The Bagsy Blog

Thursday, 18 February 2016

Witche's Promise - Jethro Tull

Witch's Promise - Jethro Tull (1970)

IS THAT GLENN CORNICK ON BASS GUITAR,

OR IS IT ME?

While there hasn't been a Post from Parley Court Farm and/or Merritown Heath for nearly a week now, we have not been resting on our laurels. Scouring our 'patch' on a daily basis, it would be fair to say that what has been seen, and committed to our various cameras, has been a little repetitive to say the least. This is likely one reason for the continuing and dramatic fall in reader numbers, but when you are operating in 800 acres of one and no more that 1000 acres of the other, change in nature comes slowly!

A frozen

GRAVEL PIT

has put paid to the temporary residence of the Little Grebe and

other occasional visiting Wildfowl - but doubtless they will be back.

MEADOW PIPIT

Some recent arrivals at the neighbouring farm which would have

been included early had the flooded fields allowed us safe and dry access.

Rare Breed

JACOB SHEEP

COLLARED DOVE

An unusually confiding

and seemingly lone

female

BULLFINCH

Still good numbers of

REDWING

here on the farm - but not for much longer surely!

Increasing numbers of

REED BUNTING

have occurred during the briefest of cold snaps

with at least a couple in just about every corner of PCF

but still to be recorded on Merritown Heath but thought, given the habitat
highly unlikely.

FIELDFARE

Under the Covers

CENTIPEDE

plus many dozens of

EARTH WORMS

and another sculpture from nephew Lawrence this time a gift for

Hugh and Janet

and erected behind the bund.

Now for a bit of the ol'

Trouble and Strife!

Seems major faults on the laying of the cable on

Phase I of the Solar Panel Complex

has necessitated the laying of an aluminium road allowing the

Heavy Plant to access the effected area,

and from a little further afield but with a tentative

connection to the Solar Panels here, this is a

HORSE LEACH

found at the sister Panel Complex in Devon, from

where Dale Lewis the 'overall' Maintenance Manager
tells us there are 'thousands' of the wee beasties.

STONECHAT
One hapless

COMMON TOAD

seems to have fallen victim to the 'road-laying'?

We must have driven past this 'not displeasing to the eye' looking Fungi at least a dozen times in the last week or so, but finally it was spotted and photographed. Having no idea of identifying such things we sent it of to our more learn'ed friend John Gifford who came up with

TREMELLA MESENTERIC

further reading, more locally once we knew what we were looking at,

found that it also has a whole array of vernacular names including

YELLOW BRAIN, GOLDEN JELLY FUNGUS,

YELLOW TREMBLER and WITCHES' BUTTER (or 'promise')
After the thaw both

GREY WAGTAIL and GREEN SANDPIPER

were back at the Puddle of Mud.

Not quiet in 'full spate' but full to the gunwales the

Parley Court Farm
beat of the
River Stour.

Very early days yet, but already after only a single outing the

TRAIL CAMERAS

are proving to be as exciting as opening Moth Traps first thing in the morning. The 'anticipation value' of getting the images on the screen has already been well worth the outlay, you wouldn't want to die thinking
"I wish I'd done this, that or the other"!

In the Dead of Night the question stands.
Is it a BIRD?, is it a PLANE? is it a Bat or is it a MOTH?

our very first image (cropped) will enter the Record Book as a

UFO

FOX

at what looks like great speed,

and coming back for more!
Looks like we may need to tweak the settings a little.
The MAGIC of this particular model is that it takes
Stills and Videos simultaneously.

Be Patient....................there it is!

FOX

Enter 'stage right' CARRION CROW, cross screen ROBIN

and a brief scuffle with a MAGPIE.

BLACKBIRD

We have a feeling there is a whole Bag Full of Fun waiting here,
just wait until we produce the Snow Leopard and Civet images.
Always a one for starting with the simple stuff and working up slowly to the
RARITIES!

Entry	Pageviews
United Kingdom	338
United States	254
Germany	70
Russia	57
Estonia	24
France	14
China	12
Canada	9
Japan	9
Ireland	7

Monday, 15 February 2016

Three Friends - Gentle Giant (Part I)

From the 'Three Friends' Album

The Winger - Tess - Bagsy
oh yes and Relict Gull!

Prologue - Gentle Giant

If 'hand were put on heart' it would be told that my particular passion for a single musical genre would have to be Prog (Progressive) Rock! After a fairly short 5 year dalliance with 'Black Blues,' what seemed like a natural progression was made towards the 'White' interpretation flirting with the likes of Taste (Rory Gallagher), John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Chicken Shack, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Cream, Retaliation et al, until 1967 when Arnold Layne (who had a strange hobby) showed his hand. Pink Floyd continue to vehemently deny they are, or ever have been, Prog Rockers but they are wrong (apologies David), From that day on my already rather overcrowded vinyls shelf had to support both categories including offerings from the likes of Floyd, Yes, Gentle Giant, Wishbone Ash and latterly that sensational combo from Southampton, IQ. Among these, pride of place was always reserved for Genesis who's collective musicianship is exemplary and coupled with lyrics (most of which are committed to memory and which I describe as 'intelligent nonsense') which have captivated me for over 4 decades now.

In 1976, Paul Lifton (later to become known as The Winger, as in 'one who is taken under your wing') was experiencing far less difficulty in achieving a Master Mariners Qualification than myself, when we first met at the Merchant Navy Collage in Greenhithe, Kent. Maybe that was the result of the copious amounts of cash being foisted upon me by my Company, which will remain anonymous, as sponsorship to achieve the stated goal. Quickly falling into my ribald ways and enjoying a number of GREAT runs ashore together, he returned home to report his finding to his dear lady wife Teressa. Having both effectively bamboozled the Department of Trade and Industry at Cable Street in the East End of London out of a Master's Ticket each, before the parting of our ways there was a standing invitation to dinner should my path ever take me anywhere close to Minster on the Isle of Sheppey where they then lived. The Winger did advise me that no detail was spared when describing our 'outings' to his missus, while she in turn had thought she might not like me but wouldn't judge the book by its cover. There was of course the geographical buffer of the distance between Portland, my home then, and where they lived so the prospects were slim until my arrival in Chatham some months late on the Ocean Salvage Tug 'Confiance' for a long refit! Being big into Thomas Hardy (the Bard) at the time, a dinner date was arranged at which not only was there an instant mutual feeling between the 3 of us but I also re-christened her Tess (after she of the D'Urbervilles) a nickname and firm friendship that have survived the test of time to this very day. It is also true to say that in those early days credit can be taken for having turned them on to both Genesis and more latterly Bird Watching, while even their house was dubbed 'Home By the Sea' (which it physically was) after a Genesis track..

DON'T GIVE UP WE'RE ALMOST THERE!

It is true to say that over 40 years they have come to know me like the back of their hands so, when the unexpected telephone call arrived they had all corners and exits covered. It was no surprise to learn from Tess that they had bought me a gift of an evening with

a Tribute band they had seen some months ago and strongly recommended.

Hardly had the words left her lips and I was in there with the "I'm a semi-recluse", "don't want to go mixing with hundreds of people", "I'm not driving around Southampton during the day let alone in the dead of night! etc, etc which goes under the heading of appreciation! No other surprises then when it was found they had it all covered with a "spend the weekend at our house (now just next door in Hampshire), we'll drive to the gig and back and we'll fit in some birding as well", seems that was me securely stitch up and organised!

Such a journey to the East, or return, cannot be undertaken without
a de-tour to Eyeworth Pond in the New Forest which regular readers
may recall we have already made 4 time this year without success.
It was to be '5th time lucky' as the

MANDARIN

were showing well

and in good numbers.
(males above and

female)

P and T and Me
There was a hearty soup with homemade bread awaiting but the main thrust
was to get out to
THORNEY ISLAND
The footpath runs along the cusp of Langston Harbour and while
all the elements, high wind and tide, likelihood of rain etc, there's
no stopping these two (3)! Predictably, it was more common fare
which sometimes can include a Year Tick or two.

OYSTERCATCHER

a rather reluctant
KINGFISHER
and then 'bingo' a 'hat-trick'

TURNSTONE

'thousands' of

DUNLIN

as can be heard, a mite drafty, and

MEDITERRANEAN GULL

Saturday was the day for wandering the bazaars such as

and

among a number of other sites, from where there were no additions to the Year List.
Saturday evening was given over to the 'main event' of my visit which took us all to
Hanger Farm Arts Centre

in Totton, Hants once, or maybe still is, the larges village in England?

(visit the Link above to see just what a 'cracking' venue this is)

Even before the gentle strain of the mellotron had introduced the first number the Lead Singer had stepped up to the microphone and wearing bat-wings and long black cloak, bringing a tear to my eye, there was no need to announce they were about to undertake their rendition of

WATCHER of the SKIES
(from the album Foxtrot)

From the same album they then undertook the almost impossible task
of reproducing the 6 seconds short of 23 minute Opus Magnum
in its entirety that is
SUPPER'S READY
(Willow Farm)
We watch in reverence, as Narcissus is turned to a flower.
"A FLOWER"
If you go down to Willow Farm
To look for butterflies, flutterbyes, gutterflies
Open your eyes, it's full of surprise, everyone lies
Like the fox on the rocks and the musical box
There's Mum and Dad and good and bad

SUPER'S READY
the character Magog from
(Apocalypse in 9/8 Co-starring the delicious talents of Gabble Ratchet)

With the guards of Magog, swarming around
The Pied Piper takes his children underground
Dragons coming out of the sea
Shimmering silver head of wisdom looking at me

He brings down the fire from the skies
You can tell he's doing well by the look in human eyes
Better not compromise, it won't be easy

666 is no longer alone
He's getting out the marrow in your back bone
And the seven trumpets blowing sweet rock and roll
Gonna blow right down inside your soul
Pythagoras with the looking glass reflects the full moon
In blood, he's writing the lyrics of a brand new tune

SUPPER'S READY
finale - (As Sure As Eggs is Eggs {Aching Men's Feet})
There's an Angel standing in the sun and He's crying with a loud voice
"This is the Supper of the mighty One"
The Lord of Lords, King of Kings
Has returned to lead His children home to take them to the new Jerusalem.

(reference Revelation 19:17)
Supper's Ready - Recorded Version from Foxtrot (Link)
With a severe limitation to how much footage can be uploaded to a Google Blog
we are unable to bring you most of the clips.
Stand up the boy who shouted Hooray!

Flute Break from
FIRTH of FIFTH
(from the album Selling England by the Pound)

Old Man Henry at the end of
THE MUSICAL BOX
(from the album Nursery Cryme)

THE KNIFE
(from the album Trespass)

Given that Gabriel (and Co) at this time of great success were in their early 20's and he was about 5' 6" tall and weighed no more than 10 stone, his look un-like did a marvellous job even at 57 years, 6' 6" and at least 15 stone, as they all did. A great night was had by few than a 100 strong audience, but I for one would surely go again.

Tess and I spent all of Sunday morning on Farlington Mashes,
where The Winger finds the traffic noise just too off-putting, he has a point!
There, the following were added to the Year List