Stupid Boy Pike - Dad's Army

 No surprises that the first day of the last month of Summer brought with it little to shout about as in fact looking particularly

AUTUMNAL
from the doorstep. Nevertheless, there were Moth Traps to look through while en-route that

lurking in the reeds at Pond-side

was surely the same

LITTLE EGRET
as that of recent days but lurking below and even more voracious a small

(Jack) PIKE
caught by Sam our new temporary neighbour from Derby (more to follow)

while this lone

SUNFLOWER
nearby looked quite out of place.
As for the Moths, 'second generations' were heralded by

COXCOMB PROMINENT
and largely a motley bunch of followers such as

STRAW DOT

a tight winged
PEACOCK MOTH

PEBBLE PROMINENT
and the 'ever welcome'

WAVED BLACK
Being Sunday the Herps Covers produced no Reptiles at all but in their stead a most welcome

FIELD VOLE

with nest

which we quickly left to its own devices.

PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE
at the balancing Pond was roundly upstaged by the far more scarce

DWARF GORSE
which we thought we may have lost this year - but one or 2 clumps,
while yet another bout of Rain and this juvenile hen

PHEASANT
brought our wander to an end except for the mandatory visit to the

LITTLE GREBE
nest where all was exactly the same as previous including the absent sencond parent!

Big in Japan - Alphaville (Part I)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjGl-pq4RxQ

It would seem that the conundrum of where to take our valued readership on the next couple of Sunday outings was solved for us by the recent goings on in the Far East. Not really a sporting type, with a body mass equal to 16 stone of Swarfega, the Olympic Games have been very much enjoyed, on a sporadic level, with the determination and dedication of the competitors to their particular disciplines being right ‘off the scale’!

So why not join Alphaville and become “Big in Japan” and don’t let your friends and families miss out.

Having already spent the first 3 weeks of Spring 2007 in South Korea, and having had a very good time of it, travelling from the DMZ in the north the full length of the country it was time to board the ferry from Busan to Fukuoka, Japan, capital city of the most southerly of the 5 main islands, to rendezvous with my shipmate Jim the Medic as being something of a glutton for punishment. On such adventures there is but a single rule  which amounts to doing whatever you please on any given day and if that fits with the other party then all well and good! In the first instance it worked as we

headed by ferry again to

mainly for the endemics and

finding more than an adequate hotel (the white building just right of centre) and getting straight into

The Traditional Stuff
(when in Rome)

Some Forest where we encountered the

YAKUSHIMA DEER

almost immediately but took some time to locate the similarly endemic

MACAQUE
which we were told are prone to taking rides on the backs of the former.
Back on the mainland (if a large island can be called that) the early mornings lasted for no more than 2 days before his Jimness fell into lethargic ways with me becoming a solo traveller. From here some of the destinations escape me so we will lean on something of a pictorial which had been planned for

CHERRY BLOSSOM TIME

"Do you remember the Cherry Blossom in the market square, do you remenber we thought it was confetti in our hair - by the way didn't I ........"

Now That's What You Call Company,
A Thorn Between the Roses!

The need was to visit all five of Japan's main islands, 

Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa
so a need to avail myself of a

with the sign outside saying

but didn't consider it that bad, in fact an absolute bargain on par with the Greyhounds in the USA!

BULLET

As for eating, the Sushi Bars with the never ending

Conveyor Belts
were as good as anything but when the gentleman in the glasses engaged me in conversation and then paid for my meal the Cherry was firmly on the Cake.
There was Wildlife in the Cities but most unexpected were the vast numbers of

TREE SPARROWs
on every thoroughfare along with

JAPANESE WHITE-EYE's
the odd

RUFOUS TURTLE DOVE

and

YELLOW-BREASTED GREENFINCH
in the parks.

Winter's city-side, crystal bits of snowflakes all around my head and in the wind
I had no illusions that I'd ever find a glimpse of summer's heat-waves in your eyes
You did what you did to me now it's history I see
Here's my comeback on the road again
Things will happen while they can I will wait here for my man tonight
It's easy when you're big in Japan - when you're big in Japan!

Black is Black - Los Bravos

 With the expected arrival of a family from Derbyshire and fellow caravaners at any time, we set out with a few expectations on a rounds which threw up nothing new but captured our attention throughout.

Kicking off next to home and to the cawing of opportunist juvenile

ROOKs
muscleing in on the chicken feed we arrived up north to find an unexpected

EGYPTIAN GOOSE

on the Gravel Pit while at the same time bringing to you the daily update on the
Prospective Parent

LITTLE GREBEs
with no change as the 'dark' bird continues incubation (we hope).

Once in the Forest the

GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKERs

were not slow to show as were

WHITE-TAILED BUMBLE-BEE
along with one of a decent number of

SPECKLED WOOD BUTTERFLIES
Back at base not only did the Woodpecker theme continue with a

couple of

GREEN WOODPECKERs

along with the Tilley's who considered it too late for 'angling' but
champing at the bit for a sortie into the Wild World.
Totally convenient as within a hour or so of 'lighting up time' and as shaping up for the main gate

an overflying

LITTLE EGRET
Having not seen this part of the Recording Area before

Grandson Sam along with Ruth and Ian seemed mightily impressed

as Yours Truely also managed to edge his way into the Lime-light as well

and with the traps flashed up we headed off to make the most of the fading light.

Also to their liking the confidence of the

ROE DEER
which were well within 'naked eye' viewing but the binnoculars also brought to bear,
but the game wasn't yet over. Passing through the very same gates, south about, c2

GREYLAG GEESE

flew overhead before landing in a nearby horse paddock.
To end the session a couple of

BLACK ARCHES
moths had been held over to show the diversity even within the same species.

The book tells us that "specimens suffused with more black (right) have been noted from many localities including the New Forest, Hampshire where it is not an uncommon form. Our recording area fits into this geographically as once in that county before the boundery changes but remains the same for moth recording.