Wednesday 1 March 2017

Harbour Lights - Francis Langford (Part I)

Having survived the meteorological Winter,
without too many scars, today we welcome the
MET SPRING!
Harbour Lights (Link) 
 Written by Hugh Williams (aka Will Grosz) with lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy
it was firstly recorded in 1937 (The Golden Age of Radio)
by Francis Langford
With a wealth of Bird Life in and around the vast expanse of
Poole Harbour
(the second largest natural harbour in the World, after Sydney, Australia)
since the beginning of the year, it had been something far more than an oversight
that we hadn't paid our Annual Homage by now.
After the Snowdrops came the

CROCUS
and we were on our way.
HOLES BAY
This day was to be spent concentrating on the more northern shore
where immediately huge numbers of Waterfowl and Waders were in evidence.
First to hit the Year List was that 'beauty of a duck' the
PINTAIL
followed by 2 Species as yet not recorded in our home County
BLACK-TAILED GODWIT and CURLEW
CURLEW
CURLEW
For no other reason that it was at 'point blank' range this
CORMORANT
fell to the lens
 followed by short video clips
and a couple of stills
of much closer
BLACK-TAILED GODWIT
which is where the rest of our morning would be focused, and
 next came not the 'scarcest' of birds
 but certainly the most delightful
as a group of some 200+
AVOCET
fed, preened and slept in the shallows.
Another First for the Year.
That was by no means the end of it, as there is more to come,
but with the Old Enemy (time) pressing the rest must be held over
until our next Post.
This months 'header image', one of what are colloquially known as Darwin Finches,
 has not been selected for it photographic quality, but more for their bizarre 
activities (one of few birds to use a 'tool') and singular distribution in the world.
Further Reading Link
Annual Bird Totals at the end of February stood at
Great Britain = 154        Dorset = 145        Recording Area = 84 
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United States
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343
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180
Germany
58
France
25
Ukraine
22
Estonia
14
China
13
Canada
10
South Korea
9