MOSTLY - Western on the Quiet Front

 While still “In the Deep Mid-Winter” and with the absence of Moths yesterday the overnight air temperature continued to hang on doggedly to +9°C. With the year no more than 4 weeks old we have already clocked up a couple of species, so readily accept one per fortnight as a decent average! But hang on, as Thursday morning saw c2 more specimens both clinging to the first egg-tray to be plucked from the trap. No problem with identifying

CHESTNUT

another 'first for the year' while number 2 had us stumped! Most likely a Winter Moth, but not quite right, we eventually succumed to calling in reenforcements with Bomber announcing

EARLY MOTH

a Little Darling we had never even seen before let alone captured on our
Recording Area.

Additionally, there was this unidentified (too much else going on) 

ICHNEUMAN WASP
while a qurtet of

MUTE SWANs
cut across an ever clearing sky, as usual one of the local

KESTRELs
kept an eye on us from above as the

HERRING GULLs
persued their favourite passtime - eating! Otherwise down south, the recent flock of hundreds of

REDWING
and

FIELDFARE
had reduced to double figures only while

DUNNOCK

abound proportionately.

Given that it was unlikely to get any worse, 'it did', as both Ponds were devoid of most Birds but more particularly Waterfowl, the Tufties particularly all gone! Up to then it was only a couple of

GREY SQUIRREL

that kept the Home Fires burning.
The Heath once again was something of a dead loss unless you count the

half dozen

STOCK DOVE
and rather washed out

STONECHAT
which we do in the name of 'padding' and as the mowing continues?
A 'last ditch' was made along the
Sewerage Works Fence
where the old reliables such as

CHIFFCHAFF

appeared to be finding plenty of groceries,

GOLDCREST
(female)

(male already into crest-flashing)
along with

SONG THRUSH

tuning up for the Season to come!

(Just) Another Day - Paul and Linda McCartney

 A threatening look to the start of the day and nothing in the Moth Traps

didn't take long to come up with a short, sharp bolt of

HAIL

but not long before the SUN showed its hand and the

ROBINs
came out to play while a familier 'yelp' led us to the 'first of the year'

GREY HERON
a very good start, but it has been a long time coming!
A little bit of frost still pecking at the extremities but nothing compared to our friend from

LICHFIELD - STFFORDSHIRE
who had just struggled through 6 to  8 inches of the stuff.

It is thought highly unlikely that either of these

MOORHENs

leave the confines of the Gravel Pit but often appear absent while the

TUFTED DUCK FLOCK

change size and sex

on a daily basis 4 x male with a single fem and

you'll likely notice the reflection on this clip of a passing

ROE DEER
Reverting to 'tracker mode' as Och Aye the only Scottish Indian that Custer didn;t get

we found these Mammal Tracks at the

gateway to the Heath

representing c2 Badgers and also that

Mowing Operations?
had taken place since our last visit.
With nothing else to detain us we tried a slow meander along the course of the
MOORS RIVER
only to find, while dodging the trees, Common Fare in the shape of

bathing

CANADA GEESE (21 in total)

just a loan and much obscured

CORMORANT
while amid a total of c37 Mallard were both

female
and

male
preening.

Good Morning, Vietnam - Robin Williams

On account of my daughter and family having arrived in Cambodia for a 3 year's stay just recently, it was all too much of a temptation not to delve into the archive and relive our own adventures there!

Having arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam an hour ahead of Rather Rotund William, a.k.a. Big Fat Billy, during November 2012, there was time to kill before setting off on what we loosely dubbed the

Southeast Asian Odyssey.

Billy showed up eventually and certainly no surprises at the airport exit door where the guarenteed throng of Taxi Drivers, Hotel Reps et al were laying in wait. Hobson's, but we made our choice soon finding ourselves at the Old Darling Guest House where we were to meet the owner Mr Fred. Like most of his ilk he had everything at his fingertips and so in the name of time saving we agreed to all but one of his suggestions, which was making our own arrangements for the evening meal.

With no intention of staying in the city for long, the main thrust was the sights and sounds of the city but more importantly the

culture including roadside restaurants and cafes,

did someone metion Culture?

The after dinner walk produceded our first bird

RUDDY SHELDUCK
By UK standards prices were miniscule so book a self select package rather than leave it to fate.  The first of these took us to the

(Just William)
Cuc Phuonge National Park

some miles south of the city as shown on the map.
PAINTED STORK

ASIAN KOEL
(female)

SCALY-BREASTED MUNIA

just to name a few for now and also spending a full day and night on a

JUNK

OLIVE-BACKED SUNBIRD

around
HARLONG BAY

in the
GULF of TONKING

DOLLARBIRD
as much for the hoped for skyscapes and birds as much as the vista.
With every single 'dong' considered to have been well invested we started our journey south in the first instance taking an extremely fast Long Finned Boat south along the mighty Mekong River as far as Hoi Ha before boarding the train to

SAI GON
which we still insist on calling Ho Chi Minah City

ORANGE-BREASTED GREEN PIGEON
A veritable power house of interests but still mainly centered on the Vietnam War and from the

Royal Palaces

and temples in their splender to the

Ordinary Joe in the Street
The excitement, if you could call it that when considering waht went before was a

A Meeting With Chairman Ho at the

VIETNAM WAR MUSEUM

we fired 'live'

M-16 CARBINES
The final experience could not have brought me more quickly to Earth as an
EX- SUBMARINER

there was never a thought let alone a concern about 'chlostrophobia' but in those

TUNNELS
it was a whole different matter which overcame me like a thief in the night.

Our young Guide the son of a Viet Nam Cong San Fighter himself could see my predicament so when asked how far to the end of the tunnel, OK, Sir, OK only a quarter of a mile - WOT! He was simply having me on as we exited 2 minutes later - never take life for granted!
A Wonderful, Wonderful County but now time to move on to Cambodia in day's to come.

Coincidentally, we watched the harrowing 'We Were Soldiers - Mel Gibson' on Sunday evening!

 APOLOGIES FOR THE 'NO SHOW' OF TODAY'S POST

WE HAVE NOW 'PULISHED' 3 TIMES WITHOUT SUCCESS SO CAN ONLY HOPE WE CAN FIX IT DURING THE DAY?