Misty - Johnny Mathis (and too much in love)

 “Oh, Flippin’ Ek”, an expression regularly used while in the Royal Navy to highlight our displeasure of this or that! Today, it was again more directed at the ‘gloom’ in part.

A combination of Mist, Ground Frost and Wind didn't contribute to putting a Spring in the Step

but to find the

ROOKs
back in town was something of a decent beginning, but with overnight temperatures remaining in 'minus'figures there has been no further Moth Trap action.

No more than one of the local
WOOD PIGEONs

c3 of the now c11

MUTE SWANs

across the Recording Area

favouring the ditch rather than the open water of the
Main Pond

while further south the lone

PIED WAGTAIL
still finds sustinance atop the
Dung Heap.

There was sharp contrast in weather conditions further north
(looking in that direction along the main bridleway)
but little difference with the residents except for the arrival of a single

CANADA GOOSE
now joining the c3

TUFTED DUCKS

followed by something of a minor coup

as what might be considered a 'pair' of
LITTLE GREBE
hove into view just at the right moment.
Additionally, there are another considered

PAIR

in far more advanced plumage at the

Gravel Pit

could be at it before the month is out?

Our wander ended with a

Fly Past across a Clear Blue Sky of the

COASTGUARD RESCUE HELICOPER
another timely reminder of how our Emergency Services have taken care of us
across these trying timess!

The Thieving Magpie - Rossini

 With that -4°C on it way tonight accompanied by a 14 m.p.h. Easterly breeze a little advice, 

Winter Draws On!

We all surely have those moments when just sitting there something pops into the old ‘grey mater’ without rhyme or reason. For me yesterday it was Azure-winged Magpie, which surely was the same for the vast majority of you out there, and more particularly its current status. Mostly a resident of China and surrounding countries there is also what has been considered a ‘relict’ population in Portugal which remained when the land-masses separated and, to my knowledge, has always been considered the same species??

AZURE-WINGED MAGPIE

(China)

AZURE-WINGED MAGPIE

(Portugal)

the difference being noticable immediately. To source these images we simply typed 'Magpie' into the archive search engine and came across quite an array of othere 'Magpies' from across the World. Having once again hit the buffers as far as local fare is concerned we hoped these following images might make for an interesting post?

Firstly, and close to home, the delectable
MAGPIE MOTH

which we catch annually here and hope to do so again later in the season, and then from futheter afieldthe

MAGPIE GOOSE

found in Australia and Guinea.

MADAGASCAR MAGPIE ROBIN (male)

Ditto (female)

Our Very Own (local))

PICA PICA (juvenile)

these 2 squabbling over a rat at Portland Bill

and that magical 'once in a lifetime' in the hand experience.

AUSTRALIAN MAGPIE

from whence the name suggests.

CLOUDED MAGPIE MOTH
an outrageous beauty which we also welcome here every year.

ORIENTAL MAGPIE ROBIN
(female)

DITTO
(male)

SMALL MAGPIE MOTH
(we don't do Micros)

AUSTRALIAN MAGPIE LARK

BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE
of the USA only split from our own resident in recent years which became an 'armchair' addition!
However, not so its close cousin and our own personal Nemesis the

YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIE
denizen of the west coast of the USA where we have visited more than a dozen time without so much as a sniff. The closes was boarding a Greyhound at Merced, California heading north and striking up conversation with a fellow female passenger. During that conversation she told of daily visits to her garden of this much sought after and still absent beauty.
And only because the file was next-door to Magpie do we add these shots of

MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD
(female)

MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD
(male)

MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD
(juvenile male)

We Thank One and All for Tuning In and Stay Safe!

Inchworm - Danny Kaye

 The fact that we are getting anything at all from the Moth Traps is a bonus in itself with yesterday's contribution amounting to no more than this pair of

DUNG FLIES

making the most

of thier very short lifespan, while on the doorstep another

WORM
that might have benifited from the words

"How anyone could ever imagin Unquiet Slumbers, for the Sleepers in that Quiet Earth"

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

SNOWDROPs

with none having "fallen on my head"

have taken control while the interloper of yesterday

male
MUTE SWAN
has been given short shrift.

Also at Pondside these mutant look-a-like

GREYLAG GEESE
may have taken some seperating from the real thing had they simply been 'fly-overs'?

In the gloom

3 of what could easily have been

(in silhouette)
up to 5 seperate

KESTRELs
while up north there was no more than

a handful

of

MEADOW PIPIT

A dull bunch we readily admit but as Sam Cook once pronounced
"A CHANGE is GONNA COME"

The Stat Counter continues to hold a very healthy position (Thanks to One and All) but again would welcome you sending our Link to your Families and Friends - Thanks in Anticipation!