Tuesday 13 June 2017

A Matter of Life and Death - Iron Maiden

Without a SHADOW of a doubt the best track on this fine album.

Hold a halo round the world, golden is the day.
Princes of the Universe, your burden is the way.
So there is no better time, who will be born today.
A gypsy child at the day break, a King for a day
Out of the Shadow and into the sun,
dreams of the past as the old ways are done.
Oh there is beauty and surely there is pain,
but we must endure it to live again

The sudden surge on the Stat Counter came to an
almost immediate end as figures once again plummeted from
the high 700's to the very low 100's, what you might call
A Flash in the Pan! Survival is in Your Hands!
Given the changeable and sometimes ferocious weather it's a 
wonder there is an Insect to be seen at all, let alone the tiny ones, 
but still they come in small numbers.
From the Moth Traps x2 Firsts for the Year came in varying sizes.
 LIME HAWK-MOTH
and
SMALL DUSTY WAVE
Continuing our rounds it was a case of
Tales of the Unexpected
as we firstly found this 
 GREY HERON
walking down the middle of the main road, but to be fair it did flush
to the grassy shoulder as we passed by.
 However, even less expected was a
WOODLARK
at the entrance to the Irrigation Pond
which is the first ever to be found 'perched/settled' on 
Parley Court Farm.
A couple of years ago c5 juvenile birds were found on the Heath
and did invade PCF airspace but this was certainly a notable find.
Also there, we found the 'sitting'
COOT
not in fact 'sitting' at all, in fact not to be seen at all or for that matter the other adult!
A dangerous game given the number of Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls
that pass this way, but an opportunity to identify what was in the nest.
It was the (both) Birds that caused the camera shudder, certainly not me,
 so said Pinocchio!
but the female soon took to her rightful place.
At the Gravel Pit the news was both
Very Good and Extremely Bad
in equal proportions as at first glance the air space, just above water level, was alive with
SAND MARTIN
which have been here in their 10's in recent days thought to be
'fly-catching' for the unknown number of broods now occupying
the colony inside the Eco Recycling Works.
On the day it was considered to be more likely 100+,
consisting of both adult and juvenile birds, but unfortunately 
a 'palm-held' video camera cannot present the full extent of this.
Also on the up the
CANADA GOOSE
family were all accounted for and watched feeding veraciously on the far bank.
No, the Bad News was still to come as after a full hour of observing,
in the same way as the day before, it is probably safe to say that the offspring of this
LAPWING
and shown on the previous Post.
Now just a single adult this individual just paced the waterside
giving out a continuous series of plaintive calls.
Will they try again, the Coots did?
Turning to leave, on the adjacent Solar Panel we found
Strange Bedfellows indeed, a
COMMON BUZZARD at close quarters with a MAGPIE
and one of a good number of most colourful male
LINNET
Despite the continuing wind and rain, first to be noticed on the Heath were both
 BANDED DEMOISELLE
(male uppermost)
 
 plus male (above) and female
 BEAUTIFUL DEMOISELLE
 as ever
MEADOW PIPIT
this one seemingly still
In the Mood for Love?
Before turning the first of the Reptile Covers this
COMMON GREEN GRASSHOPPER
 was found taking what little sun there was, while beneath just
 c2

 SMOOTH SNAKE
A seemingly  lone 
 GREENFINCH
was doubtless preparing for a 'second brood'
 while good numbers of juvenile
 STONECHAT
are still there to be seen.
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