The Power - Suede

GOOD MORNING ONE AND ALL AND WELCOME TO A NEW MONTH! HERE'S HOPING NOVEMBER IS LESS SOGGY AND BLOWY THAN THE ONE NOW IN OUR WAKE!

Through endless Asia,
through the fields of Cathay.
Or enslaved in a pebble-dash grave,
with a kid on the way.

It is not unusual for us to get ahead of our-self on occasion, dependant on time and tide, but we very nearly overlooked Thursday night and Friday morning. A balmy airflow from the south west contributed nicely to a near perfect night, producing a maximum temperature of +17°C, as cloud cover was also total, but then there is always one element that takes the ‘gilt from the gingerbread’! This time it was the afore mentioned wind, which on occasion blasted to 50 knots, but the proof of the pudding would come at daybreak when monitoring the Moth Traps, there were but c3 Insects!

Saturday, with not much improvement, seemed perfect timeing to visit another Continent which raised another dilemma, so many images in the archive across such a vast area, time for a little pruning!   The 2 month long solo trek of 2012 across much of 

SOUTH EAST ASIA
included The Philippines, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia was also of gargantuan proportions which was eventually pared down even further to just 2 Nature Reserves. 

If you're far over Africa,
on the wings of the youth.
Or if you're tied to some satellite town,
and there's nothing you can do.

 

SUEDE  

Bernard Butlar - Lead Guitar, Brett Anderson - Vocals, Mat Osman (brother of TV quiz host and comedien Richard) - Base Guitar and Simon Gilbet - Drums

If you haven't been there before a fine starting point would be the album Dog Man Star.
Just give me, give me, give me the power,
and I'll make them bleed.
Give me, give me, give me the power,
although, I'm just the common breed
During a previous trip it was a case of having to leave Malaysia's

 Fraser Hill 

out of the equation as time was running short, but this was the opportunity to redress the balance.

A purpose built camp for serving British Army Officers of the time,

it remains in the same pristine condition as when built in Victorian times and not long before the  First Bird

CHESTNUT-CAPPED LAUGHINGTHRUSH
Always on a wing and a preyer, no booking had been made but again fate was on my side

and booked for an initial 4 nights with options either way, at the only and rather swish

Birds came slowly at this rather busy junction but at the gateway to the
Golf Club

SILVER-EARED MESIA
and

SPECKLED PICULET
(the very best 'Spoonerism' in the whole of the avian world which quickly becomes)
PICKLED SPECULET!

Another fortuitous meeting was with the
Chancellor of the Kuala Lumpur University (name forgotten withthe passage of time) but who very much put me in the picture reference 'bird hot spots' and other and also pointed out

LESSER YELLOWNAPE

GOLDEN-WHISKERED BARBET

Day 2 and I was risen before the Sun had set, and taking the Profs advice walked to higher altitude where there seemed to be a frenzy of human activity - had they spotted something RARE?

While being very much "each to thier own" the focus (excuse the pun) seemed to be exclusively on photographing the birds and then asking others, via the camara screen, as to identity.

Time to Go!
My wanderings lead me to this

 garage like building

just buzzing with birds

 

flying in and out of a nesting colony of 

GLOSSY SWIFTLETs

and there's me with one 'in the hand'!

As good fortune would have it this was not to be a lone experience as down the track came what turn out to be 3 Dutch Birder's.

Ben Heerlink, Marc Bulte and Dick Roggeveen
who had heard the same kerfuffle. Like minded we were soon getting on like a house on fire as they invited me to join them stateing 8 eyes are better than 6 - game on!

LARGE NILTAVA

MONITOR LIZARD

You might live in a screen kiss,
it's a glamorous dream.
Or belong to a world that's gone,
it's the English disease

What might have been a 'parting shot' became quiet the opposite as my new found friends talked of ventering on to the National Rainforest Reserve of Taman Negara

and inviting me along with them for the 4 days stay, how do you spell

YES PLEASE and WATCH THIS SPACE?

So give me, give me, give me the power,
and I'll make them bleed.
Give me, give me, give me the power
and I'll make them believe

Standing on the Shoulder of Giants - Oasis

It always feels rewarding when catching yet another Macro Moth new for the year which, on the day was a

GREY SHOULDER-KNOT

followed by a performing

and acrobatic

HAWTHORN SHIELDBUG

All at ether pond was a posing cock

PHEASANT

strutting his stuff in the direction of a lone

FEMALE

The Solar Panel fence were dripping with most pleasing, dew soaked
Spiders Webs

while what was above was also most pleasing to the eye.
Again due to the weather it was thought more prudent not to flash up the Traps on the Heath, but already it seemed like some sort of compensation was within earshot as after a longish pause

vocal

WOODLARK

had retuened to the scene.

As if striking at the same time a couple of

STONECHAT

had also shown up.
Only checking the traps for any signs of

damage this rather pleasing

BLACK SLUG
had also sought shelter underneath one of them while also close by

a small patch of unidentified Fungi.

Again, some time was spent on the mist shrouded Bridleway close to the
Sewerage Works
in hopes of a Black Redstart or less common Warbler but without success.

Here's hopeing for Tomorrow.

The Show Must Go On - Queen

Empty spaces, what are we living for?
Abandoned places, I guess we know the score, on and on
Does anybody know what we are looking for?
Another hero, another mindless crime
Behind the curtain, in the pantomime
Hold the line
Does anybody want to take it anymore?

Absolutely no point swinging out of the hammock early yesterday as, uncannily, for the 3^rd day running, Thursday’s heavy rain started at 04:30 precisely! However, far more welcome was the +10°C hanging on doggedly in similar fashion.

With field work hampered for the best part of the day we did see and hear a few things but the Canon lay redundant throughout forcing us to rely totally on the archive for the images. Even at first knockings and despite the pitter patter of rather large raindrops we could already hear one of the resident

TAWNY OWLs

giving it large from the other side of the
River Stour.

With our self imposed journalistic licence we feature images of one of last year’s juveniles which were reared in the

DOVECOT outside of the MANOR HOUSE,

which has as valid a claim as any but, prey tell, how did the parent birds get
in there to incubate?

  We did get to the Moth Traps eventually but, despite the temperature, Best in Show only amounted to repeats of

MALLOW

and the fairly similar

FEATHERED THORN
Outside of that bracket was also the rather attractive looking

ICHNEUMON SARCITORIUS
Arrival at the Irrigation Pond was met with some bad and some good where the Posh

FLY-TIPPERS
had left their mark, looking like good kit to me, and the start of some original images!

Along with the now settled c4 Mute Swans was a likely 'newly arrived' juvenile

LITTLE GREBE

Don't Blink

Which could only be proved if the other c2 were still in attendance next door!
Along with single's of

CORMORANT
and

GREY WAGTAIL

they were

along with an adult

but one being camera shy!
On the way to the Heath there was evidence that the first of the
"little Gentlemen in the Black Velvet Waiscoat"
had arrived

MOLE
that is and which some still salute today. Thought by many to have been the demise of despised

King William III of Orange
(King Billy Hey)
In 1702 his horse Sorrel tripped on a molehill, threw his rider who broke his shoulder adding to his already frail health and died soon after to the delight of many!
Doubtless, the rich earth within the Slolar Panel Compound will be riddled with such before year's end!

First up there was a very neat row of Rare Breed Cattle with
2 x Belted Galloways (left) Old English White steer (centre) along with 2 x Shetlands, while also in neat rows just a few of the laid up

AIRBUSES
as their pals are now lined up ready to

Take to the Skies
with services already commenced and a

COLLARED DOVE

 That may well have been the last of it had not Tuesday's inclement weather not postponed Victualing and Bunkering and bringing with it the biggest 'Long Shot' of them all. With the airport fence directly ahead of our driving back, out of a now clearing sky flew, directly down the runway towards us a

GREAT WHITE EGRET
performing a carbon copy flight pattern of a similar or same Heron a few weeks ago as reported here. Three and occasionally 4 have been reported from the nearby Longhan Lakes for a few months now, so maybe this is the Prodigal returning with no intent to brand it biblically wasteful.