Ticking Away the Moments That Make Up a Dull Day

You fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way.
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town,
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way. Cont.

Country number 137 joined our ranks late yesterday as we warmly welcome the Palestinian Territory. While this Blog is not intended to be a world political forum, personally a huge dream that before tripping this mortal coil I can visit an internationally recognised 'COUNTRY' called Palestine! Peace in this region is decades overdue, so I look forward to crossing the Palestine/ Israel border unhampered.

Welcome to our new readers in the hope there will be many more join our community, and pass the link on to others!

So, on to today and the weather matched the 'birding' perfectly under the banner of 'dull'. An early bus ride to Portland was met by a slowly clearing overcast sky, a stiff breeze remaining in the west and a threat of rain which didn't materialise. Barleycrates produced a zero, but walking the West Cliff a bunch of screeching

Herring Gulls alerted me to a large raptor flying high in off the sea. Such an occurrence would raise the expectations of any 'birder' as this could easily have been anything from a Montagu's Harrier to a Honey Buzzard.

Unfortunately, it was no more that a Common Buzzard but the buzz word here was the buzz, what it might have been!

As in recent days 3 Spotted Flycatchers were seen in the Top Fields, but there was little else. Even at the Observatory things were quite, and with a another agenda I didn't stay long. Lunch with my old 'ship mate' was priority today so I wended my way back to Weymouth

stopping to admire this Wild Carrot on the way.

A wander around Lodmoor would tie in neatly with the bus to Wareham, where it was a bevy of common birds but none the less welcome.

Greenfinch was first,

followed by a Grey heron beating its way across the moor pursued by a Black-backed Gull.

The Grey Heron soon put to ground, as did

the Black-headed Gull knackered after a long attack.

There were a total of 31 Dunlin on the moor, this just a few of those, and once again I was interested to view the

Common Tern Colony on the man-made islands close by,

while this single Common Tern seemed more interested in watching

a Coot building a nest.

Onward to Sandford and the Gurkha restaurant where John 'Ginger' Prince, wife Val and I enjoyed a most convivial lunch.

'Ginge' was my mentor in the mid-60 as a young Seaman he taught me many of the 'tricks of the trade'. I'm a lucky man to still have these people by my side.

Finally, an update on the Statistics that underpin this Blog, and a timely opportunity for me to thank each and every reader for taking the time to read these offerings. Pass the message to your friends please!

Tired of lying in the sunshine, stay at home and watch the rain.
You are young and life is long, and there is time to kill today.
And then one day you find, ten years have got behind you
No-one told you when to run,
YOU MISSED THE STARTING GUN!

Pink Floyd

Num	Perc.	Country Name
	8138	77.50%	United Kingdom
	552	5.26%	United States
	190	1.81%	Estonia
	189	1.80%	Netherlands
	126	1.20%	Germany
	109	1.04%	Canada
	91	0.87%	France
	90	0.86%	Sweden
	85	0.81%	New Zealand
	64	0.61%	Japan
	47	0.45%	Italy
	47	0.45%	India
	47	0.45%	Australia
	43	0.41%	Spain
	29	0.28%	Serbia
	27	0.26%	Brazil
	25	0.24%	Finland
	24	0.23%	Mexico
	24	0.23%	Russian Federation
	22	0.21%	Ecuador
	22	0.21%	Poland
	21	0.20%	Denmark
	20	0.19%	Turkey
	19	0.18%	Belgium
	18	0.17%	Switzerland
	18	0.17%	Bulgaria
	18	0.17%	Hong Kong
	17	0.16%	Portugal
	16	0.15%	Israel
	16	0.15%	Greece
	16	0.15%	Europe
	15	0.14%	Hungary
	14	0.13%	Korea, Republic Of
	13	0.12%	Thailand
	12	0.11%	Norway
	11	0.10%	Ukraine
	11	0.10%	Isle Of Man
	11	0.10%	Ireland
	11	0.10%	Malta
	10	0.10%	Colombia
	10	0.10%	Romania
	10	0.10%	Singapore
	10	0.10%	Sri Lanka
	9	0.09%	Indonesia
	9	0.09%	Venezuela
	8	0.08%	Argentina
	8	0.08%	Peru
	7	0.07%	Austria
	7	0.07%	South Africa
	7	0.07%	Croatia
	7	0.07%	Malaysia
	6	0.06%	Czech Republic
	6	0.06%	Dominican Republic
	6	0.06%	Philippines
	5	0.05%	Pakistan
	5	0.05%	Trinidad And Tobago
	5	0.05%	Latvia
	5	0.05%	Egypt
	5	0.05%	Chile
	5	0.05%	Vietnam
	4	0.04%	Jordan
	4	0.04%	Georgia
	4	0.04%	Lithuania
	4	0.04%	Kuwait
	4	0.04%	Jersey
	4	0.04%	Tunisia
	4	0.04%	Costa Rica
	4	0.04%	Mauritius
	3	0.03%	Saudi Arabia
	3	0.03%	Eritrea
	3	0.03%	Zimbabwe
	3	0.03%	Moldova, Republic Of
	3	0.03%	Luxembourg
	2	0.02%	Kazakhstan
	2	0.02%	United Arab Emirates
	2	0.02%	Algeria
	2	0.02%	Iceland
	2	0.02%	Guernsey
	2	0.02%	Albania
	2	0.02%	Madagascar
	2	0.02%	Macedonia
	2	0.02%	Mongolia
	2	0.02%	Qatar
	2	0.02%	Palestinian Territory
	2	0.02%	Oman
	2	0.02%	Aruba
	1	0.01%	Mozambique
	1	0.01%	Falkland Islands (malvinas)
	1	0.01%
	1	0.01%	Taiwan
	1	0.01%	Virgin Island, U.s.
	1	0.01%	China
	1	0.01%	Slovenia
	1	0.01%	Bosnia And Herzegovina
	1	0.01%	Bangladesh