Sad But True - Metallica

Sadly I have been unable to rectify the matter of enlarging photographs for you viewing, and as a consequence seem to have cocked-up the whole pattern of things. Advice has been received from a number of you but even following precisely some of them only seems to end up in a deeper mire! For now I will work on it in the hope of getting things right and simply blame Google for a poor set-up! 
If there was a thought of coming back to Parley for a rest then it was soon forgotten, as during my absence the annual shoot had taken place and there was much preparation to be done for the oven.

PHEASANT, WOOD PIGEON and singles of WOODCOCK and

MALLARD that will be reward for getting all the other birds ready!

Another 'string' of Hen PHEASANTS

For us at least 'down south' the milder weather continues as does the setting of Moth Traps on a nightly basis. Not enough to have been reported of late, in fact not a single Insect the night before last, but still time to capture the 3 species required to reach the 200 mark before the season ends.

FEATHERED THORN

BRICK

and maybe one of the DANCE FLIES??

Now, no one said that 'birding' would be easy and during my numerous years 'in the business' there have been a few stumbling blocks. Usually of the 'natural' kind and mostly overcomeable (if indeed that's a word) but today's was man made and if the story is to be believed then of the SADDEST kind. My informant has been updating me on a Ferruginous Duck, an uncommon visitor from mainland Europe, that has been seen from time to time on a section of the Blashford Lakes system which I was not familiar with previously. Kingfisher Lake is found via a footpath at the end of Hurst Road, just north of Ringwood, on the A338.

Walking the first part of the footpath this is what met the eye, a 7 foot high 'chain link' fence behind which someone had erected a close wove net screen.

This continued for some distance all but blocking any sensible view of the lake at all, but things were set to get even worse.

The path was narrow and strewn with slippery root stock,
barely enough space to erect a tripod,

and once the netting was passed dense vegetation then took over.

Add to that a POT FISHERMAN

actively hauling his traps, there seemed little chance of seeing what
had been described as an 'elusive' Duck!

This area of waterways is vast but I don't even remember seeing an angler here let alone the unusual sight of a 'potter'. Nevertheless the bird was seen distantly and given the obstacles seemingly impossible to photograph.

FERRUGINOUS DUCK (archive photo).

That is when I met the lovely 

 

Keith and his wife Mo, newish to the hobby but dedicating their year to a Nationwide Twitch. The tales of their adventure thus far were exciting, to say the least, with 315 species already in the log, 50 of which were 'lifers' for Mo. It was they who told me of the owner of the lakeside property which is let, mainly to 'birders' and the green sheeting had been erected to discourage other than tenants of the property?

Otherwise, this was a small area of outstanding natural beauty

only a few hundred yards from the arterial road.

The Duck 'in the bag' so to speak and being so close by it was off to

in search of other Wildfowl.
If indeed you are in search of Goosander then what better place to
start than

More familiar territory to me, it is commonplace to stop at these
BOGGY POOLS
not knowing what you are likely to find.

Most wild flowers look a little out of place at this time of year, so once again it was down to my friend and mentor John Gifford to ID those above - he writes "This is STINKING MAYWEED, the other two Mayweeds species are summer flowering, 'Stinking' flowers twice a year even though it's an annual, firstly May/June and then  Sept thru Nov".

Entering the hide, the water was covered with birds,

and as I made myself comfortable an estimated 200 GREYLAG GEESE flew in. Exciting telescoping through the 'thousands' of birds just hoping for the less than usual best of which were several

 GOLDENEYE (male)

 GOLDENEYE (female)

 and one of c8 male PINTAIL (left) with male POCHARD (lots)
BEST that was until at the 'last knockings' these 3

male GOOSANDER
 
appeared from behind a shingle spit

with final totals amounting to

c8 GOOSANDER (male)

c3 GOOSANDER (female)

Covering other parts of the reserve

male and female GADWALL,

male TUFTED DUCK,

male (vocal) WIGEON,

and feeding

LITTLE GREBE seen with small fish?

There was an extremely short sighting of the
RED-CRESTED POCHARD
which has been here for a good while now, but no chance of a
photograph hence this illustration shot from the archive.
From the woodland/reed-bed areas reports told of
Bittern "showing well" but not for me, but close views of

GREENFINCH

COAL TIT

and WATER RAIL made up, in part, for that.

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Ride A White Swan - T Rex

 Wear a tall hat like a druid in the old days
Wear a tall hat and a tattooed gown
Ride a white swan like the people of the 'Beltane'
Wear your hair long, babe you can't go wrong

With suggestions from the readership, I have tried again to allow you to increase the size of published photographs without success. This involved changing the 'template' which, if I had half an ounce of sense, could have remained the same but oh no I had to press the 'default' button and bingo that's the end of the set-up we have all become used to. Well, ever onward and one thing that hasn't changed much is the weather in recent days. It still remains chilly with what wind there is clinging to the Northern quarter so pleasant enough if you keep on the move. My last day staying at Portland, but with prospects of something new a little further away I headed for

Just on the western edge of Langton Herring village, on the Rodden road, there is a steep hill ending in a sharp right hand bend as you reach more level ground which is where a bright yellow bird was spotted drinking or bathing in a roadside puddle. A

SERIN

was a most welcome sight, but not an addition to the Month List.
Flushed from the ground it flew into nearby trees, but despite an
extensive search was not seen again.

In the far distance
SAINT CATHERINE'S CHAPEL,
to the west of Abbotsbury Village, hove into view

but my next stop was before that at the top of the hill overlooking
ABBOTSBURY SWANNERY 
where it was noted extensive 'works' are taking place. The Swannery
has been here since the days of King Canute (1016–1035) so
maybe it is about due a bit of refurbishment?

Some of the Mute Swans can be seen in the top picture while smaller waterfowl, mostly Pochard and Tufted Duck seemed to favour the sea area further from shore. Among these were reported to be a number of Greater Scaup (another 'diving' Duck) which I was unable to sort out from the rest. Nor could today's target birds be seen from where I stood so it was a move down into the valley.

Once at the farm gate overlooking the water meadows a number

of Geese could be seen which were the c12

BARNACLE GEESE

I had come to see. The bottom two images are from the archive for illustration purposes, unfortunately access didn't allow for closer approach. Abbotsbury has to be one of the counties most beautiful and visited villages which always entices me to tarry awhile.

The TITHE BARN

COTTAGES with the ruin of the ABBEY on the left,
was a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint Peter.

Views along the main thoroughfare

and the road leading to the west.

The Sun (once again no complaints) didn't exactly enhance this shot which, with a little imagination, shows the vista from the top of the hill to the west of the village across West Bay, The Fleet and all the way to The Isle of Portland - we will endeavour to do better next time!

 BELTANE FIRE FESTIVAL

Come, come, come to the Sabbat - Black Widow

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Throw Down the Sword - Wishbone Ash

 Throw down the sword, the fight is done and over,
Neither lost, neither won.
To cast away the fury of the battle and turn my weary eyes for home.
There were times when I stood at death's own door,
Only hoping for an answer.
Throw down the sword, and leave the glory,

a story time can never change.
To walk the road, the load I have to carry
  a journey's end, a wounded soul.

Personally it would not bother me one jot if the whole of sport was 'closed down', and even though I love and enjoy the spectacle from time to time, of such events as Wembley and Twickenham, there is this underlying feeling that like our politicians, clergy, bankers, top entertainers etc that some kind of corruption exists. That was highlighted to MILLIONS all over the world last night when Mighty Warrior

GEORGE GROVES

was mercilessly 'bush-wacked' by so called referee Howard Forster at the Manchester Arena. Forster not only robbed Groves of his chance to continue what was already an overwhelming performance against Carl Froch but also robbed the world wide audience of their 'entrance fee' (pay to view), betrayed his own sport, sullied the reputation of the fine city of Manchester and brought ENGLAND into disrupt. and for what? 

30 Pieces of Silver?

Throw Down the Sword (Live Dates)

The sun continued to shine and I continued my few days stay on Portland again starting the day at Portland Bird Observatory.

The HIGHER LIGHT
Portland Bill

CARRION CROW

STOCK DOVE

and despite the wind still being in the northern quarter and fresh,

one of the

LITTLE OWLs
was putting in an appearance, unusual under these conditions.

STARLING
sparkling in the bright sunshine.

Another occasional visitor to the Island this

LAPWING
was on the Bill Common.

Quite a few Auks about today but mostly too distant to determine
identification. This one, in flight, was most definitely a
COMMON GUILLEMOT

Another distant record was a LITTLE EGRET

which is enhanced with this photo from the archive.

GANNETs have also been numerous during my stay

but today at least only a single
MEDITERRANEAN GULL
in this area.

THE MOON
Waning Gibbous about 70%

ROCK PIPIT

GOLDFINCH

WALL SNAIL (or Snail on a wall)

SEA CAVE

Sunflash at the Boat Hoist.

Here's one for you Deborah (Tessier that is)

BETSY, the PBO cat, was asking after you.

A quick and short visit to Ferry Bridge at Low Water produced

just a few

MEDITERRANEAN GULLs

 As VENUS was RISING (just left and above centre)

the sun was setting behind a distant SOUTHWELL VILLAGE

 I was on my way to BOWIE (right) and SHEILA EDWARDS

for a Curry with more than a few Drinks and the added bonus of 

sharing all of this with former Shipmate and Great Friend

DAVID (The Post Sausage) FRAMPTON

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