Hen Harrier Day

 Avery

 Packham

 The crowd

Attended Hen Harrier today at Rainham Marshes. Mark Avery is campaigning for 100,000 signatures on a UK Government and Parliament petition to ban driven grouse shooting in order to trigger a debate in Parliament which could lead to better management of Grouse moors which are currently supporting illegal persecution of top predators such as Hen Harriers. That better management can be through licensing and better enforcement of current laws.  100,000 signatures are needed for a Parliamentary debate to be considered on a specific matter. The petition is on about 75,000 at the moment. So please sign. 

Its important to sign these petitions not just in the hope that the democratic system might work and powerful immoral minority groups are accountable to the majority but also or perhaps more so to prove that the system does not work, is archaic and not fit for purpose, is rigged in favour of the Capitalists (or rather the ideology of Fundamental Capitalism) in order so that they can continue to feed their primitive blood lusts and insatiable appetites for destruction through the processing of society and nature into capital and we need fundamental changes which include constitutional reform, system overhaul and re-booting (to a sustainable, multi-value, triple bottom line economy/society where biodiversity is prioritised in the right way). SO: 

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION

Some readers may recall my earlier disappointment with the RSPB in not allowing Hen Harrier Day in our local area to start becoming symbolic of front line people power conservation by allowing other groups campaigning for the most important local conservation issues to have a representation., Blog post HERE . I did think briefly about personally boycotting the event (just out of stupidity) but this grass roots movement is very important and the small mindedness and lack of perspectivewithin the bubble of the RSPB is something that needs to be ignored as conservation, the challenges and the crisis is so much more enormous than that tiny largely impotent (in the face of this global scale threat) organisation.

The good run of moths continue at the obs, a few from last night :

 True Lover's Knot- a first for me

Acrobasis advenella 

Jersey (top) and Garden Tigers 

Birds from the window

*This post has been updated to include further window goodies since 2016.

Finding the White Stork recently from the obs window prompted me to reflect on the birds that I've found/ seen from the Obs window since I moved here in 2009. Here's a few (all pics taken from window- usually at distance hence the quality) :

 Juvenile Long-tailed Skua, a first for the farmlands 

Black Kite- found by Johnny, a first for the farmlands

 Common Crane, a first for the farmlands 

Another Common Crane found by Roger 

White Stork- the second record

Spoonbill over in April 2020 and a Marsh Harrier five minutes later 

White-tailed Eagle! 8th April 2021- found by Ian Jones. One of the Isle of Wight re-introduction birds.

 Turtle Dove

 Common Redstart

Black Redstart 

 Iceland Gull - seen up to five in the air at one time from the window including a Kumlien's! 

 Caspian Gull - lost count of these

 Glaucous Gull - had a few 

 Lapwings moving south in a cold spell- the obs is well handy for viewing hard weather movement (with a cup of coffee and in the warm)  

 Goosander

 Sandwich Terns

 Short-eared Owl- had a few of these, also had Marsh Harriers, obviously loads of Buzzards and Red Kites and best was a Honey Buzzard that Roger found and alerted me too

Black Terns, August 2016

 Oystercatcher, May 2012. Also had Avocet in 2019.

Male Pheasant feeding around the feeders in   2012

Marsh Harrier, November 2014 

 Get a couple a thousand of these flying past in the winter 

 Tree Sparrows on the obs feeders

The obs from the birds' eye view

The obs feeders

The birds have been great and had things at night too like calling Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Curlew, Barn Owls, Tawny Owls, night migration in late autumn etc. However the main new discoveries for Beddington Farmlands has been from the window moth trapping- will have to do a post soon on Highlights from the Bugry.  

Dodgy Nuthatch pic and some dodgy moth ids

 Nuthatch along the path in the week. Unfortunately still using an old lens as my 300mm still un-repaired. The first time I've photographed this species at the farmlands (sightings increasing in recent year, perhaps due to the maturing of the woodland fringe habitats). Some decent sized bird waves at the farmlands at the moment- about 50+ Long-tailed Tits with Blue and Great Tits, Blackcaps, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff, the odd Garden Warbler, Whitethroat and also Great Spotted Woodpeckers seem to be loosely associated too, 

 Ear Moths

 Sqaure-spot Rustic- I think this is one of the many variations of this species?

 Rosy Minor

(left to right) Bright-line Brown-eye, Common Rustic? and Acrobasis advenella

 Clay

 Anania coronata

 Agriphila inquinatella

 Catoptria falsella

 Beautiful Plume 

 Tree lichen Beauty, Knot Grass and Silver-Y

No idea?

Peppered Moth

 Peppered Moth- a farmlands tick for me. Recent interesting moths include Gypsy Moths, Scalloped Oak, more Jersey Tigers, August Thorn and Small Seraphim, 

Great Burnet-10+ plants on the Southern Mound

The Beddington Farmlands Bird and Wildlife Report 2015

The new report is out now. For a copy please email littleoakgroup@btinternet.com

The report includes a conservation update, birding and wildlife review, a detailed systematic list on the birds, butterflies and moths recorded in 2015, ringing reports, breeding bird surveys, bird monitoring report, a short paper on the mustelids of Beddington, all time systematic lists for the Butterflies and Dragonflies of Beddington Farmlands and site maps. The report also show cases the best photographs of 2015 from local photographers.

I'm a Communist

It's just dawned on me that I might be a communist (they are sneaky, I didn't even know I was one of them).

Here's a few clues

1) I hate fundamental capitalists
2) In terms of fundamental values I put quality of society and environment before money (i.e. I'm not a complete and total fucking retard)
3) I run a business where I pay the staff as much as myself, offer part ownership to any staff, cap my own wages and spend profits/ dividends on social and environmental projects - so basically run a closed circuit  multi-value economy
4) I live in a communal residential estate and manage communal green spaces
5) I'm involved in several multi-stakeholder/ community projects
6) I really do not give a flying tuppennny fuck about the day to day dramas of the Kardashians, Made in Chelsea or anyone from that ilk
7) When I see a gezer in a flash car or being a flash jack- I think 'what a cunt' (and it really is not jealousy- you don't have to be jealous of pricks like Donald Trump who really really is a prize cock)
8)  I wear communist hats!
9) I'm a member of the Green party (formerly known as the People's Party)
10) I'm going to loose loads of American blog followers who read this post!

I should have worked it out sooner??