Theme For An Imaginary Western - Mountain Part III

 Theme For An Imaginary Western - Leslie West

Given the situation, and with Dave more or less programmed to drop me off in Weymouth early evening, an 'executive decision' had been made long before leaving Slight Return II. Having driven this far and with an unmeasurable amount of ammunition just waiting to be found or relocated, it was well worth booking Bed and Breakfast locally and staying in the area for a couple or 3 more days! Now, we don't do advertising, in fact it comes third on the Fantasy List of Things we would like Struck from the Face of the Planet, but do like to pass on any information we think may benefit others and most particularly our Valued Readers. If you are in the Portland / Weymouth area and want B 'n' B look no further than

 151 Weston Street, Portland, Dorset

 or telephone Ken or Christine Hind as above before waiting for

Sunrise over The Purbeck Hills and English Channel
After a full English Breakfast, including dos huevos fritos, freshly percolated coffee and toast
we embarked on Part III of our Odyssey.
It was not necessary to toss a coin to determine which direction to head,
as with low water neap tide if there were any Waders to the south at
Ferry Bridge
then they should be feeding the tide line. In addition you could wager yer
Mother's Wedding Ring on the presence of Geese at the

Mouth of the Fleet 
but there was not a single Brent Goose to be seen while
collectively, the Wader population amounted to just c2 Oystercatcher,
which were feeding at the tide-line and were added to the Dorset List, as was
Rock Pipit and a small squadron of

 GOOSANDER

which very quickly disappeared under the bridge and into Portland Harbour.
Passing under it myself the sea was found to be flat as a pancake
but with very few Birds to be seen and only

 BLACK-NECKED GREBE
along with

RED-BREASTED MERGANSER

 added to the Year List.
Ferry Bridge forms the south eastern end of the body of water known as

 THE FLEET
contained on the western edge by the 18 miles long Chesil Beach and
on the opposite side by the mainland.

 A haven and breeding ground for who knows how many species of Wildlife,
especially Birds, so an obvious choice to investigate next.
 Note:- a minor natural wonder of the World in itself, it is made even more special
by the fact that the pebbles which make up the beach are 'self sorting' by size. At the
Portland end (foreground) are the larger boulders while at the other 'pea size' stones.
The tiny hamlet of Langton Herring was thought as good as any place to start and
while driving the unmade road a movement caught my eye which turned out to be a preening

 RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE
it was now a case of manoeuvring a little further away, to get the Sun
behind me, before continuing the snapping.

Having found it bolt upright and still throughout, it was thought of little value
to video it, handsome as it was, but as if by telepathy it fluttered from the
dry stone wall

and started feeding in the adjacent field.
Passing the

Coastguard Cottages 
and before reaching the small boat slipway at the bottom of the incline the

BRENT GEESE
had already hove into view, we were doing alright!
On the way back there was a severe case of 'Lightning Striking Twice'
as at almost the same spot as the Red-legged a 'Grey' flew over the track.
Leaving Strange and scanning from whence it had come a small covey of

 GREY PARTRIDGE

were located close by.
Although the world famous Abbotsbury Swannery is close for the winter period
it was thought to be the obvious next stop on our quest with the plan being to
stop at the 5-barred gate from where a reasonable view can be obtained across the
Water Meadows and the Fleet Swan Feeding Station.

 One of Dorset's many
Iron Age Long Barrow Burial Grounds

 Chesil Beach and the Fleet

 Dorset Downland
and with a squint you may just be able to see
Saint Catherine's Chapel
on the hill. We will get a little nearer later.

Although having not visited this spot for a number of 'years' it was thought little
would have changed, but within half a mile of the destination a large grey
van pulled into the gateway and out jumped a group of bird watchers.
Just what was needed, so cut off the road there to find the advantage
of higher ground and began the scan. First up were an uncounted number of

 GREATER SCAUP

 including both male (top) and female birds.
 At that I turned to find 2 of the birders heading towards me and
immediately started bemoaning my luck!

 However, that was before a positive identification was made to fine it was
JW Williamson and Graham Bright
2 great characters and among my small group of friends for over 4 decades now.
As part of the banter they advised that there were also

LONG-TAILED DUCK
among the swarm at the feeding station which were quickly picked up
and added to the Year List.
Strange to relate that it was also learnt from them that it was another
long-standing friend, Bob Ford, who was driving the van which, was it
known before, I would have been over there like a long-dog to greet him as well.
APOLOGIES BOB, DIDN'T RECOGNISE THE VEHICLE!
At that Graham and JW departed as the vigil was continued alone, but within
a very few minutes they were back to annoy erm whoops inform me that Bob
had just tweeked them (or whatever it is called) to notify them that there was another
'rareish' bird at the 'west end root' of Nottington Lane. This tip coincided nicely with the
fact that there was unlikely be be more to be gained from this vantage point, so quickly
slipped into Lewis Hamilton mode, which is about 35 m.p.h. in my little world!
There was time, as promised, to get a closer look at

 Saint Catherine's Chapel
 and just 15 minutes later was parked in some unsuspecting hosts driveway
looking at c5

 CATTLE EGRET

 
 not simply

 an addition to the

 Year List

but the highest number

 personally seen in the County!

PS - there was a report of c6 there the following day.
There endeth the 'Third Epistel' according to Saint Bags with still more to come!

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Theme For An Imaginary Western - Mountain Part II

 Theme For An Imaginary Western - Mountain

 (Mid-Summer Rock Festival, Cincinnati, Ohio 1970)

MOUNTAIN
(feat Felix Papparlardi)

were, to say the least, a changeable band but the inclusion of 

Jack Bruce from the now defunct Cream and performing under the new heading of

Bruce, West and Laing

was an unforeseen reformation.

Felix Papparlardi was no longer able to play for them as on

17 April 1983 his doting and beloved wife 'shot him to death'!

We can only assume he must have upset her??

As we recommenced our search, as ever, the Lottery Syndrome raised its ugly head, as in do we divert or do we keep on the straight and narrow? Again it would not be a prolonged detour but with these short winter days every penny counts, but against the risk was the fact that the Pacific Diver had not been reported for a week now! Oh, sod it, faint heart never won Fair Lady, nor Pacific Diver for that matter, but arriving at Mounts Bay with 

SAINT MICHEAL'S MOUNT

looming in the distance it was once again The Gillie who picked up the

GREAT NORTHERN DIVER

miles away only needing 3 attempts to get me onto it, unlike

'The Mount' which took 4 goes!

(no wonder I let him come with ME on MY adventures)

By no means a wasted journey, particularly as Portland and Poole Harbours

have hardly had a glimpses of such a creature so far this year, we were happily on our way again.

Arriving at

LEASFOOT SANDS

back across the border into Devon the search began for our second 'target'

which I was almost FIRST to spot (it looks convincing without yer specs on).

Only my second ever

 DESERT WHEATEAR

a most active little bird

 which took quite some keeping up with

and not helped one little bit by so called 'birders' who, as has become
usual in recent years, insist on keeping up a perpetual commentary on
every darn move the bird makes.

Then when you turn to them and dare to utter "if you shut the something 
up it might get to within touching distance" you are battered with a tirade
not fit for delicate ears!

Desert Wheatear World Distribution

So tiny, Leasfoot Sands does not even warrant a mention on Google Maps
but there were a couple of maybe insignificant but nonetheless
interesting features around the place.

Surf was breaking over a close inshore reef where on arrival

at least a dozen divers were swimming around preparing to submerge.
By the time the bird had been seen well enough to turn attentions to
other things, they were gone.

 A World War II Pill Box set in the sandy cliff

 was worth a second look, as was this small

Marine Rock Arch

not quiet as grandiose as our own Durdle Door back in Dorset
but noteworthy for all that.
With daylight now rapidly fading there was one more location to try for before
setting sail for home Heathfields, still in Devon and on the extremely busy A38.
There, as posted on Twitter "opposite the Tile Factory" we found after a short search c11

 WAXWING

 annual visitors to our shores but not true migrants.

 Their arrivals, in vary numbers, is dependant on the availability of
Wild Berries across Northern Europe and beyond.

When supplies are low, or the crop fails completely, they are willing
to brave the rigours of the North Sea to glean berries in Great Britain.

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Theme For An imaginary Western - Mountain Part I

There are but 2 songs in our inexhaustible repertoire that have been
laying dormant for long enough, just waiting to feature on a suitable Post.
The day has come for the first

but even then, to fit the bill, we have had to juggle with it a little!

This poignant song, which has never failed to reduce me to tears,

was penned by CREAM bassist and vocalist Jack Bruce and cohort Pete Brown

(ex PIBLOKTO) who in turn 

handed it over to American 'Hard Rock' band

MOUNTAIN,

for whom Cream had been a massive inspiration and long standing friends, for them to record.

It formed part of their album 

Mountain Climbing

(arguably) their 'finest hour', and featured l to r

Corky Laing - drums, Felix Pappalardi - bass guitar, lead vocals and piano,

West on lead guitar and vox with Steve Knight - keyboards,

 There are but a few video recordings of this 'magical' composition in existence so, with no disrespect to the other band members, that is where the 'juggling' crept in. In 1970, when the album was released (7 March), hedonism ruled the day with West being somewhat suppressed on the original version. Later, Mountain were reformed under a number of reincarnations especially with West fronting most, this is one of them. We don't know who the vocalist is in this version but one thing is for certain he wasn't even born  when this first hit the streets and was played at Woodstock!

 Theme For An Imaginary Western - Leslie West

 (PLEASE do not overlook this Link)

WE WERE ALSO HEADING WEST ON THE DAY

SO NO MORE THAN A 'NATURAL' CHOICE.

Another 'out of the blue' telephone call from our dear friend Dave Foot had me pondering for a little less than a micro-second (we don't do Micros) before his generous invitation was accepted. His plan was to travel, in the first instance, to Cornwall and then retrace our steps back to Devon all in the name of searching of 'rare' Birds. There were initially just 2 'target' species but in the mix were also a few not so common others that we might pick up across the whole of our predicted journey. The time set for our rendezvous in Weymouth was 05:30 which for me meant springing out of the hammock at 04:00 to ready myself before undertaking the one hour drive to the meet. It has always been considered a good omen should something out of the ordinary be seen, under cover of dark, on such a drive and maybe reason enough for being on the wrong side of the road for much of that time? Candidate sometimes include Barn Owl or Woodcock et al but on that particular morning and after just 30 minutes it was BROCK who strolled out into the headlights! At a slow pace and affording excellent views we thanked our lucky stars we were not 10 seconds earlier, for surely it would have died, and that we were cruising at economical speed.

BADGER
Crossing the Devon / Cornwall border and a few more miles down the road
it was readily agreed that a 15 minute detour to a damp and dismal looking

DOZMARY POOL

might prove beneficial in adding the first 'rare' bird of the day to the notebook.
Not one of the 2 in our sights, but nonetheless my Gillie was quickly set to work
but taking an exorbitant 8 minutes to locate the tiny 'dot' at the other side of the pond,
glad that he was not on a hourly rate, the dot quickly manifested itself into a fine looking male

 LESSER SCAUP

 A resident of The Americas these Ducks do make occasional visits to
our shores with this particular bird have been 'overwintering' here for a number of years now.

After that initial excitement we quickly moved on to the tiny village of

 pronounced Mau-zal, and after clocking a couple of additions to the

Year List

from the car park such as

 GANNET

  KITTIWAKE

 and

FULMAR

 our 'target bird' presented no problems with being located.

 Said to have been fed Meal Worms almost constantly

 since its arrival here, by comparison who in the Human World would 

want to move from a 5***** Michelin Restaurant serving 'free groceries'?

 Yes, the

EASTERN BLACK REDSTART

seemed more than happy

to have arrived in Cornwall.

At the time of writing the EBR remains a SUB-species not qualifying to be added
to such lists as World, Country, County etc in its own right so for now at least
it is simply appended under Black Redstart but who know one
day that may change. A new
Definitive List of Birds of the World,
miraculously agreed by most authorities, is due for publication in early 2018
so we'll wait and see what they have to say about this matter.

(COMMON) BLACK REDSTART

for comparison.

We were now eager to crack on to our next location a couple of hours drive
back in the direction from  whence we had just travelled but not before checking out
what else might be close at hand and of interest.

Additions to the Year List included

 TURNSTONE

 These 2 short clips show just why these

Dapper Dudes of the Foreshore

 were considered for such a name!

 SHAG

 ROCK PIPIT

and

OYSTERCATCHER
On a last look round over on a craggy islet we noted a number of

 ATLANTIC GREY SEAL

PS - for information Piblokto, also known as Pibloktoq and Arctic Hysteria, is a condition most commonly appearing in Inughuit societies living within the Arctic Circle. Piblokto is a culture-specific hysterical reaction in Inuit, especially women, who may perform irrational or dangerous acts, followed by amnesia for the event. Piblokto may be linked to repression of the personality of Inuit women. The condition appears most commonly in winter, and is considered to be a form of cultural bond syndrome, although more recent studies question whether it exists at all. Piblokto is also part of the glossary of cultural bound syndromes found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

MUCH MORE TO COME so BE SURE TO TUNE IN

and WHY NOT SHARE the LINK with all those people
you don't like, or others, that should teach them a lesson!!

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