Sunday, 24 April 2022

The Falkland Islands - Part II

 Ostensibly, the second run at the Falkland Islands but also just a little further on as well.

IMPERIAL SHAG
SNOWY SHEATHBILL
the bane of the deck crews lives as
their droppings would remove paintwork /varnish quicker than any commercial stripper!
WRECK of the LADY ELIZABETH
just off the Post Stanley, a bit better look, where
CRESTED DUCKs
muster.
WANDERING
ALBATROSS
UPLAND GOOSE
(female)
UPLAND GOOSE
(pair with goslings)
UPLAND GOOSE
(male)
WHITE-CHINNED PETREL
TURKEY VULTURE
FALKLAND ISLAND
(after hostilities)
COMMON (FALKLANDS) SNIPE
KELP GULL
NORTHERN GIANT PETREL
CHIMANGO CARACARA
Colony of
MEGELLANIC PENGUIN
ROCK CORMORANT
KELP GOOSE
(male)
KELP GOOSE
(female)
BERGY BIT

which is a medium to large fragment broken from an iceberg. Its height is generally greater than three feet but less than 16 feet above sea level and its area is normally about 1,076-3,229 square feet. Growlers are smaller fragments of ice and are roughly the size of a truck or grand piano.

Approaching Saint Georgia

BLUE PETREL
SOUTHERN ROYAL ALBATROSS
and finaly
SOUTH GEORGIA SHAG
IF YOU ARE STUCK FOR SOMEWHERE TO GO, LOOK NO FURTHER!

Saturday, 23 April 2022

The Grass is Never Greener

 Not even IN the traps but clinging on doggedly to the wooden fence palings on a bit of a

Frosty Morning
another most welcome
First for the Year
FROSTED GREEN
somewhat appropriate!
Continuing with the 'green theme' the
GREEN ALKANET
is having a bumper year and question is have the
MUTE SWANs
finally constructed this years nest?? We'll keep our own council on that until we see eggs and keep you posted!
PERIWINKLE
was another welcome find before heading off to the more northern ponds
where all that was found were the c4 male and single female
TUFTED DUCKs
with one of the males still reluctant to be clicked.
From the main Solar Panel Compound just brief glimpses of a brace of
RED LEGGED PARTRIDGE
maybe lending a little more credence to the theory that the c2 found about a mile away, earlier in the month are in fact different birds??
Also there were a couple of
LAPWING
hopefull prospecting yet another nest site, along with this
MISTLE THRUSH
doubtless feeding young as early nesters while back at HQ our first
LARGE WHITE BUTTERFLY
of the year with a Larvea image taken from the archive just as pre-warning as to what will be visiting your Cabbage Patch in the near future!
along with only our second
and this time perched
SWALLOW
of the year as usual favouring the tennis court netting support.

Friday, 22 April 2022

The Happening - Supremes

 It had to happen sooner or later and while not O. T. T. the first decent 'crop' of Moths overnight, 48 Insects of 18 Species, with the most PROMINENT being the family group of PROMENENT's! Of the genre we managed to capture c4 seperated species overnight including

from the 2 traps at home
IRON PROMINENT
PEBBLE PROMINENT
along with
SWALLOW PROMINENT
all First's for the Year and also a far less beaten up and the second of 2022
GREAT PROMINENT
but in our excitement have jumped the gun slightly as before the lamps were even extinguished a
BRIMSTONE MOTH
had been plucked from a dew soaked lawn and likewise added to the Year List.
That might have been the end of it had we not recovered half a dozen
FLAME SHOULDER,s
from the more northen traps along with an earlyish
BIRCH MOCHA
and a single
MULLEIN 
from up north and also increasing the Year List.
Among the melee and transiting to the other traps we stopped to check on the Mute Swans to see if they had yet sorted their lives out - to be continued - but additionally catching no more than a 30 seconds glimpes of a
PIED FLYCATCHER
consigned to the RARE catagory here as only ever having recorded
this 3rd individual across our 10 years of recording here!
To the accompanying clatter of a Royal Navy
MERLIN HELICOPTER

we failed for a 4th time to coax the

Black Lamb
back into the compound, we will persist and to end on a high note we recieved reliable information
of c2
 RED KITEs

flying relatively low above the Fencing Centre the previous afternoon.