Panama Canal Sequel (Part I)

 It was a full 9 years before the urge to transit the Panama Canal caught hold again in earnest, but the need to find a Ship to fulfil our dreams was still paramount. During that period we had also paid a visit to the most magical place ever visited on Planet Earth, which will be impossible to better, ANTARCTICA! 

so what better company to visit firstly than as above.

   Miracle of Miracles, they were undertaking a trans-Atlantic / Caribbean / Panama Canal voyage, to include 21 different countries, in the none to distant future as part of rounding Cape Horn before returning by the reciprical route aboard even the same bijou, well appointed and comfortable vessel

M/V DISCOVERY

A little taste of the Sights and Sounds leaving

PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR

meeting the
CHIEF PURSER
almost the same vintage as myself as a Boy Seaman in 1961 and remembering the adage "it is the Captain that Commands the ship but it's the Purser who Runs it" it was doubtful we would be wanting for much!

crossing the

BAY of BISCAY
and encountering the

Q.E.II

"Oh no, not Cakes again"

and even more ex-Royal Navy ratings the
Dance Instructors.
Of the many thousands of Seabirds and the occassinal wayward Land Bird recorded en-route the amazingly marked and streamlined

RED-BILLED TROPICBIRD
was expected and also valued but outshone by the
'Bird of the Whole Trip'

HERALD PETREL

which we didn't even have a clue about and with these images being sent to our far more learned friends Paul Harris, Dave Foot and Martin Cade back in dear old Blighty.

It took quite sometime to get a unanimous verdict, mainly as this bird had reputedly never been recorded in the Northern Hemisphre - what a capture!!

Transiting the
GUTAN LAKE

and entering the same named Locks under the cover of darkness was not ideal

but the shore-side illumination allowed for images

DONKEY
and anyway

it was soon daybreak.
It had been agreed with the shipping company that if there were to be any
Port of Entry Tariffs or other Payments they would be covered by

myself personally

WESTERN WHITE-TAILED TROGON
the first bird an addition to the
World List

but on disembarking at the Pier Head

RED-LEGGED HONEYCREEPER

not surprisingly it was found that the Harbour Master was a Merchant Seaman of the same rank and over a coffee and tot of rum he must have 'forgotten' all about the levy?
TO BE CONTINUED.

On the Road Again - Canned Heat (Part 2)

 Happy with our lot, given the conditions, we headed further east and took the sharp left into

STONY CROSS

OCKNELL

and straight into the arms of

some of the locals

NEW FOREST PONIES

which qualify as Wild Mammals in thier own right.

The long and winding road that leads to the

ROYAL OAK

and the expected attendant
Inky Pinky Ponkies
before arrival at

There we met a 'couple' who had seen nothing more than Mallards, a few small birds but as regulars there were surprised to have seen their first ever

GADWALL
there which was also the case in my own instance - unless forgotten?
They had only just got around the bend and out of sight at the exit to the pond when out of the margins swam c7

MANDARIN DUCKs
that were never cooperative enough to be captured on a single still, and think it may be best to interspurse the Building (all considered well in excess of the £1,000,000 mark) with the Birds.

THE GREEN DRAGON
Public House
What we lost on the group shot we surely made up for in

close-up (male foreground)

all taken on the day, but most surprisingly only a single

MARSH TIT

Private Dwelling

males

certainly leaving the females

Out of the Picture

with only c2

COAL TIT

The Final Dwelling
and a single

NUTHATCH

On the Road Again - Canned Heat (Part One)

 It took a full 3 attempts to finally get to grips with a much needed Away Day which, by the time we had got just half way around our own Patch the foul weather had driven us back home. Day 2 was dogged by taking the wrong exit at the major roadworks west of Ringwood sending us into the heart of Dorset and again foresaking the quest, while it was Third Time Lucky the next day and while still early it was thought best to give the

FERRUGINOUS DUCK
(not to be confussed with this stunning image of a male bird just to illustrate the point) at Kingfisher Lake, Hurst Road, Ringwood the first go! This individual must have been returning to its favoured Winter Retreat, from mainland Europe for over a decade now which seems not to have been to the likeing of the owners. In latter years a 'canvas-like' screen has been errected, which is quite within their rights, not allowing for any views at all until the vandals cut sighting ports in to it allowing for just brief and by no means addiquate sightings - but at least we saw it! Just a little further down the road

comes into view with the biggest surprise, given there were no restrictions, not seeing a single soul during the whole of our visit - unheard of!

The empty but open hide did add a degree of difficulty as having to find and pick out the birds one's self 

with the c2

GREEN SANDPIPER
presenting no trouble at all as with a

GREY HERON
marching past the window at little distance at all, which were the only close quarters birds this side of the reserve. Reaching for the archive images again we did claim

across the wide expance a number of

PINTAIL
(male right and)

(female)

and a short 'clip' across the gathering gloom,

and just maybe

RED-CRESTED POCHARD

and also likely the
YELLOW-LEGGED GULL
(archive image and where's Dave when you need him?)
Back across the road, where all the other hides were found to be locked,

some of the more common fare here

but scarcities in our own backyard

LESSER REDPOLL

along with

far more numerous

SISKIN