Dragonfly - Fleetwood Mac (again) 1971

 The 'RAIN' word had hardly passed our lips before the Thunder roared and the Wet Stuff tumbled without word of warning from the forecasters at Bournemouth International Airport just across the road. Certainly not enough for the farmers and nothing to detract from the Best Moth Night of the Year. 233 Macro Moths were capture, from 5 traps, and amounting to 106 different species 5 of which were new for the year! The first not being in a trap at all but clining on doggedly to the paling fence and a species we have not caught in the Southern Local before

THE MOCHA
followed in no particular order or location by

TAWNY SPECKLED PUG

a fine example of

SALLOW KITTEN

COPPER UNDERWING

and an earlyish

SALTERN EAR

Certainly no shortage of action close to home as for the second time this year

BLACKCAP
(male)

female
were predominating with the vocals in the garden and while continuing with the

Moth Traps

out popped a most obliging

BROWN HAWKER
but better was to follow particularly at the Gravel Pit where contenders for inclussion appeared to be queueing up!

While the sky was alive with feeding

SAND MARTINs
which were considered to be nesting somewhere close by

and maybe back at Eco where these images were taken in better times.

While watchig a number of
EMPEROR DRAGONFLIES

with one female laying eggs

we managed to tease a male from his perch before spotting

this seemingly lone

COMMON SANDPIPER
back home for coffee sat on the doorstep didn't seem to phase the

GREEN WOODPECKERs

of varying ages feeding on the

Tennis Court

Phoenix - Wishbone Ash

 Having brought to you the Small Phoenix during the week, today we are able to show

the larger relative, simply

PHOENIX
alongside another niffty capture

BEAUTIFUL YELLOW UNDERWING

which could be mistaken for a

TRUE LOVER'S KNOT
and with tempratures now 'taking off' we are hoping for many more to come but wouldn't miss the

ORANGE FRINGE SLUG
As reported previously, it is now almost impossible to make any sense at the heavily overgrown ponds, but on the day we did get lucky with

both

GOLD-RINGED DRAGONFLY
and the occassional 'fly-by' of a

BLUE-TAILED DAMSELFLY
As reported from elsewhere in the county

we have also had our share of the
CUCKOO's

with this poser and another 'un-clicked' flying north and with

HONEYSUCKLE

in full bloom it was worth lingering for the day-time flying

HUMMINGBIRD HAWK-MOTH

which we have seen on a single occassion this year.

On the return journey it was worth a second look at the Graval Pit to find both
KEELED SKIMMER
and YES! yet another clutch of

LITTLE GREBE EGGS
a fifth attempt by our calculation, again a little obscured, and along with c3different

SYGNETS
with not a parent bird in sight and far to small to be the original trio.
Only the magnificence of the of the

WEEPING WILLOW
down south saved us from a 'blank' with all the trees looking in fine form despite the lack of rain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AppYgVdETNo

From Torquay, England the Dual Lead Guitars of Ted Turner and Andy Powell, drums Steve Upton and Martin Turner (no relation) Base and Vocals.

Elusive Butterfly - Bob Lind - 1965

 A decent start to the day with 265 Macro Moths of 86 species of which

LILAC BEAUTY

SMALL FAN-FOOT

DUSKY SALLOW

the perpetually 'closed winged'

DINGY SHELL
were additions to the Year List, with the added bonus of a

FOREST SHIELDBUG

and unsurprisingly, there was also a run on Butterflies given the +25°C on the gauge at noon as a welcome bonus and may provide interesting punctuation.

CLOUDED YELLOW

before giving 5 minutes to the previously absent
SYGNETs

and while at the final trap took to admiring the slender
SILVER BIRCH

GREYLING BUTTERFLY
on Bell Heath close to the Heath then finding the

HUMBUGs

but not restricted by parental control as

unusually,

there was not an adult to be seen?

COMMA BUTTERFLY
whereas the

MOORHENs
were not only nurturing their sprogs

but also seemingly teaching them

to build a

New Nest?

PAINTED LADY

The SHEEP don't seem to be enjoying the Hot Weather

exclusively finding shade wherever they can.

GREEN-VEINED WHITE BUTTERFLY
After the Nettle Cutting there was concern that some birds may have taken flight but c2 juvenile

LAPWING

seem not to have been put off which was the same for the resident brace of

RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE
later in the day.

SPECKLED WOOD

Sat so proud the
JACKDAW
was surely worthy of a 'click' while we continued the run on Butterflies with

PEACOCK
and

RED ADMIRAL
in with the early morning Moths.
THERE WILL SURELY BE MORE TO COME!