Moths Again?!?

But it's such a pretty moth.  :)

So in this little ketchup double-header, 'tis time for a little stuff from the Patch and so on.


What's been going on? Well, aside from work and so on, and now [at last] a lot of rain, I've still found a few moths and things needing photographing.

Light Emerald

Very light - look at the light shining through it! :D

"Moths again! Yummy!"

Snout

[2nd gen.]

Can't find this, so presumably

a 'micro' [very big one..]

Took an amble out and about. Bit windy for land birds, but a bit bright for seabirds. What to do? look in between;

East winds and rising tide

Surf's up?

Wall of water

BHG over flotsam and jetsam

Med Gull on the deck 

[look, no black in the primaries]

Back to things in focus;

Not sure [can't find in the book], but

surely not a micro!

Small Blood Vein

Small Fan-footed Wave

Yes, an epic post, but all the seawatchy fun got posted promptly, as did that Marsh Harrier!  [Still rather happy about that - only the second one I've seen on Patch and I managed to photo them both!*]




Be Seeing You...

[[*On a seawatch a 'few' years ago at the Nose, one came in/off a little to the North of me. I got a phonescope shot of great awfulness**, but you could see it was a long-winged dark brown raptor with cream above and below the eye; good enough! ]]
[[**Older readers will remember with a shudder how bad my pics were in the 'phone held to...' years..... Eeek]]

Looking Up, Looking Down

So I took the chance of the last day of sunshine and easterly winds to do a little skywatching. I freely admit to hoping for a White Stork of any provenance - it has been 20-plus years since I've seen one, after all! - or maybe some sort of nice raptor maybe even in photo range..

Ho ho ho.

Looking up doesn't help? Well, you also do well to look down now and again. Never know what might be right in the car park...

Humpback Brittlegill
[This definitely one; lovely hump! :) ]

It was blowing a hoolie at my first site; Mamhead. Yes, winds onto ridge is usually good for soaring things, but not when they're this strong.. Drat.

[Work prevented earlier trip, btw]

So I tried anyway, with the view I could find [they need to do some trimming there, as well as at Fernworthy..]

If you stand right back, you can see a bit of the Exe valley

Even the Big Scope [yes, I lugged it along] could find nothing more than a few cruising Herring Gulls and the odd corvid [some very odd, but that's Rooks for you.. ;) ]

However, there were a few things to see once I gave up on looking up and tried looking down;

Common Darter

Ochre Brittlegill

Powdery Brittlegill

R. fragilis

Leopard Earthball

Old Common Puffball

Collybia sp.

Old amanita sp.

I think this is Grey-spotted

Entoloma conferendum?

A Knight sp., I think
Doesn't look right for Soapy,
Yellowing or even Deceiving??

Toughshank sp., I think

Brown spores maybe???? :)

Southern Bracket

Willow Bracket

Well, I wasn't about to give up on my primary mission, so I tried Site B, aka;

Somewhere Else

As you can see from the foreground, someone's been doing some clearing of the field of view [maybe they can go to Mamhead when they're done?]. Not a full job, but much better than it was.

So, looking more with than into the wind, what can I report?

3 Buzzards and a Sprawk. Not so incredible, but considering, not so bad. Also a light passage of passing hirundines, using the ridge line as a windbreak.

Despite the wind, it was rather hazy

No pics of anything flying, so here's something that did pose;

Long-stalked Cranesbill

Closest I've got to a Stork... [Bah-dum tsch!]


So, did some watching, saw some things. Definitely worth a try.
Not awesome, not awful.


Be Seeing You...

Fungusworthy II : Pt. 2, Moving Targets

In which I do not post fungi - I'm sure you've had quite enough of them - and instead show you what else was inattentive enough to get in the way of my camera. Don't fear, this one is much shorter.


It's not that bad, though not quite as in focus as the fungi [usually] are.

Anyways,

Black Darter

[over mature female]

This well inside the plantation. I saw a couple of males buzzing about the more expected boggy open moorland, but did not expect to find most of them in dry well-tree'd areas away from any water, let alone boggy pools?!?

Quieter paths alive with Garden Spiders

And others!

[Pole for scale]

Common Darter

Teneral Black Darter

[despite looking very Common, the big vulvar scale means it's Black]

Teneral Common Darter

[much smaller vulvar scale]

Mature female

Striking a pose
[same individual]

Southern Hawker!

This down by the reservoir, where you'd expect it. Well, sort of. Fernworthy doesn't strike as the most dragonfly-friendly body of water; it dries down alarmingly, has bugger all underwater vegetation in the shallows, and is probably blimmin' cold! [But hey, maybe he just wandered by and thought 'what the what'..??]

Enough arthropods!

Crossbills were vocally present

Juveniles!

These two were the best showers

Extra super streaky!

:D

Lots of Mipits still on the open Moor

Heather Pipit? lol

Reed Bunting

[or is it a Heather Bunting, too? lol]

Striking the Issy pose,

Northern Wheatear

Snuck up on this Wheatear :)

[and snuck off, too]

Scenery;

Looking SW over Statt's Bridge

Took a small detour for this, as I've been meaning to post a shot of this view for years and I finally had scenic skies [and nobody in the way].
Sousson's on the left, Ryder's massif on the horizon. This is the Postbridge-Mor'n'ampster road, so busy by Dartmoor standards. Brave ponies ambush grockles at the bridge [which is narrow enough to make them nervous] in the hope of sarnies.. :/

Yeah, it's a desert...

Lifeless. Single species. No inverts or anything...

[Don't look up at what nests here, either..]

Ok, enough sarcasm. [Yes, I should have taken a few closeups of all the little jobs underfoot, but that would require malice of forethought, and I'm just in a mood today..]

Berries!

And; someone's been getting artistic with the Bracken roller!

View from the hide

I know an inconspicuous hide is a good thing, but I suspect a little action may be needed...!

The water held 5 Tufted Duck, a wonderfully pale-bellied Cormorant, and very little else. But it's early and the water is a bit high [for waders, not that there'd be any to be seen with all the people on the foreshore], and well, it's always more Hope For than Check For there.

Assycombe Row

Given a recent haircut

Deer slots

[with stick strap]

Those showed up between me arriving and leaving. Oh, the LBD would have been excited!


Right, that's it.


Be Seeing You...