Silver Machine - Hawkwind

Later to become Hawklords 

A bit of a milestone to kick off with as securing our first Hawk-Moth of the year

in fact not just one but c2

POPLAR HAWK-MOTHs

feeling gentle to the touch

and again from the archive and just for interest the
LARVAE.

Additionally

PEPPERED MOTH
was added and like the larvae the

melanistic version is added for interest and finally of the 'alive' specimens a

RUBY TIGER

larvae ditto

along with the remains of a hapless

PUSS MOTH
With numbers still fuctuating between 1 and 3 on the day

it was back to the middle-order of c2

HUMBUGs

adequately serviced by a loan

Parent Bird
and joined on the Gravel Pit by a new

family group of

CANADA GEESE

as if we need any more!
Having trecked geographically in reverse order it was worth making a stop at the Airport if only to listern to the carcophony of

ROOKs
seemingly having outstriped any breeding season thus far with this

Begging Juvenile

highlighting the number of Air Miles the parents have to undertake to keep them fed.
and finally a visit to the southern paddocks to see if the

WRENs

had nested

for the third year running

in this

makeshift

Equipment Cage?
as you can see, they have!

Shear Magic

 Content to catch up with the Moths on a later Post there was a

WHITE-TAILED BUMBLEBEE

clinging to the door post and followed in quick succession by a new aircraft for the list.

FLIGHT TRADER of EASTERN AIRWAYS
out of Dyce, Aberdeen an airport most familiar to me as an Oil Rig Rat in days gone by.

Starting north again there was no signs of the presumed departed Mandarin and still the

MUTE SWAN
remains sitting while at the Gravel Pit it was loud music that met the ear - to be investigated after a rendition from a mobile and vocal

REED BUNTING

looking

and sounding rather resplendent

against the

varying Blue and Green backgrounds.
The music, sounding more like the

Isle of Wight Fetival

than the usual tranquility hereabouts

heralding the arrival of

Shepherdess Loran

and her

Brigade of Shearer's

leaving them

as naked as the day they were born!

Baged and Ready for Market

WE JUST LOVE TO WITNESS THIS!

There is lambs-wool under my naked feet,

the wool is soft and warm gives off some kind of heat.

 A salamander scurries into flame to be destroyed,

imaginary creatures are trapped in birth on celluloid.

 The fleas cling to the golden-fleece hoping they'll find peace.

Each thought and gesture are caught in celluloid,

there's no hiding in memory, there's no room to avoid.

Carpet Crawlers from the album  

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway - Genesis

Moon River - Andy Williams

 From a decent haul of 84 individual Moths of 27 species we managed to add 2 of them to the 

 Year List

firstly

LUNAR MARBLED BROWN

along with

ORANGE FOOTMAN
and for entertainment value this

paracite infested

BLACK SEXTON BEETLE
then heading south you could not help but notice the blooming

Ornimental Crab Apple Standards
boding well for the return of the Northern Thrushes come the winter, more than enough victuals to go round!

Even further and reliant on archive images for the second time this year a (the)

PERAGRINE
was perched on the most distant of pylons

resulting once again to getting the telescope out of mothballs.
Enroute to more northerly climbs

we simply could not resist this

Cheeky Chappy

BLUE TIT
in the morning sun and likewise the greener than green

HAWTHORN
and readers may need a break from reports on Little Grebes and Mandarin which we will get back to when there is something to report, while not unusual to see

MOORHEN
away from the water but not seen before in the middle of the bridleway.
The rest of the day amounted mostley to a small rash of Butterflies especially a most confiding

PEACOCK

SPECKLED WOOD

interupted by this young

RABBIT
and finally a

SMALL TORTOISESHELL
we are hoping for the more exotics to follow shortly!