Bits and Pieces - Dave Clark 5

Winnie the Pooh Weather

continued for yet another day as the 'blustery' winds kept most things wild at bay!

Even before getting into the rig-of-the-day a

 GREY HERON

(juvenile by the looks of it)

was already surveying the main pond.

It was by just by old fashion 'good luck' and no judgement at all that across the

Moth Traps

we found one rather expected moth and one that hadn't even regisered on the radar yet,

the former of the 2 being a

 YELLOW-TAIL

along with what the book describes as a

"rather large and rare"

 DENTATED PUG

maybe needless to say a first for the year.

The bonus came when also plucked from one of the traps was a

SOUTHERN HAWKER DRAGONFLY

holding on doggedly to an egg tray while the

LARGE UMBERELLA

donated by the Water Bailiff has proved most useful while monitoring the traps.

 Apart from the wind not helping matters during the process also the

RARE BREEDS CATTLE

also decided to take a wander thhrough the pitch but with a little

gentle persuasion they were soon munching away elsewhere.

 It was also noted to be 'low tide' at the 

IRRIGATION POND

which in days gone by was once used to water the many acres of turf production,

the area now given over to Solar Panel.

In this state it can be attractive to the odd Wading bird but as the water is now used to

keep the dust down in the Eco Works it will surely soon be topped up again manually.

On the Heath our first encounter was also our first sighting of a juvenile

 ROBIN

thereabouts

even though adults are numerous

and its nice to have a couple of clips where it is not me doing the shaking for a change!

We were a little tight for time on Sunday so the

Turning of the Reptile Covers

was held over until today which so far has also been fairly slow.

No great revelations but we did log a couple of

 

 

 SMOOTH SNAKES

between a

 

 

FLYING ANT COLONY

 and a

 BROWN-LIPPED SNAIL

and as it doesn't last for long here are a trio of clips

 showing just how confiding juvenile

STONECHATS

can be.

and finally this beauty is in fact 2 trees, an

OAK to the left and the other a BEECH

that are admired every single day, but with the wind in their hair it presents a

Whole Different Picture

We hope to be here again tomorrow - thanks for dropping by!

Phoenix - Wishbone Ash

Saturday, and once again the Weather Forecaster’s had got it spot on with blustery winds, sporadic showers, sometimes developing into longer periods, but for all their sophisticated gadgetry my intent is still to keep the ‘Portland sourced Bladderwrack’ firmly nailed to the outside bulkhead!

 The picture as we entered the Heath for the 
Sunset Stroll.
By defenition and comparison with the previous day the
Moth Traps
had fallen off a little but still enough to bring to you some daily delight.

 SMALL PHOENIX

SMALL GRASS EMERALD

 CORONET

 and why this splendid Moth should be dubbed so is not known,
but seems to fit rather well me thinks!

CLOUDED SILVER
along with the rather featureless

 LESSER YELLOW UNDERWING
where, as the name suggests, the beauty lies on the underwing.

 and joy of joys a second

WHITE-LEGGED DAMSELFLY
in a trap which may be a sign that they are breeding along our beat of the 
River Stour
With pretty much all Bird species, with one exception, keeping a low profile
our post more or less revolves around more Insects, but the exception concerned a report on the
Dorset Bird Club Website
concerning c3 White Storks which, given the detail, would have undoubtedly entered our Recording Area Airspace!
Similar to a couple seen close to here by myself on the 04/09/2002 there was no knowing
for sure if they were not from the reintroduction programme, nor similarly the 'ringed' bird
that was atop the chimney at the Chickerell Brick Works many years before this species 
has never sat firm on my Great Britain List.
However, there is no doubting the authenticity of the 'many hundreds' seen within the

 Sewerage Works 
at

 Sharm el Sheiah,  Sinai, Egypt

 where, befriended by the 3 Amigos above

 access was allowed on 4 full days and where they rescued me from a local Camel

 also looking after other needs which included 'both' types of 
Bird Watching!
 We feel a full Post coming on of that particular adventure!!
Both

COMMA BUTTERFLY

and

BEAUTIFUL DEMOISELLE
lingered long enough for a short video clip, while a number of

MISTLE THRUSHES

are still carting groceries from the Solar Panel Compound
to the nearby trees astogether

 'WILD' APPLES

ALDER BUCKTHORN

BERRIES
along with the

ROWAN
are already taking on an Autumnal look

despite Summer not yet being ⅓ over!

The Rare Breed

 FRENCH ALPINE GOAT

 looked a little forlorn, matbe in need of a little human company while

 LARGE SKIPPER BUTTERFLIES

 backed by a 
Chiffchaff Chorus

 along with

 BEE HOVERFLY
were nectaring mainly on

 BRAMBLE / BLACKBERRY
and look dad there's the first

TEASLE and to end our post we hold onto a tentative grip with Moths 
as the weekend before last we entertained

Doctor Phil Sterling 
on our humble patch, who during the week appeared on the local news channel

(not Police 5 we are happy to report)
but waxing lyrically about his efforts to turn the grass verges of the

WEYMOUTH SPUR ROAD
into 
Sanctuaries for Wildlife
 You will doubtless get the gist from the 3 all too short clips 
but unfortunately those at Blogville only allow 20 seconds worth to be uploaded.
It would surely be roundly accepted by all who know Phil that
HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS
are in order!

WISHBONE ASH

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

Rock and Roll Trivia:-

A year prior to the 1975 and 15th Reading  National Blue, Jazz and Rock Festival, for reasons seemingly known only to themselves, the sensational quartet that were Wishbone Ash had announced that they would never play their biggest 'crowd pleaser' Phoenix in public again. Booked to headline the final of 3 days was bound to hold the massive crowd captivated despite that bad news and it was "packed to the rafters"! 'Yes' had head-lined the night before and it was now an unenviable task for Joan Armatrading to kick off that final Sunday. She appeared guitar in hand through the crowd, rather than from backstage, to a series of wholly unnecessary boo’s, climbed the steps to the stage and parked her pinky on the edge of it. The abuse continued up until about the 6^th chord of the first number when all fell deathly silent except for the magical guitar playing and even better vocals which seemed to convert even the idiots into lifelong fans of this amazing songstress, who completed her set with great dignity. The Robin Trower (ex Procol Harum) Band were promoting their new album Bridge of Sighs mid-afternoon as a span holding many hundreds of colourful helium balloon was released on a tether secured to the ground towards the clear blue sky and everyone in the crowd picked up any paper they could, ripping it into tiny pieces and launching it as a snowstorm. What came next could not have been choreographed as Concorde, relatively new then, flew directly overhead. Wishbone took to the stage a little late, not exactly welcome as there was a one thousand pounds per minute embargo should the final act encroach into the next day, and the anticipation could have been cut with a knife. Rock ‘n’ Roll Widow set the scene with the trilogy of ‘battle hymns’ that is Warrior, The King Will Come and Throw Down the Sword was a foregone but the closer it got to the ‘witching hour’ the less likely we were going to get Phoenix. It must have been 5 to the hour when Steve Upton rose from his drum stool and commenced the drum-roll that was so familiar to every man-jack in the audience. Dual lead guitarists Andy Powell and Ted Turner then joined Upton in the main riff as bassist Martin Turner (no relation) took to the mic! It was reputed that Wishbone Ash went home £8,000 lighter that morning but had they had a whip-round that would likely have been quadrupled by adoring and very satisfied fans!