Straight Down the Middle - Bing Crosby

It is as long ago as Early Spring since most of the following images were taken, with a view to highlighting the progress being made on the new 9 holds of the Parley Court Golf Course. Not only of great benefit to the Golfers, but also with the potential of attracting Wildlife of all kinds.

The exception being just a few photos from last nights take from the

Moth Traps.

In fact we didn't even have to broach the first trap to secure the

first 2 Species, which were Firsts for the Year, and just

perched in the vicinity.

 PEBBLE HOOK-TIP

 and worthy of a good look all round

 the perfectly named

 CANARY-SHOULDERED THORN

Also of interest we secured our second

 RIVULET

 and ditto for a great personal favourite

 HERALD

as is usual there were other Insects/Creatures to contend with such as

 one of the 15 Species of 

GREEN LACEWING

 that may be found across the UK

CHRYSOPA PERLA

 BLACK SLUG

with the question posed being "however does such a thing get into a trap"?

It was all of 6 inches long and an inch round one of the biggest we have seen.

The open Fairways have already seen up to c10

EGYPTIAN GEESE

while Ian the Green Keeper might not be so welcoming if they stray
onto his precious 'greens'.

There are a number of small but attractive watercourses throughout

which, we are told, should be 'lined' to provide Water for Wildlife
throughout the seasons.

Already visited by

LITTLE EGRET

FAIRWAY

The surrounding areas are also conducive as these

Woodland Rides
already support the likes of

NUTHATCH
and

 TREECREEPER
while the extremely 'scarce'

LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER

has also been recorded hereabouts.
Not exactly a Forrest

but certainly enough woodland to support a number of our
Breeding Warblers and other Passerines.

More Water

where on that particular day a pair of prospecting

SHELDUCK
were spotted.

This ditch, which is also earmarked to remain in place,
had been the winter feeding ground for this pair of 'not ringed'

MUTE SWAN
which have subsequently bred there.

Dragon and Damselflies

have also taken up residence here

and that looks every bit like the Strange Rover in the distance.

Early Spring and

WHEATEAR
were quick to take advantage of these wide-open areas as the
Borough Council
set about screening this section of hedgerow to deter birds from nesting.

As the new access road to the Sewerage Works is planned for this area
there was the foresight to rig netting as the hedge has now been grubbed out,
without loss of Avian Life!

All of the common species enjoy what is the relative tranquility here.

CHAFFINCH

Dotted here and there are the small but mature Ponds and

Out Buildings

and even the now redundant Game Crop has been left as both
cover and food supply.

These were the first
BLUEBELLS

and

SELFHEAL
but that is going back quite a while now!

and ever present and watchful for an easy meal the local

SPARROWHAWK
Programmed to open in September,
we hope to bring you further updates from this area as time goes by.

Straight Down the Middle Link
Penultimately, a joke which must be read in a Scottish accent!
What is the difference between Bing Crosby and Walt Disney?

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Bing Sings and Walt Dis'nae!

Mellow Yellow - Donavan

DREEK is considered a fantastic word, and one picked up during my extensive visits to Bonny Scotland over the years, and fits the bill perfectly as to definition. Related to dark, dank, dismal, windy, wet and darn right appalling weather conditions it was the perfect adjective to describe yesterday's dawn! That light rain which gets you soaked in seconds and a 20 knot wind prevented visiting the traps until later in the day, but once there the returns made for the best night of the season. 372 Macro (larger) Moths of 72 Species were recorded with a couple qualifying as First for the Year.

Best viewed from all angles the tiny and quite bizarre

FESTOON

(tail down)

was first on the list and caught

tail up before being consigned to a pot.

SMALL RUFOUS
others, more of novelty value included

the extremely beautiful

GREEN SILVER-LINES

and representing the usually smaller Micros

BEE MOTH
and from the rest of the Insect World a

SUMMER CHAFER

sometimes refered to as a
European June Beetle
(for the majority who voted OUT, maybe we should find another name?)
only half the size and less frequent than its larger cousin the
May Bug.
Still extremely quiet on the Birding Front we were flicking through
some files of images taken in the past few days and most surprised to see
just how many of our Plant photographs feature those with 'YELLOW' blooms.

This particular species of

FOXTAIL GRASS
is not one of them but in 'full pollen' makes for an attractive picture
don't you think?

 EVENING PRIMROSE

 is more of a 'cultivar' here as once grown as a commercial crop

 but it is well known that our Equestrian Ladies can well do without the poisonous
RAGWORT

 In the Chicken Coup of all places was found

 LADY'S BEDSTRAW

 and just as punctuation from
Mellow Yellow
the most attractive

 MEADOW'S CRANE'S-BILL

 In abundance both

 SMOOTH HAWK'S-BEARD

 and

 TALL MELILOT
with yet another break.

 The juvenile
CANADA GOOSE
(the only one found across the Recording Area this year)
now looking very much like the parent birds and very nearly the same size.

YELLOW BARTSIA
We take the 'long overdue' opportunity here to thank our friend
JOHN GIFFORD
for his assistance with identifications not only on this Post
but throughout the Blog. 

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