Holy Diver - Dio

Band Leader, British born American Ronnie James Dio that is!  

and penned by fellow American Memphis Minnie, considered appropriate given the current conditions!!

If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break,

If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break.

 When the levee breaks, I'll have no place to stay!

Just a little bit adrift due to cercumstances beyond our control we decided, after monitoring the Moth Traps, to wander 'off-piste' in seach of a trio of 'Specials'! Only a single Moth out of each of the (still) 3 traps amounted to

WINTER MOTH

TURNIP
and again the delights of a

RED-GREEN CARPET

befor heading for the nearby water-courses of

LONGHAM LAKES
Met just inside the kissing-gate (none for me) by a jauty

REED BUNTING
there on the main Island stood both expected Egrets,

LITTLE EGRET
maybe as many

CORMORANTs

as we have ever seen here before, could only be seen in full from 2 different angles.
Only a few paces away the only Goose let alone

GREYLAG GOOSE
but a whole host of now dowdy looking

GREAT CRESTED GREBEs

looking nothing like they did on our last visit here.

Nothing then until reaching the end of the T-junction overlooking
HAMPRESTON WATER-MEADOWS
where this flock of

BLACK-HEADED GULLs
were fronted by yet another
Little Egret
and within a lone

BAR-TAILED GODWIT
It was 2 Lovely Ladies who directed me to the Heart of My Desire and there sure enough, but distantly, were the hoped for 'trio'! One of the c3

GREAT NORTHERN DIVERs

simply wasn't given to joining the other 2, so made the best of what we had

Two being better than a Loner

while during the walk back the
Cherry on the Cake
was provided by a single

STONECHAT
The whole event brought back fond memories of a single bird on

Poole Park Lake back in 2018
under brighter conditions and far closer to the observer, not that we were disappointed with this showing!

Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan.

Lord Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan.

It's got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home!

Oh well - Oh well!

Messin' With the Kid - Rory Gallagher

 Historically, on his first arrival in Great Britain, Jimi Hendrix (my all time hero) was asked by the interviewer "what does it fell like to be the greatest guitrist in the world"? He simply replied, best go ask Rory Gallagher - both legends but know where my money lies by a whisker.

We have awakend to a number of Dawn Choruses over our years of being in love with nature but none quite as bizzare as that of yesterday morning just before daylight. We could hear the very gentle 'weezing' from within and felt sure as to ID of the species but we did swing out of the hammock just to be sure. In the tree directly next to our Stately Caravan

(this tree right and in this gloom)
none other than only the third ever

YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER
here in 10 years with the first having been logged as long ago as 2012 and the other in the following year, with no chance of an image, that having been taken at the Portland Bird Observatory some years ago, has to surfice while providing the descant was this

KINGFISHER
still perched on the fence surrounding the garden pond at daylight.

+12C on the clock was also promising but with only c3 captives collected with a single from each trap

ANGLE SHADES

DECEMBER MOTH
and

YELLOW-LINE QUAKER
Not so lucky with the Insects was short lived as we considered our good fortune of being forced to drive on the Gravel Tracks rather the the now grassy quagmire as if not we never would have made contact with the single

WHEATEAR
on the hard standing. All to nice to go anywhere else other than the

HEATH

where unlike our last visit, when they were in hiding, all c6 the GOATs were in attendance.
No more than a few more hundred yards the air was filled

with the songs of

a decent number of

WOODLARK

Out on the wily, windy Moors

we roll and fall in green! - Kate!
First signs of Fungi came in the form of

FALSE CHANTERELLE

before searching one of the
WOODLAND RIDES
and drawing a blank followed by a wander into the

Wood itself raising memories of when this was our

MOTHING STATION
gone are the days through inept management??

HAIRY EARTHTONGUE
and

STINKHORN
were of no surprise as was the presence of a

TREECREEPER

this being a

Favoured Site
while in that prosess we flushed c2

WOODCOCK
highlighted by this line drawing as never having been so lucky to photograph one.

ORANGE BOLLETE
and

CEP or PENNY BUN
was found before heading off to turn the Reptile Covers but found the Guardian in the way,

we ain't messing with this kid

OLD ENGLISH WHITE BULL
(seemingly friendly or not leaving the 2 nearby covers for another day)
Hopes in that direction were not high either but you never can tell as we did find a single

SMOOTH SNAKE
under one cover before taking a quick look at the still redundant

EUROPEAN CARGO CARRIERS

Our personal tributes to them both

James Marshall Hendrix

Greenwood Cemetary, Renton, Seattle, Washington U.S.A.

Rory Gallager

Southern Ireland

Noth Sea Migration - Part III

 Returning to the North Sea Area known as the South Halibut Basin, but more particularly the

FLOATING OIL PRODUCTION PLATFORM
BUCHAN ALPHA

we come to the final Post featuring the Birds of that area, but maybe later we will also introduce some of the other wildlife recorded at that location.

KITTIWAKE

just a few of an overnight crowd of

REED BUNTING

PEREGRINE FALCON
sat atop of a

GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL

caught later in the day by the Deck Foreman (Ricky the Hammer) who quickly knocked up this

Wooden Cage
made out a manifest and transported it to the beach via Bristow Helicopters!

RINGED PLOVER

GARDEN WARBLER

SKYLARK

DUNLIN

YELLOWHAMMER
(you'll need to squint)

COMMON TERN

Just after 00:01 on the date ??-??-?? of my birth into the Control Room stroad the Duty Night Engineer anouncing he had a present for me and from the bag he produce this

LITTLE STINT
best such gift ever recieved!

MERLIN
(dining on Redwing)

MEADOW PIPIT

KNOT

(MEALY) REDPOLL

JACKSNIPE
(prone, for whatever reason, to flying 'kamakazi' style into windows?)

BLACKCAP
(head to tail)

GREY PLOVER
and finally, breakfast in the Control Room, mad dash to the upper-deck at the turn of the watch and

a Skylark waiting for me at the far end of the Heli-Deck. Most birds landing onboard are 'cream crackered' as was this individual taken below to be dried, warmed, 'snapped' and further inspected to find that it was a Lark but in fact

not that as first thought, in fact a far more 'rare' species

SHORT-TOED LARK
What a way to end a series!!