North to Alaska - Johnny Horton

Treading a little warily, we were in no rush to post the months most exciting find of last Monday, as it came as something of an unusual surprise which warranted some further investigation. Tending the Stable Moth Trap that morning it was only extremely good luck that we picked up on a very small, and strikingly white bird flying towards us from the south. It was observed for well over a minute as it flew, not at great altitude, purposefully north and against a clear blue sky, showing only pure, uninterrupted snowy white underparts and considered even at first glance to be a   

 SANDERLING

(perhaps needless to say this image is not the one seen on the day)

So why all the fuss? Well firstly, it is not remembered if a lone individual of this species, usually most gregarious, has ever been encountered before and certainly not 'INLAND'! Time to consult the Oracle who directed me to the findings of Green contained in

 but more particularly to

page 183 which notes "There has only been one 'inland record' etc", with the area describe being no more than a stone's throw from where this individual was seem. Not that there is any significance in that. While Green is now dated, published in 2004, it is not known if such a sighting has been recorded since nor is it known if the 1993 record referred to a grounded bird, but we are extremely pleased to add Sanderling to the Recording Area List.

The Bird? Well probably now well on it's way

North to Alaska

With fortunes changing from a frosty -3°C overnight on Monday to +7°C this Wednesday night there followed an increase in returns from the Moth Traps. While we have secured

DOTTED BORDER
already during 2016 the same cannot be said of

 BRINDLED PUG

 EARLY TOOTH-STRIPED

 or

LUNAR MARBLED BROWN

a more than welcome 'hat trick' of year ticks.

Although we are well known for "not doing Micros" we do have a bash
at them now and again so, when we consider the identification to be
accurate we do like to publish them. We are calling this one

EUDONIA ANGUSTEA
and if incorrect we feel there will be quick response from our Mentors!

Additionally, there have been a couple of pleasing returns from the
Trail Cameras
not least this most obliging

COMMON BUZZARD
 followed by a 'pair' of

GREY SQUIRREL
with the most startling of them all left until last,

an unbelievable

WOODCOCK

which is one of just 2 creatures dreamed of when buying first the cameras.
The other being Nightjar, plans are afoot to capture this a little later in the season so watch this space!

Up at the Irrigation Pond it would seem that after an industrious
few days of nest building the

COOT

are now incubating eggs, while close by another opportunist

COMMON BUZZARD

was likely hoping for an easy meal.

Back behind bars in the Solar Panel Compound.
Now one for the
Noise Abatement Society
as this

GATES LEARJET 25-G

has been regularly invading Parley Airspace over the past few days.
Looking more like a Military Jet Fighter in fancy plumage, this
aircraft size for size has to be the noisiest in the World!!
Out in the field over the past couple of days we have recorded a
decent list of expected Butterflies which join the likes of
Red Admiral, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Brimstone on that particular Year List including

 COMMA

 showing the underside and the punctuation mark from
which the name is derived.

 LARGE WHITE
and

SPECKLED WOOD
Followed by what might be considered a pair of late

 male

female

TEAL

at the Gravel Pit.

 PERIWINKLE

 now in bloom,

 TURKEY TAIL FUNGI
and the

EARLY EXCAVATIONS OF
LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER
and finally

On his last visit to Parley Court Farm our friend Dave Foot took some
Moth Gall Samples from the Sallows at the Eco Recycling Centre.

 Since when he has nurtured them and watch the Moth Pupate
into an adult

CYDIA SERVILLANA
another Micro.

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Death Walks Behind You - Atomic Rooster

Unless you are impervious to such things 'inspiration' only comes in 2 forms, that which you give and that which is get. Of the latter I find myself extremely lucky to have a small group people around me who not only spur me on but educate me at the same time. However, a couple of days ago the tables were turned and despite my effort to become the total recluse, another dear friend and ex-colleague paid me a visit. It was early one morning on the Floating Production Oil Platform Buchan Alpha, after something of a gruelling watch, that

DAVE PENNEY

(seen here enjoying the equally gruelling 4 days of my 60th birthday)

(now I know where my 'encrusted' Port went)

asked what attracted me to the upper-deck each morning after my 'night watch', and disappearing for at least 2 hours? Instead of a straight answer he was invited to join me (with binoculars) and asked in the first instance what he could see on the 'inactive' starboard flare boom. "Shite Hawks" was his immediate and predicted reply, but asked him to look a little close to see if they were all of a single species. He was quick to pick up on both Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls and did notice that there was a strange 'cream' looking one among them, a

GLAUCOUS GULL

 It is certain that Dave will remember this moment of 'inspiration' well

as from that day forward he became a keen birder, another convert.

His visit to Slight Return II and the adjacent Recording Area

started with the Moth Traps which right up until the last knockings were singularly

UNINSPIRING!

 SPIDER WEB and EARLY MORNING DEW

Clinging to the lip of the final trap was a

 TAWNY PINION

which was new for the year.

The rest of our day together threw up mostly common and usual fare such as

 MISTLE THRUSH

 COMMON BUZZARD

 A couple of

 ROE DEER

 BLACK-HEADED GULL

 same as last year at this time commandeering the 

Island in the Gravel Pit.

 GREY WAGTAIL

 OAK TREES

now springing into leaf.

A DEAD RAT

and less fortunately an equally dead

GREY HERON

with no signs as to cause of death!

A busy morning, but not over quite yet as we set about turning over a few covers.
A 'FIRST' for Dave was

 SMOOTH SNAKE

 in fact a total of 3 on the day,
 
 ditto for
SLOW WORM
all under the same sheet corrugated iron

and later a juvenile
SLOW WORM
 Whichever creatures are disgorging these
 
 PELLETS
seem to like doing so on the sheets laid to attract Reptiles which makes
them very easy for us to find. This one however has strangely been eating
GORSE?
The afternoon was spent walking the bank of the
River Stour
where we found

 LITTLE EGRET

 a little nervy at first

 but soon settled down

 to afford us decent views.

 The Kingfishers are certainly back but of late more often heard than seen.
It is hoped that these 'new' excavations might be the start of their new breeding site.

 GREEN WOODPECKER

 before finding more
DEATH
this time a long-time dead

 OTTER
The cherry was firmly plonked on top of the cake when at first there
was an unmistakable burst of song from a

 CETTI'S WARBLER
followed by brief but quite adequate views of this often elusive bird.
Previously, there had only been one other, heard only, across the
Recording Area this year.
Finally, and just before his departure we checked what had invaded the
areas covered by the Trail Cameras and came up with just

GREY SQUIRREL
and

FOX
(YES WE KNOW, MORE 'REPEATS' THAN ITV!)

Since returning to his home in Northampton Dave has sent me no fewer than 3 E-mails the first stating (his words not mine) that he had found 'inspiration' during his visit to visit his local Nature Reserve, Summer Leys, neglected now for more than 6 months. There he recorded 41 species, compared to our 45 at Parley, but certainly upstaged us with

 WILLOW TIT

 now seriously endangered in Great Britain and,

unless anyone know differently, now EXTINCT in Dorset!
His second confirmed that his Trail Camera had arrived, and finally
that he would be availing himself of a Moth Trap in the very near future.
Death may walk behind you but, INSPIRATION goes before!

Rock 'n' Roll Trivia:-

DEATH WALKS BEHIND YOU

was the second studio album release by Atomic Rooster and the first to be released Stateside both in 1970. The band was at that time comprised of Vincent Crane (formally Crazy World of Arthur Brown) Keyboards and Backing Vocals, John Du Cann Lead and Bass Guitars and Lead Vocals (various little known outfits, but had shortly before replaced bassist Carl Palmer The Nice, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, later known as ELP) and Paul Hammond (Hard Stuff) and all classically trained musicians. The front cover of the album depicts the mono-type of Nebuchadnezzar by William Blake while the style came under the genre of Progressive Rock. While unable to speak for elsewhere, in Weymouth at least it was considered 'Underground', with the equation being simple, "if you ain't got DWBY you ain't UNDERGROUND!!

Just to change the tune slightly try

A Spoonful of Bromide Helps the Pulse Rate Go Down 

(Government Health Warning - Not Literally)

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