It's Monday

Traditionally, I'm with Garfield when it comes to the subject of Mondays. They are evil, devious, and their effects can infiltrate the entire week - you may think it's Thursday, but Monday's power can reach out to vex you. Whatever field of enterprise you may be engaged in, be it work, relaxation, or dipping Kentish Plovers, Monday is gonna getcha...

And so it is, that I - sitting here now, ready after yet another failure on the job-seeking front - have been struck again. On Friday I had a long burble about dragonflies lined up in my mind, but not the time to unleash it upon your poor suffering retinas. Now I have the time but not the inspiration. I have tried, but the words didn't flow, and even I'm not that sadistic as to expect you to read that...

I do have a few other things to go on about, so maybe the dragons will return?

Dare you look down and see how long this post is?

I wouldn't - spoils all the fun.

Sunday was spent walking with the folks up on't Moor. Following my blog criteria for breeding raptors, the exact location has to remain unspecified, as the bird stars were a juvenile Buzzard playing with a juvenile Raven! Really. I've seen juveniles playing with their own species, or with birds they'd normally associate with, but never across the divide like this. They looked like they were having a lot of fun - soaring and chasing and tumbling around - at least until they were attacked by a Carrion Crow [which had flown from the next valley over to have a go, the git].

It was a warm, sunny day with a fresh breeze that stopped it being too uncomfortable to walk. In a high moor river valley there were multiple Golden-ringed Dragonflies - including a female munching on a beetle sp. with orangey-brown wing casings - several Beautiful Demoiselle and Large Red Damselflies, and a male Keeled Skimmer [which had a quick go at a male Golden-ringed before zooming off]. Still no Scarce Blue-taileds on the actual proper Moor, though... Lots of amphibians about - most notably two adult frogs and a toad. Not so many lizard!s, and as usual, no snakes of any kind..

There were a lot of sheep around, and Tilly was her usual.. er, 'enthusiastic' self, though she is slowly getting better. Very slowly. The sight of her being dog-marched past a bemused flock [Dartmoor sheep are mostly pretty laid back when they see your dog is on a lead] is both amusing and leading to the desire to smack her first owner upside tha heid...

All the usual moorland birds were present, with a couple of baby bands of mixed Wheatears, Mipits and Stonechats [though not Skylarks] giving the best views. It was an enjoyable walk - the longest one with Her Ladyship so far - the Moor as ever being glorious [though it being a sunny Sunday, not exactly quiet..]. It was drier than I expected, with all the rain over the last couple of weeks, which made for good going, though a few boggy bits were sneakily wet.

In other news, a dramatic moment as a juvenile Dunnock got itself trapped in the conservatory! The Sparrows wander in now and again, but [apart from the tragic male who got into the house itself earlier this year] always get out quite quickly. The Dunnock was acting more like the insects it was probably after and after several minutes, it was clear it needed some help. This proved stressful and complicated for all concerned, but eventually the young bird was freed, and after a few moments sat on the ground it flew off strongly. I hope its alright.

The first of the local Herring Gulls fledged on Thursday - watching it trying to work out how to flap its wings simultaneously, with the resulting zig-zag flight, had me in stitches... The small local House Martin colony is at least 4 pairs strong, I now know after finding a new vantage point [their nests are in an 'interesting' neighbourhood, where wandering around looking at peoples' eves in inadvisable...] and while I've been typing this another successful breeder gave us a noisy flyover. I like Swifts. :D I've started noting every evening that they're still here, to be sure I don't miss the exact departure date [like I did last year..]

Right then, dragonflies. Chasing a dragonfly yearlist [which, ok, I'm technically still doing] has led me to some very enjoyable moments between the prickles and the Horsefly attacks. Pike watching at Exminster, the dragonfly royal rumble at Stover, playing 'in plain sight hide and seek' with immature Black-tailed Skimmers at Aylesbeare, all the hawkers on the Levels, and pretty much every Golden-ringed full stop.... It wasn't what I expected when I started, not least that its been so quick. I suppose dragonflies are quick. The Hairys are gone already, with more to follow, and in two months they'll all be gone for another year.

Normally July is all about praying for strong winds and rain, but now I'm hoping for the opposite too - how weird is that? [[If you've met me, you'll get the joke in this ;) If not; lets just say I'm not a sunshine person..]]. Certainly I've found a new summer hobby - sitting beside some water, watching the odonata perform their multilevel ballet.

Yeah, that's it. My long long burble seems permanently excised from my mind, that above is all that remains. Kinda gets the point over, but I wish I could remember all the rhapsodising, I'm sure it was good.....