Shape of Things to Come - The Yardbirds

Trawling through my fairly extensive music library last evening, all too long absent,

we came across the thought lost 

Joe Bonamassa - “Live at the Albert Hall”.

We believe the clip will bring joy to those already familiar and those not alike! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IctWoZmcV8g

The Ballard of John Henry

(Spike Driver when building US Rail-Roads out West)

Lead Guitar / Vox - Bonamassa, Bass Guitar - Carmine Rojas, Drums - Bogie Bowles (no hat), Keyboards - Rick Melick and Anton Fig - also Drums.

A personnal view is that second only to Jimi Hendrix this man has to be the most accomplished Rock / Blues Guitarist in the world which, with the passing of Jimi, who now lies at rest at the

Greenwood Park Cemetery in Renton, Seattle, Washington State 

Joe, by definition becomes the best 'Living Guitarist' in the World!

and what a start to the day, 803 HITS which smashes the previous recor by a Royal Mile. Now if each of those readers recruits another we would double the readership!

Please enjoy what is on offer today - Thak You!

Enough of that, so let's get back to Tuesday evening when driving to the Heath a lone

WOODCOCK 

was seen flying in figure-of- eights around the Solar Panel Compound.

Something of a milestone as this is the first and only since mid-Spring and worryingly as we see or hear them every evening under normal circumstances during that period!

As if that were not enough arriving at the gateway a

BARN OWL

was performing similar aerobatics across the Moor. 

To make up the prial 'the', or maybe another?

NIGHTJAR

was taking to the air and then grounding with some frequency. 

The images are of last years nesting bird.
In addition there were also an unusually large number of 'free-flying' Moths, which didn't reflect in the traps the following morning. In fact something of a 'record breaker' as there were more 'egg-trays' (18 in each of the 5 traps) than there were Macro Moths, such as

an always most welcome

VESTAL

along with an equally smalt looking

BURNISHED BRASS
Otherwise, and reaching again for the 'archive' there was a fly-over

WHIMBREL

which, had it not been calling / singing

would likely not have been seen at all. This unfortunately is yet another of the previously annual species which always used to alight here, but these days finds no need?

Finally, and right at the last knockings of its flight period,

(May to Septenber)

GOLDEN-RINGED DRAGONFLY

LET IT BE KNOWN THAT WE DO NOT LIKE THE NEW FORMAT THAT THE PROVIDERS HAVE FORCED UPON US! IT LACKS UNIFORMITY AND IS FAR MORE DIFFICULT TO CONTROL AND LESS NEAT! WE ALSO FEEL IT TO BE SIMPLY A CHANGE FOR CHANGES SAKE RATHER THAN FOR PROGRESS OR IMPROVEMENT!

IT IS MIGHTILY DISCONCERTING TO HAVE TO LEAVE THE 'COMPOSE PAGE' WITHOUT ACCESS TO A 'SAVE' FUNCTION!!!!

Strangers in the Night - Frank Sinatra

 We had been up-staged even before swinging out of the hammock this morning as a report from my old shipmate Jim the Medic, a.k.a. Doctor Sympathy in Beverley, Yorkshire, had found this

 

ATLAS MOTH

in his garden. It is not uncommon for some people to breed such things,but then again it could equally have escaped from a Zoo or Butterfly Park? Additionally, we were informed by our friend Bomber, of the Harris Clan, that it may well be the largest Moth in the World?

All we could muster from just about a perfect night weatherwise were another 'brace' of

OLD LADY'S

(there's hope for me yet)

a first for the year

BROWN-SPOT PINION

only the second for 2020  

COMMON MARBLED CARPET

Additionally, there were 2 examples of the invasive

BOX-TREE MOTH

a danger to certain divisions of Hoticulture, this pearly white form being typical

 and this the melanic (dark form) of the same Insect.

Dr Phil Sterling of Butterfly Conservation says of this 'micro moth':- it is native to India, China, Korea, Japan, and the Russian Far East. It was accidntally introduced into Europe, first recorded from Germany in 2006 and the UK (in Kent) the following year.

While in the process of returning the traps to their stations, for the night to come, we stumbled across this

 juvenile

TOAD

We don't see many of these around here though there must be plenty!
Birds on the Heath have now very much reduced to same old, same old but

did get lucky enough to click

and video yet another juvenile

DARTFORD WARBLR

There were also a couple of clumps of

what are considered to be

SHAGGY INKCAP

but no expert in such matters!

A far better view today from the main pond of the psudo

PINTAIL

Late afternoon

and saved from a fete the same as death

the new ex-BATTERY CHICKENS arrived but there was still one more unexpected to come.

We had already given them all up for gone as not seen for a number of evenings now 

but no there was still at least one perched for a while and maybe another

on the track bringing back memories of this nesting bird

during the Summer.

Our Cup Runneth Over - Part 2

 and what is effectively the second, and final, part of Friday's meanderings!

Even before removing the padlock from the gate to the Heath it could be seen that there were far more birds in evidence on Friday than is the norm! A flock of foraging Long-tailed Tits in the Alder Buchthorn immediately, calls of both of the larger Woodpeckers, 2 or 3 acorn carrying Jays and who knows how many Blackbirds, but this was just the start.

It was impossible to tell whether

DARTFORD WARBLER (left) or STONECHAT
were most numerous as usually the preserve of the latter, but on the day honours were surely even? These were made up of mostly 'juvenile birds' all seeming able to fend for themselves but            mum and dad still very much in attendance. Of the 

STONECHATs 

it was considered there were

maybe as many as

with a juicy and doubtless tasty Grasshopper of sorts.

5 to 6 dozen

numbers that we have never seen the likes of before, while turning to the

DARTFORDs

numbers could easily have neen the same

but then far more skulking!

The DART-CHAT FEST 

came to a halt once recaching the hard standing where at first there was but

a single

RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE

then c2

and eventually all c3 gathering to pose within the viewfinder.

and started something of a kerfuffle!

Mounting the Trusty Steed to return to barracks, en-route there was a bird that looked unlike any of the others as above, and then a second. A little flighty and seemingly reluctent to land, one eventually

did

showing them both to be

 

WRYNECK

a species of

WOODPECKER

from mainland Europe! These formed the second and third ever for our Recording Area the first having been found on the 16th September 2017. We have added all of the images that it would allow because of the enormity of the find!

This is the 

September 17th Bird.