Saturday 18 June 2016

Phoenix - Wishbone Ash

Amid the 'Purple Haze' that is Rock 'n' Roll (either on stage or in the Mosh Pit) it is not remembered exactly when Wishbone Ash came up with the ridiculous nonsense of announcing that they would NEVER play what was probably their most seminal track ever, 'PHOENIX', in public again! Surely not long after the release of their first and eponymously titled album (1973), and in part a product of a chance meeting with Richie Blackmore and Deep Purple (when the then unknown Andy Powell dared to 'jam' uninvited with the legend and got away with it), was received to great acclaim and more particularly the Opus Magnum which is the final track
 Just 2 years later they were the Head-Line act on the final day of the
READING 1975 
 We had already eaten the 'road-kill' Pheasant we found during the journey up from Weymouth, and all else that was on our menu, which will not be disclosed here. A fantastically accomplished 'set' was nearing its end and it was well documented that huge fines would be levied against any band which continued playing after The Midnight Hour. At about 23:45 Steve Upton rose from his drum stool, raised his arms as if in a V saluted to the audience, a drumstick in each hand then without taking his seat launched into the signature 'drum-roll' which heralds Phoenix - BONKERS?? it was much better than that!! The album track is timed at 10 minutes 27 seconds, but the story goes that the fine was paid without quibble??
Now there's a coincidence, we get to the Moth Traps and what do we find
 PHOENIX
flies, raise your head to the sky!
Next to it was yet another identifiable Micro
EUROPEAN CORN BORER
Even before that first Trap was completed we had also recorded
our first June
 MEDITERRANEAN GULL
an 'overflying' individual, hence these images have been lifted from the archive.
At Parley Pond the adult
MOORHEN
were busily tending their overnight arrivals
Moorhen Chicks
The COOT at the Irrigation Pond are still incubating their eggs
but at the Gravel Pit along with the same 2 pairs of Tufted Duck,
the Canada Geese with a single Gosling and just a single Little Grebe on the day a
GREEN SANDPIPER
now appears settled in and scratching a living.
A nearby male
BLACKCAP
came to earth for the briefest of
photo-shoots!
From the Trail Cams
what appears to be a juvenile
GREEN WOODPECKER
What have always been considered by myself to be a
Trilogy of Battle Hymns
are a further example of the fine compositions of this band,
which again in my humble opinion should be played in sequence.
The King Will Come
all from the Argus Album
Entry

Pageviews
United States
1930    Just look what happens when you pass the Link on to Family and Friends!
United Kingdom
369
Germany
144
Australia
30
Estonia
25
China
20
Ukraine
18
France
12
Canada
11
New Zealand
9

No Quarter - Page and Plant

A couple of addition to the 
Moth Year List 
 overnight included
 the very delicate and tiny
 ROSY FOOTMAN
BEAUTIFUL HOOK-TIP
at long last
 a discernible image of
 SHOULDER-STRIPED WAINSCOT
 and what would happily be described by us 'mere mortals' as a
 MARBLED MINOR
This however would not suffice for the authorities as the only way
of being certain it is not an example of a closely related Insect
is by 'genital examination', a painstaking exercise well outside of my own sphere.
We often talk of, and report from 'behind' the ECO RECYCLING WORKS which is an integral part of Dampney Ltd and about the most undisturbed section of our whole Recording Area! Here, among many others, Little Ringed Plover, Lapwing, Swallow, House Martin, Sand Martin, Stonechat breed annually, while it is also a stopping off point for migrant birds such as Whimbrel, Cuckoo and Whinchat to name but a few.
 THE MAIN PROCESSING PLANT
 Some of the Heavy Plant, Stock Piles of Hard Core
 plus Sand and Gravel as part of the virtually untouched Rubble Strewn Area.
 The wettest part of this area
 holds water at most, if not all, times of year
 but in the Winter it usually become flooded
 and of great benefit to visiting Wildfowl such as
Greylag, Canada and Egyptian Geese, Teal, Mallard,
Shoveler and even the occasional Mandarin Duck and a few
This is also a 'hot-spot' for both
Common and Jack Snipe.
 Recently a Soil Bund
 has been built around 2 of the sides
 in an effort to damp down the noise from the variety of machinery here.
 UNDER CONSTRUCTION
 a male
STONECHAT
and
 MISTLE THRUSH
 Feeding Their Young
and after yet another Hard Day at the Office it was back to
Slight Return II
to watch the young
STARLINGs
 Feeding and Preening
to the accompaniment of
(Jimmy) PAGE and (Robert) Plant
with the title track of their combined effort
NO QUARTER
Entry

Pageviews
United States
1608
United Kingdom
365
Germany
114
Australia
43
Estonia
27
Ukraine
23
China
21
France
15
Canada
13
Brazil
9