Lark's Tongues in Aspic - King Crimson

An album that has some association with our home county of Dorset as prime mover with             King Crimson - Robert Fripp was born in Wimbourne Minster, Dorset, married songstress Toyha Willcox who together still live in the county as far as we know? Additionally, band member Gordon Haskell was known to me and met occassionally when gigging in Weymouth. Considered the pinnacle of their career, which in my own humble opinion pales by comparison with

'In the Court of the Crimson King'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrsW--Sh7YE

The ‘weather forecaster’ delivered us a real curved ball for Tuesday overnight’s prediction with bouts of heavy rain, gusty winds and a temperature in single figures. On the strength of that we abandoned the Heath Moth Trap only to find at dawn, no more than 1.5 mm, hardly a light zephyr and the mercury settled at +16°C! 

A Moment Lost! but we are buffing up on the Trades Description Act.

Nothing new from those closer to home with the more eye-catching including:- 

BRIMSTONE MOTH

GREEN CARPET

along with the mainly immigrant (unless that has changed while my back was turned?)

 

VESTAL

with these darker speciments orriginating from the near continent, or even home grown,

while the more pale from futher afield.

It did look rather threatening, but came to nought until the afternoon, and before leaving we recorded the first autumnal 

CETTI'S WARBLER

on our beat of the River Stour which flows just a matter of a few yards from the bottom of the garden. Usually a breeding bird here, there have been no sighs of such in 2020 in fact the Spring only produced a single vocalist! This was followed by a generally common bird which is, surprisingly, about as scarce as the predecessor an adult

DUNNOCK

with a fledgeling
we'll be able to get on our way in a minute but not before

it was dicovered that our close neighbours, the

WOOD PIGEON'S,

in the Holm Oak next to Slight Return II, are 'at it' again for the 5th time this year!

The GADWALL at the Gravel Pit

(female) were certainly showing off completely clear of the water

but flushed back

on our approach. Also there were what are considered to be both

LITTLE GREBE 

parent birds, today seemingly chastising the juvenile by chasing it endlessly around the pond! In addition a couple of prime looking adult

MOORHEN 

(is there time for another brood?

with both species seemingly happy to intermingle and again the displaced

STONECHAT

 was closeby. No reason for it not being as the habitat is as good as any but seems strange to have one at this particular spot. 

Next came something of a minor emergency as up ahead and on the bridleway were c3 rather frisky and mightily fast moving (so much so we were only able to 'click' 2 of them)

HORSES 

escaped from the northern paddock. Never inconvienienced to look out for such things (including the rare-breed Cattle, Sheep and rare-breed Goats) it is always a pleasure to alert the owners to such a moment and capture, by way of reward, a

COMMON BUZZARD

After an hour or so on what seemed to be an uncannily quiet Heath it was as, Genesis once sang,                                         "It's  One 'o' Clock and time for lunch, dum de dum de dum"!                                                As the Sun beats down I lie on the bench, you can always hear them talk,  'cus me I'm just a Lawnmower you can tell me by the way I walk 

 (I know what I like in your Wardrobe)

but not before checking out those familiar vocals from the south east corner. Coming from every direction Woodlark often prefer to sing from a vantage point (which may only be in Spring?) but they were a full 20 minutes in the sighting. Again difficult to know how many, they were again considered to be in excess of a dozen, all on the ground feeding and not 'blinking a lid' at the mobile vantage point. If anyone knows a better Bird Hide than the common or garden motor car, please let us know! Not knowing quite which images and videos to post we have decided on the whole jolly lot!

YOU CAN STOP if and or YOU JOLLY WELL LIKE!

Don't quite know what this strange

'arching posture' is all about

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!!!!