Mellow Yellow - Donovan

 It has been a full week since we last flashed up the Moth Traps on the Heath so a welcome return was planned as the Forecasters were promising 'double digits' overnight. Once again they were accurate, but only by their finger-nails, with the lowest of those amounts registering on the clock!

The Early Morning Sky
also looked promising as looking down into the first of the traps there looked to belife but had we tossed the Keep Net into the river before catching a Fish - bad luck 'n' all that! The answer was immediately no as we potted the first Moth which was a First for the Year

YELLOW-LINE QUAKER

now coming into season. Next, not a moth at all but a

GREAT SILVER WATER BEETLE

a close cousin of the above and abundant next came a

DOR BEETLE

 at which point also appeared a flock of equally numerous

LONG-TAILED TIT

welcome

any day of the year.
Back to the trap a what was the 3rd Moth removed, another

First for the Year in the form of the charming

VAPOURER
but it was becoming all to apparent that we had launched the Keep Net too early with only 2 smaller

DIVING BEETLES
messing about in the river, or more accrately inundation of rain water, however did that get in?

Just before leaving just 2 or 3 of what sounded like many more

SISKIN
chattering and likely feeding in the treetops

hoved into view

which is unusual on this site, time to move on.

Part way to the Airport fence we picke-up on a rather lethargic

RED ADMIRAL

close to a whole host of feeding
MEADOW PIPITs

but only c2 Swallows in flight today. Across the boundry it look rather as if there was going to be some action from the Airport Fire Fighters standing idle at the Fire Pit

but no, joining thier Pal

they made a bolt for it.
My arrival at the Bridleway coincided with my new found Spannish amego Jose, the solar panels maintenance foreman, entering a compound an contiuous flashes of something yellow sharplely contrasting with the green, green grass.
BLINKIN' EK a

CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTERFLY

Something of a rarity here, 2 in any given year has ever been the maximum,
with this being our first for 2020. There have been a few scattered reports from across the county
but already we had given up hopes of seeing one this year - BRILL! As if not enough, while still stood there c2 'calling'

CROSSBILLs
flew overhead as did what is presumend to be the frequently visiting

MERLIN HELICOPER

just as we reached the doorstep!

No Woman, No Cry - Bob Marley and the Wailers (Part II)

 It was a full 13 years before returning to St Lucia as part of my efforts to conquer all the countries of the America's and to redress the small matter of the outstanding 'endemic'. With but a single day on the Island and no Birding Pal to lean on drastic action was needed, and employed, as once again we laid all our hope at the door of the

 Rastfarian Nation! 

Lion of Judah, Bob Marley and King of Kings Haile Selassie

 Working on the principal that 'Faint Heart never captured Fair Lady', firstly find your Rasta.

Ah these 2 lads look likely candidates, so with a few familiar hand gestures, starting every sentance with "hey man" and you've got your link. They didn't know where my object of desire might be found but had some idea of who might and introduced me to

to one of his friends who in turn introduced me to Lucas
who agreed, for the price of a pint, would in turn introduce me to his mother who knows everyting hereabouts!

Bundling me into the pickup and handing me a beer we first headed to

it was a 'quick one' as agreed in the local

HOSTALRY

before driving through virgin forest to the top of the hill where, at the peak, we met a

WHITE-CHINNED THRUSH
just before entering the

OLD SLAVE MASTER'S HOME
and being introduced to now owner

The Formidable and WorldlyWise
Mrs EDWARDS

EARED DOVE

and her beautiful young grand-daughter

LUCY

SAFFRON FINCH

During a most interesting Cook's Tour

which included some of the

Slave Driver's Paraphernalia she also introduced me to the rest of the family

Ralph, Jerome, Lucas and Boz

LESSER ANTILLIAN BULLFINCH

 It was warming to know that those days were now gone, and oh how the tables had been turned!

PEARLY-EYED THRASHER 

Telling her of my dream, she mustered the lads and instructed them in almost military fashion, ending the briefing with the words "if you don't find de bird, there'll be no dinner"!

On the Road Again

YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER

The Lads Began the Search

GREEN-THROATED CARIB

No Stone Unturned

RED-BILLED STREAMERTAIL

While

Lucas introduced me to wild grown, jungle

STARFRUIT

It, or maybe that should read they, took a full 3½ hours in the comeing, but come they did!

     Quite likely a pair, but not given to lingering they departed as quickly as they had arrived              the 'endemic'

 SAINT LUCIA PARROT

or more accurately, so they tell me, Amazon? Not a chance of getting the canon to bear like some of the others above the images are borrowed.
and as the Rasta Taxi Driver had said all those years ago "as big as a Chicken man, as big as a CHICKEN"!

We Hope to Bring You the Rest of the Rasta Diaries in Days to Come!

Here Comes the Flood - Peter Gabriel

According to my ‘dear old mum’ it was likely that I was a ‘MUSO’ long before even being able to walk, knocking out such classics of the late 40’s early 50’s as Buttons and Bows along with The Deadwood Stage from Calamity Jane! A lot of water, and songs, under the bridge since then but a very important part of their structure for me are the lyrics, my cup runneth over with them, hence today’s header. Leaning heavily on Peter Gabriel again, while considering the recent weather conditions, could any song title be more appropriate? In this instance it is not so much the title as the first line of lyric which tells, “When the night shows the signals grow on radios” which is without doubt the most subtle and clever in the whole of Prog Rock. As a mariner it was a prerequisite to study for a Radio Operators certificate where it was brought to my attention that at dusk the D-layer in the earth’s atmosphere dissipates causing the ‘skip distance’ of radio waves to have to travel just a bit further. How in heaven’s name do lyricists come up with such bizarre ideas? Simply, sheer BRILLIANCE! 

All the strange things that come and go as early warnings,

 Despite the persistant and prolonged wet weather we have sallied forth on each and every day to come up with just about the same result 

Precious Little 

but there was an ovesight, as we forgot to publish our latest addition to the

Moth Year List

BEADED CHESTNUT

Stranded starfish have no place to hide, still waiting for the swollen Easter Tide.

There's no point in direction, we cannot even choose a side!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb7htoJAK7g

One of the most noticable changes on the Heath was the picture at

DEAN'S DITCH

a tributary of the Moors River and where, by the looks of the hoof-prints
the Rare Breads Cattle had found nothing but a dry gulch on Wednesday last. 

On a small scale the change by Saturday was quite dramatic

with quite a decent

 FLOW
I took the old track the hollow shoulder, across the water 

On the tall cliffs they were getting older, sons and daughters

The jaded underworld was riding high, waves of steal hurled metal at the sky

and as the nail sunk in the cloud the rain was warm and soaked the crowd!

Along the Solar Panel Fenceline, on our way to the Irrigation Pond
one of the escapee horses was found to be still at large while the

MUTE SWANs
continue to enjoy there stay - look like over-winterer's me thinks? 

When the flood calls
You have no home, you have no walls
In the thunder crash
You're a thousand minds, within a flash
Don't be afraid to cry at what you see
The actors gone, there's only you and me
And if we break before the dawn, they'll
Use up what we used to be.

It was also lean-picking within the compound with just a single

HERRING GULL

Lord, here comes the flood
We'll say goodbye to flesh and blood
If again the seas are silent
In any still alive
It'll be those who gave their island to survive
Drink up, dreamers, you're running dry.

and a small batch of always welcome

 

STARLINGS

to content ourselves.

and if our Meteorological Mind has not gone askew it looks like we are in for a 'lot more'!

'A Lot More'!

After Peter’s little rendition, it was a no-brainer as to which song should end this post

but which version? The obvious choice was ‘Fred’ Zeppelin himself (wonderful) but no,

maybe more deserving was the artist who first brought it to our attention

Memphis Minnie

until Suede marred the pitch with the lyrics of This Hollywood Life from the superb album

Dog Man Star

She-rocker, you're wasting your time
'Cause you're only a girl
She-rocker sacked the factory line
for a chance of a dance in a surreal world.

She said, “come rescue, rescue me
from this Hollywood life
come rescue, rescue me
from this Hollywood life"

This would surely put my neck firmly in the noose of sexism so, a compromise of a little of both as a

Crowd Pleaser for all (especially the gentlemen in the front row) we give you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH-_9cwdLug

Sisters of Fred!