Good Morning, Vietnam - Robin Williams

On account of my daughter and family having arrived in Cambodia for a 3 year's stay just recently, it was all too much of a temptation not to delve into the archive and relive our own adventures there!

Having arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam an hour ahead of Rather Rotund William, a.k.a. Big Fat Billy, during November 2012, there was time to kill before setting off on what we loosely dubbed the

Southeast Asian Odyssey.

Billy showed up eventually and certainly no surprises at the airport exit door where the guarenteed throng of Taxi Drivers, Hotel Reps et al were laying in wait. Hobson's, but we made our choice soon finding ourselves at the Old Darling Guest House where we were to meet the owner Mr Fred. Like most of his ilk he had everything at his fingertips and so in the name of time saving we agreed to all but one of his suggestions, which was making our own arrangements for the evening meal.

With no intention of staying in the city for long, the main thrust was the sights and sounds of the city but more importantly the

culture including roadside restaurants and cafes,

did someone metion Culture?

The after dinner walk produceded our first bird

RUDDY SHELDUCK
By UK standards prices were miniscule so book a self select package rather than leave it to fate.  The first of these took us to the

(Just William)
Cuc Phuonge National Park

some miles south of the city as shown on the map.
PAINTED STORK

ASIAN KOEL
(female)

SCALY-BREASTED MUNIA

just to name a few for now and also spending a full day and night on a

JUNK

OLIVE-BACKED SUNBIRD

around
HARLONG BAY

in the
GULF of TONKING

DOLLARBIRD
as much for the hoped for skyscapes and birds as much as the vista.
With every single 'dong' considered to have been well invested we started our journey south in the first instance taking an extremely fast Long Finned Boat south along the mighty Mekong River as far as Hoi Ha before boarding the train to

SAI GON
which we still insist on calling Ho Chi Minah City

ORANGE-BREASTED GREEN PIGEON
A veritable power house of interests but still mainly centered on the Vietnam War and from the

Royal Palaces

and temples in their splender to the

Ordinary Joe in the Street
The excitement, if you could call it that when considering waht went before was a

A Meeting With Chairman Ho at the

VIETNAM WAR MUSEUM

we fired 'live'

M-16 CARBINES
The final experience could not have brought me more quickly to Earth as an
EX- SUBMARINER

there was never a thought let alone a concern about 'chlostrophobia' but in those

TUNNELS
it was a whole different matter which overcame me like a thief in the night.

Our young Guide the son of a Viet Nam Cong San Fighter himself could see my predicament so when asked how far to the end of the tunnel, OK, Sir, OK only a quarter of a mile - WOT! He was simply having me on as we exited 2 minutes later - never take life for granted!
A Wonderful, Wonderful County but now time to move on to Cambodia in day's to come.

Coincidentally, we watched the harrowing 'We Were Soldiers - Mel Gibson' on Sunday evening!

 APOLOGIES FOR THE 'NO SHOW' OF TODAY'S POST

WE HAVE NOW 'PULISHED' 3 TIMES WITHOUT SUCCESS SO CAN ONLY HOPE WE CAN FIX IT DURING THE DAY?

Waders of the Lost Ark - Part II

DANK, DULL, DRENCHED, DREICH, DIRE and that's only me!

So maybe a good job we still have the second and final part of The Waders in the locker which starts with another strange and interesting family group the PHALAROPEs.

of which there are but 3 members with the
GREY PHALAROPE,
as we call them, rarely being seen in Great Britain in any other plumage than that shown above and being the most common to visit our own shores. However, the American's usually seeing them in a different light most usually in breeding plumage, quite rightly refer to them as

RED PHALAROPE
The second on the 'scarcity table' is the

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE
followed by the most uncommon (rare in GB) of them all

WILSON'S PHALAROPE
which have been observed in the foothills of the Andeas in their many thousands!
Collectively, they are all just as happy on fresh water as they are on the sea but have a most bizarre method of hunting. Spinning on either surface like a 'top' a vortex is formed below into which invertibrates are dragged and slowly forced to the surface where the birds pick them off willy-nilly!

First seen, in order from the top Norfolk - 1978, Hampshire - 1977 and Radipole, Weymouth - 1984.

WANDERING TATTLER
Galapagos - 2003

BLACK-WINGED STILT
Dorset - 1985

RUFOUS-CHESTED DOTTEREL
Brazil - 2001

BAIRD'S SANDPIPER
Stains Reservour, Surrey - 1983

KITTLITZ PLOVER
Madagascar - 2010

MEGELANIC OYSTERCATCHER
Falkland Islands - 2007

The most spectacular individual DUNLIN ever seen

Barrow, Alaska -2007

GREAT KNOT 

Darwin, Australia - 2008

BLACKISH OYSTERCATCHER
Falkland Islands - again 2007

AUSTRALIAN PRATINCOLE
Alice Springs, Australia - 2008

Surely everyone's favourite

local grown

AVOCET
along with a contender for one of the

most remote

Waders on Planet Earth

ROCK SANDPIPER

Pribalof Islands, Bearing Sea, Alaska - 2011

Here Comes the Flood - Peter Gabriel

 Just a glance at the currant state of the

RIVER STOUR
(looking east)

what used to be North Bank to South Bank

and to the West, just 150 yards from our own front door,
suggested that there won't be much found there for a few days yet!
However, the very opposite was the case as scanning the Southern Sector, but more particularly the pylons, as expectations rocketed. Not a hope in hell of confirming our suspicions with binnoculars alone, this is annually about the only time we ever have to resort to the trusty telescope

to confirm a

PEREGRINE
at great distance, with maybe needless to say having to resort to the archive for the stills.
With such a capture and 'first for year' under the belt it was highly unlikely it would be upstaged but we carried on regardless! Things remained exactly the same the the 2 more northerly watercourses while a number? of

BULLFINCH
(male)

(female)

entertained us along the course of the
Sewerage Works Fence.
Very little was the bad news right across the Heath but seemingly some concern when finding

DEAN'S DITCH

clogged with effluent?
Something of a miracle at the
Rare Breeds Compound

as all of the Goats
5x Bagots, 2x Old English and the single French Alpine had consigned themselves into one frame

but not showing much activity.
Just like thier Ol' Dad here, only moving when you absolutely have to!

Otherwise it was just left to a single
ROBIN

along with a 10 second rather pale

STONECHAT
before returning back to base to find the

GUINEAFOWL
(now part of the daily picture just outside of the homestead)

fratanising with the local
HERRING GULLs

and also

continuously feeding.