Bitter Suite - Marillion

Whoever coined the phrase

Rain before 7, Dry by 11

 should be dragged before the Beak and

charged with Traducement under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968!

To my knowledge the continuous and heavy rain started at about 02:15 today and now, almost  mid-afternoon it continues as relentlessly as ever. At 04:44 precisely IT tripped the fuses in the homestead, which is the power source for the Electric Dustbin, and while there looks to be a decent catch via a glace through the perspex collar of each trap, thus far the contents remain untouched. Always an UP SIDE to any tale of woe, not given to eating breakfast at all let alone a cooked one, this morning I enjoyed a seared king prawn omelet dressed with just a hint of sweet chili sauce and accompanied by toasted wholemeal cheese bread and a cup of Douwe Egberts.

 On the outskirts of nowhere
On the ring road to somewhere
On the verge of indecision
I'll always take the roundabout way
Waiting on the rain
For I was born with a habit, from a sign
The habit of a windswept thumb
And the sign of the rain
It's started raining

Rain On Me!

Bitter Suite Link

A little remiss with some of our reports of late, we start this Post with a few 'Catch-Ups'. You may remember that at the end of our last issue we were dogged by a small technical hitch which didn't allow the revelation of the latest Harbins Garden Tick. While it is completely unimaginable that a

 COAL TIT

 has never appeared in this well stocked garden surrounded by

 some Pine, Birch, Willow, Oak, Ash and even Elm

 there seems to be no one who has seen or heard this Little Bird.

Next, and that is where a knowledgeable Readership comes in, we

hear from both Roy Norris (as predicted) and Janet Read on the 

subject of the 'unidentified Warship off the East Coast of Portland last week.

They were both in agreement that she is the

 

 Indonesian Navy's Multi-Roll Light Frigate

I.N.S. JOHN LIE

Janet goes on to report that over the last weekend she (the ship that is)
has been in Spanish waters and we can only wish her Bon Voyage!

Remaining in the Far East for a moment, on Saturday there was an

E-mail from my dear friends in Thailand 

JEAN FRANCOIS OZOUX

 and his wife

ROONG

 holding at arms length

AHACTULLA MYCTERIZANS

There seems to be some on-line confusion as to the Common Name

either

Long-nose Whip Snake or Big-eye Green Whip Snake

whichever the family group all go under the familiar name of

Vine Snakes.

Thank You to you LOVELY people.
I have replied to your mail but keep getting a 'Send Failed' signal.

 Much nearer to home and this 

HUMMINGBIRD HAWK-MOTH

was found on a Kitchen Wall in Weymouth and happily obliged with a

'in the hand' shot.

The last of the 'catch-ups' harks back to the 12th July when Dave Foot paid us 

another visit  and on that occasion he found evidence of breeding

 BORDERED STRAW

 Since then I have had 2 reminders to add it to the Property List

and both times failed to do so. Now in its rightful place as an addition to the

Property List it also displaces Blair' Mocha as the 300th Macro on the

Year List which now falls to

 SALLOW.

NOW, where were we, oh yes looking at yesterday's early morning

 CLOUD FORMATION

Again 'Cumulus' but nonetheless attractive for all that, above the

Willows looking every bit like the Himalayas.

Another Zero C on the gadget but another

couple of addition to the Property List, the most attractive

 RED UNDERWING

 which used to be an annual catch in Weymouth and

 CURRENT PUG
which I seem to recall we had here during one of Dave's visit which,
not unusually was overlooked.

While at the traps the throb of more ancient aircraft engines than
we are used to here alerted me to one of only 2 'flying' 

 LANCASTER BOMBERS

left in the World. A little late on arrival but a decent shot of the

Port Quarter

 but primed for the

HURICANE

that followed.

All of this noise seemed no deterrent to the small Male

 SPARROWHAWK

 that had landed behind the Tennis Court netting.

 At first it was thought to have prey

but NO it didn't.

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Chilled - 9 Below Zero

Trivia - 9-Below Zero features Irish Bass Player Jerry McAvoy
who had long association with one of my Guitar/Blues Heros
Rory Gallagher
On both Wednesday and Thursday this week the
early morning temperature has shown Zero C
on the van

Thermometer

so little wonder that the returns from the Moth Traps have been low. Never mind as things are given to improve in that direction, but stand advised there are likely to be a few showers of rain! 

 06:30 is now becoming a little too early to visit the traps as the residue Insects, clinging to posts, palings and stables alike, have to be 'potted' awaiting more light. However, I was glad to have arrived at that time to note some signs of precipitation to the south west. Indicated by the faintest arc of a

 RAINBOW
closer inspection, via binoculars, showed that this particular one was

 ALL 'RED'.

Not a phenomena I have seen before and unfortunately not captured

in its full glory (another run {OK steady stroll} to the car for the camera)

showing the strange colouration .

Where the Moths have failed us the Birds seem to have taken over with 2 new records for the property, one new for the garden and the continued presence of other reported in recent days. It should be qualified that these positive records are only assumed 'firsts' as the more common among them must have entered PCF airspace at one time or another. Best efforts are made, by asking around, to see if any have occurred before. It was Wednesday again when a male

 PIED FLYCATCHER
alighted on a small tree,

 had I been a little more fleet-footed an original image may have
been secured, but that's just what us FFB's have to put up with!
Always a bonny bird to see but on Thursday, while sorting the traps,
something of a more scarce nature here in Dorset.

 TREE SPARROW,
now to my knowledge extinct in the County, is a good record even

 though only identified on 'call'

 and seen that briefly that it could just as easily have been a
Bluebottle.
 Images once again from the Backroom Boys.
This morning, again at the traps the serenade of a Willow Warbler
was most welcome, but as far as photographs are concerned only

 CHIFFCHAFF
a close cousin 

graced the viewfinder.
Also during the week a very brief visit was paid to Portland

no more than a disappointing look for the

Hooded Crow,

and an unidentified (foreign?) warship

cum'on ROY you can do it!

and something far more familiar the old

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

SIR TRISTAM

latterly a training ground for the

Special Boat Service.

a

HOLLY BLUE BUTTERFLY

did put in an appearance and as quickly back to Parley.

Just a very quick peek at the new north pond to find the

GREEN SANDPIPER

as ever very distant (but at least it's there)

and then just common fare.

Young

PIED WAGTAIL

now reaching good numbers

still partly reliant on parent birds

along with similarly good numbers

of

GOLD FINCH

A small technical hitch precludes the inclusion of the Garden Tick

which will appear on a Blog, close to you, really soon.

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