The latest bit of birding kit- a mobile obs. Planning some adventures.
Spent the weekend at the farmlands on Saturday and been up to some boyfriend stuff with Holly; at Art in Action in Oxfordshire on Sunday and visited Oxford on Monday (quite enjoy all this mincing).
Christ church, Oxford, a decent bit of meadow habitat within the city
Possible Four-dotted Footman at the farmlands on Saturday- it escaped before I managed to have a decent look.
Back at my post fighting for a nature filled future that hardly anyone gives a flying fuck about and those that do are mainly working against each other. Funny old game. Interesting to see masses of humans looking for virtual pokemon creatures this weekend- during the National Big Butterfly Count.
Here's a few bloody moths.
Tree-lichen beauty
Poplar Hawkmoth
Wax Moth- new one for me
Agonopterix heracliana
Bird Cherry Ermine
Mottled Rustic?
Absolutely amazing co-ordination, organisation and skill involved in building this incinerator. Literally what an awful waste of energy, green space and resources.
Giving middle class bigots a home to project middle class capitalism (off the back of nature), oppress chavs, rubber stamping anti-nature and anti-people corporations (like Viridor) and pandering to the whims and demands of old washed up and sold out capitalists bastards whose generation have overseen the greatest transfer of wealth from poor to rich and the greatest episode of environmental destruction in human history leaving next to fuck all for the next generation??
I approached the organisers of the national front line conservation movement that are organising events under the Hen Harrier flag to have a representation for the front line people and nature movement from where I am (at Beddington Farmlands in South London). I was given permission by the organisers to have a low profile presence, alongside other groups as part of a unification effort to gather front line conservationists across London and the south east.
The permission needed to be cleared by the lodge as the event is being organised at Rainham marshes,an RSPB reserve. The Lodge refused permission. I roughly translate that (in our local tongue) as 'Go fuck yourselves and die you chav c#nts'.
Maybe I'm being over sensitive??
But why would they do that????
What other possible reason could there be for the RSPB to be blocking unification of conservationists????
Here's a video from my nephew Dylan from our week herping. Part of his home schooling was to produce a presentation for his you tube channel NATURE KIDS VIDS.
Spent yesterday doing a Bioblitz on the new land, exploring the valley past the monastery and also on some herping trips with Dylan and Anton. It's been hectic! No time to write much as usual so here's a few pics and videos:
Little Bittern at Sheynovo Lake
Bioblitzing the new land. We bought 6 acres of foothill habitat last year and intend to develop it into nature reserve/ ecological farming areas. Had a bit of a look round today, we've got Tree Sparrows, Cirl Buntings, Yellowhammers, Turtle Doves. Cuckoos, Red-backed Shrikes, Black-headed Buntings, Short-toed Eagle and Long-legged Buzzards overhead! Probably won't need to do much apart from control some invasives and keep some paths and tracks open.
We've found nearly 200 species in the new plot so far.
The eco-farmers had a forest party- the birders/herpers ate and went back to base to sort out the days photos/ids.
Silver-washed Frits- the valley along the monastery is amazing for butterflies (see post below)
Grass Snakes- one of the snakes was 110cm (about 140cm is maximum size of a Grass Snake)
Dingy Skipper Erynnis tages and Long-tailed Blue Lampides boeticus
Ochlodes sylvanus- the Eastern European equivalent of Large Skipper
Brown Argus Plebeius agestis - One of the commonest butterflies in Bulgaria
Silver-washed Fritillary Argynnis paphia
High Brown Fritillary Argynnis adippe (More like Queen of Spain Fritillary)-
Scarce Swallowtail Iphiclides podalirius
Common Glider Neptis sappho
Nine-spotted Moth Amata phegea- A common day flying moth in the mountains
Small Copper Lycaena phlaeas
Essex Skipper Thymelicus sylvestris
Large Heath Coenonympha arcania
Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni
Scarce Copper Lycaena virgaureae
Meadow Browns Maniola jurtina -
Small White Pieris rapae- The Southern Small White is also a possibility in Bulgaria. In that species the black apical patch extends to v3 and v4 and the upf black pd spot is concave on the outer margin,
White-letter Hairstreak Satyrium w-album- The Ilex Hairstreak is also common in Bulgaria. The distinctive 'W' shape on the hind wing white line points towards White-letter Hairstreak.
