Today has been a day of a bit of everything! Gardening, visits to the local tip, shopping (well Argos anyway!), county recorder work, watching sport, birding and mothing!! I shall start with the latter...
This morning I was very pleased with my 35 moths of 6 species. This included no new species for the garden, but several (in blue) were new for the year...
22 Common Quaker
5 Twin-spotted Quaker
3 Hebrew Character
2 Oak Beauty
2 Early Grey
1 Small Quaker
Here are a couple of pics...
Oak Beauty - one of my early spring favourites :-)
Examples of the three species of Quaker, I'm sure you can work out which one is Twin-spotted and which one is Small!?
The birding today hasn't been too exciting, a first-year Med Gull on the Estuary and a drake Gadwall on Blackhole Marsh being the best it got...
Distant - but still exciting.....yeah?
I'm ashamed to say it, but yesterday was the first time I'd been to Blackhole Marsh since a whole load of work has taken place here. We have a new...
...car park
...field studies centre - very posh it is indeed!
....and track, though this won't be opened until the new hide is up and running
To make up for that shockingly bad photo of the drake Gadwall above, here's a pic of a male Wigeon taken on the Estuary yesterday. Just for interest, this is the original photo...
Good old Lumix, you just have to do what it 'says on the tin' - point and shoot!
But then, after a bit of 'playing', I can post this....
This is why I love my Lumix even more - you can crop ruthlessly and still get a decent enough image!
Since my Sand Martins the other day, there has been little more evidence of the imminent spring, although in the garden a male Blackcap has been singing well over the past couple of days - very pleasant. Whilst talking about the garden, I must mention that I've just been watching a Marsh Tit out the front room windows - a very scarce and highly irregular visitor to our garden.
This weekend it is the Grizzly race, an annual cross country run which starts and ends in Seaton. So I have been in a bit of sporty mood today, and whilst out and about this afternoon, couldn't help thinking how any one out 'being sporty' and 'fit' should be prepared as dull rain clouds were encroaching fast. So when I saw this chap cycle past...
I just couldn't help but analyse his 'gear'. I personally give this keen (and I have to say very quick!) cyclist 9/10....
If you can't read the writing, click on the image to enlarge it
And why not 10/10? Well, I think he could do with a red woolly hat ;-)
This morning I was very pleased with my 35 moths of 6 species. This included no new species for the garden, but several (in blue) were new for the year...
22 Common Quaker
5 Twin-spotted Quaker
3 Hebrew Character
2 Oak Beauty
2 Early Grey
1 Small Quaker
Here are a couple of pics...
Oak Beauty - one of my early spring favourites :-)
Examples of the three species of Quaker, I'm sure you can work out which one is Twin-spotted and which one is Small!?The birding today hasn't been too exciting, a first-year Med Gull on the Estuary and a drake Gadwall on Blackhole Marsh being the best it got...
Distant - but still exciting.....yeah?I'm ashamed to say it, but yesterday was the first time I'd been to Blackhole Marsh since a whole load of work has taken place here. We have a new...
...car park
...field studies centre - very posh it is indeed!
....and track, though this won't be opened until the new hide is up and runningTo make up for that shockingly bad photo of the drake Gadwall above, here's a pic of a male Wigeon taken on the Estuary yesterday. Just for interest, this is the original photo...
Good old Lumix, you just have to do what it 'says on the tin' - point and shoot!But then, after a bit of 'playing', I can post this....
This is why I love my Lumix even more - you can crop ruthlessly and still get a decent enough image!Since my Sand Martins the other day, there has been little more evidence of the imminent spring, although in the garden a male Blackcap has been singing well over the past couple of days - very pleasant. Whilst talking about the garden, I must mention that I've just been watching a Marsh Tit out the front room windows - a very scarce and highly irregular visitor to our garden.
This weekend it is the Grizzly race, an annual cross country run which starts and ends in Seaton. So I have been in a bit of sporty mood today, and whilst out and about this afternoon, couldn't help thinking how any one out 'being sporty' and 'fit' should be prepared as dull rain clouds were encroaching fast. So when I saw this chap cycle past...
I just couldn't help but analyse his 'gear'. I personally give this keen (and I have to say very quick!) cyclist 9/10....
If you can't read the writing, click on the image to enlarge itAnd why not 10/10? Well, I think he could do with a red woolly hat ;-)
Steve,
ReplyDeleteThere was a cracking full summer Med Gull on the estuary at 12:30, seen from Seaton Marsh hide.
Dave
Hi Dave, thanks for that. I arrived at the Estuary mid afternoon just as several boats were making their way up river. I got to Coronation Corner just in time, but everything else was up and off!
ReplyDelete