wildlifeaylmerton: Ting, ting, ting Jackpot!

Oh yes! Pay Day! The one advantage of having a local 'patch' and religiously sticking too it is that chances are if anything good is on your patch you are going to see it, or even better, find it! I walked the Track this morning, as I do every morning and scanned the two bare fields, ever hopeful of a 'goodey'. On reaching the second field I scanned, with the same thought in the fore front of my mind as over the past two weeks, "this field is prime for a.........DOTTEREL! Yep, there they were in they're glory, two cracking Dotterel. I quickly took the dog home grabbed my scope and got back within five minutes! not to worry they were still here but looking a bit skittish. Definitely brighter than the Salthouse bird these two were possibly females ( Dotterel have a case of role reversal when breeding as the male does all the graft!). They remained fairly distant and flighty up 'til I had to leave for work at 0800.

Dotterel

Showing the two birds together

About the best shot I managed

Compare the extent and intensity of the chestnut underparts too the Salthouse bird

Showing the whitish outer primary shaft.

I managed to visit again around 0900 by which time several birders had arrived, but unfortunately the Dotterall were seen to fly west not long after I left. Not all was lost though as a mean looking Peregrine was scoped sitting on the same field, much to the disgust of the local Lapwings!
I even managed to bag two garden year ticks with the songs of both Lesser Whitethroat and Cuckoo heard this morning GYL73

I have got a little behind with the moths over the past three nights so will lump them all here, with some cracking new ones for my list I'm having trouble keeping up with them all!

May 2nd

Mullein - 1
Hebrew Ch. - 4
Common Quaker - 1
Small Quaker - 3
Clouded Drab - 2
Shoulder Stripe - 1
Dark Chestnut - 1
13/351/31

May 3rd

Brindled Beauty* - 2
Frosted Green - 1
Clouded Drab - 6
Water Carpet - 1
Hebrew Ch. - 9
Common Quaker - 2
Small Quaker - 1
Pebble prominent* - 1
23/374/33

Brindled Beauty

Pebble prominent

May 4th

Muslin * - 1
Flame Shoulder* - 1
Brindled Beauty - 1
Pebble prominent - 1
Waved Umber - 2
Hebrew Ch. - 8
Small Quaker - 3
Common Quaker - 10
Clouded Drab - 2
Nut-tree Tussock* - 1
Early Thorn - 1
Lesser Swallow prominent* - 1
White Ermine* - 1
33/407/38

Muslin