Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin

SUNSET

There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,
and my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees
and the voices of those who standing looking.
Ooh, it really makes me wonder!

What a way to end the day and then see in the new one with what is something of a 

SPECIALLITY 

here a First, and rather expected, For The Year

OAK RUSTIC

Not recorded from mainland Great Britain until 1999 on the Isle of Wight since when it has collonise much of the South Coast. The larvae feed on

HOLM OAK
a fine specimen of which we just happen to have right next door to Slight Return II the trusty homestead. If that alone were not enough, then added to the Year List came a fairly similar,

save for the white dots,

DARK CHESTNUT
During the process there was a second fly-by of the presumed same

SKEIN
of

GREYLAG GEESE
as reported last week without illustration.

Otherwise, things were quiet with no more than a lone

CORMORANT
which could only just be seen but not clicked (archive)

before heading off to visit the

APIARIST

who has now moved his Hives from the Heath until next season. A most sucessful spell this season produced 20lbs of Honey of which he gifted 2 jars, one for me and one for fellow enthusiast Chloe.

This visit was within the Aiport Industrial Estate, out of bounds since the start of the Pandemic so further an opportunity to take a look around what is part of our patch.

Not brimming with life but a brace of close quarters

HERRING GULLs
along with a rather smart

GREY WAGTAIL

before the

LIGHT RAIN
set in.

There was a final and single

SWALLOW
perched above the tennis court which may just prove to be the last we see in 2020?

Footnote:-

and going back a few days, what did we think of San Franciscans Zepparella? We have seen some more than competent female outfits across the years, but nothing to touch that, Memphis Minnie and Zep themselves would have been impressed! A fine rendition of ‘Levee’ with fine ‘harp’ playing by vocalist Angeline Sans and had you persisted via You Tube there was a timely reminder of the first immigrants to reach our shores, The Vikings (Immigrant Song) and the song that inspired Jim the Medic and myself to forge on further north while in the Himalayan foothills at Shimla, NW India, to also conquor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzEYNsFC2gE

KASHMIR

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

 The Buchan Alpha Oil Rig - Boys on Tour in

CENTRAL AMERICA   

has already been well documented in part with a précis of our visit to Yucatan, Mexico but more particularly Chichen Itza, meeting up with Jim the Medic, often called Doctor Jekyll as each time someone knocks the Sick Bay door, he runs and tries to Hyde, at the Belize border and our shenanigans in that country. From there we moved on to Guatemala where the highlights included climbing the active volcano that is

VULCÃYA PACAYA

with a mandatory armed guard to ward off local gangs,

with the Ol' Fella being the only one to make the summit and

oh for that beer bar when reaching 'ground zero'!
Rather Rotund William, Chris Bonington and Surgeon Commander Pickle RN.
A rather lacklustre search was also made at

LARGO ATITLAN

for the decades extinct

ATITLAN GREBE

But slightly compensated for by the Fresh Water Fish and Pom Frit.

Surely the highlight of Honduras were the Maya Ruins of

MAYAN RUINS of COPAN

with magnificent Central Towers and

STELAE

STONES
It was no more than impulse or a whim that sent us for just one full day on a flight to

ROTAN ISLAND
where we met these self styled and extremely friendly Yardies and at dusk,
settled with a beer in our Guest House garden and watched what must have been one thousand+

SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHERs
fly in to roost just yards away.

EL SALVADOR and the capital SAN SALVADOR

brought with it a degree of reluctance due to hearsay with our aim only to visit the legendary
 WALDO'S RESTAURANT

The henchmen on the doors were packing more weaponry than the whole of the British Army but were charming to a man! A great night was had by all and no wonder there were no photographs.

 NICARAGUA

were already celibrating

CHRISTMAS
while after a day we crossed into Costa Rica where we visited the active volcano

ARENAL

 and hired an up and comeing young Bird Guide who had a small telescope which allowed us our first ever opportunity of trying out the technique of DigiScoping - offering the camera up to the telescope. Those first efforts were with

GREEN HERMIT

RESPLENDENT QUETZEL

BARE-SHANKED SCREECH OWL

and
THREE-WTTLED BELLBIRD

 Entering Panama we have almost reach the Rasta bit, a long time in coming but there were 2 priorities

THE PANAMA CANAL

and the public viewing platform at the
MIRAFLORES LOCKS

an absolute must for any

MARINER

but particularly us who had

never seen this magnificent feat of engineering before.

DONKEYS
used to station vessels squarely in the locks which were in the beginning preceeded by
animals of the same name.
Having spent over 4 hours there the second and final priority was to visit the world famouse
PIPELINE ROAD
reputed as one of the finest 'birding sites' on the Planet! We had also luckily met another young and prospective Bird Guide who offered his services for a few peso's the following day.

 Think that may be enough for now - before you overdose, and hope to step into the final couple of episodes of PANAMA in the very near future!