High As A Flag On The 4th of July

Despite the unseasonable weather conditions at the moment I feel as high as the proverbial flag, but they are not exactly helping things here on the farm. However, it did bring a   

TAWNY OWL
into good voice during the night, a Year Tick.

The trap too was reasonably productive with the likes of
BRIGHT-LINE BROWN-EYE,

BUFF ARCHES

and COMMON FOOTMAN all in evidence.

As already mentioned the weather put paid, albeit temporarily,
to the Hay Making with just a couple of hundred bales as the prospect
of rain put the process on hold.

'Birding' remains grim with just a brief stopover for 2
STOCK DOVEs
which seem to be becoming increasingly rare here,

while on the pond the pair of Tufted Ducks are still with us and
GREY HERON
still looms large.

back at the Electric Dustbin
THE SNOUT

DUSKY BROCADE

and SINGLE-DOTTED WAVE
are all expected at this time of year as are

CADDISFLY

In close proximity of the River Stour and a number of ponds it is not 

surprising that literally 'thousands' of these have been caught 

over the past few days.

Slightly more unusual
SANDY CARPET
is a Moth I had not previously seen.

The BIGGEST surprise was a

'Monster from the Deep'

and also another new creature to me,
GREAT DIVING BEETLE

Resorting to the Internet both to identify and find out more about this amazing Insect, this is what was found.

The Great Diving Beetle is a very large diving beetle, that are voracious predators in ponds, feeding on many smaller invertebrates, tadpoles and even small fish. The larvae are large, fearsome-looking beasts, with big biting jaws: they look a bit like pale brown, underwater Devil's Coach Horses. Great Diving Beetles are common in ponds and slow-moving water and can be spotted coming to the surface, pointing the tip of their abdomen out of the water to replenish the air supply stored beneath the wing cases. The larvae use damp soil by the edge of the water to pupate in. The adults are blackish-green in colour, with a yellow border to the thorax and around the wing cases.

Avon Calling

Don't quite know what happened to the Internet access, but after nearly 3 days the BT engineer turned up this morning and put things to right. Mr Murray continues his struggle for the title, but fancy this about as close as I'll get!

At least I have now seen a Wimbledon Tennis Ticket!
 Things started off ordinarily enough this morning with a couple of

COMMON MARBLED CARPET,

 but then followed in quick succession 3 species I have never encountered before.
CYPRUS CARPET

the beautiful
GOLD SPOT and

MAY HIGHFLIER


PEBBLE HOOK-TIP

POPLAR GREY

SHUTTLE-SHAPED DART

SMALL CLOUDED BRINDLE

SMALL SQUARE-SPOT

View from the AVON CAUSEWAY BRIDGE
The Egyptian Geese and Mediterranean Gulls remain here in
much the same numbers, while Redshank have now reached c8 and
a Cetti's Warbler was also recorded.

Communication Breakdown - Led Zeppelin

Aplologies for no posts over the last 2 days. There has been a serious comunication breakdown. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

In Support of Unmarried Moth'ers

Well, that's done it, the return of the 'Elecric Dustbin' and all the addiction that goes with it. I made this 'make shift'

MOTH TRAP

back in the mid-70's from a redundant plastic dustbin, baffles from an old aluminium Wall's Ice Cream sign, funnel a stainless steel mixing bowl (both recovered from the Council Tip) with choke and Mercury Vapour Lamp circa Watkins and Doncaster (Entomological Suppliers), since then Secret has added a few refinements during his tenure. The intent was always to resurrect it once decided what the hell I am going to do with the rest of my life, but 'the pull' was simply too much so we're back in the game. From an expected modest first night, things improved somewhat on the second outing with

 BUFF ERMINE

 BUFF-TIP

 BURNISHED BRASS

The camera really doesn't do this insect justice as the green segments

pick up the light and sparkle.

 
GHOST (SWIFT) MOTH

 Two contrasting colouration's of

 LARGE YELLOW UNDERWING

some are far more striking than this.

 MARBLED WHITE SPOT

 COMMON SWIFT

 POPLAR HAWK-MOTH

 SCORCHED WING

Three aspects of

 THE SPECTACLE

 this one showing 'the glasses' and

THE MILLER

a Moth I wasn't aware of until checking the identification in the

excellent new Field Guide by Sean Clancy with

Morton Top-Jensen and Michael Fibiger.