A perfectly useless afternoon

"If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live."
Lin Yutang (1895 - 1976)

Well, I certainly succeeded in that. I spent the afternoon on Epsom and Walton Downs, an afternoon that was blessed with sunshine, warmth and the lightest of breezes. My main aim was to hunt down the bird migrants that were bound to be present, but as the afternoon wore on it was more than apparent that they were either (a) very good at hiding or (b) not present at all. I could suggest a further reason, that of (c) observer incompetence.

All was not lost however, as I finally stumbled across the Ivy Bee (Colletes hederae) and a small patch of Haresfoot Clover (left).  Butterflies were on the wing, the best of the bunch being an immaculate Red Admiral along with several Brown Argus.

The afternoon was slipping by, but in my new found sate of 'being in the now' was able to enjoy the experience of being out in the benign elements, wandering across downland and not having too much to concern those parts of my mind that like nothing better than having something to worry about. And then, as I crossed a horse paddock and started scanning the fence line, a smart Whinchat popped into view. Only a Whinchat maybe, but I felt as if I was being rewarded for my perseverance. All thoughts of Wrynecks and Shrikes were relegated and I spent a happy ten minutes watching this particular chat dancing around the equine habitat.

Back on the open downs I lay down on the grass, used my rucksack as a pillow and closed my eyes, feeling the warm breeze and listening to the twittering of a high Swallow. Who needs Wrynecks? Altogether now, "Ohhhmmmmm..."

Comments

Stuart Roberts said…
Hi Steve
As part of my work as Chairman of BWARS, I am gathering together all the records of Colletes hederae in UK. This is a long term surveillance effort and we would be really grateful if you could submit your record[s] to us at http://www.bwars.com/index.php?q=content/submit-sighting-colletes-hederae-ivy-bee

Many thanks, Stuart
Chairman, BWARS
1 October 2014 at 21:24
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Goldfinches and Lavender

Image
We have three medium-sized Lavender bushes in our back garden. Throughout the summer the flowers (which last for several months) are a magnet for insects and give off a most restful aroma. As tempting as it is to cut the dead stems in the autumn, we always leave them, as we know that during the late winter we will get visitors to feed on the seed heads... This video was taken from the kitchen window this morning. We will normally see one or two birds over a few days, but have had up to 14 at once. We never tire of watching them. Lavender is a wonderful plant to have in the garden, with year round natural history benefits. So what are you waiting for? They are readily available at a garden centre close to you right now! There is an historic association with Lavender in this part of northern Surrey and south London. Lavender fields have been harvested for many years, with one particular field close to Woodmansterne being very popular with day trippers. A significant proportion o
Read more

To tell it like it is, or not...

Image
I am grateful to Gavin Haig (Not Quite Scilly) who drew my attention to an opinion piece, penned by Matt Phelps, which appeared in the November issue of 'Birdwatch' magazine, entitled 'Positive Approach', which I have now read. In it, he suggests that there is too much negativity being posted on social media regarding the state of our birding world, which is then acting as a deterrent towards a younger generation in adopting conservation and wildlife study. He also suggests that a lot of this negativity is being generated by older birders, and that these old timers keep banging on about the 'good old days' which isn't helpful in encouraging the youth to pick up a pair of binoculars and get out into the field. Does he have a point? Now, I am undeniably an older birder, and I am also guilty of having posted, blogged, written and spoken about the slump in bird and invertebrate numbers. I also like nothing better than to revisit my notebooks and share in the hi
Read more

Time to reflect

I normally come up with the title for a post after I have written it. If I'm feeling creative it will be some sort of play on words, or if I'm not then an all-encompassing word or two will do. As for this particular post, and with a few things to discuss, I've written the title first, inspired by having just read a feature about musicians who have used the title of an album as the starting point for their creative exercise. Here goes... Firstly, blogs - yes, this very medium that I am writing in and you are reading from. - what content they derive, the reason that the content exists and what the writer should (or should not) expect from any reader that visits the blog. This was brought into sharp focus by a series of posts to be found here, at Jono Lethbridge's excellent 'Wansted Birder'.   His blogging output has recently included detailed and entertaining reports on his recent overseas trips which have received a bit of flak from certain quarters. None of us b
Read more