Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix

To most a period of 'good fortune' is commonly referred to as a 

Purple Patch

unless of course, like me, you are as amour-ed and dumb struck with Jimi, then it is then known as

Purple Haze 

is all around, don't know if I'm going up or down.

Acting funny but I don't know why

 The entrance to my humble abode.

SLIGHT RETURN II

also a reference to Mr Hendrix

Slight I having been a previous dwelling in Weymouth.

Now, before we embark on the excuses for grainy images and videos,

just let me say that, as is usual these days, my day started at 04:30!

Heading towards the Pond-side Trap in Harbins Farmhouse Garden

it wasn't unusual to see a (the)  

 KINGFISHER

 sat on the newly erected safety fence, there are young Grand Children here now,

 but what is almost unheard of it just sat there despite my approach.

 Sod's Law

 was also playing a hand as for the very first time EVER it was decided to leave the binoculars

back at base, and we only ever do these rounds armed with the small Canon,

but sit there it did until catching a fish and heading off to the nest

some 200 yards away drilled into the bank of the

River Stour.

Apart from the small minuses, what a way to start any day as these are

the first videos of Kingfisher we have ever been able to secure.

With overnight temperatures having hovered in the late teens since the
Warm Spell
took hold catches from the Moth Traps have improved no end and this was to continue
Yesterday Morning.

In the first trap was a Moth personally never seen before let alone recorded here,
the beautifully patterned and delicate

CLOUDED MAGPIE
which was soon followed by a annual contender, the far more colourful

SCARLET TIGER
and the less eye-catching

COMMON FOOTMAN

There were others, which will save for another day, but the
very,very,very, very BEST
came from the final trap and almost the last Moth of the day.

SHOULDER-STRIPED CLOVER

Is described on the
Dorset Moth Group Website Link

 as a Rare and Restricted Resident with only 21 seperate records from the County
up to 2011, involving 41 individual Insects.
With all of that excitement now behind us we headed for
The Common 
and in the first instance the
Irrigation Pond

 where we found what might be considered the first returning Wader?

 After a totally failed breeding season here this year
(more of that to come in a future Post)
 all the adult birds cleared out in fairly quick time

with the final pair beating a retreat after their chicks were predated in mid-May.

LAPWING

On the Heath there was the new experience of seeing the

 SHETLAND CATTLE

sitting down while the c2 Belted Gallows are fond of a roll in the Heather,
these small but stocky animals seem to prefer being on the hoof!
Then, to our great delight, yet another first as checking the
Brambles, Blackthorn, Honeysuckle etc there was a Butterfly probably only
seen half a dozen time in my life.

On these early fleeting glimpses it really could only have been one thing,

 but not at all easy to get to grips with,
either dashing about, mostly out of view, or hiding.

WHITE ADMIRAL
Walking the fence-line we decided to check some of the Reptile covers
where we found c2

SMOOTH SNAKEs
this one looking in fine fettle 

while the other looked to be shedding its skin? 

Finally, it was noticed some days ago that all of the redundant Aircraft, usually parked
on the pan close to the adjoining fence, had been moved to the centre of
Bournemouth International Airport

with our inquisitive nature getting us wondering what this was all about.

Yesterday we found out that they have been moved aside to accommodate a

 BOEING 727-2S2F/Adv(RE) Super 27

an

OIL SPILL RESPONSE AIRCRAFT

  just caught in time

taxiing for take off.

Not surprisingly the
Tributary and Balancing Pond were found

Dry as a Bone.

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