Tuesday 27 December 2016

Indian Giver - 1910 Fruitgum Company

A beautiful sunny morning heralded Boxing Day with a dawn air temperature still showing +7°C, but as if just to take the gilt from the gingerbread there was a piercing cold draught from the north west. However, the latter was the only downside to the day as, unlike recent days/weeks, there were at least some Birds showing themselves starting with this

GREY HERON
 which was hunting the margins of
Parley Pond-side up unto the moment we pressed the shutter for the first time!
That was the moment it decided to take to the wing but very much
looked the part being spotlighted by the Sun.
 Up on the Common there was a small flock of about 50
 REDWING
which were reluctant to pose, but with a little patience..........
Just around the bend at the Irrigation Pond there were c5 Teal
flying around but seemingly undecided whether to risk landing or not.
It was left to the regular c2 Mute Swans to make up the numbers there.
A little more prospect after taking the 'distant veiw' across the
Gravel Pit
where it was seen that the female

SHOVELLER
had returned after a few days absence, but there is thought
to have been no such desertion by the
LITTLE GREBE
only its way of life preventing it from being seen on a daily basis.
Despite being considered 'common fare' the
MALLARDs
also looked resplendent in the sunshine, while one of an unknown number of
GREEN SANDPIPER
hereabouts decided to oblige with a short clip before heading off to the Heath.
Met at the gate by Hugh and Janet,
taking their Boxing Day stroll and having just flushed a Tawny Owl
(to be investigated at a later date}, there was also a party of c7
MEADOW PIPIT
 buzzing around and occasionally perching, along with a
COMMON BUZZARD
just altering position in one of the nearby Oak Trees.
Then suddenly from the Gorse popped, what has become something of an enigma here, a
 DARTFORD WARBLER
 distant and brief but no less value for all that.
 With no breeding records from here this year it was encouraging
to see one again but then, like the proverbial bus, there was another
and a third and while difficult to be sure there could have been as many as 5?
There was then just a brief appearance of a
CORMORANT
 transiting the Heath before the first of what was to be a count of 8
 STONECHAT
 firstly a
male
followed by a
female
and then a 'singing' 
 CHIFFCHAFF
 making striking contrast with the ripe
ROSE HIPS.
What is presumed to be the nest of a
 COMMON BUZZARD
followed by a
KESTREL
considered to be out on a 'wing and a preyer'!

Back to the Strange Rover and driving towards home yet another
DARTFORD WARBLER
very nearly landed on the bonnet, certainly close enough but the
images had to be taken through the windscreen.
Passing one of the
Solar Panel Compounds
there was a 9th
STONECHAT
and to end we hark back to the Dampney Trust Party of last Friday night,
where for the second year running I found myself in the charming company of
the lovely Maria. A gentle lady of German extraction, knowledgeable
and the very best of conversationalists who commented on my T-shirt.
 Bought from the Shoshone Lady owner of an ethnic shop in Knoxville, Tennessee,
while travelling with my youngest daughter Lisa from east to west coasts in 1995,
it is the best and most poignant item of clothing ever owned. An excellent conversation piece,
as was found to be the case on the night in question, with Maria summoning he partner,
and my mutual friend, John informing him that she had found the Present she would like!
Thought highly unlikely that another would/could be found it
was considered best to just slip it off and give it to here!
 The expression Indian Giver was a hugely derogatory remark
against the Native North American People, which means to give a gift
in the expectation of getting it, or something more valuable, back!
In the case of the 'headline' it referrers to a hit single by
US Bubblegum Rock Band the 1918 Fruitgum Co
which reached No 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA in 1969.
 Within this page it is used as a 'pun' and a 'double entendre' 
simply to highlight the 'Gift of Giving'!
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