Weather's to nice for blogging

The Safari went trying to catch a year bird up on arch year-listing rival Monika yesterday. There's been a Mandarin duck on a local wetland for a week or so and so having a day off we decided on a filthy twitch.

Try as we might we couldn't find it, three circuits we did to no avail but there was plenty there of interest and we spent a a few minutes over two hours there in the end.

Iffy pic but it shows the fish is a Perch

Now you see me

Now you don't - or won't in a tick

Before setting off we opened the moth trap and had a micro-fest

Diamond Back Moth

A deceased one of those nightmary ones

Second brood Shuttle Shaped Dart

Also in the trap was one for those clever iSpotters, a rather chunky diving beetle

Once we were back from the wetland we spent the rest of the day in a rather hot garden - loverrrrly!

Next door's Rowan tree was bedecked with berries at the weekend 

but has been severely ravaged already!

 There wasn't quite as much by way of invertebrates but enough to keep us and the camera interested

Honey Bee - to be honest we didn't recognise it as such and had to get help!

Time out for a wash n brush up

The most interesting sighting wasn't able to be photographed - a small dark butterfly flitting along the tree tops past our Silver Birch and lost in amongst the neighbour's Sycamore...too dark for a Holly Blue...White Letter Hairstreak...oooohhhh possibly???

Today we weren't able to get out much but did see a Sandwich Tern fishing catch a large silver fish (species???) and feed it to its youngster.

Two, possibly three, Bottlenose dolphins were reported to us and we put the news out but there was no way we could get away from the desk unfortunately. We had no blubber at all today.

Where to next? Hopefully we'll be able to get out on to Patch 2 for a bit longer tomorrow and have a proper look.

In the meantime let us know who's scoffed all the what in your outback.