Up, Up and Away - The 5th DImension

 A little up in the air today as the early morning

AIRBUS

takes to the wing bound for New York once again so we believe.
In the Wilder World we are lucky to still be catching as early morning temperature still hang on doggedly close to ZERO or less values. Best of a poor bunch were darker versions of

COMMON QUAKER

BRINDLED BEAUTY
A bit of a surprise to find the Cirencester Crew back in the
Solar Panel Compounds

to undertake

Nettle Spraying Operations

amazing how they can effect production

if not eradicated.
Across the board things, with one exception, proved difficult as these clips show

female
BLACKCAP

enticing a male

while this BLUE TIT was seen to be plucking the fluffy bits from Sallow Catkins for nest building,
while very short, but sweet, this most handsome male

CHAFFINCH
and only just spur-of-the-moment did we manage to capture this brief glimps of a

Dassault Falcon 20 of the Norwegian Airforce
shaping up for landing.
Following the mechanical trend

was added from the Eddie Stobart collection before a tidy bunch of

WHITE BLUEBELLs
and the remains of last years

BRACKET FUNGI
and the

ASPENs
just starting to show some leaf.
BEST however was left until LAST this time
as we located the singing

NUTHATCH

and filled our boots

as far as

Snapping

and Filming

were concerned.

Elusive Butterfly - Bob Lind

 With a clear blue evening sky and a

Waxing Cresent Moon
there were no real signs of low visibility but every chance of yet another ground frost at dawn.

A Pea Souper across the Main Pond

didn't seem to be concerning the local

SONG THRUSH
too much as it pull a second plump Earthworm from the frozen ground in quick succession.
Matters only got worse the further north we got and already thought of abandoning the Morning in hopes of a little

(Gateway to the Heath)
 Afternoon Delight

 (Heart of the Forest)
where there was plenty enough light for close quarters activity such as Moth Traps but little else!

We heard the

Red-legged Partridge long before they came into view and appeared to be finding plenty of groceries, but only afforded ourself one click before finding 5 Insects of 7 species and amoung them a most welcome 'first for year'

SILVER Y

Largely a Migrant which is as content to fly in daylight hours as it does at night.
Add to that the always welcome

EARLY GREY
and yet another

DOR BEETLE

carrying a decent bit of fluff on its legs likely gathered from the numerous fallen Catkins?
Time for an executive decission which saw us return to Base Camp and get on with other things while the Sun burnt off the mist. A sparkling and warm Spring afternoon with much improved visibility was surely decent conditions to find the daytime flying Common Heath Moth, but again no such luck.
HOWEVER
among the otherWing'ed Squadrons of the Skies came firstly

ORANGE-TIP BUTTERFLY
(male)

showing upper side and underwing and

(female)
likewise with images of the male taken from Insects caught in Moth Traps

and females at liberty.

DARTFORD WARBLER

posing

more abandonedly

than we have seen so far this year before a second 'first for the year'
Butterfly fluttered into view. this time a

COMMA

named from the punctuation mark on the underside of the trailing wing.
Although recorded and posted before this year, the temptation was simply too great
not to publish a male

BRIMSTONE

gathering nectar.

 Don't be concerned, it will not harm you
It's only me pursuing somethin' I'm not sure of
Across my dreams with nets of wonder
I chase the bright elusive Butterfly of Love 

Bob Lind 

Once again we take the opportunity to thank all our 

Valued Reader 

and ask again to spread the word to others please.

Thanks and Stay Safe and Well! 

It's a Linnet In-It?

 With early morning temperatures still kissing Zero it still does not seem to be detering the Moths with 18 Insects of 8 species still gracing the traps and producing

SCARCE PROMINENT

(just before release) by way of a 'first for the year' and a small resugence of

YELLOW HORNED

after a couple of weeks absence.
Otherwise, there was a sprinkling of interest but not before making the now daily morning visit to

Mister and Mister
MUTE SWAN
with their prospective 7 cygnets letting the Sun do much of the incubating and it has now been 23 days since this lone

CANADA GOOSE
took up this low-necked posture at the Irrigation Pond. Surely it must have had a streatch- but we have not witnessed it. We encountered quite a 'fall' of

ROBINs
counting 23 during our first circuit but not alone in this there were also higher than average numbers of the likes of

BLACKBIRD

in double figures

c13

male

WHEATEAR

with a single

elusive and unsnapable female while the still solo

REED BUNTING

at the Balancing Pond continues the mission

to secure himself a mate.

LINNETs

are now the most numerous of the passerines now with still plenty of vocals,

nest building activities along with males 'rosying' up those little breasts.
On the way back the Moors River threw up

some thing of an optical illusion

as this

LITTLE EGRET

that looked to have the proportions and stance of a

Great White Egret
and it isn't unusual for Birds to fly off the very second you get them in focus

but rarely fielding a replacement so quickly
COMMON BUZZARD and MAGPIE
All of the ponds here have been close to devoid of Watererfowl this year with nothing displaying, let alone nest building, so on our return it was refreshing to find this female

TUFTED DUCK

on the Gravel Pit doing an impression of a lady

Scaup

with the white forehead.