When the Levee Breaks - Memphis Minnie

I was woken this morning at 02:30 by a call that 
"I would not have missed for the Whole World" but really didn't anticipate what was to follow!
A quick look outside showed 2 oktas of cloud cover, a gentle breeze, clear atmoshere and the
continuing and continuous vocals of both
Cuckoo and Tawny Owl
What is referred to as my Star Tunnel is the skylight above my bunk which at that time was crammed full of Heavenly Bodies (but enough about me) and then a satellite,
followed by another and another until the passage seemed as if it would never end. 
Plying betweed bunk and door there was also thought to be other items of
Space Junk and even, it was considered, a Shooting Star. However the best came when a far faster and brighter body arrived from the west at 04:15 and quickly disappeared to the east, 
it could only have been the
International Space Station - but will check with NASA later
Unfortunately, and on the downside, on the optimum night (the 29th) there was no sign of the
Lyra Meteor Shower!
Yer carn't have 'em all! 
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 how much more accurate Weather Forecasting has become in recent years is immeasurable,

so when they said 'heavy rain' for Tuesday we cut our cloth accordingly starting with just little peeks outside of Slight Return II where on the very first jaunt we clapped eyes on c3

 First For The Year

HOUSE MARTIN

which by late afternoon had increased to a swarm of about 3 dozen or more!

Good start given the conditions but we needed a lull to get among the 

Moths

There was also a decent catch from the traps which included

BLOOD-VEIN

 SHARP-ANGLED PEACOCK

and

LESSER SWALLOW PROMINENT 

(all 'firsts for the year)

and for comparison

SWALLOW PROMINANT
right showing a far less of a white triangle at the trailing edge of the wing 
before heading off to the hinterland!

Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan
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

(many years later covered by Led Zeppelin via the album Coda)

It was there that once again we encountered more 

 SISKIN

than we have ever recorded across our Patch

and had our memory been as acute as the weather forecasts

you would have been made aware of that day's ago!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgeqMb7oKh0

(and here by just Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and Helpers)

Cryin' won't help you prayin' won't do you no good
Now cryin' won't help you prayin' won't do you no good
Cus’ when the levee breaks mama you got to move
Well huddled up in the safety and dry conditions of the 
Mobile Hide
(that is the Strange Rover)
we continued our search despite the inclement weather to find next
something of a bedraggled and not overly obliging

 JAY
in the rain before visiting the Irrigation Pond where the Coot have abandoned the building
of a second nest in favour of starting a third

which is of Angkor Wat proportions
( which remindes me of eating Giant Coot while visiting 
Lake Titicaca - a daily staple there)

All last night sat on the levee and moaned
All last night sat on the levee and moaned
Thinkin' 'bout me baby and my happy home
Going to Chicago

Sorry but I can't take you

WE ALWAYS LOOK FOREWARD TO BETTER TO COME
HERE'S HOPING!
Just checked, ISS transited over South Coast of England
04:20 Thursday 30 April 2020
YES! 

The Tears of a Clown - Smokey Robinson and the Miracles

Still dire out in the field with no new Moths or Birds but plenty of rain,

but then of course we always have the trusty archive to rely upon!
(The first in a series of a possible 3)

Travelling the World brings with it an element of danger and it would be foolhardy to say otherwise, but rule one is “watch your back”!

For me going on from that was “travel alone” which on occasions was broken and just as importantly, “travel light” just a maximum of 2 each of the essentials as you can always purchase more en-route or turn them socks inside out. On my second of 5 adventures in South America my then boss Mike Hughes invited himself along (not really but I didn't want the sack) and proved to be the very best of travel companions, but it was not to become a habit. However both he, and one or 2 others were made aware of my insistence that the final rule on the list was never broken. On any given day you do exactly what YOU want to do without redress to “I don’t want to go fishing”, or “I don’t want to go bird watching” - just simply do your own thing!

However, on the 4^th of these visits, which like the 2^nd was to include

The Galapagos Islands

was followed by a backdoor invader!

During the final week of that tour I had arrived in the town of

La Plata

some 60 miles south of the capital Buenos Aires with a quandary, should I venture the 1000 miles further south to Trelew or just resign myself to the delights of the capital.

Trelew had only come onto the radar as a result of some of the best wildlife footage ever seen, where the Killer Whales were forcing almost their full body length out of the sea to catch the gigantic Sealions huddled up on the beach. A hell of a long shot and a long way to go but opening the trust laptop that evening found the conundrum resolved for me.

An e-mail from Jim the Medic asked simply “are you anywhere close to BA and if so can we meet up” and there was me just starting to enjoy myself.

A rendezvous was arranged and before continuing a word about the city itself!

It is a place of culture, fine architecture, even finer food, Malbec and people who take great pride in their chosen professions and know how to please, everyone should pay at least one visit to one of the best, and probably overlooked, capital cities in the World!  We will present the story punctuated with some of the Birdlife found across the whole of the trip from

Bogotá, Colombia to Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

PALE-MANTLED ARICARI

 Having arrived in La Plata and finding yet another 'cheap' Guest House it wasthen imperative to soak up the ambiance of the town with a day long stroll.

The harbour presented, not unsurprisingly, much interest but couldn't pull my thoughts away from The Falklands War

 as the Warships particularly looked so puny and ineffectual

NAZCA BOOBY

 compared with out own craft and particularly the

EMPRESS BRILLIANT

(male)

 SUBMARINES

a service I had been part of during my time in the

Royal Navy  

 GIANT ANTPITTA

 and the backup logistics and surface warships looking a little weak.

I still ask myself the same question!

GOLDEN TANAGER

The following day it was the entertainment that came to me as befriended by a

 Group of Young Lads who where as curious about Me

as I was of Them

It could not have been choreogrphed as they invited me to join them at their auditions.

 SICKLE- WINGED GUAN

 That invitation was extended to the full show the following evening

 BLACK VULTURE

 which was the 

Southern Argentina Elimination Rounds

(jubilation here for some of those who qualified)

PACIFIC PARROTLET

 for the countries

CLOWN TROUP of the YEAR COMPETITION

 Yes, there was a langugae barrier, my only Spannish runs to

"dos servaser por favor"
The following evening we all got together to enjoy a few pints and the

 SAN CLEMENTE

MARDI GRAS

 I had only been in the town for 3 nights and already it was hoped it could be

FOREVER

"Viva la Gente de Argentina"!

Now, Where's Me Bus Pass?