With so much business activity here
outside of the 'birding', I was more than happy to join Hugh this
morning on a tour of some of his interests a little further afield
starting at 05:00. First call at Salisbury, followed by Devises and
Marlborough then a coffee/savoury pastry stop and meeting at the
Chiseldon Service Station, Swindon. With a tight schedule it was on to
an almost clear M4 and a bit of a dash to Avonmouth. One of the best egg
and bacon sarnies ever with the Grass Seed Rep before hitting the
motorway again, this time the M5, south to Curry Rival. Our final port
of call was about 20 miles away at Podmore which brought back a few
memories of a small colony of Cirl Buntings that used to favour an
orchard at Langport, but sadly no longer! A meeting and lunch for Hugh
on home turf (so to speak) at 14:00 was too much for me, so opting to
return to the wildlife with a feeling of pleasure that I had taken up
the offer. Of most interest and an eye-opener for this technophobe was
the way business is carried out on the move. Everything is via the
in-car computer and on voice command including all phone calls and
navigation, this was all brand new to me!
The ornamental garden pond at Harbins Farm House still complete with
young MOORHEN.
On the main Parley Pond all 5 Cygnets have survived and have grown rapidly since my last visit.
The other end of the Parley Pond with nothing to report save
these rather nice waterside plants.
Seemingly no shortage of BEES here, with several species of Butterfly also on the wing such as
RED ADMIRAL,
COMMA,
COMMA and LARGE WHITE,
LARGE WHITE
and shouldn't there be another COMMA in this sentence?
Late arrivals included PAINTED LADY and
SMALL TORTOISESHELL.
As ever 'lots' of WOOD PIGEON about, this one seemingly crippled and approachable, along with Collared Doves.
A ROYAL NAVY HELICOPTER leaving Bournemouth International Airport was of interest as
started to gather for a pre-roost preen on power lines
along with a departing KESTREL.
Never a problem recording MALLARD here in all of the pond
which also applies to COOT while the numerous bird feeders attract good numbers of House Sparrow, Gold and Greenfinch,
GREAT TIT and
BLUE
TIT. Hugh also tells me that Grey Partridge have been seen close to the
Golf Course in recent weeks, a species I will be paying close attention
to in days to come.
I'm
pleased to say that I have arrived safely in Yorkshire and looking
forward to the Happy Occasion tomorrow. Even more pleasing was being
able to sit down quietly with Jim the Medic and Liz and give them both a
bit of advice about the 'birds and the bees' if indeed I had for once
identified them correctly.
My
Fatherly Duties completed it was time to retire to the Summer House and
enjoy a Charley Herring Spotwood, of which JtheM has managed to secure
me a case, so I think I'll leave now, or after they have bought me
dinner.
A message for the Dampney Family:- Jim and Liz were delighted with your gift, see you Monday.
