Picture This - Blondie

An early run out to the Bill under a leaden sky, but this was short lived with the sun soon taking over and the jacket coming off. Next was a visit to Lodmoor and a walk around the reserve with Daragh all in the name of practice with the new camera and lenses. It will come as no surprise then that today's post is from here pictorial.

At the Bill a few Swallows were resting up and feeding prior to heading south.

Willow Warbler was the most numerous migrant both at Portland and \lodmoor.

Wood Pigeons too were enjoying the weed fields sewn by Richard Newton long time Observatory member.

Black-headed Gulls are reliable camera fodder, as are the pair of

Oystercatchers that brought off c3 young at Lodmoor this year.

Common Terns are now disappearing rapidly from Lodmoor, with just c5 chicks still occupying the shingle islands,

while Lapwing numbers steadily increase.

Moorhen, one of my favourites, possed for the new rig,

as did Goldfinch,

Garden Warbler and

Collared Dove.

At home the humble House Sparrow thrives in a small colnoy.

I'm off on my wanderings again tomorrow, so watch this space.

New Toys For The Boys

There was only one thing on my mind today, and that was getting out and playing with my new toys, but before pressing any buttons it was a visit to the Portland Bird Observatory. There I undertook a Mini Master Class with Duncan Walbridge, who has the same set up as me, and Martin Cade the Warden. A few shots around the Obs garden, it was then a walk to the Bill to see what I could capture on my own.

While there was plenty of variable subject matter, the images were a little disappointing, but it's early days - judge for yourselves!

A Bee on Hebe in the Obs garden,

and at the same location one of 2 'racing pigeons' that seem to have taken up residence there.

The Sunflowers are now out in the adjacent fields, making for a splash of colour,

while c2 Peregrines were kicking up hell of a noise

both perched on the wall of Lloyd's cottage

and performing some aerobatics.

Plenty of small vessels to view and this

Great Black-backed Gull plus a

Herring Gull seemed to be doing just that.

The Observatory from the south west as

these 2 light aircraft

flew overhead.

A juvenile Herring Gull gave a chance of a few aerial shots

while, as usual, there were bright flags flying at Barry Sellen's beach hut

and that of his hut neighbour.

Finally, back in the Obs garden a beautiful Jersey Tiger Moth put in a brief appearance (pity they don't perch with wings open to show that shock of crimson hind wing) and a strikingly beautiful

Wasp Spider was unfortunately only showing its underside.

I like the feel of the new camera and lens and can only hope it brings as much pleasure the previous one did.

Big in Japan - Alphaville

Harking back to yesterday's post titled 'Stints & Sandpipers - A Minefield', I hadn't realised just how quickly this would manifest itself. An e-mail from fellow birder David Chown, with whom I had viewed the Little Stint yesterday, pointed out that I had made 4 errors of identification, 2 of completely wrong species plus 2 of incorrect plumage stages. Not only that, I had also portrayed a completely inaccurate picture of how it was found, identified and by whom. The ID amendments have been made to the post, and in addition publish part of Dave's letter in an attempt to redress the balance.

As Daragh will tell you, he did not call me in to look at the Stint. I was birding there yesterday morning and came across a moulting adult Stint which, though asleep and relatively distant, I thought looked interesting. I knew a Little Stint had been seen, and had not heard any doubts expressed about its identity. Later, with Daragh, I watched it feeding at closer range and told him I thought it might be a Semipalmated Sandpiper. I phoned Paul Harris to get other birders to look at the bird asap. The clinching of the identification - courtesy of good views of the palmations - was very much a joint affair as other birders arrived to watch the bird.

Further to this I would like to make an apology to those concerned.

I ordered my new camera and lenses at 14-00 yesterday, so imagine my surprise when the postman knocked the door at 08-30 this morning to deliver the goods! With the weather looking bleak at best, it was an ideal day to play with my new toys. With little else to report except my youngest daughter's birthday, which coincides with the terrible happenings in Hiroshima, Japan in 1945, my thoughts turned to travels through one of the most fascinating countries in the world during 2007.

Having spent the previous 2 weeks in South Korea, I caught the ferry from Pusan to Fukuoka in southern Japan where I met up with a couple of mates for just a few days. Being 'blossom festival' time all of the trees both looked and smelt beautiful.

The 3 of us then took another ferry to the island of Yakushima, part of the Osumi Group, of which Io-Jima is probably the most famous. It is covered in dense forest noted especially for old growth Cryptomeria trees known as Sugi in Japan and magnificent Rhododendrons, and was proclaimed a World heritage Site in 1993.

There are a number of 'endemic' creatures there including this Macaque.

We were welcomed in true Japanese style, experiencing a 'tea cerimony' of sorts on the first evening.

Heading back to Nagasaki I left my mates there and headed for Hiroshima where I met these lovely Geisha ladies.

The latter city was full of White-cheeked Starlings

and Oriental Turtle Doves.

Kyoto was undoubtedly the most interesting of the cities visited,


with a group of senior gentlemen making it an education.

Jungle Crows were evident here.

After a short stop in Tokyo it was onward to Niigato, Akita, Aomori, then Hakodate (via the longest tunnel, onto Hokkaido Island, I have ever traveled through) then Sapporo and the most northerly town in the country Wakkanai.

Part of the 'fishing' town and the lighthouse.

Whistling Swan. The nature reserve there was crammed with wildfowl and at least 5 Stella's Sea Eagles,

while the sea was equally blessed with huge flocks of Slaty-backed (foreground) and Glaucous-winged Gulls and

dozens of Harlaquin Ducks (male closest & female)

The 'Kelp (seaweed) gatherers' hanging their crop out to dry.

Having touched on all 4 of the major island that make up Japan, the final leg of the journey was back to Tokyo on the world famous Bullet Train.

Fugu is the Japanese word for pufferfish and is also a Japanese dish prepared from the meat of pufferfish (normally species of genus Takifugu, Lagocephalus, or Sphoeroides) or porcupinefish of the genus Diodon.

Just a dorsel fin for me please!

Because Fugu is lethally poisonous if prepared incorrectly, it is only ever undertaken by chefs having attained a recognised standard over many years of training, and is eaten raw.

For this reason alone it has become, probably, most celebrated and notorious dish in Japanese cuisine.

The Doctor was on standby.