The time has come, the Walrus said, to talk of many things....

The time has come,' the Walrus said,

      To talk of many things:

Of birds - and moths - and common flax -

     Of cabbage whites - and wings -

 As I walked along the woodland walk to the hide I saw something fly from the grass onto a tree. I followed of course, wanting to know what it was as I didn't recognise the shape, colour or flight. Turned out to be a moth - a Mottled Beauty no less and another new one for me. Quite common but usually not seen in daylight unless flushed.

Mottled Beauty keeping a low profile

South of Hornsea the Avocet chicks are still hanging in there but the scrape is quickly drying out and I fear for their survival. Fingers crossed things work out OK.

Avocet in a fast disappearing puddle

Banded Demoiselle

Also found south of Hornsea was this Banded Demoiselle at one of the many fishing lakes. Hopefully they will eventually find their way to the Mere.

Along with the demoiselle there were lots of skippers, so many in fact they had to queue to get on the thistle heads.

Large Skipper

Stacked Skippers - go around again!

At the Mere, Common Terns are seen almost every day fishing. This one took a rest on a buoy.

Common Tern (phonescoped)

On the south side of the Mere we don't seem to get many burnet moths so I was pleased to see a 6 spot version making a colourful visit to a ragwort flower head.

Six-spot Burnet (Zygaena filipendulae)

Continuing the courful theme, another non-numerous denizen of the Mere is the Comma butterfly. I only see singles of these lovely butterflies now, but they used to be plentiful.

Comma (Polygonia c-album)

 The newly planted set aside field is coming along nicely and there a few Common Flax flowers springing up in the greenery.

Common flax (Linum usitatissimum)

Flax is a usful plant as it is used to make linen, and the oil from the plant is linseed oil. I well remember using linseed oil to keep my cricket bat in good nick, though it didn't help me to score many more runs 😂😂

Out on the Mere itself we are seeing a very gradual build up of ducks that start to arrive after their breeding season. Small numbers of Wigeon, Shoveler and Pochard are here now with the first Goldeneye still to put in an appearance.

10 Pochard on the Mere

Back to butterflies for the next pic and mingled in with the very large numbers of Meadow Browns in the grassy fields are Ringlets. Smaller and darker than the MB's they are beautiful to see.

Ringlet in second field

My latest new creature is a bee - a Vestal (or Southern) Cuckoo bee to be precise. It looked different to a standard White-tailed bumblebee so I had a closer look. It cuckoos White-tailed bumblebee nests so it looks similar to one of those, but it has darkened wings, a yellow collar on the thorax, a white tail of course but with a yellow patch on each side of the abdomen at the front of the tail. You can't see the yellow patches on this pic unfortunately.

Vestal/Southern Cuckoo Bee (Bombus vestalis)

 The local Marsh Harriers have at least 2 young ones flying about and I watched as an adult male came in and dropped some food into the reed bed. One of the juveniles flew down and didn't appear again for a while so a good guess is that it was eating whatever had been delivered.

Juvenile Marsh Harrier

Adult male and juvenile

Adult male and juvenile Marsh Harriers

Finally, although most of the warblers have shut up singing after their breeding attempts, some are still singing - this Blackcap for one. A few Chiff Chaffs, Sedge Warblers and Reed Warblers are heard each morning, but Whitethroats, Lesser Whitethroats and Willow Warblers are taking a time out.

Singing Blackcap

 

The original verse from the Walrus And The Carpenter by Lewis Carroll:

The time has come,' the Walrus said,

      To talk of many things:

Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax —

      Of cabbages — and kings —

And why the sea is boiling hot —

      And whether pigs have wings.'