Closer To Home.

With the shrike nonsense resolved - well, as resolved as it was going to get, that is* - attention was turned to Patch affairs. Mostly.

I also had to take an impromptu trip to Exeter, but nothing of birding interest occurred, with my attention mostly taken by being annoyed by the ridiculous levels the city council seem to be going to to stop people who aren't very well off from going there. Ho hum, it's their economy they're stuffing, I can do a lot of things online that I chose [note past tense] to do in person...


But to matters more pertinent to this here blog, and an assortment of pictures from Patch and well, a bit off it, but within the Old Bounds. these are not entirely from this last week, as I have realised I missed a bit last month. Oh well.

So, we have two parts, one being dodgy shots of birds on my feeders, and the other is from the southern bounds of the patch, and a little outside it

Let's do the more interesting one first, shall we?

Grey Heron, 2cy

Fishing the top pond at Clennon [I told you I was off-Patch]. Catching fish? Well yes, but

Gotcha

Only tiddlers.

The trees were fairly busy with warblers, many singing, but all were either

Chiffchaff

Or

Blackcap

It was business as usual, with an assortment of ducks and - on the bottom pond - gulls but without anything like that Penduline [as I recalled fondly at one point].

Teal

Tufted Duck

ID Challenge!

It's a 2cy gull, clearly, but which one??

Clennon from the weir

On the line

So, to the southeast corner of the Patch, where a little strandloping gave a hint of the marine life offshore;

Cuttlefish, 

bone ~25cm

Clam

Cockle

I'm wishing I could have found an Oyster...

;)


Now for a blast from the past, and an actual live marine arthropod!! Yes, this is a first for the blog, behold;

Crab!

Interesting species, this. Washed up on the beach back in March [oops, I was going to go on about it, but...]
While many of her [those look like eggs under the tail, there] comrades were deceased, this one was alive and kicking, just needed a hand getting the right way up!

"I think I see a good set coming.."

Spine-nosed crab spp.!

The tide was trying to help, but more assistance eventually needed and after a careful chuck, crab last seen vanishing under the waves.
Whether said crab actually survived - or was doing, say a 'spawn and die' routine - I have no idea, but it pleases the monkey to try these things.



Hmm, this has been quite a lot of photos, I shall put my skygarden shots in another.


Thusly, I say

Be Seeing You...


[[*The phrase 'stuff this' may have been used. More than once. I think I shall stick to chasing big grey shrikes in the far more civilised confines of Vitifer, where you can just stay on the track and wait for it to pop up in a tree up a nice even slope...]]