Moribund and the Burgermeister - Peter Gabriel

Best to correct all the errors and typos on yesterday's post, starting with the most amusing. The Peasant wasn't 'cooked' at all, the caption was suppose to read Silver BACKED not 'BAKED' (however, should it stray within range of the air-rifle I'll let you know)! The Broad-bodied Chaser is in fact BLACK-TAILED SKIMMER, the Wild Mint is more likely MARSH WOUNDWORT (although not totally certain) and LARGE RED DAMSELFLY fits the un-captioned Insect. Thanks to Steve Smith, John Gifford et al.

The Electric Dustbin has been repositioned once again,

this time between a row of WELLINGTONIA

and an ELM HEDGE along with a number of garden ornamental,
more to come but the day didn't start at all well.

Firstly, a moribund (died later)

GREENFINCH

was found close to one of the many bird feeding stations,

followed by a dead TOAD on the front lawn,

after which everything else was 'living'.

The move proved quite successful with a number of new additions

to the Property Moth List*.

ELEPHANT HAWK-MOTH

THE RUSTIC*

COMMON RUSTIC* (female)

COMMON RUSTIC* (male)

DARK SWORD-GRASS*

MOTTLED RUSTIC*

MICRO

EARLY THORN*

CLOUDED SILVER

At the bottom of the trap was this most interesting find,

which had me scurrying off to consult Wikipedia.

The insect was familiar, BURYING BEETLE, the first was caught

just a few days ago.  Initial thought was 'paracites', but later 

considered the possibility of 'young'.

They are in fact

PHORETIC MITES
which do no harm to the Beetle in fact each serve a
function for the other.

WHITE-PLUME MOTH

 GOLDFINCH on front garden feeder.

 Juvenile COOT on Parley Pond.

Watching the surviving c4 of c6 this morning they proved to be behaving more like Little Grebe than Coot. While not considered a 'diving' bird they do forage for food during short dives, but these youngsters were acting differently. At my approach they took refuge under the Pond Weed where they stayed, on occasion, for a full minute interesting! They got accustomed to my presence in fairly quick time. While in the back garden there was good reason for any small bird to hide.

 Unfortunately, this COMMON KESTREL had positioned itself

 so it could only be photographed through a closed window.

One of 2 pairs breeding close by, along with the local Sparrowhawks reek havoc with the small birds at the feeding stations. Despite the prolonged view the identity of the 'prey species' on this occasion was not determined. The 'birding' highlight came a little later in the day, in fact just as the Second Test was about to continue. The 'chattering' of a

NUTHATCH (archive photo)

was heard from the west end of the garden which continued, off and on, for about 30 minutes. Although they are occasionally recorded in the far more wooded areas at the north end of the farm, some 1.5 miles away, this is the FIRST anyone can recall from this location so close to the house. Unfortunately the bird was not seen but a 'peanut feeder' was immediately dispatched to the site between the only two trees an Alder and Ash.

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Down By The Riverside - Elvis Presley (whoever he is)

Had to content myself with a walk along the river today as there were other things needing attention. These are some of the things seen.

(Silver-backed) PHEASANT

BLACK-TAILED SKIMMER

BANDED DEMOISELLE (male)

MARSH WOUNDWORT

closer BANDED DEMOISELLE (male)

BANDED DEMOISELLE (female)

 LARGE RED DAMSELFLY

 SMALL WHITE

and 2 species of

SKIPPER (the lower could be SMALL)

COMMA

RIVER SCENE and

 
TEASEL
We only receive the Top Ten visiting countries these days with a Hit Count.

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The Hungry Must Be Fed

The appropriate Moth amendments have been made to yesterday's post.

Many THANKS go to Paul Harris for his help with this!

As far as 'bird-life' is concerned around the farm, most predominant at this time are the numbers of young. It would be impossible, even on the shortest of visits here, to over look these with the most numerous species being

 STARLING

Readers may remember that last week we reported the 'flock' to have increased to over 200 which pales against today's estimate of well over 1,000. Already c2 have been trapped in the Chicken Coop and one in the Farm House, but both attempts to catch them met with failure, Both common Woodpeckers

GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER

 GREEN WOODPECKER

appear to have done well in this department and from the cacophony of noise it would seem that several young have already fledged. Unfortunately none of these have been seen thus far, but best efforts are being made to secure photographs.

 HOUSE MARTIN

 SKYLARK

are heard here on a daily basis, but sat around the barbecue

early evening it was unusual to see c2 fly over at low level.

Not surprisingly the most common breeding Hirundines is the

 SWALLOW

with at least 3 pairs nesting in the garage.

 Still a few young MALLARD on the pond,

 while only 3 of the 5 brood of juv MOORHENs remain.

On the 'up-side' a second nest was found this morning with parent
birds feeding 2 chicks.