Sunday Bloody Sunday - U2

With emphasis on the 'B' word in the Headline

we set about the second day of last weekend, as ever,

monitoring the c5 Moth Traps on Parley Court Farm.

 Close to being the first Insect out of a trap
 
FOUR-SPOTTED FOOTMAN
 was considered a good start to the mission and like all the others shown
First for the Year.

 EAR MOTH

 a slightly ragged but no less welcome
SILKY WAINSCOT

along with the diminutive

SMALL RUFOUS

and an even smaller

SLENDER PUG

and as our valued regular readers know
"we don't do Micros"
but there is always room for an exception to the rule, especially when it looks like

BEAUTIFUL CHINA MARK

With Dave heading off directly to the traps it was impossible for me to simply
pass the ponds by, so as on every day it was a stop at the
Irrigation Pond.
Immediately, it was a massive surprise to find c2

 GREENSHANK
 feeding at the waters edge. Unfortunately the vegetation there is now at it highest
not allowing for best of viewing, but nonetheless this record shot was secured.

 Further to that, we delved into the archive to bring you these slightly better images

of only the 3rd and 4th record for our
Recording Area.
The 'B' word came into play as we moved location to monitor the c3 traps
under auxiliary power, only to find that what must have been early in the night the
generator have given out. There few Moths to sort through, in fact my count was 12,
but even then there was a ray of hope as

SOUTHERN WAINSCOT

also joined the others already on the Year List.
The question then was what to do next and that is where modern technology
plays its part. The continued presence of a 'rare' Dragonfly had been Tweeted earlier in the day,
and lucky for us the site, Longham Lake is no more than 15 minutes from where we stood.
There was however just one other duty to perform before setting off
as Dave had nurtured some eggs from a

SCARCE MERVEILLE du JOUR

and was now about to release the resulting

LARVAE (Caterpillars)

back to the wild in hopes of increasing populations.

Despite the Tweet, the extreme rarity of this Insect and the fine weather,
human activity at the lakes was almost nonexistent, but then it is an inch and a bit long
and the area only a couple of hundred acres so not a problem.
However, the visit was not to be dull as within a very short time Dave had picked-up on a

LESSER EMPEROR DRAGONFLY

(lower image © Pete Moore)

of which during our stay we may well have seen 3 or 4 but not one of them
was seen to land, hence a 'borrowed' image from Wikipedia.
Very similar to its close cousin the

EMPEROR DRAGONFLY,
a number of which were close by and most obliging, with the diagnostic feature
being the 'blue saddle' between thorax and abdomen in the Lesser.

Not a lot of action in this clip.

TUFTED DUCK with YOUNG

BLACK-TAILED SKIMMER

just before a brief encounter with a swimming

GRASS SNAKE

Unfortunately, no time to activate the Video Camera.

Pete Moore (sat), James Philips and partner Jean.

COMMON BLUE DAMSELFLY

There followed a nice little sequence

as this

GREAT CRESTED GREBE

surfaced with a fish, and while we cannot be 100% certain it does look like a
ROACH

SMALL RED-EYED DAMSELFLY

once resident at
Parley Court Farm
but not in the last 2 years.

While studying this juvenile
WILLOW WARBLER
a shout and a wave went up from Pete alerting the rest of us to the much sort after
Star of the Show

SCARLET DARTER

just about as rare as it gets when it comes to Dragonflies in this country.

You can forget all about the
Sir Douglas Quintet
and their fine hit record
She's About A Mover (Link)

as 'at perch' it did little more than flick its wings but at times took
the occasional little sortie into the middle of the pond.

After feasting our eyes this was another Very Happy
Quintet.

On the way back there was to be one final treat as we came across
JULIAN THOMAS
newly arrived from Somerset to view this rare creature.
In the past he and I did a bit of 'Birding' together, but it has been
Several years since we have seen each other.
A real treat and perfect end to a magical, interesting and educational day!

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Saturday Night's (Alright for Mothing) - Elton John

Having edited most of the images from the weekend we can now
embark on foisting them upon you!
There was so much going on over that 2 days period
that we consider it best to report over 2 Posts.
It was something of a shock waking on Saturday to find a FOOT in the door, but a welcome one at that,
as once again Dave (of the same name) had joined me for the weekend.

And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
and the forests will echo with laughter.

Ooh, and it makes me wonder!

 A positive look about the start of the weekend highlighted by a fabulous
05:00 (Sun Rise) Cloud Formation
with sunrise coinciding with the setting of a near

Full Moon

There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who stand looking.

Just a glimpse through the collar of the first trap indicated that we might be in for a bonanza?
All but one of these Moths were
Firsts for the Year.

 PURPLE-BORDERED GOLD

 SMALL PHOENIX
by comparison with simply

 PHOENIX

 HORSE CHESTNUT

 and now having caught
MAGPIE
we can show it as compared with the far rarer

 CLOUDED MAGPIE
caught some days ago.

 WAVED BLACK
is a complete 'new comer' to our Recording Area while

 BEAUTIFUL YELLOW UNDERWING

 is annual and followed by

 what was Moth-Wise) the highlight of the weekend by a Royal Mile

 FOUR-SPOTTED
not only a 'first' for our Recording Area but described in the
 Dorset Moth Group (Link)
literature as a

Rare and Very Local Resident
the stronghold of which in Dorset is the
Isle of Portland.

 There were also some other very interesting beasts

in the various traps but none more magnificent than another new one on me

 PRIONUS CORIATIUS

 which was initially thought to be a female

Stag Beetle

One of the Longhorn complex of Beetles, once shown to our friend

John Gifford
he quickly corrected us by saying it is in fact better known as
TANNER BEETLE
Later, we paid our daily visit to the
Irrigation Pond
where it was a most welcome sight to see c8 juvenile

LAPWING
 had gathered but only able to commit c7 of them to celluloid.

However, on closer inspection it was seen that the Lapwing were not alone as the 
Juvenile LITTLE GREBE
was noted having taken to the Beach as well!

 This brought about yet another personal first for me

not ever having seen a Little Grebe 'walking' albeit totally ungainly!
 Returning to Slight Return II for a most welcome and well deserved
cup of coffee and smoked salmon sandwich Hugh, the landowner, came rushing
over to show us a bird photograph he had taken.
Not at all a believer in coincidence our Hugh, it was something of a
coincidence that the self-same bird flew in and landed on a nearby Ash tree.

Without delay the male
KESTREL
was captured on both 'still' and

'video'
by myself before making the final discovery of the day, a fine looking
LARGE EMERALD
clinging to a tree trunk.

 Mañana will follow pasado mañana!

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