Clutching at Straws - Marillion

Yet another period of heavy overnight rain, about the 5th
in a row by my calculation, the only advantages being a
Guard and Steerage,
 the Royal Naval expression for an extra lie in the bunk,
and not having to water the Strawberries.
ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE!
From the Moth Traps, and all New for the Year, we had

 CABBAGE MOTH

 CYPRESS CARPET

 DARK SWORD-GRASS

 DWARF CREAM WAVE

 not a particularly inspiring looking bunch but all grist to the mill.

The Dark Sword-grass is likely an 'immigrant', always welcome!

Not a lot of action to show for the first part of our wander today in fact the Wildlife was more of a 'static nature' than the mobile (Bird/Mammal) kind. A wander round Parley Pond threw up

 WHITE CAMPION

 RAGGED ROBIN

and

RED CAMPION

and then something of a lull until reaching the Irrigation Pond where

more a case of Clutching at Straws than anything else

we recorded one of the

COOT

patrolling the nest.

On the way round to the Heath we took a closer look at the

 ROWANS

 which are now all in full bloom and again the realisation of just how many 

GREENFINCH

 we have here. 

A large and healthy population which seem to have had

a terrific Breeding Season.

and we simply title this clip

"The Grass is Always Greener"

While it is general practice to monitor the

Reptile Covers

every second Sunday, sometimes it become all too much 

of a temptation to take a peek which was the case yesterday

when the (just) 2 that were turned produced a thriving

 ANT COLONY

plus a rather chunky

SLOW WORM

 For no other reason than it looked attractive we captured this

BRAMBLE of BLACKBERRY

 What followed next could be described as a 

Mini Purple Patch

as in quick succession 3 things not seen here before were noted.

Instantly recognised, due to many years spent on Portland,

where it is prolific,

 VIPER'S BUGLOSS

was something of a surprise but only 2 stems.

 The next we are told by our friend John Gifford, who worked at the Airport
for a number of years, is not unusual here a

 BROWN HARE

followed, as if there needed to be 'icing on the cake', by a

 KINGFISHER

 at the recently dug

Balancing Pond.

It should be note that thus far we have resisted the temptation to start a

Balancing Pond List, 
but now more's the pity!

 Our final location for the day was the

 Eco Recycling Works,

or perhaps more correctly the rubble-strewn area behind,

 where we quickly picked up on one of the 'many dozens' of this years

PIED WAGTAIL

 but as usual our main target were the

LITTLE RINGED PLOVER

which, due to the continuous 'location calls' of the parent birds

are rarely difficult to find.

Our final record for the day concerned this pair of

STOCK DOVE

cavorting on the roof of one of the large sheds.

As promised in a previous Post we can now bring you

footage of the completed

SOIL BUND

(open to visitors Monday to Friday £20 per head

but please don't let the Dampney Family know

they are sure to want a 'discount'.

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The Shepherd and Sally - The Savage Rose

Now there' a blast from a

Very Distant Past

but a fabulous band for all that! 

You 'never catch them all' and would you be satisfied if you did? but here are a couple of examples of how similar some of these Insects can be. With well over 2 thousand Species in Great Britain alone it's probably understandable why we stay, in the most part, well away from the Micro Moths.

SATIN WAVE

TREBLE BROWN-SPOT

RIBAND WAVE

COMMON WHITE WAVE
and just for contrast

SPRUCE CARPET
sharply contrasting.
Touching briefly on the Micros once again there were
c2 distinctly identifiable ones in the Traps including the 'ordinaire'

HYPSOPYGIA GLAUCINALIS 
and the far more 'bizarre'

AGDISTIS BENNETII
 The 'Y Stance' of the wings of this creature 'at perch' sets it aside from all others in the

Micro Moth Field Guide.

 It also has the vernacular name of

SALTMARSH PLUME

which usually favours more Coastal Wetlands, but there is always

an exception to the rule, we are some miles from the coast here at

Parley Court Farm. 

 The this little belter obligingly crawlled into a specimen pot

 BLACK-HEADED CARDINAL BEETLE

 On Parley Pond meanwhile a female MALLARD was guarding her charges,

 after which we made our way to the Common to find the Shepherd 

in something of a predicament.

 Having now taken over fully from his predicesor Alex, Jack up until now

had not given me his telephone number! 

This Ewe along with c3 Lambs have been at large for the last week

but with no contact detail there was no one to report the shortfall to.

The youngsters had taken no catching at all, but Mum was quite a different matter.

Not only more lively, and seemingly a lot more stupid, she had found herself on

the wrong side of a deep ditch which Jack had to negotiate, on the return route,

clinging on to the Sheep. Being every bit of 6 feet 8 inches tall he is a 'natural'

in such recoveries!

With nothing of note at the Irrigation Pond it was a quick hop round to the

Gravel Pit

where upon stopping at the most advantageous spot for viewing the

Watercourse this

 GREEN SANDPIPER

 landed directly in front of the

Strange Rover

 albeit at a bit of a distance,

 while close by this

BLACK-HEADED GULL

had found a comfortable spot atop of the 'Mountain'!

It was simply one of those days when anything else of interest
just didn't turn up. except maybe for a brief encounter with this

MISTLE THRUSH
and then with my noted lightening-fast reactions managed to film

one of the
Silverstone Energy Maintenance Staff

hard at work!

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Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum

Today's headline could just as easily have been 

Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival 

as last night's much anticipated 

'Strawberry Moon',

just like most of the rest of the day turned out to be a 'damp squib! 

Indeed, yesterday's banner, Obscured By Clouds would also have 

fitted the bill, but there you go there's no figuring the weather and

as can be seen from the top image the Moth Trap almost outshone the Heavenly Body!

 So as we step into the first day of the

Astronomical Summer

the good news is there hasn't been a drop of rain so far!

So, since the BOOM days of the weekend before last the Moth Traps have taken something of a tumble in both quality and quantity, but there's usually something to save the day. Yesterday it was

 the superb looking

 MILLER
And so it was that later, as the Miller told his tale.
That her face, at first just ghostly, turned a

 Whiter Shade of Pale Link
Rock 'n' Roll Trivia

It seems strange to relate that 'guitarist' Robin Trower (all in white and still one of my very favourite British Blues Guitarists) features in this video at all as at the time of recording the original record he was not even in the band. He did however replace Ray Royer later in 1967 and played on the follow-up 'hit' Homburg. He and 'front-man' Gary Brooker had formed the Paramounts back in 1964 and had a minor hit, reaching No 35 in the UK Charts, with the Leiber / Stoller penned Poison Ivy. Their first professional gig as Procol Harum was as 'opening act' for The Jimi Hendrix Experience also in 1967.  

 and we managed to secure the first decent image of the very common

 HEART and CLUB

Still determined to try with the Micros, after our much repeated War Cry of

"we don't do Micros",

a lone and tiny

THISTLE ERMINE

and an accompanying 

ROBBER FLY

Neoitamus cyanurus

Also known as

ASSASSIN FLY

On the Gravel Pit the pair of

 LITTLE GREBE

 appear industrious enough to have built a nest

 but all that remains are small piles of sub-surface weed.
Whatever all this has been about over recent days may never be known?
At Eco and scurrying among the

 FOX-TAIL GRASS
the c2 juvenile

 LITTLE RINGED PLOVER

have been noted taking their first short flights, nothing compared to
the one lying ahead of them in the none too distant future!
Also there and

 progressing through the grass at a 'snail-pace'

 WHITE-LIPPED SNAIL

and cross-fertilising

BROWN-LIPPED SNAILS

On the Heath

SMOOTH SNAKE
continue to slither while

 BITING STONECROP

 HEATH BEDSTRAW

and what is thought to be

 BLACK MEDICK

are all now in full bloom, and now in full leaf

TREMBLING ASPENS

seem to jingle in the breeze.

Just before leaving the Heath the adult

BELTED GALLOWAY COWS

were spotted some distance away, but the lack of the Calf prompted further investigation. She was found some half mile away from the others but, wait for it, 'inside' the Bournemouth International Airport Perimeter Fence. A call to Gary the Herdsman had him start out post haste to sort the situation, by which time the plaintive cries of the youngster had the 4 adults stampeding across the Heath to assist. Having just taken the 'eye off the ball' for that split second the Calf was now back on the Heath and suckling from her mother. That raised quiet another question as the whether an extra splash of water should been added to the Glendronach (8 year old) last night?

No, she was most certainly on the Airport but all well

and back with Mum, Gary was 'stood down'!

and finally from the 

Trail Cameras

just a lowly

WOOD PIGEON

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