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A Natural Interlude: Pied Flycatcher at Pitstone Hill

http://naturalworldnotes.blogspot.com/2015/08/pied-flycatcher-at-pitstone-hill.html

Birding, Nature and…the world of the Wild. Barn Owl Pellet Analysis. Box Moor Trust (BMT) Maps. BMT Small Blue Project. Tuesday, 11 August 2015. Pied Flycatcher at Pitstone Hill. Now there’s a title to reflect a day when creative thinking is quite beyond me. So, yes, a fantastic little immature Pied Flycatcher. Was spotted on the hills early this morning. This species is a scarce passage migrant and I’ve only ever seen one other (up the road at Weston Turville reservoir in 2013). This time last year.

naturalworldnotes.blogspot.com

A Natural Interlude: Creatures of the Night

http://naturalworldnotes.blogspot.com/2015/06/creatures-of-night.html

Birding, Nature and…the world of the Wild. Barn Owl Pellet Analysis. Box Moor Trust (BMT) Maps. BMT Small Blue Project. Sunday, 14 June 2015. Creatures of the Night. I have been out roaming the woods in the dead of night! And, it wasn’t until about 10:30pm that the moths really began to come in with the arrival of a beautiful Green Silver-lines (Pseudoips prasinana). 20 minutes later, an exquisite Coronet (Craniophora ligustri). Small Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila porcellus). By 11:30pm, I reluctantly h...

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A Natural Interlude: Minty moths, born of fire

http://naturalworldnotes.blogspot.com/2015/08/minty-moths-born-of-fire.html

Birding, Nature and…the world of the Wild. Barn Owl Pellet Analysis. Box Moor Trust (BMT) Maps. BMT Small Blue Project. Friday, 14 August 2015. Minty moths, born of fire. This week, it was the pretty little Mint Moth. That caught my imagination. Smaller than my lady-sized thumbnail and, as the common name suggests, the larvae feed on mints and the adults spend most of their time also on/around these herbs. Their other common name, Small Purple and Gold. A fairly fresh specimen. A very worn specimen!

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A Natural Interlude: BMT 2014

http://naturalworldnotes.blogspot.com/p/reproduced-below-from-my-boxmoor.html

Birding, Nature and…the world of the Wild. Barn Owl Pellet Analysis. Box Moor Trust (BMT) Maps. BMT Small Blue Project. The 12 most universally interesting or ecologically significant wildlife encounters from my 2014 project ("exploring all that was wild and alive on the Box Moor Trust estate" in Hemel Hempstead and Bovingdon, Hertfordshire, UK). In chronological order…. Green Hairstreak and Dingy Skipper. At Dellfield meadow, in May, I was dying for a cuppa and this rare Hertfordshire moth was the last ...

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A Natural Interlude: Brown Hairstreaks, Silver-spots & migrants

http://naturalworldnotes.blogspot.com/2015/08/brown-hairstreaks-silver-spots-migrants.html

Birding, Nature and…the world of the Wild. Barn Owl Pellet Analysis. Box Moor Trust (BMT) Maps. BMT Small Blue Project. Monday, 17 August 2015. Brown Hairstreaks, Silver-spots and migrants. Saturday was a good. Day It started with a Wood Sandpiper. Which admittedly, at a distance of c600 metres, was dangerously close to being a featureless bird-blob; and it finished with an infinitely closer, fiery male Redstart. In between, there were my first Silver-spotted Skippers. At Aston Rowant NNR. We were as jam...

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A Natural Interlude: Butterflies that flutter by

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Birding, Nature and…the world of the Wild. Barn Owl Pellet Analysis. Box Moor Trust (BMT) Maps. BMT Small Blue Project. Sunday, 9 August 2015. Butterflies that flutter by. Male and female Brown Hawkers. The second generation of Common Blue. Butterflies have been emerging, all looking pristine and perfect. There were a fair few mating pairs around the site too, making preparations for next season. The best welcome home present, though, was to find a splendid male Silver-washed Fritillary. These veins cont...

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A Natural Interlude: Damsels in white tights!

http://naturalworldnotes.blogspot.com/2015/08/damsels-in-white-tights.html

Birding, Nature and…the world of the Wild. Barn Owl Pellet Analysis. Box Moor Trust (BMT) Maps. BMT Small Blue Project. Thursday, 13 August 2015. Damsels in white tights! Before I hightailed it up to Warwick last weekend, I joined a friend for a wander along the Aylesbury arm. Of the Grand Union canal. West of Wilstone Bridge. We were on the hunt for damsels sporting white tights, better known as White-legged Damselflies (Platycnemis pennipes). I’d hoped to see maybe a handful so 20 was fantastic. Subscr...

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A Natural Interlude: Red Top & Gold Top

http://naturalworldnotes.blogspot.com/2015/03/red-top-gold-top.html

Birding, Nature and…the world of the Wild. Barn Owl Pellet Analysis. Box Moor Trust (BMT) Maps. BMT Small Blue Project. Wednesday, 4 March 2015. Red Top and Gold Top. Not my preferred choices of milk from the dairy aisle in Sainsbury’s but the variety of forehead/crown colours of the Lesser Redpolls (. At the Watercress LNR. In St Albans. It occurred to me at the weekend that I’d gone the whole winter without laying eyes on a Siskin or Redpoll. Shocking! 1 ), Great Spotted Woodpecker. Had a Gold poll!

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A Natural Interlude: Framed by a Goose! Ringed Plover

http://naturalworldnotes.blogspot.com/2015/05/framed-by-goose-ringed-plover.html

Birding, Nature and…the world of the Wild. Barn Owl Pellet Analysis. Box Moor Trust (BMT) Maps. BMT Small Blue Project. Sunday, 31 May 2015. Framed by a Goose! When I heard that there was a confiding Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula). Yesterday, I thought the week-long photography drought was over. When I heard it was on the jetty. At Wilstone reservoir, I was less optimistic. Chances were that the fishermen would beat me to it and the jetty would be royally rid of all bird life. And a Pied Wagtail.

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A Natural Interlude: Breathtaking Black-throated Diver at Farmoor

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Birding, Nature and…the world of the Wild. Barn Owl Pellet Analysis. Box Moor Trust (BMT) Maps. BMT Small Blue Project. Monday, 18 May 2015. Breathtaking Black-throated Diver at Farmoor. Loons or Divers, whatever you call them, they are a pretty special group of birds. Just 5 in the genus, Gavia. Had, at Farmoor reservoir. On a brighter note, the summer plumage Dunlin and Sanderling were full of beans and also brilliant to watch. Farmoor reservoir, 16 May 2015. Famoor reservoir, 16 May 2015. 19 May 2015 ...