Sleeping Beauty - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Having used the small 'replacement' camera, bought in Suriname when the old one went AWOL, while on Portland it was stuffed back into the bag and forgotten about until today. On that day I looked across from Ferry Bridge and saw, mid-Portland Harbour, an interesting looking Jack-Up Crane Barge which had me scurrying to almost the highest point on the Island,

the VERNE PRISON, to investigate.

 The Vessel was in fact 'underway, making way' powered by

the Small Tug on her starboard quarter.

From this vantage point the whole of the Harbour and what used

to be the Naval Base can be viewed, a pastime I never tire of.

The ships alongside that day included

 RESOLUTE

 Royal Fleet Auxiliary ORANGELEAF

 SARINE (inboard) and SELEINA

with the MULBERRY UNITS (left).

As reduced temperature and scattered showers, sometimes heavy, persist Moths remain in short supply, over the last 3 days there has been only a total of 87 Macros released from the trap, with today being no exception (32 in the trap) save for a single specimen clinging to the outside of the 'bin'. This was the

 VAPOURER

which escaped before there was time to temporarily confine it to a pot. This is an Insect caught many times before but new to the Property List here. By coincidence my friend Sheila Edwards caught one in her garden recently and showed me a photograph during my visit last week. The 'best of the rest' amounted to

THE GOTHIC

 an always nice to see

 BURNISHED BRASS

along with this interesting looking Micro (Tortrix Sp I believe)

OLD LADY

Before leaving the subject and again touching on my all too brief visit to Portland, I met Dave Foot one of the most accomplished Amateur Naturalist I have the pleasure to know. He introduced me to a new word, 'aestivation', its meaning and relevance to the c21 Old Lady Moths caught over a 4 days period here at Parley in recent days. A short period of hibernation soon after emergence from the cocoon, the adults fly to a 'collective' roost, usually in a derelict building, where they 'sleep' for a short period before once again taking to the wing and getting about the business of procreation. That would explain then the reason for so many visiting the trap during that short period and maybe why there were no 're-traps'. The latter is known as a very tiny white mark was added to the upper wing of each Moth!

O.B.E.

The Other Bu**ers Efforts File

 From deepest Wales, St David's Head to be more accurate,

my dear friends Paul and Tess 'found' this splendid adult

ROSE-COLOURED STARLING

while from a little further afield, Tokyo, Japan in fact, another friend

Chris Cook sends me this equally dramatic photo of a

ROCK PTARMIGAN

along with the attached message.

Dear Cap'n Bagsy -- Good to hear all is well with you and that you are enjoying life in Parley.  Here is a pic of a Rock Ptarmigan that I took on Wednesday -- one of 29 birds seen during this week's hike!

and lastly but by no means leastly a fine offering from Paul Harris.

CYDIA SPLENDADA

he tells me is not a 'rare' or 'uncommon' Micro Moth but the image
is an indication of the value of a Raynox Converter on his camera.

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Silence Is Golden - The Tremeloes

Weather wise, a day of 2 halves with a 'full fleece' chill a.m. followed by a 'redders' afternoon!

was once again the destination, mainly for ease
of access, and the chart is for the reader to follow my track.

Parking centre bottom there is little or no walking required to reach
TERN HIDE

but I could already hear the chattering from within. One of my real 'pet hates', it seems to be more of a hobby of so many 'birders' to recount every detail of every Spadger they have ever seen totally oblivious that

this is likely deterring any birds from approaching the hide!

PLEASE 'SHUT UP'!
Offering a whispered "good morning" I was asked if I could
identify a distant Wader, which was my first bird of the day, a

RUFF
and a Year Tick at that.
Despite the hint that it, along with 2 Common Sandpipers and a
Dunlin, might come closer if 'we' kept quiet had no effect so I left.

There was now a choice of which hide to visit next and in the event decided on neither. At the Y in the path I bore right and continued to a new 'kissing gate', not seen before, and allowing access to the northern end of

MOCKBEGGAR LAKE
top right on the map.

At first glance
GOLDEN-RINGED DRAGONFLY
seemed to be the only thing here with wings

but a 'splash' further along drew attention to this feeding

COMMON TERN

Here I met a most pleasant and mild mannered chap who told me he had not been 'birding' long and was having trouble with both eye-sight and binoculars. Pointing out the Tern and having a brief chat we parted company, me staying at the same location. Moments later and from a distance he started to beckon me and on arrival asked if Little Egret has a 'yellow' bill? "Not likely it doesn't, so have you seen an Egret with that colour bill?" He pointed to a shingle bank mid-stream where stood 'the'

GREAT WHITE EGRET

a regular visitor here

but a bird I have only located once during all of my own visits.

It maybe fair to say that this recent colonist to our shores should be encounter a little more often after successfully breeding at Ham Wall, Somerset this year.

A GREY HERON sprang from the waters edge and obligingly

perched, giving some idea of size comparison.
The Egret was also a First for the Year!

As we stood there, a Kingfisher flew in perching on the same bush, another Common Sandpiper was spotted (or should that read a Spotted Sandpiper was Common?) as Little Grebe, Gadwall, Teal and Mallard also emerged from the reeds. I'd like to thank the gentleman concerned for both the bird and company.

A wayside flower, on the way to the Lapwing Hide, is thought to be
WILD RADISH

This is the small promontory, shown on the map, outside of the hide
today attracting a good number of birds including

EGYPTIAN GEESE
Lesser Black-backed Gull, Mute Swan, Coot, Tufted Duck,
Carrion Crow, Black-headed Gull, Mallard, Teal, Starling and
Gadwall.

COPPER UNDERWING MOTH
was found inside the hide while the

view south shows the Tern Hide and Horses kept to keep
vegetation at bay.

MIGRANT HAWKER

COMMON CENTAURY

and SPECKLED WOOD BUTTERFLY were
seen on the way back,

while this SPIDER was found later at Harbins.

Further to the Great White Egret report above I received correspondence from my friend John (Never Miss a Trick) Gifford pointing out,

Hi Paul,

This is 'THE' Blashford Lake Great-white Egret, the rings on the left leg are a positive ID. I have checked back into Blashford's archives and found an old picture of it, just to be certain. As ever my THANKS go to John, a most astute character.

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Obscured By Clouds - Pink Floyd

Despite the drop in temperature and the lack of Insects in the Moth trap, it was a fine enough day for a wander around Longham Lake just a 5 minutes drive from the farm. While bird numbers there remain similar to my last visit it was surprising to see just how many of the dozens of young Tufted Duck had survived - seemingly most of them.

The 2 'scenic' shots on the Post today were rather more to show
the dramatic Cloud Cover than anything else.

TUFTED DUCK
remained distant but good to see such numbers of young.

A lot closer to hand what is considered to be an immature

BLACK DARTER

Probably more interesting than the Birds today were the Trees, 

Bushes, Insects and other Plant Life.

HOLLY
along with everything else was adorned with 'fruit'.

ELDER

CLOUDED YELLOW
my second of the year.

ALDER
not to be confused with Elder above, and

ASH
positively bowing under the weight of 'seed pods'.

COMMON BLUE DAMSELFLY

GREAT CRESTED GREBE

COMMON BLUE BUTTERFLY
on Trefoil Sp?

GREAT REEDMACE

SOFT RUSH (Juncus effusu)

The invasive Pond Weed
Crassula Helmsii

JOINTED RUSH (Juncus articulatus)
The identifications of the above Plants are attributed to my
Learned Friend and 'no' I'm not getting into Latin!

More 'drama' in the Sky
before continuing on to the River Avon (Hampshire that is,
not Stratford and Bill the Bard).

All there included
c27 EGYPTIAN GEESE

far outnumbered by an estimated 200
GREYLAG GEESE
which had been flushed from their 'out of sight' position in
an adjacent field.

Kind regards -- Chris

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