and at light, and perhaps now established on the south-east coast of the Island. In Hampshire recorded in the mid-1990s and again in 2009 at Southsea and now it would seem a colony on Portland. Its Wingspan is 29-32 mm and the Larva feeds on Pellitory-of-the-Wall. Some of the other specimens caught overnight included

MARBLED GREEN

YELLOW BELLE

COMMON PLUME MOTH

ANGLE SHADES

ROSY MINOR and

SETACEOUS HEBREW CHARACTER, a name I just love and have only found the meaning this very day. It refers to the furriness/bristliness and shape of the dark mark on its wings(there is another moth called simply "Hebrew Character" which is less "setaceous"). Thanks to the Internet.

 I first saw one of these huge Flies a few years ago sat on the wall at the Obs and bringing it to the attention of others by calling it a 'Black Bee'.

 I was quickly corrected by a 14 year old schoolboy who pronounced "that is not a Bee sir, but a FLY which is the 'largest' in Europe named GIANT TACHINID FLY, Tachina grossa which now occurs annually at the PBO.

It was fantastic to be put right, but even more so by someone so young. All I have to hope is that I've remembered the right creature!

Before leaving the Obs, this fine looking sailing vessel rounded the Bill at full speed feeling the effect of the last hour of the 'flood' tide.

While further on was this KESTREL

along with a few AUTUMN LADY'S TRESSES ORCHIDS which I had been alerted to by Dave and Ann Rashley.

To end the walk there was the sudden appearance of about a dozen WHEATEAR

plus a similar number of COMMON BLUE BUTTERFLY. However, I leave the best till last on a day when our friends Simon Earwicker, Deborah Tessier along with Dave (The Fungalpunk Nature) Higginson-Tranter and Wife started their annual Summer holiday here on Portland. Great to see you ALL again and looking forward to more in the coming week. The heavens opened soon after arriving home, making the Weatherman 'spot on' so going by that and his forecast of 'DRY' tomorrow, let's hope he's right again!