LIVING in the PAST - Jethro Tull

Late afternoon the previous day and once again the

RED ARROWS
brought the day to a close and while we have not been keeping a log it seems that their presence has been felt across a full week or maybe as many as 10 days, 'with no complaints there'! However, that didn't induce much in the way of Moth Life with the best from the traps not being a Moth at all but a female

SCORPION FLY
clarified by our friend John and otherwise the most eye-catching of those that did pop in

BORDERED BEAUTY
only our second of the year

SHARK
along with the eye-catching daytime flier

THE CINNABAR
and just before the

CLOUD-BURST
We seemed to be following in the foot-steps of the nearby Lytchett Fields Reserve on Saturday as our patch was graced by a single

LITTLE RINGED PLOVER
once an established breeding bird here, but alas no more - we won't go into detail except for a moment of as the headline suggests!

Confiding small Wading birds there was never a problem getting at close quarters during nest building which would see the birds tossing tiny stones and flints over their shoulders forming a perfectly circular nest area as above. Or for that matter

INCUBATION

First Steps

A Few Days Older

and close to adulthood!
"Will Ye No Come Back Again"?

Having dodged the Rain
we found a few more juvenile

MALLARD

on the
Irrigation Pond
thought to be at least a dozen now?
Not so much luck at the Gravel Pit where seemingly it is only the male Tufted Duck occupying the waters, but a flush of new growth

GREATER REED MACE

once incorrectly accepted as Bull Rush on Pointless as a correct answer!
Apart from just a single

juvenile

MEADOW PIPIT
all else of interest (and interesting it is) to someone who has not an inkling of the workings of

Mechanical or Electrical Devices

preparing to cut mostly the

NETTELS

New Plant

now screening the panels and causing an unacceptable loss in production.
With Electrician Geoff having now sources a new control unit for the long time redundent Moth Trap, and Jose the Maintenance Foreman having brought the whole caboodle together it was left to 'yours truely' to knock up another

CORRAL

to keep the Sheep at bay.

The added trap in the far distance and the

Nettle Cutters

coincidentally clearing the same compound.

FIREING ON ALL 5 TRAPS FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS YEAR, ALL WE NEED NOW ARE THE MOTHS!

It's a LINNET IN-IT?

 With the Solstice just past we were expecting a little less of this

and a little more overnight warmth but still a few new Moths for the Year are tumbling in, such as:-

BEAUTIFUL HOOK-TIP
the very variable

COMMON MARBLED CARPET
while maybe of novelty value

FOX MOTH
still depositing eggs on the trays on a daily basis now, along with a

Fist Full of Hawk-moths
Poplar Hawk-moths at the extremeties and Private Hawk taking the middle ground while juvenile

BLACKBIRDs

hone their hunting skills

on the lawn

under the watchful eye of Dad.

First to be spotted at the Gravel Pit c2

COMMON SWIFT
seen to be flying purposefully north, our first of the year, while just taking it easy the juv

LITTLE GREBE
seems unaware of the
Clear and Present Danger
as the

LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLs

carry out what is now a daily ritual.
Back South, and this is the only representative across the 'patch' of

RED CHESTNUT

looking most resplendent
while keeping with the "colour theme" we can now see in

Black and White
that the Sheep are escaping under the fence-line!
A Brief Encounter indeed as this

ROE DEER 

has a brief trist with a
MOORHEN

juvenile
GREENFINCH

KESTREL

in hover and

juvenile
LINNET

Going to My Home Town - Rory Gallagher

 There's a feeling I get when I look to the 'West', and my Spirit is crying for leaving!

In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees, 

and the voices of those who stand looking! 

Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin

Just a prelude to heading in that direction on Friday for an appointment and then visiting both of my former home turfs of Weymouth and Portland - what a day. Not so much for the Wildlife that was, or was not, on show but 'Long Standing Friends' from the past and another new to me! Priority, as ever, went to the Moth Traps from where we had some decent returns such as 'firsts for the year'

SATIN BEAUTY

BROWN-TAIL

YELLOW-TAIL

and

ROSY FOOTMAN

Before leaving there was yet another Garden Snail shimmying up the

North Face of the Caravan generating the request:-

“Will you walk a little faster?” said the Whiting to the Snail.

“There’s a Porpoise close behind us, and he’s treading on my tail”.

The Mock Turtle's Song - Lewis Carroll

On such a mini adventure it has always been practice to pay a visit to Lane End to view the almost 'certainty' of

YELLOWHAMMER

as usual

in company with

BROWN RATs
before continuing to
Maiden Castle

to view a decent number of

CORN BUNTING

before continuing to

PORTLAND BILL
to the tune of the newly refurbished

ACTIVE LIGHTHOUSE
an all too small passage of

GANNETs

and a single

ROCK PIPIT

about its ablutions!

THE HIGHER LIGHT
also once a lighthouse before being occupied as a private dwelling by
Marie Stopes

a pioneer of Birth Control among many other tallents, with the building still known locally as

The Stopery!

before dropping down to the Lower Light which is now the home of the

PORTLAND BIRD OBSERVATORY
(what a capture that has been)

Within, very quiet Bird-Wise but a few "pleasing to see" familiar faces and more especially our

New Young Lady Assistant Warden and hoping your Tenure is a Great Success Jodie (sincerely hope I have the spelling correct)!

Out in the notorious Portland Race and due to mist, an unidentifiable

ROYAL NAVY PATROL VESSEL
colloqually known by the workforce in the now expired H.M. Naval Base as

H.M.S. EXPENSIVE

You could hear the Silence of the Birds from the patio, just feeding

Jackdaw's and Wood Pigeon's

but it has to be said that in true

Martin Cade style - The Warden that is, he plucked a female

BLACKCAP
from one of the Mist Nets not to send us home 'empty handed'!

VALARIAN
on the driveway

which we always consider synonymous with Portland, and clicking a few scenes as we left the Island, in geographical order heading back north:-

SAINT GEORGE's CHURCH
designed in part on St Paul's Cathedral, London.

SHEERLEGS
from the old Stone Quarry Workings.
One of, if not `'the' best veiw of Fortuneswell, from altitude, at the north end of the Island featuring the World Famous

CHESIL BEACH
and at lower level outside of a now deserted

Fisherman's Cottage

what is said to have washed up during a violent storm over just a single night
and streaches off into the distance for 18 miles. Additionally, the stones are self sorting, by the action of the sea, with 'pea-sized' ones at the Portland end and those compared to footballs at the other! Best Wishes to All associated with the P.B.O.

P.S. - disappointingly, no more than a single adult

MEDITERRANEAN GULL
at Ferrybridge, the link with Weymouth.