Back at East Prawle for a week.

Friday 1st October 2021.

The amazing view from the bottom of our road. I hope to spend many more superb moments at this fabulous place, enjoying the many migrants and wildlife that is so abundant here.

At last, Becky and I are spending a week at East Prawle; the gorgeous quaint little village on a Devon headland jutting out into the English Channel and just screaming out for a rare bird to be discovered as many have in the past. Maybe it's my time for something very rare to grace my presence here, although I will happily enjoy a juicy Cirl Bunting or two. Not only the birdlife I am looking forward to, but also the moths for I have brought my moth box along for the ride too and as I write this, it is up and running already!

Photos from top to bottom: the cottages overlooking the English  Channel at the bottom of the road; Herring Gulls checking out the fields close to the cliffs and a very distant female Cirl Bunting in the late sunshine.

I have already taken a walk down the lane to view from one of the best viewpoints in the area and visible migration was most evident. Meadow Pipits, ‘alba’ Wagtails, Linnets and good numbers of both House and Sand Martins were all around, while flitting around the roadside bushes were several Chiffchaffs that occasionally showed. I stood with Scruff overlooking the superb viewpoint from the end of the Cottage where I had a conversation with a family member staying there. A large number of Gulls, mostly Herring Gulls, were feeding in a field by the cliffs along with good numbers of Carrion Crows, while more passerines were passing through in good numbers, notably Linnets, Meadow Pipits and more House Martins.

The above photos: A few Chiffchaffs were seen along the road leading to the viewpoint; Verbena plants were still flowering and House Martins were abundant around the cliffs and Cottages.

I checked the sea for anything of note, but it was mostly distant Gannets I could clearly see flying low over the calm sea, while closer to the shoreline, several Oystercatchers were flying over the rock pools. Earlier, I noticed a large moth by the front entrance of the Cottage I was watching from and on closer inspection, it was a Dark Sword-grass; my second of the year. With my moth box on, it will be interesting to see how many I shall get here this time around. Of course, I always check what is along the roadside as there are plenty of plants and insects on show. Verbena plants was still in flower as were a few sprigs of Dark Mullein, while Dark Bush Crickets were calling everywhere along the thick vegetation. It is only Friday and hopefully, more interesting sightings have yet to come. 

Photos above: The Dark Sword-grass moth I found at the Cottage at the bottom of the road from our Cottage. The front and rear view of our Cottage, The Shippen, with Scruff having a good old sniff round! 

Black Rustic moth added to my year list.

Thursday 30th September 2021.

The weather has now become very Autumnal as the temperatures have dropped by at least 20 degrees compared to last week and also quite a bit of rain around. Early this morning, it was very overcast and rain threatened all day, but it wasn't till the early evening that the rain finally came.

Above, some of the moths that were in the moth box this morning: Lunar Underwing, Feathered Ranunculus, Black Rustic and L-album Wainscot.

My moth box held not that many moths, but it did hold my first Black Rustic of the year (top photo); a typical Autumn moth and most welcome in my moth box. Up to two Feathered Ranunculus were present along with 3 Lunar Underwings. In total, the following moths were present:

• 2 Feathered Ranunculus
• 3 Lunar Underwing
• 1 Black Rustic
• 2 L-album Wainscot
• 6 Box Tree Moth
• 2 Willow Beauty
• 1 Rusty-dot Pearl
• 2 Common Plume

 While  I was checking the moths in the garden, there was a passage of Meadow Pipits moving south and I counted at least 18 birds in various size flocks passing through. One Meadow Pipit was flying with an ‘alba’ Wagtail (Pied or White Wagtail) and looked good for being companions (or so I thought!). Still, it's always good to see visible migration first hand and against a grey sky, it was easy to pick the birds out.

Above, there were few 'macro' moths at Portchester Crematorium including this Large Yellow Underwing. 

While at my Fratton branch, I heard more Meadow Pipits passing overhead and watched several going over and also a male Sparrowhawk flew over too, much to the annoyance of the local Starlings. I was working over Portchester Crematorium this morning and checking out the moths (as per usual), I found the following moths:

• 1 Large Yellow Underwing
• 1 Box Tree Moth
• 8 Beautiful Plume
• 6 Common Plume

I was somewhat surprised that I thought there would be a lot more moths than this, though there were literally hundreds of Crane Flies around instead. Plenty of food it seems for the local birds and Spiders! While I was driving to the Crematorium, I noticed several  large skeins of Canada Geese passing through low overhead, all heading east; whether it was to nearby Lakeside in Cosham or possibly Farlington Marshes? I must have counted at least 50 birds in all along with a few smaller individuals that could have been hybrids. It didn't end there either as about 30 minutes later, more birds passed by while I was at the Crematorium and making quite a din as they passed over. The only other bird of note seen at the Crem was a lone Swallow flying over.

Above photo: Water Rail, Ringed Plovers and Sanderling taken at Titchfield Haven and Hill Head by local birder, Christine Whiffen, who kindly allowed me to post these lovely photos on my blog.

From the Whatsapp group I have recently joined, yesterday’s juvenile Grey Phalarope was still at Blashford Lakes, on Ibsley Water today; though mostly keeping its distance in the middle of the lake.  A small flock of 4 Manx Shearwaters passed through Selsey Bill this morning, but mostly quiet throughout the south coast. 

Two Red Underwing moths at Portchester Crematorium.

Tuesday 28th September 2021.

There has been a big weather change here on the south coast with a large band of low pressure directly over us causing a good deal of heavy rain at times today and yesterday. The UK is now going through an alleged fuel shortage, which has consequently got all the idiots panic buying fuel for their cars (which, incidentally, the awful UK media instigated!) and causing long tail-backs around the forecourts. Like the toilet-roll fiasco a year or so ago, it's the same again only it seems a lot worse.

Above and below, one of the Red Underwing moths I found at the Crematorium today, showing a bit of the red underwing itself.

With all that mayhem going on, I still kept an eye out for anything interesting to mention on my blog and today, while driving along James Callahan Road along the top of Portsdown Hill, I pointed out to my co-driver, two hovering Kestrels and a large flock of around 20+ Meadow Pipits, seen from the comfort of the car I was driving. A lot of heavy rain had fallen on Portdown Hill and the roads were a tad flooded in places. I was also sure I saw a Raven flying away from me and though I was driving, another quick glimpse kind of confirmed it.

The familiar Box-Tree Moth, which is now a common sight around Portchester Crematorium and seen regularly by day as well as night.

I was working at Portchester Crematorium both this morning and early afternoon and it was on my second visit that I had a check around the flower bays for moths. Though not many were found, I did find TWO Red Underwings moths near the South Chapel exit, of which one allowed me a close approach to take a photo. The only other moths I could find were one Box Tree Moth and at least 8 Beautiful Plume and 2 Common Plume’s. Also around the flower bay, was a roosting Red Admiral butterfly. Not much in the way of bird life, but a Robin was in full song close to where we park the cars to take the family home.

Checking the local websites, it was reported that a ringtail Hen/Pallid Harrier was seen and photographed by Sidlesham Ferry Pool, West Sussex around 1pm and could possibly be the same bird that was flushed off the beach at Church Norton early today. The Harrier was seen to hunt and catch a Red-legged Partridge and apparently, another hybrid type was seen in Norfolk. Off Selsey Bill, 3 Balearic Shearwaters were seen to head west as well as a Great Northern Diver. In Hampshire, both Black-necked Grebe and a drake Common Scoter were off the Hayling Oysterbeds this morning and our Brent Geese are back with at least 92 birds counted in the north-west corner of Langstone Harbour.

Chiffchaffs & Hoverflies abundant in the Cemy.

Sunday 26th September 2021.

I took Scruff for a nice easy stroll around Highland Road Cemetery late morning, enjoying the bright Autumn sunshine and I was pleasantly surprised at how many insects were on the wing. 15 species of birds were either seen or heard during the hour we were there including good numbers of Chiffchaffs and at least four Jays were also seen flying from tree to tree. I was soon regretting taking my fleece with me as the temperature easily climbed into the 70’s for there was very little wind to cool things down. Above, one of many Red Admirals in the Cemy this morning.

These Herring Gulls were in a big squabble on the rooftops opposite the Cemy, causing onlookers to stop in their tracks.

The Chiffchaffs were quite entertaining as at least 5 possibly 6 birds were flitting around the trees close to the Mausoleum. A rather disturbing scene, which stopped a couple of dog-walkers in the tracks, was two Herring Gulls having a fight (see photos) on a rooftop. One would not let go of the other one's neck! A few Meadow Pipits flew high over, heading south, which represented the only bit of migration going on.

Chiffchaffs (top photo) were in good numbers around the Mausoleum and several Collared Doves (bottom photo) flew off from the Chestnut Tree's over on the east side. 

The only butterflies on the wing this morning were nectaring Red Admirals which were enjoying the flowering Ivy Plants and several Small White’s that were seen flying over the Cemy. I even found a few moths on the wing and included a Box Tree Moth and a Vapourer moth: the latter spinning around in the air as per usual but not landing. Hoverflies were also enjoying the flowering Ivy (both Myathropa florea and Eristalis tenax) and this in turn attracted plenty of Garden Spiders to build their webs to trap the insects. 

Hoverflies were in large numbers today, making the most of the sunshine and flowering Ivy including Myathropa florea (bottom photo) and Eristalis tenax (top photo). 

As per usual with the Cemetery, there is always something to look at here and something will always capture my attention as I slowly make my way around the footpath. Though the Council have given the grass a good mowing, it still looks and feels very Autumnal now with lots of leaves on the ground and more falling all the time. It will not be long when the Winter Thrushes will begin to stop over and even roost here. For now, more migrant birds are coming in and hopefully, the Yellow-browed Warbler might make a return visit as per previous years.

There were few plants on show within the Cemy today, but Smooth Hawks-beard plants (top photo) were common while a sprig of Michaelmas Daisies were on show by one grave. Yarrow, Smooth Sow-thistle, Lady Bedstraw (bottom photo) and a few Cats ears were found too. 

There was a good sea-watch off Sandy Point, Hayling Island this morning by Andy J. He notched up a Balearic Shearwater (six off Selsey Bill this morning also), a Red-throated Diver, Guillemot and an Arctic Skua! The Glossy Ibis is still at its usual haunt at Nore Barn, going into its 2nd full week into its stay and still pulling in the birders. No big rarities on the south coast just yet, but watch this space as I am sure they are on their way. I have been reading the Birding Iceland site on Facebook and some of the American rarities that have been arriving there of late are quite staggering. One UK birder has just come back from there and notched up Buff-bellied Pipit, American Redstart, Red-eyed Vireo and Semipalmated Sandpiper along with White-winged Scoter, Harlequin Duck, Gyr Falcon and both Barnacle and Pink-footed Geese. Becky and I had the pleasure of going to Iceland a few years back during the month of February. Truly a superb place, but we failed to see the Aurora borealis. Sob! 

Garden Spiders (Araneus diadematus) also known as Cross Spider were also abundant with webs literally everywhere where there was bushes. I watched one poor Hoverfly land in one web, manage to escape only to fall in another and perish!

Feathered Ranunculus moth & Honey-buzzard this weekend.

Sunday 26th September 2021.

A fairly bright start to the morning though a lot of cloud cover soon rolled in, but it was pretty mild with very little wind. Again, a reasonably nice haul of moths for this time of year and included my first Feathered Ranunculus (above) of the season along with several Lunar Underwing and L-album Wainscot. The only migrant birds flying over while I was checking the moth box were Meadow Pipits again, but apart from the noisy Herring Gulls, all was quiet.

Above, one of many Willow Beauty's this morning along side a Lunar Underwing moth. Yesterday, I was too busy helping my daughter move into her new house in nearby Drayton. It was here that I spotted an interesting raptor flying low overhead being pursued by a couple of Carrion Crows and as it got nearer, I could clearly see it was a Honey-buzzard! That was a total surprise as I clearly noted the long straight tail and its long head, completely different from a Common Buzzard. I honestly thought I had missed this species this year, so that was a real bonus and puts me currently on 189 species for the year.

This superb juvenile Purple Heron was gracing the fields behind the North Wall at Pagham Harbour, though quite elusive at times, but, luckily, local birder Sarah Russell managed to grab some distant photos of the bird.

The Purple Heron over Pagham Harbour was being quite elusive during the day, but a Birding friend, Sarah Russell managed to not only see the bird at dusk, but also managed to grab a few decent photos of the bird (see photos). Birding pal Geoff Farwell took a stroll around Beacon Hill in the morning where he saw the following: 6+ Chiffchaffs, 2 Blackcaps, Marsh Tit, 30 Stock Dove, 2 Red Kite & Common Buzzard along with a passage of Swallows. The following moths were noted this morning:

Moths recorded this morning included this morning:

• 1 Feathered Ranunculus
• 3 Lunar Underwing
• 12 Willow Beauty
• 1 Large Yellow Underwing
• 2 Lesser Yellow Underwing
• 1 Garden Carpet
• 1 Silver Y
• 5 L-album Wainscot 
• 2 Lime-speck Pug
• 4 Double-striped Pug 
• 2 Square-spot Rustic
• 2 Tachystola acroxantha 
• 1 Light Brown Apple Moth
• 1 Common Plume

Clancy's Rustic moth the highlight this morning.

Saturday 25th September 2021.

The month is quickly drawing to a close but the moths keep on coming in my garden, thankfully, albeit mostly Box Tree Moths. However, I was in for a nice surprise when I discovered a superb Clancy’s Rustic moth (above) on one of the trays: a species that I have only ever seen once before all the time I have been into moths. A few Lunar Underwings and a scattering of other species maintained my interest as I got to work in recording the moths.

It was a grey overcast start to the morning and having a nice lay in, I was not surprised to find quite a few Box Tree Moths in and around the box. Overhead, a Meadow Pipit was the only bird of note flying over while checking the box. A rooftop Starling nearby gave a very good Tree Pipit impression and had me staring skywards. Photo above, some of the moths present in my box this morning.

I am hoping to go birding sometime today although my daughter is moving house and I said I would help her which should be sometime soon today. I have put Andy on alert that it probably will be sometimes this afternoon we shall go out and find another ‘year-tick’. There has been a juvenile Purple Heron near the village of Pagham seen again this morning but it is quite elusive and only shows flight views at present, but it is tempting to take a trip over there. Currently, there is ‘panic buying’ of petrol that is blighting the UK’s roads and here on the south coast is no exception. It was ridiculous yesterday and annoyingly, I do need to get fuel. Photo above, the two Lunar Underwings.

The moths seen this morning included the following species:

• 1 Clancy’s Rustic
• 1 Lime-speck Pug
• 2 Double-striped Pug
• 2 Willow Beauty
• 2 Lunar Underwing
• 1 Brimstone moth
• 2 Square-spot Rustic
• 1 Garden Carpet
• 2 L-album Wainscot
• 1 Large Yellow Underwing
• 1 Lesser Yellow Underwing
• 1 Pale Mottled Willow
• 11 Box Tree Moths
• 1 Eudonia angustea
• 4 Common Plume

A beautiful morning in Apuldram.

Thursday 23rd September 2021.

The Church of St Mary the Virgin, Apuldram, near Chichester. There was plenty of wildlife within the Cemetery to keep me entertained while the Funeral service took place. 

There were no moths to look at first thing this morning as I gave the moth box a rest and a nice little sleep-in for me. Annoyingly, I had to pay another visit to Curry’s to rescue my Blog again and the nice young man, Roo, who spent a considerable amount of time on my Laptop, trying to unravel what Blogger is all about! I have to say, it is a bloody minefield at times and if it wasn’t for Roo, I think I could have given up. I came away happy that my Laptop was behaving again but £10 lighter due to the fact that my new Laptop does not take the SD card from my Camera and therefore I had to buy a bit of kit to install into the Computer to transfer the images!

On a positive note, I was working over a place called Apuldram, near Chichester, this morning and on such a beautifully warm morning, all went very well. Of course, I was keeping an eye out on the local nature in the Churchyard and came across a few interesting sightings. Both Great Spotted and Green Woodpecker were heard but not seen, as was a calling Buzzard, while all around, Common Darter dragonflies were abundant, landing quite close to sunbathe in the warm sunshine (see photo).

Speckled Wood butterflies were dancing over the graves along with a few Red Admirals, as I pointed out a Harlequin Ladybird to my work colleagues. They all know that I am into nature and sometimes have them spellbound while holding something interesting! I used to do some birding down this area which is quite close to Chichester Harbour where in the Winter, both Whimbrel and Little Stint used to overwinter, however, it is a favoured area for those Wildfowlers, which I detest. Other sightings today involved several Common Buzzards flying low over the A27 and also a few over the M275 and probably now the most common bird of prey in the UK. 

This male Bearded Tit was photographed by birding pal, Richard Tucker at Farlington Marshes yesterday. 

On Farlington Marshes today, a pair of Curlew Sandpipers were on the main Lake and the Glossy Ibis was still present at Nore Barn. A Great White Egret was present at Posbrook Floods, near Titchfield and another on Blashford Lakes today as well. Birding pal, Geoff Farwell texted me to say he had a Canary-shouldered Thorn by his moth trap last night along with a Box Tree Moth, Willow Beauty and a Square-spot Rustic as even his moth numbers have diminished.

My third ever Dewick's Plusia moth this morning.

 Tuesday 21st September 2021.

The Dewick's Plusia moth.

It looks as though my new blog is up and running on the internet due to a superb young lad who works in Curry’s, Anchorage Park. My computer crashed on me last night (ouch!) and so I paid a visit to Curry’s to see if I could get it fixed, but to no avail and therefore I decided to opt to buy a new Laptop instead. OK, I am not a computer whizz kid and my computer skills are limited, but am a quick learner and this young lad, late this afternoon, really helped me negotiate the computer with ease, although typing on this new keyboard will take getting used to.

A very pale Lesser Yellow Underwing.

My moth box came up with the goods this morning when I found my 3rd ever Dewick’s Plusia (top photo) perched nicely behind the moth box on the white sheet. I quickly ‘potted’ the moth and took it indoors to get a better photo of it later in the evening along with an interesting moth that was eventually confirmed as a Lesser Yellow Underwing, a rather pale individual that was quite worn.

This morning, the following moths were present:

• Box Tree Moth 7

• Dewick’s Plusia 1

• Garden Carpet 1

• Light Emerald 1

• L-album Wainscot 1

• Lesser Yellow Underwing 1

• Willow Beauty 1

• Common Plume 2

• Light Brown Apple Moth 1

• Brown House Moth 1

• Tachystola acroxantha 1

OK, not a great deal of moths, but it certainly is getting cooler at night and unless we get a very late heatwave, I fully expect the moth numbers to dwindle, but there is still time to get more species under my belt this year. Giant House Spiders are now on the prowl and one individual was on the brick wall opposite the box with a further two more seen at my Fratton Branch today. Both Cellar Spiders and False Black Widows are certainly on the increase in and around my house, but simply find them fascinating.

I was busy working on the Ambulance today and how my work colleague puts up with me is a mystery as I was pointing out all the birds I was looking at including Jays, several Common Buzzards and at least one Kestrel. We spotted a pair of young Foxes this morning at the back of our Fareham branch as we woke them from a nice snooze in the morning sunshine.

A Box Tree Moth and a Light Emerald.

Yesterday, I was working over Warblington Cemetery and I was somewhat surprised at how many birder’s were making their way to see the Glossy Ibis that was still present at Nore Barn. Even my work colleagues were asking what were they looking for. While there, in a gorgeous blue sky, a couple of Common Buzzards soared overhead; a female Sparrowhawk also was seen flying over being chased by several Crows and several flocks of Meadow Pipits and Swallows flew by also. A Southern Hawker buzzed around a tall Yew Tree by the Church. In the afternoon, I had work to do over The Oaks Crematorium and making my way to the main entrance, I pointed out a flock of 5 Yellow Wagtails going over to another work colleague.

After meeting Andy Fisher’s nephew, Richard, last Saturday morning, Andy and myself are going to join his Whatsapp group page, the 'Lazee Birders' ,which should be really interesting for the future. Hopefully, some interesting bird sightings are on the horizon.    

Dusky Thorn moth & a walk around the Cemy.

Sunday 19^th September 2021.

A very grey and dark start to the day with the weather forecast predicting heavy rain coming in this afternoon. Of course, I put the moth box on overnight and there was a reasonable number of moths to look at with a total of 52 moths of 15 species. The pick of the bunch was my 3^rd Dusky Thorn of the year and quite a smart individual too. The most numerous species were the Willow Beauty's with 10 present today. The following moths were present this morning:

• 4 Pale Mottled Willow
• 10 Willow Beauty
• 7 Box Tree Moth
• 1 Cypress Pug
• 6 Double-stripe Pug
• 6 Lesser Yellow Underwing
• 2 Lime-speck Pug
• 1 Small Dusty Wave
• 1 Square-spot Rustic
• 7 Large Yellow Underwing
• 1 Setaceous Hebrew Character
• 1 Brimstone Moth
• 1 Dusky Thorn
• 2 Tachystola acroxantha
• 2 Common Plume

Above, two photos of the Dusky Thorn moth and bottom photo, the Cypress Pug.

There was very little visible migration overhead, though a pair of Meadow Pipits did fly over heading west. Yesterday evening, a Willowchiff was calling somewhere in the gardens, but very little else, but I will always keep my eyes open as the Autumn progresses. I got a text from birding pal Geoff Farwell who was birding at Broughton Down near Stockbridge, north Hampshire. He said he had a 'cracking' Goshawk over along with 8 Buzzards, 2 Red Kites, 2 Raven, Woodlark, 8+ Blackcap and 4+ Chiffchaffs along with several Chalk-hill Blue butterflies. I am hoping to take Scruff for a walk later this morning to my local patch, Highland Road Cemetery. So, watch this space.

Highland Road Cemetery looking north from the southern end.  

The rain finally fell this morning around 11am, but before that, I managed a nice walk around Highland Road Cemetery with Scruff. Though looking quite dark in the south, the heavy cloud cover did not put me off and it was quite mild with very little wind. There were a few dog walkers present this morning, which is to be expected on a Sunday, but all were polite as they passed us by.

Top photo: though only Robin I saw this morning, though a few were heard singing about the Cemy. Botom photo: A female Drone Fly perched on a bush beside the footpath.

There was quite a few Chiffchaffs around the Cemetery, with the area near the Holm Oaks being popular with at least 7 birds in that particular area, along with at least 6 Long-tailed Tits. The latter species are not very common here and I think I have only seen them just three times since I have been coming here. Still, always a pleasure to see as they flick their way though the branches, trailing their long tail. At least 3 more Chiffchaffs were seen in the southern half of the Cemy, but I am sure there were probably a lot more. Sadly, no other warblers and to be honest, sightings of any bird was at a premium.

Top photo: Collared Doves are a common occurrence within the Cemetery and can roost in large numbers in the winter here. Bottom photo: one of the many Chiffchaffs present this morning.

I eventually had 15 species of bird on my walk, though most were actually only heard, including Wren, Great Tit and a few others. I was hoping for a bit of visible migration overhead, but the sky was virtually empty, bar a few Starlings and Gulls flying over. Nothing of note was perched on any of the gravestones, but I was more than surprised when I saw a grave getting ready for a funeral next week as Burials here are extremely rare as the Cemetery is full.

Top photo: next weeks funeral preparation in the Cemetery, which is rare here as the place is full. Bottom photo: Fleabane growing on one of the graves on the east side, adding a splash of colour.

Because it was cloudy, there were very few Hoverflies about this morning and no butterflies were on the wing at all. A female Drone fly was noted perched on a small bush and good numbers of the Syrphus species hoverfly were on the wing in various areas of the Cemy, but were quite difficult to photograph as they were quite skittish. A lot of Squirrels were down to ground level, busy stocking up with acorns and seeds to store away for Winter, especially around the Holm Oaks area. All the usual plants were noted, though I did find a rather large Prickly Sow-thistle growing in one of the graves. I am looking to take another trip over to the Cemy this afternoon as my ever demanding granddaughter wants to ride her bike around there. Ho hum!

Top photo: a scarce bird in this Cemetery, the Long-tailed Tit, which I counted at least 6 birds. Bottom photo: Honey Fungus making a return with this individual growing under one of the tall Beech Trees.

Locally, a Spoonbill is on Titchfield Haven and the one on Medmerry RSPB Reserve is still present along with the nearby Osprey. A Merlin was also reported there this morning. Returning Brent Geese have been seen passing Selsey Bill this morning, so it should not be long before they arrive in Langstone Harbour. Finally, the Glossy Ibis is still visiting its favoured field at Nore Barn today.

I took Isabelle for a ride on her bike around the Cemetery late this afternoon and seeing it closes now at 7pm, we had less than an hour for her to enjoy cycling along the footpaths. For me personally, I got to see a Great Spotted Woodpecker briefly, flying from one tree to another and even the Jays were heard calling, both species being absent earlier today. Isabelle particularly enjoyed watching a Squirrel high up in a Horse Chestnut tree, munching off the prickly shell off a Chestnut. A Migrant Hawker dragonfly made a brief appearance along the footpath near the Holm Oaks and even Isabelle managed to see it as it disappeared between the bushes. The 'yellow weather' warning issued by the Met Office turned out to be miss-information yet again as bright sunshine shone over the Cemy as we made our way home.