One of these might be nice. Update 5th Oct

The safari has not been able to leave the shelter of the bunker this week - that's the trouble with 'real' work. The conditions have been ideal for a couple of days to get out and look for Leach's Petrels but sadly the wind seems to have peaked now that the weekend approaches. Hopefully the wind will ease enough for these little chaps to get busy again (Arachnophobes look away now!) It has already dropped enough for a Sparrowhawk to be seen over Base Camp this afternoon, it's very rare to see these soaring along in foul weather.

This is a Garden Cross Spider. The reason I like them is they make their webs in advance of calm weather. A westerly wind is only any good when it's raging an absolute hooley, anything less than that is a bit duff.

These spiders are the ones that build the typical cobwebs of children's picture books all over the garden; for some reason they seem to like washing lines - maybe just to scare the living daylights out of laundry hanger-up-ers. The ones defending their chins with a pair of 'boxing gloves' are the males. The females have a decent set of fangs - good job they don't bite people!

Fine weather can mean cold clear nights. Then it is time to listen out for migrating Redwings, small thrushes from Iceland and Scandinavia. Stand outside quietly and listen for their thin 'seep' calls as they pass overhead in the darkness. As they arrive so do other species and the safari is waiting for news of the local Long Eared Owls - they can't be too far away.... this week.... next week.... who knows....watch this space...

Where to next? What the weekend will bring?

In the meantime let us know what you have found in your outback.

PS. This morning (5th Oct) it happened - the first sunny morning since this blog and guess what - I was nice and clean fresh out of the shower and hanging out the laundry then walked straight through a web - poor old spider has to build another one now - sorry.