Thursday 27 July 2017

Wonderful Land - The Shadows

Hank Marvin (lead guitar), Bruce Welch (bass), Jet Harris (rhythm) and Tony Meehan (drums)
(formally dubbed The Drifters, after some legal wranglings with the already
well established Drifters of US fame, they changed the name to
The Shadows on a suggestion by Harris)
Still the inclement weather prevails, but we keep the lamps burning overnight!
 CAMPION,
 maybe surprisingly, is latest addition to our Macro Moth List here as by no means a 
'rare' or even 'scarce' Insect. In fact, as a Daytime Flier there are2 bites of the cherry 
as far as capture is concerned but still, up until yesterday, we had not even seen it here.
Additionally, this beautiful example of 'Purple Haze' brings up our 
450th Macro Moth for the Recording Area!
 For no other reason than its glorious 'rosine hue' do we include this example of the common
 RUBY TIGER
 Also added to the tally for the year
 COPPER UNDERWING
 along with c2 variations of
SALTERN EAR
As we "don't do Micros maybe we could be forgiven for thinking this was a
 'baby'
Merveille du Jour
 but even we are not that stup - oh OK we are!
 ACLERIS LITERANA
 which is one of the few that we had hoped to see one day.
No we still ain't finished with that pesky Medic, so standby.
Our 3 weeks in India covered a wide range of interesting places 
but the most memorable occasion wasn't necessarily the
Taj Mahal, 
(Lady Diana just insisted that we took her along as her last visit had been something of a Damp Charles)
 Combining this adventure with yesterday's findings and being able to see more
clearly across the Irrigation Pond since we got our 
'little man' in to cut the vegetation the determined
COOTs
(little red-heads peeking)
now have young again which is their 3rd crack at it this year - here' hoping?
We are thinking it might be the 'breeding season' as also there,
and not to be confused with the pair at the Gravel Pit, the
 LITTLE GREBEs
(viewed from the opposite side of the pond)
 were noticed to have at least a
 Single Egg.
Additionally, and what was thought to be the same
 LITTLE EGRET
of a few days ago was back
 and feeding veraciously on tiny indiscernible creatures.
Note the leg/foot vibrations to disturb the prey from the sea-bed.
Nor was it the
 TEMPLE of the WIND
(which is only a facade)
or the
LARGEST Silver Object in the World.
Passing one of the
Solar Panel Compounds
another sight not recorded here before, a female
PHEASANT
 perched atop the panels.
No reason why they shouldn't, there are plenty about, but just thought a little novel.
NO! Nor was it the most hazardous and potentially dangerous
Road Journey
either of us had ever undertaken to the
 GOLDEN TEMPLE
at
AMRITSAR
where, not unusually, we would go our own ways not to get in the way of each others dreams.
I'll tell them all the real reason another day Jim, is that 'dummy' still clean?
We will return to this in a mo,
and neither was it the Wildlife.
INDIAN MUGGER
On the Heath and after only the 6th
SMOOTH SNAKE
of the year, there was to be the 'find of the month' in the form of a juvenile
 WOODLARK
 Not only the first ever to be recorded here during the month of July
but potentially a 'home grown' bird, a fact that will never be quantified,
 something we would like to believe as true in-as-much
that there wasn't an indication at all last year.
So, slowly we are getting to the point but not before a brief description
of what was personally one of the
Top Ten
experiences of my life.
The most holy site of the Sikh nation, while I have no God my respect is
high for the thoughts and beliefs of those who do! The proviso being they surrender
that respect should they damage, hurt or kill anyone or anything in the name of their belief!
Having already entered via the Golden Arch (above) the queue was found to be longer than that on
Free Beer Night
at the local hostelry.
Patiently waiting, a swami (Gandhi look-alike) approached me to ask where was my homeland,
and hearing England he unscrewed the brass barrier rails and ushered me to the front of the queue.
Having been introduced to the
Three Wise Men
he instructed his son to take me on the grand tour, with the highlight being the
Central Alter
not for the fact of its magnificence, but because the monetary donations were being
thrown into the quadrangle at such a rate that 2 men were fully employed to sweep it up
and then shovel it into the vault below.
Another amazing fact, taking my seat cross-legged on the longest (rattan) mat ever seen, was that here in the Great Hall (Langar kitchen) they feed up to 100,000 people each day for free. 
OK, only dahl (lentil stew), roti (Indian bread) and water but none the less a 'hot' meal! 
Everyone, regardless of faith and background is allowed in the dining hall and must sit together. 
Before entering shoes have be removed, and a head covering worn. 
Everyone must sit on the floor as equals, so all people are on the same level and 
nobody is ‘above’ anyone else, that is until it's time to do the


Washing Up!
Most of the work is undertaken by volunteers but the rich, powerful and well to do
are given the opportunity to humble themselves by helping to dhobie the utensils.
Having been invited to do this, it was on with the Marigolds, and considered a subliminal message!
So awe-inspiring it makes you want to join up!
Very popular with the worshippers too, most of whom had travelled hundred,
if not thousands of miles to be on this pilgrimage (a number of English Sikhs were met).
One thing that can be said, hand-on-heart is that every name was cast to memory
when first meeting and still remembered today!
Now, if you are still compis mentis and awake, we have at long last
arrived at the most magical hour of the whole trip.
Having met a couple of English ladies living the same dream, while talking
we spotted 2 ragamuffin sisters each with a gigantic bag and skirmishing discarded plastic.
As if in a single mind the quartet decided to befriend the children, take them to the
local market and allow them to choose a 'brand new' set of clothes and shoes.
THE TEARS ARE WELLING!
Discretely placing them behind a canvas screen, the ladies bathed the girls and readied them for their
CINDERELLA APPEARANCE
(if that don't get ya, nothing will)
LORD JIM
From there we journeyed further north and west into the
Himalayan Foothills.
The first stop was Shimla, which is also correctly known as Simlar, and once the
Summer Quarters of British Government Officials and Armed Forces.


It is true to say that in the days of the Raj, of the world’s population was governed from this tiny village.
A fabulous afternoon was spent within the then abandoned
GAIETY THEATRE
(crumbling under the weight of invasive Fungi)
which it is believed since has (rightly) been refurbished.
Via  no more than a toe into the water which is
Kashmir - Page and Plant et al (Link)
this for me was mandatory if only for my love of the
Led Zeppelin 
track of the same name.
IF YOU HAVE NOT BEEN TO 'INDIA', NO MATTER HOW WELL TRAVELLED
YOU MAY BE, YOU WILL NEVER HAVE COME ACROSS ANYTHING
QUITE LIKE THIS WONDERFUL LAND!
PS - All Sikh's regardless of sex bear the name Singh!
I'M BORED
I'm the CHAIRMAN of the Board!
(Iggy Pop)