Silly Buggers And So On

Having a Big Scope, rations packed, and Intent to do some birding, I set to a sunny-ish Sunday, a week [or, er, maybe two... Ahem] ago.

After some thought [mostly about the most efficient way to find somewhere to sit down and do very little skywatch for interesting birds]

I had a yeartick to nail as well, so two birds and so on set me back up on t'Moor [ok, three birds] and getting a hearty dose of les buggeurs risibles from a [though 'there were two here yesterday'] Spot Fly.

 

Got the slippery little beggar in the end, and my travails and traverses led me to meeting a couple of Devon's Finest chasing pretty butterflies, but photos? Bah...

 

I did get something on record, though;

 

 

Redstart!

 

Yes, one of those days...

Very

Perhaps they should be renamed Vain Demoiselles.?  I mean, holding the wings aside to show off the abdomen...

:)

Teneral Keeled Skimmer

It took far to long to finally co-incide me with the bird - met a couple of other birders twice and each time they said 'thattaway'... - and so it was more of an afternoonses than a lunch when I lugged the scope up my chosen lump of scenery and turned its Gaze upon a wide sweep of countryside.

Just part of the view

East to Northeast there.

Wasn't bad behind me, either

This was Hooken Tor, right next to

Grimspound

Wheatear!

Incurvaria oehlmanniella

Common Heath

Another hairy caterpillar!

Why am I showing assorted things up close and not blobs that are 'Red Kites, honest'...??

Because despite there being quite a few in the air that day, they were all nowhere near my field of view.. Drat and so on.

Buzzards, Ravens, a couple of Swifts, yes all these flew by [or soared waaaaay over there], but nothing of the sort I was after. [Such as the other kind of Kite, the other kind of Buzzard, any kind of Stork..* I do have a yearlist to think of.!]

Well, what can you do?

It was lovely just sitting up there watching the world [not] go by. Spotted Flycatcher was 200 for the Devon year, so that was a nice round number to have down before May End.

Always room for more, though, so as there was a warm not very windy evening in the offing, I was out again later.

Spot the Nightjars

The usual un-named location, with 5 churring males heard and a female caught by my headlights as I arrived. Much wingclapping and frog-calling going on, but they weren't feeling as showy as in past years.

Let's end with something I found sunning itself on my car, up on t'Moor;

Silvanid beetle

And the whole day I didn't get noshed by anything! [Nightjarring is otherwise known as 'Feeding the midgies' if you get the weather wrong.....]

I shall attempt to be more prompt in future postings [though I have threa promised a Moff Post, too, haven't I?]. You never know, it could happen.

Be Seeing You...

[[* Don't arsk about Beeeeeee-Eeeeeateeeeeers.......  :( ]]