Working All Day, I'm Digging Up The Roads - Gentle Giant

Well here he is Alexander (the Great) James York, I'm proud to be able to share my third grandson with all my readers. A fantastic moment for all of us and I'm champing at the bit to meet both of these little fellas.

Frederick III and Alexander with mum Lisa - that's my girl,

and, quite rightly, dad Bernard joins the throng - Well Done all of you!

Namibia joined the readership yesterday as the 121st country / region which matches exactly my own total countries visited. A great addition as the African readership is a little behind other continents, so hope our readers there will pass on the link - WELCOME!

The initial plan today had been to drive north and take a look around the area beyond our county town (Dorchester). However, finding there had been a severe overnight frost I considered there to be enough hazard on the roads without me climbing into a car and adding to it! So, confining myself to local areas, I arrived at the cemetery to a cascade of bird song and rapidly developing bright sunshine. Coal Tit was the best bird on view and as I crossed the bye-pass to access Radipole more voices joined the throng and the sun continued to shine. Wildfowl and Gulls were almost absent, but replaced by many more small birds plus there was the added pleasure of another Peregrine, c4 Bullfinch, a Pheasant and my mate Mark Hill. Not working until noon today it was an ideal opportunity to head for Lodmoor and catch up on each others news.

The moor seemed a little subdued bird-wise, but the appearance of another c4 Bullfinches (this one a male) certainly added some colour to the scene.

female Bullfinch. The colour was further enhanced by a passing Kingfisher, my first in Dorset this year, as a lone Sparrowhawk terrorised just about every bird there. Unfortunately, there was no sight or sound of a Bearded Tit at either reserve, so acting on information received from Daragh Croxson we headed to Preston Beach to view

these 2 Slavonian Grebes that had been a good deal nearer before we arrived. Leaving Mark to get to work, I boarded the No1 bus to Portland where the only thing of note was the hatch of flies, they were everywhere but none had tempted a Stonechat . By the time I reached Reap Lane I felt too hot to continue, not at all a common statement during an English winter, so made for home.
Weymouth, and surrounding areas, still remain dogged by extensive road-works but I was interested to watch this powerful machine stripping the old tarmac surface (to a depth of 6 inches) as easily as skinning a fish - don't worry they will soon be finished, only another year!

and finally, readers will not be surprised that the birth of Alex James has set me off on a reminiscence of passed Antipodean adventures, try these for size!

Agile Wallaby

Bar-shouldered Dove

Blue-winged Kookaburra

Brolga

Clamorous Reed-Warbler

Comb-crested Jacana

Crimson Finch (male)

Crimson Finch (female)

Gouldian Finch

	Num	Perc.	Country Name
	7990	76.10%	United Kingdom
	707	6.73%	United States
	229	2.18%	Estonia
	155	1.48%	Canada
	127	1.21%	Germany
	107	1.02%	France
	101	0.96%	Australia
	92	0.88%	Netherlands
	84	0.80%	Sweden
	74	0.70%	Japan
	71	0.68%	New Zealand
	60	0.57%	Denmark
	55	0.52%	Italy
	49	0.47%	Spain
	33	0.31%	India
	31	0.30%	Poland
	28	0.27%	Belgium
	27	0.26%	Ireland
	26	0.25%	South Africa
	24	0.23%	Finland
	22	0.21%	Greece
	20	0.19%	Ukraine
	20	0.19%	Switzerland
	17	0.16%	Brazil
	16	0.15%	Czech Republic
	16	0.15%	Bulgaria
	16	0.15%	Argentina
	15	0.14%	Norway
	12	0.11%	Dominican Republic
	12	0.11%	Portugal
	12	0.11%	Madagascar
	11	0.10%	Taiwan
	11	0.10%	Turkey
	11	0.10%	Serbia
	11	0.10%	Vietnam
	10	0.10%	Russian Federation
	10	0.10%	Austria
	10	0.10%	Mexico
	10	0.10%	Croatia
	9	0.09%	Ecuador
	9	0.09%	Mauritius
	8	0.08%	Malta
	8	0.08%	Pakistan
	7	0.07%	Venezuela
	7	0.07%	Hungary
	7	0.07%	Korea, Republic Of
	6	0.06%	Sri Lanka
	6	0.06%	Romania
	6	0.06%	Peru
	6	0.06%	Indonesia
	5	0.05%	Cyprus
	5	0.05%	Philippines
	5	0.05%	Slovenia
	5	0.05%	Singapore
	5	0.05%	Saudi Arabia
	5	0.05%	Malaysia
	4	0.04%	Colombia
	4	0.04%	Israel
	4	0.04%	Chile
	3	0.03%	Iceland
	3	0.03%	Thailand
	2	0.02%	Bosnia And Herzegovina
	2	0.02%	Jersey
	2	0.02%	Iran, Islamic Republic Of
	2	0.02%	Guadeloupe
	2	0.02%	Armenia
	2	0.02%	Guatemala
	2	0.02%	Puerto Rico
	2	0.02%	Nepal
	1	0.01%	Europe
	1	0.01%	Albania
	1	0.01%	Reunion
	1	0.01%	Bangladesh
	1	0.01%	Algeria
	1	0.01%	Macedonia
	1	0.01%	Lebanon
	1	0.01%	Costa Rica
	1	0.01%	Egypt
	1	0.01%	Luxembourg
	1	0.01%	Trinidad And Tobago
	1	0.01%	Suriname
	1	0.01%	Panama
	1	0.01%	Namibia
	1	0.01%	Aland Islands
	1	0.01%	Honduras
	1	0.01%	Isle Of Man
	1	0.01%	Anonymous Proxy
	1	0.01%	Slovakia
	1	0.01%	China
	1	0.01%	Hong Kong
	1	0.01%	Maldives
	1	0.01%	Georgia
	1	0.01%	Mongolia
	1	0.01%	Guernsey