Bloomin' sunflowers (Helianthus sp L.)

(Vogel's sunflower head schemata courtesy Wikipedia)

This small crop of sunflower plants were self-seeding from the bird feeders. I am hoping they will entice the hitherto "flyover" goldfinches (Carduelis carduelis) and greenfinches (Carduelis chloris) into the garden, along with the usual suspects.

Making deer fencing for Karl's moth trap

Karl is undertaking a two year moth survey in Dorset, with respect to his dissertation, recreating an original study which took place 40 years ago. The moth trap and its location are identical to those which were used in the former study. The study hopes to identify any changes in species and occurrence of moths on site.

The trap required a 250m trench to be dug for the power cable to be seated in. At the end of the day the light is set off automatically. The trap is emptied once a day by volunteers, then Karl collects and identifies the species once a week.

The fencing needed erecting to deter the local population of sika deer (Cervus nippon) from using the moth trap as a scratching post.  The fourth side and gate hanging remained outstanding on the day.