Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum

Today's headline could just as easily have been 

Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival 

as last night's much anticipated 

'Strawberry Moon',

just like most of the rest of the day turned out to be a 'damp squib! 

Indeed, yesterday's banner, Obscured By Clouds would also have 

fitted the bill, but there you go there's no figuring the weather and

as can be seen from the top image the Moth Trap almost outshone the Heavenly Body!

 So as we step into the first day of the

Astronomical Summer

the good news is there hasn't been a drop of rain so far!

So, since the BOOM days of the weekend before last the Moth Traps have taken something of a tumble in both quality and quantity, but there's usually something to save the day. Yesterday it was

 the superb looking

 MILLER
And so it was that later, as the Miller told his tale.
That her face, at first just ghostly, turned a

 Whiter Shade of Pale Link
Rock 'n' Roll Trivia

It seems strange to relate that 'guitarist' Robin Trower (all in white and still one of my very favourite British Blues Guitarists) features in this video at all as at the time of recording the original record he was not even in the band. He did however replace Ray Royer later in 1967 and played on the follow-up 'hit' Homburg. He and 'front-man' Gary Brooker had formed the Paramounts back in 1964 and had a minor hit, reaching No 35 in the UK Charts, with the Leiber / Stoller penned Poison Ivy. Their first professional gig as Procol Harum was as 'opening act' for The Jimi Hendrix Experience also in 1967.  

 and we managed to secure the first decent image of the very common

 HEART and CLUB

Still determined to try with the Micros, after our much repeated War Cry of

"we don't do Micros",

a lone and tiny

THISTLE ERMINE

and an accompanying 

ROBBER FLY

Neoitamus cyanurus

Also known as

ASSASSIN FLY

On the Gravel Pit the pair of

 LITTLE GREBE

 appear industrious enough to have built a nest

 but all that remains are small piles of sub-surface weed.
Whatever all this has been about over recent days may never be known?
At Eco and scurrying among the

 FOX-TAIL GRASS
the c2 juvenile

 LITTLE RINGED PLOVER

have been noted taking their first short flights, nothing compared to
the one lying ahead of them in the none too distant future!
Also there and

 progressing through the grass at a 'snail-pace'

 WHITE-LIPPED SNAIL

and cross-fertilising

BROWN-LIPPED SNAILS

On the Heath

SMOOTH SNAKE
continue to slither while

 BITING STONECROP

 HEATH BEDSTRAW

and what is thought to be

 BLACK MEDICK

are all now in full bloom, and now in full leaf

TREMBLING ASPENS

seem to jingle in the breeze.

Just before leaving the Heath the adult

BELTED GALLOWAY COWS

were spotted some distance away, but the lack of the Calf prompted further investigation. She was found some half mile away from the others but, wait for it, 'inside' the Bournemouth International Airport Perimeter Fence. A call to Gary the Herdsman had him start out post haste to sort the situation, by which time the plaintive cries of the youngster had the 4 adults stampeding across the Heath to assist. Having just taken the 'eye off the ball' for that split second the Calf was now back on the Heath and suckling from her mother. That raised quiet another question as the whether an extra splash of water should been added to the Glendronach (8 year old) last night?

No, she was most certainly on the Airport but all well

and back with Mum, Gary was 'stood down'!

and finally from the 

Trail Cameras

just a lowly

WOOD PIGEON

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Obscured By Clouds - Pink Floyd

or
'DARK SIDE of the MOON'
take your pick!

While here at the Bagsy Blog we have no deadlines for publication it may be noticed we are marginally later today, this is due entirely to the weather! The heavy and persistent overnight rain, accompanied by a nasty stiff breeze, hasn't abated one iota so there seemed little point in swinging out of the hammock at first light. Additionally, from a distance it looks like one of the Moth Traps may have blown during the deluge and with the wet stuff forecast to continue throughout much of the day it looks like we may be confined to a quick buzz round the Recording Area in the Strange Rover.

Saturday evening closed with a little action in the Harbins Farmhouse Garden

as the almost
 FULL MOON
became visible in the evening sky albeit partially

Obscured By Clouds.

First a male

  SPARROWHAWK,

which given the quality of the images might just as well have stayed
out of the view finder,

was causing havoc among mainly the Swallows, but also other small birds.
This was followed by what was very likely its mate and then
a male Kestrel which both escaped the camera.

With such a low temperature at dawn, just +6°C,
there was no Great Expectations from the traps but

 SMALL DUSTY WAVE

BORDERED WHITE
a Beautiful little Moth, but so reluctant to spread its wings

 to reveal 'all' of its charms!

 A great name for those of us who are 'never quite sure'

 

 UNCERTAIN

were all added to the Year List.

 also in one of the traps was this

 RED SOLDIER BEETLE

Not at all good news met the eye at the Irrigation Pond as yet another

 BLACK-HEADED GULL

was found dead. Like the other 3 recently there were no sighs of wounding?

 and just look at that 'juvenile' Goose after only 3 weeks

 now starting to look like a

CANADA

PURPLE TOADFLAX

which is a 'cultivar' gone feral
 starting to show in abundance around the Pond margins
and additionally some

RAVEN

 activity in and around the

Solar Panel Compounds

On the Heath Bird Life was more or less reduced to just this single male

STONECHAT

The usual Sunday turning of the Reptile Covers took place to reveal
c2 each of

SMOOTH SNAKE
and


SLOW WORM

BELTED GALLOWAY CATTLE,

including the new Calf, out in the open for the first time,

awaiting my arrival at the Airport Balancing Pond which was also lifeless.

There's ALWAYS a better day around the corner!

We'd like to THANK all Readers who have taken the moment

to pass on our Link to others, particularly the USA who seem determined

that we GO VIRAL! Please continue the 'good work'!

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Phoenix - Wishbone Ash

Amid the 'Purple Haze' that is Rock 'n' Roll (either on stage or in the Mosh Pit) it is not remembered exactly when Wishbone Ash came up with the ridiculous nonsense of announcing that they would NEVER play what was probably their most seminal track ever, 'PHOENIX', in public again! Surely not long after the release of their first and eponymously titled album (1973), and in part a product of a chance meeting with Richie Blackmore and Deep Purple (when the then unknown Andy Powell dared to 'jam' uninvited with the legend and got away with it), was received to great acclaim and more particularly the Opus Magnum which is the final track

PHOENIX - Link

 Just 2 years later they were the Head-Line act on the final day of the

READING 1975 

 We had already eaten the 'road-kill' Pheasant we found during the journey up from Weymouth, and all else that was on our menu, which will not be disclosed here. A fantastically accomplished 'set' was nearing its end and it was well documented that huge fines would be levied against any band which continued playing after The Midnight Hour. At about 23:45 Steve Upton rose from his drum stool, raised his arms as if in a V saluted to the audience, a drumstick in each hand then without taking his seat launched into the signature 'drum-roll' which heralds Phoenix - BONKERS?? it was much better than that!! The album track is timed at 10 minutes 27 seconds, but the story goes that the fine was paid without quibble??

Now there's a coincidence, we get to the Moth Traps and what do we find

 PHOENIX

flies, raise your head to the sky!

Next to it was yet another identifiable Micro

EUROPEAN CORN BORER

Even before that first Trap was completed we had also recorded

our first June

 MEDITERRANEAN GULL

an 'overflying' individual, hence these images have been lifted from the archive.

At Parley Pond the adult

MOORHEN

were busily tending their overnight arrivals

Moorhen Chicks

The COOT at the Irrigation Pond are still incubating their eggs

but at the Gravel Pit along with the same 2 pairs of Tufted Duck,

the Canada Geese with a single Gosling and just a single Little Grebe on the day a

GREEN SANDPIPER

now appears settled in and scratching a living.

A nearby male

BLACKCAP
came to earth for the briefest of

photo-shoots!
From the Trail Cams

what appears to be a juvenile

GREEN WOODPECKER
What have always been considered by myself to be a
Trilogy of Battle Hymns
are a further example of the fine compositions of this band,
which again in my humble opinion should be played in sequence.

Throw Down the Sword

The Warrior

The King Will Come
all from the Argus Album

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