Straw Men

Today might have been a bad day for the England Cricket team, but at Canterbury Kent had a thrilling win in the NatWest Pro40 against Middlesex. We were treated to 504 runs in total and Kent won by 12, despite Owais Shah's fantastic 130.

Back at home, with Pam away for a couple of days, one of my duties was to inspect the cabbage leaves for Large White butterfly eggs. I inevitable found some, but I bet I missed quite a few as well.

Here's a few of the birds from Oare Marshes when they weren't in the air. The Black Terns were always distant when they landed.

This young Moorhen was the living proof that there is such a thing as an ugly baby.

There were a few Ruff about. One of their characteristics is the very loose scapular feathers. These always blow about in the slightest wind making Ruffs look rather untidy.

The Golden Plovers roost close to the road. It is a real privilege being able to watch these fabulous birds at such close quarters.

There were other waders around, spot the Dunlin and Greenshank here.

I had an evening walk round Bockhill, hoping to see the Little Owl, perhaps perched on one of the straw bales. Instead there were a couple of youngsters, one on top and one pushing him along. It looks as is fey were enjoying it, but it seems rather dangerous and wouldn't be appreciated by the farm staff.

I got the impression they weren't that keen on being photographed in the act of "straw skiing".

A day/night match

From an open window I could here the noise of the Combine at about 9 p.m. They say make hay while the sun shines, but it seems that if it doesn't shine, make hay under flood lights is the new method.

A look at the filed along side Station Road revealed a whole hive of activity. As the wheat was cut the corn was fed into a trailer towed by one tractor, while another towing another machine was going backwards and forwards along the already cut strips. I'll have to find out what the second tractor was doing.

Under floodlights the whole operation seemed to take place at a great pace, but it probably is an illusion caused by the strange shadows thrown by the lights that seem to move rapidly across the field.

This was the second tractor and some of the machine it was towing, I some how cut off the back end, I think I was dazzled by the lights.

After the success of Tim Brabants in the 1000M K1 race at the Olympics it was good to see this young man, already in training for 2012.

You know that it Autumn when you find an Old Lady in your moth Trap! Apart from this beauty the only other moth of note last night was a Saltern Ear, a moth rarely recorded away from the coast.

Mothing at Sandwich Bay - Part 2 the Moths

Not a Moth or a Flower but Nigel Jarman, one of the Bockhill gang and provider of the moth photos below. Nigel took these pictures early this morning and released the moths back in their habitat afterwards. He normally looks a bit more awake but he'd had a hard week and it was getting towards his bedtime.

The Oblique Striped is a subtly marked moth that sits like a small butterfly when at rest. It has a wing span of about 22-25mm and occurs locally in coastal areas in the south and in Breckland in East Anglia.

When it opens it wings the "oblique stripe" becomes obvious. the food plant for the larvae is Lady's Bedstraw so it was well catered for here.

The Rest Harrow is another Geometer and is a little larger than the Oblique Striped with a wing span of about 30mm. It is closely related to the "Emeralds" and is the only one in this sub-family not green. It is locally distributed in coastal areas of the south and south-east of England, and occasionally appears elsewhere as a suspected migrant. As the name suggests, the larval food-plant is Restharrow.

another new moth for me was this Water Ermine. A scarce and local species, occurring mainly in the south-east of England and occupying damp localities. rather like a White Ermine but with fewer spots. This was caught near the reeds by the observatory.

Pegwell Rain

I decided, having seen the pictures and read about the bird, to go and have a look at the American Golden Plover at Pegwell Bay. Good pictures on Planet Thanet, I guess Tim, Dylan and Gadget had kinder weather than that provided this afternoon.

Just before we arrived at the car park the heavens opened and we sat and waited for the monsoon to subside. I did pop out to have a listen to Steve Spooner having a moan (as usual) and a chat with Franco, sheltering from the rain behind Steve. When the rain eased off I made my way the few hundred yards up the path and got some good views of the bird. Unfortunately, the rain never quite stopped and the bird was never quite close enough, so my camera stayed in its bag and I contented myself with watching a really striking bird. Pam, a fair weather birders companion, did the sensible thing and stayed in the car. You can see, she stayed sheltered when she took the picture above.

It didn't rain at St Margaret's and I tried to get couple of moth pictures using my Canon EOS 40D and an extension tube, as my Nikon coolpix has developed a fault. I haven't quite go it right yet, the depth of focus is too limited. The moth above is a Small Square-spot, one of a group of moths in the genus Diarsia with a similar pattern.

This little moth (FW 11mm) is in the group of Minors, genus Oligia. There are several very similar and in some cases the only way of certain identification is by dissection. Just for making a garden list this isn't justifiable in my mind, although in some cases where a site is being survey for a conservation purpose it may be necessary. I think that this is probably a Marbled Minor. By the end of the year my note book will have many records of Minor sp.

Foggy Bay

This morning was exceptionally foggy and although there were birds about it wasn't all that easy to find them.

Along the Lees I could hear a Whitethroat singing, but couldn't find the Ring Ouzel that has been seen earlier. It is often said that the songs of Blackcaps and Garden Warblers are difficult to tell apart. I think that in general they have very different tones and structures and with practice are normally quite easy. Sometimes, however, the Blackcap quietly sings a sub-song that lacks the clarion quality of the full song and is much more suggestive of the Garden Warbler than normal. If you add to this that the later into the season you get the more leaves you have to peer through care must be taken. This Blackcap was loathe to show itself properly, but there were enough gaps in the hawthorn to make out the black cap and of course it is still very early for a Garden Warbler to arrive.

I've mentioned that Buzzards seem to be making a bit of a comeback in the county and although I've shown them feeding on the ground, probably catching worms and invertebrates, the majority of their food is small mammals and Rabbits are an important part of this. Rabbits seem to be more numerous now than for a few years and this, as well as the withdrawal of organic-phosphorus pesticides, such as DDT and the greater protection of birds of prey, is probably a factor in their success.

Starlings are busy collecting nesting material and should soon be mainly glossy black instead of the spotty individuals many still are. If you want to know which are the males and which are the females, look at the base of their beaks. In the male it is blue(ish) and in the female pale pink(ish). I suspect that they can work it out with out this clue!

This evening I noticed a couple of carrion Crows cleaning up and edible bits and pieces left by the days visitors, and not so far found by the gulls. Much of the clearing up is done by some very public spirited villagers who give their time to keeping the bay tidy. I wonder why people find it acceptable to leave rubbish? While I'm in moaning mode, why is it that when you're quietly walking along, enjoying the quiet beauty of the area the mood is often broken by the manic shouting of someone else. It wont be the teenagers that so often get the blame, or even younger children, no the odds are it will someone walking their dog. I can't understand what enjoyment people get out of walking a dog in beautiful quiet places and then shouting at it all the time. If it wont do what it's told quietly for goodness sake put it on a lead!

The trouble with (Grey) Wagtails!

The clue's in the name, they wag their tails, and to compound it they are often found where the light is not good.

The result of this wagging is that many images are great until you look at the blurred end to the tail. This female Grey Wagtail was feeding along the stream between the lakes at Bushy Ruff, River.

Suddenly it thrust its beak into the edge of the water and came out with what appeared to be a tiny larva of some sort.

I took a series of pictures and if you run them through quickly its like one of the old books you flick through to get animation. The wagtail shakes the larva up and down several times before eating it.

The Grey Wagtail wasn't the only bird making use of the insect rich habitat that a small stream provides. This Wren was feeding along the grid where then is a little water fall as the steam drops to the level of the lower lake.

The male Grey Wagtail was now where near so obliging as his partner. he was often out of sight and then I'd hear his curious song and find him near the top of a tree singing. It is often said that the quality of the songs of birds at use flowing rivers for their homes have evolved to be heard above the noise of the water, I don' know if this is true but the song certainly does have a penetrating quality.

One of the local Robins wad also near the little weir, often fly catching along its surface, but not getting quite so close as the Wren.

When the male Wagtail did come to the waters edge it wasn't as approachable as the female and only allowed more distant pictures. Even though it isn't so close the blacker bib and more striking marking are still obvious.

It was good to see this family out enjoying the park, I wonder if they were successful, somehow it doesn't matter if just fun trying.

Has Spring Sprung?

After giving up on a cliff top walk yesterday I took advantage of the calm conditions today to walk from the monument to Hope Point and beyond. It was a slow walk, but enjoyable in the early spring sunshine.

At least two Meadow Pipits were singing on the stretch down to the point, but in addition there were quite a lot of birds on the edge of the big field. They seem to use the small "bank" made by the edge of the grass and the ploughed field to shelter in. I think that many of these birds are migrants or winter visitors and not the breeding residents. Skylarks were also in good voice but the hoped for first Wheatear of the year did not appear.

The patches of gorse bushes near Hope point were attracting a lot of insects, including several Buff-tailed Bumble Bees, Bombus terrestris. This is a widespread and common bumble bee. The large, conspicuous overwintered queens are often among the first bumble bees to appear in spring, often occurring in late February/early March.

There were two Stonechats in the area, but they were extremely active, and never remained in one place long enough for me to get anywhere close.

When I got to Little Green I though that they had got a crop of large button mushrooms, sprouting on the lawn. A closer look proved them to be golf balls. It takes a pretty bad hood to get them there from the fairway behind the garden.

A closer look at the technique (or lack of it) of some of the golfers probably explained the number of balls on the lawn!

The moth traps were empty last night, but beautifully not the Milan net...

Ploughed up!

Perhaps carrying a camera round makes you get a bit of the Paparazzi in you. this couple rested on a seat overlooking the sea, happily chatting away.

When the stood up to go they faced away from each other and it looked a bit like "parting is such sweet sorrow". But in fact it was just the way they individually had decided to get back to the path and they were quickly reunited. It makes you realise how easy it is to film someone "storming out" when in fact they are hurrying in!

I went out for my walk along the cliffs. Being pessimistic, about the chances of finding something special, has two advantages. One, I wasn't disappointed and two, I was right. Nevertheless you can't be disappointed if you can stand and watch Fulmars zooming round the cliffs, I still find them as exciting to watch as the day I first saw one, half a century ago.

The "big field", quite understandably, has been ploughed, so I hope the flowers (weeds) I wrote about earlier in the month (see here) ahd managed to fulfil their needs. There were still a few birds on the field, mainly Meadow Pipits and Skylarks but the lack of weeds and seeds meant the the finches had moved on, while Black-headed Gulls hawked over the furrows looking for uncovered invertebrates.

The smaller field, two down from behind the Monument, is still growing it's weedy crop and it was there I found the Linnets. I also flushed a Pheasant and the Grey Partridges as I walked across.

In addition the flock of Yellowhammers is sill feeding in the fields, I counted at least 26 today. The quickly go up in the hedgerow and join the Chaffinches already there when they are disturbed.

Today was a gloomy day at St Margaret's with the fog only lifting briefly during the day. The High Street is still closed and the original notice indicated that it would be for a total of six weeks. It is difficult to judge but they seem to be getting on very well, with the deep trench already filled in. The workmen seem to have maintained a pretty high level of tidiness which is appreciated.

Going back to the beautiful weather of yesterday, iy was good to see so many people out enjoying the sunshine. From where they sat, this couple had a great view over the Abbey Gardens.

This is one of the 50 plus Moorhens feeding on the lawns, They took little notice of the sitting people but as soon as I tried to approach from the south, to keep the sun behind me, they scurried back to the water so that I couldn't cut off their retreat.

I quite liked this little Dachshund out for a walk. I don't think he really needed the coat but he looked rather smart. The always say owners and their dogs come to look alike. I've put the owner in the inset, so make up your own mind.

Living in Hope

When the tide is out it is normally possible to find someone rock-pooling with a net or fishing rod, living in hope of catching something of interest in one of the pools.

At the same time I'm living in hope that something will happen in the centre of the village to tidy the place up. I know that the post office had to close and that it takes time to get new developments under way, but in the meantime the high street looks a mess. I've always thought that people value their surroundings by the state they are in, it that is so we will all have a pretty low opinion of St Margaret's unless things in the centre improve.

The last post of 2007

As I thought about what to post today two thoughts strolled through my grey matter (thoughts no longer flash). The first was, I've taken something like 12,000 pictures, or rather I've pressed the button that many times, this year, so which result was I most pleased with? The second thought occured while I was pondering this, I looked out of the window and wondered if I'd ever seen so many plants in flower on Dec 31st.

Of the wildlife pictures I've taken I think that the Buff-bellied Paradise Kingfisher above just gets my favourite vote. Perhaps it was the fantastic surroundings in the rain forest, north of Cairns, or the fabulous colours of the bird or its confiding nature when I found it, or more probably it was one of the birds that when I'd looked at in the field guide before I went I most wanted to see.

Of the other pictures I've taken, this one of Josh in Cornwall, the last of a series of bring water from the sea to the sand-castle, shows the concentration on his face to get this task done. I watched him for some in and was enthralled.

Flowers blooming today- I've tried to identify them to genus, but not species or variety, let me know if I've got them wrong.

. Geranium.

a Daisy sp.

a Campanula sp.

Cyclamen

and Arenaria.