Singing in the Rain - Gene Kelly

 Consulting the forcast, as every morning, the wet stuff was given to arrive sooner rather than later, so abandoning all else, save the mandatory Gold Blend Barista, we were out at the traps at 06:40. Along with a small haul of c5 Common Quaker, a single Hebrew Character there was a single

'first for the year'
(drawn from the archive for effect of the background)

and the kid itself a
SMALL QUAKER

before spotting a CRANE in the garden but not knowing if
Common or Demoiselle?

On the stroke of 07:00 we stepped back onboard coinciding with the start of the downpour which lasted for the rest of the day. Undaunted, we undertook a mini-rounds finding this rather splendid

juvenile

HERRING GULL

among the flock of still plentiful
Black-headed Gulls.
All else was that found on the Ponds with the

LITTLE GREBEs

displaying, diving, singing and dodging between the 

MALLARD and now c3 COOT

with one of the latter looking as though 'sitting'?

another plodding through the precipitation while leaving the last word to the

LITTLE GREBEs

YELLOW - Coldplay

 Another day, another drive down the South Side where again the Finch flock had disapeared with

STARLING
now predominating but then, in quick succession, 2 x First's for the Year!

Lord's-and-Ladies, Wild Arum, Cuckoo Pint, Parson-in-the-Pulpit'
call them what you will, with heads above the parapit and now awaiting the 'Tongue' to appear. 

Far, far better with no disrespect for the above, what sounded like the gentle rasping of a

YELLOWHAMMER
found surveying the Stubble Field

and what qualifies as a Real Rarity here stayed only for a 'blink of the eye'!
The older members of the community remember days, particularly on the Common, when you had to fight your way through them - gone are such days!

In sunshine and shadow

the ancient (Georgian) wall and flowers painted an interesting picture, but time to head north and again on the outside of the Solar Panel Compound

the lone

but equally irresistable

RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE,

still in company with it's male Pheasant pal,

was taking its morning stroll

while within more

HERRING GULL
activity, mightily outnumbered by

REDWING

commuting from the panels

to feeding on the ground.

Best we make the most of this as maybe the last we see of them

until the Autumn and on exiting the

finest show of

SALLOW BLOSSOM
we have seen this year, if that doesn't attract the Moths nothing will!

Life Shot in Black and White - Simple Minds

Another Tear to an Ol' Salts Eye 

EURIKA
"we have found it"!!!!

Along with c3 more Common Rustic's and another Dotted Border on a chilly night came

a further first for the year

HEBREW CHARACTER
right on cue, along with a

tiny

EARTHWORM

while the Engineers have made a splendid job of the resurfacing in a single day and with little disruption.
Down south it was immediately noticable that

CHAFFINCH

numbers had increased quite dramatically, maybe doubling to an estimated 200,
but it is said that such guesses are often much larger.

However, add to that a most welcome sprinkling of

LINNETs

absent for about a month now and not even a guess as to numbers.
More joy scanning the neighbouring pastures to find a whole army of

BEE HIVES

had appeared overnight, pity we cannot get a little closer and maybe about time

to give a little space to the

mixed mob of
WOOD PIGEONs and CORVIDs

which have been surviving on the stubble right across the winter and, while the rest of this area is awash with

DAFFODILs
there is but a single stem across the southern reaches.

While everything at the Gravel Pit was in Black and White, prospecting

MAGPIES
the good news might be that the previously lone

COOT

may have found a partner,

perhaps fattening up before the sparring begings

and could be surveying a likely nest site?
All else to hold our attention on the day was the reappearance of c2

MISTLE THRUSH

so elluring

(Panel Cleaners to Muster)

we will give you

the whole jolly lot.

We don't remember seeing their legs

quite so YELLOW before.

Early nesters, let's hope they are a pair!

GRYTVIKEN WHALING STATION SOUTH GEORGIA

where, back in 2007 along with my then ladyfriend Sue,
we were privaliged to pay our own respects to
Earnest Shackleton and the crew of the Endurance and certainly agree it is best left where it lies!

STILL - Ken Dodd

 A rather pleasing but unexpected suprise kicked the day off with a transit by the

COAST GUARD HELICOPTER

which, for what ever reason, we believed had been abandoned but, without 'foot in mouth'

hopefully has not!

With overnight temperatures still hanging on doggedly to ‘Three Degrees’ we have, for now at least, given up on the Moths. However, that raises the question,

“when will I see you again”?

During more needed reperation works to the road surface down south we gave the area a miss heading instead to the Irrigation Pond where all that could be seen or heard were a brace of

CANADA GEESE

with backing vocals, if you listen carefully, provided by the now established
Little Grebes
but no signs of nest building yet from either departmant. Next door the still 'single'

COOT

appeared to be collecting dead reed but will need more observations to quantify it.
Otherwise we were very much relying on what the Moors River might throw up given the 'water-plain' is back after the moderately heavy rain, looking like the semi-residents were already

making their way back, c8 more Canada Geese joining what was a host of

BLACK-HEADED GULL

undoubtedly capitalising on a wealth of

Drowning Invertibrates
and watched over by the seemingly ever present

CORMORANT
in a cross-section of plumages.

A welcome diversion was provided by this male

BLACKCAP
only the second sighting of the year before ending the wait to capture at least one decent click of the 'scarce' and now semi-resident pair of

WIGEON

As a finalè the local and seemingly now only

RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE
was again found bolt upright and not moving a muscle

during a 15 minute observation on the track outside of the
Solar Panel Compound.