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
lingered long enough for a short video clip, while a number of
MISTLE THRUSHES
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
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
on our humble patch, who during the week appeared on the local news channel
but waxing lyrically about his efforts to turn the grass verges of the
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
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 6th
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!