The Emerald - Thin Lizzy

  Down from the glen came the marching men

with their shields and their swords
To fight the fight they believed to be right
and overthrow the overlords

The Solstice arrived along with 2 eminent gentlemen of the
World of Moths
to join me with their own traps and in the shape of
Phil Sterling once again along with his brother Mark.
On the face of it the weather conditions were perfect and with 9 traps on the go hopes are high.
We will bring you the results in days to come, otherwise
the day started with a few more additions to the

2020 Moth List

 BORDERED BEAUTY

 GARDEN TIGER

 SMALL FAN-FOOT

along with

 SMALL BLOOD-VEIN

To the towns where there was plenty
They brought plunder, swords and flame
When they left the town was empty
And children would never play again

 as the long time absent

 Royal Air Force

once again entered our air-space.

 Another 'first' as far as

Eddie Stobart Livery

is concerned we ain't seen Beryl Joan before.

 A relatively dense mist greeted us at the gateway to the Heath

(having found nothing at the 2 ponds)

with the dew highlighting what must be tens of thousands of

 FUNNEL SPIDER WEBS

 Settling to monitor the traps, as ever we wondered at the great privilege 

that it is to be allowed to wander on such a place.

 never losing sight

of the wonders hereabouts.

 Additions to 2020 here included the beautifully

 ghost-like

 WHITE SATIN

 GREY PUG

COMMON EMERALD

along with

 DUSKY BROCADE

with

 HONEYSUCKLE

now in full bloom we also had hopes of a

Hummingbird Hawk-moth,

 but no and still early days yet. What is considered to be, vernacularly speaking,

KING ALFRED'S CAKE

 (Fungi)

 was next to be found followed by singles of 

STRIPED MILIPEDE

and

7-SPOT LADYBIRD

Having returned to base by mid-afternoon it was found that the rumours may in fact be founded as

 BRITISH AIRWAYS

might in fact be clearing out some of their craft with these

getting airbourne!

From their graves I heard the fallen
above the battle cry
By that bridge near the border
there were many more to die

Then onward over the mountain
and outward towards the sea
They had come to claim the Emerald
Without it they could not leave

One of, if not 'the' BEST Battle Hymn in the whole of Rock 'n' Roll

but let's not discount

The King Will Come and Throw Down the Sword - Wishbone Ash

played in tandem!

The Harry 'Lime' Theme - Anton Karas

writen as the soundtrack to the film 
The Third Man 
Given the current weather conditions, hammering down, probably no surprise to find 
we afforded ourself a 
Guard and Steerage
this morning, a Royal Navy expression for an extra 30 minutes in the hammock!
Having been a Seaman Mariner of some 50 years 

there are no bones made about the fact that my life revolves strictly around

SEAWATER!

Anything outside of that such as Electrickery or Whim-Whams (engines)

the catagory that then encompassing me is that of a

TECHNOPHOBE! 

 Good job then that we are still running 2 x Mercury Vapour Moth Traps 
from the mains power outside of 'Slight Return II' (my stately home) or there would be no 
Moths to report at all today. They included First's for the Year and spectacular

LIME HAWK-MOTH

 YELLOW BELLE

 ROSY FOOTMAN
and

SMALL ANGLE SHADES
before heading for the Heath.
Just a glance inside the first of the traps was enough to realise something was wrong,
and afer a long investigation, including phoneing my mentor it was discovered the
Air Inlet Valve
had been close all night - don't these infernal things run on petrol????

Anyroad, the daytime temperature has rocketed to a full +23°C,

it looks as if we are going to miss (me and my big mouth) the overnight flash floods and now anxiously waiting for 06:00 tomorrow to consolidate on our previous misfortune!

Otherwise, we have been enjoying a small rush of

 CROSSBILLs
(female)

 (male)
a particularly low flying 

 HOBBY
along with the delights of numerous, for here anyway,

 SISKIN
(female)

(male)
We feel sure you are champing at the bit for an update on the young Roe Buck
that was found a week agoalong the Solar Panel Compound fence of which

⅓ was eaten before the remainder disappeared, no doubt to a nearby lair?

Again it was left to other Insects, not including Butterflies which are noticeable by their absence, along with Plant-life to bulk up the post.

 PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE
now appearing along all watercourses including the
River Stour.

 COMMON CARDER BEE

 the invasive
ORANGE BALSAM
which appears to have brought with it the

 BALSAM CARPET
(Moth)

 of which we have already caught a single this year (24/04) from what is considered
the only breding colony in Dorset?

 It has been a while since we 'clocked' the last
COCKCHAFER

 while we found on the same day the first
WATERLILY

 BROAD-BODIED CHASER
(Dragonfly)
seem to be late appearing this year and very few in number

 while the predatory

COMMON AWL ROBBERFLY
which occur from May to October surviving on other winged insects including Butterflies.