The Safari managed to get out on a full Patch 1 walk
yesterday evening and after a day of surprises at work was granted one more by
the Surprise Gods! Nothing appeared anything out of the ordinary as we climbed
the hill, rounding the corner Frank’s nemesis Blue and his two hench-dogs
weren’t at the gate ready to pounce and the Peregrine wasn’t on the tower, all
seemed normal. At the Golden Triangle it was good to see a Song Thrush
collecting food for hidden nestlings and an unseen Greenfinch sang loudly. We
walked into the park and immediately heard a Blackcap and saw a Speckled Wood,
nothing unusual there. We watched the butterfly flit along the track in front
of us and once at the more open area of the Butterfly Zone it hung a right over
the Bramble patch. Something rather large on the Brambles caught our eye...a
huge Tree Bee, very possibly Blackpool’s first record
(Anyone know any different?). We watched her for a good few minutes but no
flamin camera!!! Gee are they a bonny bee!
A Chiffchaff was also singing on and off. Frank decided he
wanted to wander round the rough field so we followed him – he dived straight
into the filthy puddle – bad dog! After dragging him out (not quite by his
ears!) we thought he best have a mooch through the long grass to dry off a
bit...but then he found another puddle, again muddy – he did disturb a couple
of Large Skippers and a little further on another couple although it could have
been one of the first doubling back and a third.
It became rather humid as the evening wore on and after we’d
woken up from the dream that Spain v Portugal
was a good match we took Frank out. Several moths were seen, one of which was
probably a Brimstone.
 |
| (Old pic from the moth trap) |
This morning saw us back on Patch 2 where there was some of
the most ominous cloud formations we’ve ever seen fortunately drifting
northwards away from us, we hoped to get a pic but by the time we’d got back to
the office and the camera they’d dissipated. Talking of cameras, one of
yesterday’s dunked ones seems to be fine (the more expensive) but the handy
little compact isn’t responding to treatment yet.
Three Grey Seals and one of the big lumps of driftwood were
seen along with the lone male Common Scoter, a dozen or so of his friends flew
south at range followed a few minutes later by another 75 or so. Also at range
was a skua sp which disappeared once it dropped below the horizon. Three pairs
of unidentified terns made their way southwards as did another surprise, three
Mute Swans, a Shelduck also appeared out
of the gloom to the north – were they all escaping so rotten weather?
At lunchtime we got the periscope from the cupboard and
headed off to the beach. No good! Too dull today due to a thunderstorm brewing out
at sea. There were some good flickers of lightning including one massive one
bouncing along the base of the clouds for about 10 miles and a couple of others
that forked into sea.
We tried to get pics of the Plumose Anemone but now think a
bright sunny day is needed along with a dark cowl over our head – we’ll get
there in the end!
Another anemone was seen in the same pot, this one bright
orange, Elegant Anemone, Sagartia elegans - thanks to DB for the ID. Easier to get a pic of it from
above the water surface even if the shutter speed is still too slow.
A meander along the beach before the deluge arrived gave us
plenty of Sea Potatoes, a few more Hermit Crab-free Edible Whelk shells and two
clumps of Squid eggs.
With large drops of rain landing with decided thuds on the
beach we thought it best to leave and let the fishermen down on the water’s
edge be the target for any more lightning that might be around.
Where to next? A day off tomorrow then the weekend so anything could happen! Who knows- even the moth trap might get an airing!
In the meantime let us know how hot n sultry it was in your outback
