It's Been A Long Time Coming - Beverley Knight

In line with just about every other human being on the planet, my thoughts today are very much with the people of Japan and more particularly the residents of Sendai on Honshu Island. Every day of April 2007 was spent travelling the full length of this mystical country, and despite the scenes of devastation on our TV sets I'm sure some places were familiar to me. Stopping off for a couple of days, literally placing my life in the hands of a complete stranger, the memory lingers long with me.

One simple rule on my travels is, never turn down the opportunity of trying bizarre or weird foods and Fugu, the deadly Japanese fish, was a not to be missed moment.

I sometimes think that if Chef had been a beneficiary to my will, he may not have done such a good job,

but I survived the platter. Note:- in the 'vintage year' of 1958 there were 176 reported deaths from this delicacy in Japan.

This was the view from my hotel the following day - Heaven!

It was an early start to get an early bus this morning, as the text announcing the arrival of a Hoopoe at Portland Bill coincided with my lunch date of yesterday. The short walk from home threw up

c32 Carrion Crows (this being about half of them) in the trees along the redundant railway line, while in the Harbour

most of the Charter Skippers were engines ready and getting underway. Among them Lone Shark III, under the skillful command of Richard English, who I have enjoyed some fantastic fishing with in Sharks I & II but am yet to sample III. "Tight Lines" Richie!

I rarely phone the Observatory for information, but today the 'twitch' overtook me and was pleased to hear Martin confirm that the bird was still present. On the way HMS Ocean was still cruising around off the Bill and in far clearer conditions took the opportunity to bring you a better picture.

The only other maritime movement was the small freighter Arklow Raider "Butting through the Channel in the mad March days" - John Masefield's poem 'Cargoes'. Then suddenly, there it was flying right across my track, but soon landed on the Common not far away.

The Hoopoe

Front

Back plus

Port and

Starboard. There was no sign, for me at least, of the Black Redstarts today, nor did I see the Firecrest but a single Wheatear had put in an appearance at the Reedy Ditch so I was already well pleased. All of this 'birding' is alright if you have nothing else to do, but there are those who have to complete the building of the Equipment Shed in Helen's Field!

I 'clicked' Mike Munro just as he was about to leave the Obs, complete with a single Barn Owl and several 'small bird' nesting boxes (made out of off-cuts from the main building) which will be the final touches to the construction. It is hoped that Mike's family and friends in New Zealand enjoy reading this in the knowledge that he is happy and healthy (except for the knees after nailing the roof on).

So, what has been 'a long time coming'? Well, shortly after biding Mike farewell, Duncan Walbridge arrived and told me of presence of

Little Owl at the Grove. In all my years of bird watching I had never failed to see this species at least in the first month and mostly the first few days of the year, but it has taken until now to add it to the 2011 GB Year List.

Searching the quarry site on the east of the Island, one bird was seen for a split second but what must have been a second was photographed taking the sun as these Owls often do.

PS - it should be pointed out that the Sam Cooke, Beverley Knight, Tom Jones et al song isn't in fact titled It's Been A Long Time Coming (this being the key refrain of the lyric) but A Change Is Going To Come. I guess in the case of Little Owl either would fit, but know which I prefer.

Calling in to Radipole on the way home in hope of a Sand Martin, none were seen but the abundance of blossom (this being Blackthorn) more than compensated for this.

Just a few Martins have already been seen and this week should see more, but for now I was content to look at this Willow blossom

and this of an unidentified fruit tree (along with Gorse) before heading home.

Paul Harris sent me this image of a maritime (binnacle) table and 2 Captain's bow chairs in the recently refurbished Ship Inn, Weymouth Quay, and to end should just say how nice it was to see Niel Arnold and Christine today - see you again soon I hope!

Puffin & Blowin'

What seemed an unlikely, but no less welcome, addition to the World Readership List today Iraq joined our ranks at number 131. A little known country to myself, I hope one day to discover its secrets of history, fine art, architecture etc at first hand. For now, a huge welcome is extended and the hope that our new visitor will increase the readership further by passing the 'link' on to friends and family!

While Mike Munro and Richard Newton continue their fine work constructing what will be the Portland Bird Observatory farm equipment stowage, I was gathering pace across Top Fields making haste for the Bill in hopes of seeing a Puffin.

One the way, this far more obliging Kestrel than yesterday,

landed right in front of me paying no attention to the clicking of the camera.

Same as yesterday, both Black Redstart were still in the Bill Quarry today accompanied by c3 Wheatear but there birds were reluctant to be photographed. A cursory search for the Purple Sandpipers again came to naught, but

out to seaward the Helicopter Carrier HMS Ocean hove out of the mist, and by my calculation if she maintained course and speed her ETA Wyke Church would have been 08:45.

Fortunately, without my help, she altered course to starboard passing the Observatory at about 2 miles, heading for Portland harbour. It was about that time the Puffin showed up, flying in from the south and landing on the sea followed by a second that continued on to the cliff.

An obliging Raven also flew directly overhead, and landed briefly on the Common,

while at the entrance to the Portland Bird Observatory, this Pheasant perched on the wall, looked every bit like a Sunshine Sentinel. A report did arrive of a part albino Blackbird just a few fields away and later a Hoopoe was seen close to the Lighthouse, I missed both.

As if to make up the disappointment, our good friend Tracy Baker jogged past the bus stop continuing her training for the Iron Man Challenge later in the year. The wave of course has to be shared with Joy.

The highlight of my day was saved for this afternoon when I met up with my

eldest daughter Julie, her partner Nigel and Hannah who we will always consider a family member.

We all enjoyed our meal at Bella Italia, but not as much as the Italians who's rugby team beat France this afternoon.

This was Hannah as a child on one of our trips to London.

Upon A Golden Horse - Page & Plant

I'm composing today's epistle to the strains of No Quarter (in effect Zeppelin 'un-Leded') and Walking Into Clarksdale, and if you ever needed inspiration stick either on the Juke Box. If I had to choose a few tracks, in no particular order, the title track of the former, Since I've been Loving You, Gallows Pole, Blue Train and Heart In Your Hand but above all the sensational Upon A Golden etc! It's doubtful any of our readers don't have these 'milestones' in their CD cabinet, but if you don't they are worth buying if only for the drumming by Michael Lee.

Anyway, it was almost a perfect morning for ogling our feathered friends with an almost completely covered sky, a gentle breeze from just a little west of south west and a mild feel temperature wise. The clouds did part for about an hour mid-morning, causing too much glare, but they soon returned. It was a day of common birds but all vocal, most courting and all worth a second look.

At Radipole this cob Mute Swan was adequately keeping all the other lads at bay, while spoilt for choice as far as a bit of 'tottie' was concerned.

On the other hand, this Coot seemed content feeding on 'guano' despite there being a supply of bread and corn from the humans.

Close to the Westham sluices, she was over there while

he was over here but it wasn't long

before this pair of Little Grebes got

together for a bit of canoodling. At that, all the local Gulls got up making hell of a row, sure sign of a Raptor, but no

it was 2 Grey Herons flying directly overhead. There were also 50+ Common Snipe, c2 Bearded Tit, c4 Black-tailed Godwit, c3 Mediterranean Gull and a few vocal Cetti's Warbler on the reserve.

With a little time to kill before the 'bus pass' kicked in I wandered along the Backwater to find these 2

Great Black-backed Gulls looking rather majestic,

and if this close up of Herring Gull doesn't do it for you then you might as well stay at home!

Reaching the Town Bridge, I noticed that the paint job on the Ship Inn is now complete and have to say I rather like the new motif on the gable end. Spring tide and high water it was considered best to by-pass Ferrybridge and head straight for Southwell, Portland and onward to the Bill.

A single Linnet was on show and in full song as I walked the path towards the East Cliff

and was thought worthy of more than a single shot.

This east bound vessel, thought to be that seen towing a target a few days ago, was the only other thing of note

before reaching the Common and this beautifully marked Pied Wagtail, but there had been no sign of a 'hoped for' Wheatear. Geoff & Sheila Barlow reported that they had seen c6 Purple Sandpipers just east of the Obelisk, which I failed to find, but did locate both (flighty) Black Redstarts in the Bill Quarry.

It was now time to invest a little time looking for a Puffin, but it / they too were not seen. However, something certainly spooked the rest of the Auks on the cliff ledges as many 'hundreds' of both Razorbill and Guillemot took to the air.

Not unusual, Rock Pipits were here as well and displaying today as were their close relatives the Meadow Pipit further along the Admiralty fence.

This Kestrel very nearly escaped my attention as it took off from atop a pole in the compound, but

even in flight these

Fulmar were easy to see and photograph as they patrolled the cliffs.

There were a total of c6 Stonechat, 3 of each sex, but this female was the only one to oblige, while it seemed this

male House Sparrow was having a little difficulty with the wooing as the female flew off. A cursory look for Little Owl, which continues to evade me, before coffee at the Observatory and time to recruit a couple more potential Blog readers before continuing the search for

Wheatear. I didn't have to wait long as c2 appeared close to the second crane, but both looked disheveled and neither seemed keen to be added to the flash card.

Regardless of the quick departure, this was the first addition to the GB Year List since the Oriental Turtle Dove 9 days ago but true to say 6 of these had been spent out of the country. The list now stands at 184. Quite a few more photographs were taken today, but with impending rain tomorrow and ever mindful of 'too much of a good thing' I'll save them for another post.

Before closing, its back to the e-mails and this shot

I'd quite forgotten about taken in January when I met Rachel Foster and her partner Ian Haynes. They kindly sent it to me via Facebook yesterday - Thank You both.

A few images now taken by Steve Powell (whose house, along with Linda Morton, we visited on our last full day in Spain - and most enjoyable it was too) last year at a Bee-eater colony close to their village Teresa de Cofrentes.

and to complete the post, an update on the Spanish readership. When I arrived, there were a total of 72 readers and now as the Stat Counter shows one of just 9 countries in treble figures.

Perhaps we need a 'push' to encourage more readers?
Share the LINK with all your e-Mail addressees and Facebook friends Please!

	Num	Perc.	Country Name
	7695	73.29%	United Kingdom
	542	5.16%	United States
	367	3.50%	Taiwan
	177	1.69%	France
	176	1.68%	Germany
	165	1.57%	Estonia
	158	1.50%	Spain
	152	1.45%	Ecuador
	112	1.07%	Canada