Yet Another Away Day - Part I

 A single line from the first track of Peter Gabriel’s first and eponymous ‘solo’ album, “Moribund the Burgermeister” seemed to fit perfectly to describe our adventure to the Somerset Levels

This thing's outrageous, I tell you on the LEVEL it's really so ‘contagious’ must be the work of the devil!

At 05:10 and not even having reached the main road yet a ‘first for the year”

BARN OWL

with a lesser mortal maybe thinking we had used up all our good luck before even leaving the Sprinting Blocks, we were certainly going to need some later if the dream was to become true!
Meeting Dave Foot at Dorchester 45 minutes later we reached

just as the

Upper Limb of the Sun kissed the horizon, but best of all not as single vehicle in the
Car Park as given the 'rarity' of the target bird of the day we had expected an early morning mob!

All the 'usuals' were in attendance with clouds already swirling across an open sky including

WIGEON

SHOVELER (female)

ditto male

hundreds of

GOLDEN PLOVER

and

Mixed Waterfowl

each trying to avoid becoming breakfast for the occasional passing

MARSH HARRIER

By this time we had been joined by anouther gentleman who had hardly attached his teliscope to the tripod before announcing "there it is" with brief directions which Dave followed diligently while it took me some time, not unusual, to gain a first glimps of a rather sleepy and

EXTREMELY RARE

BAIKAL TEAL
(dead centre of the image second duck back)

zoom in to give a slightly better idea

but did perform quite well

for just a few minutes,

but nowhere long enough and while not wishing to appear blasé having seen thousands of these smart little ducks, particularly across 3 visits to South Korea, it was never in a wildest dream

considered a contender for our Graet Britain List with the total national sightings being only around the 20 mark ever?

Just to emphasis the point we have borrowed an image for clarity and will endeavour to get part 2 published in the very near future!

Happy Together - The Turtles (1967)

 Still attempting to catch up and only 38 full days into 2022 and already January has disappeared but not without leaving something of a mark we start with a mini recap. Starting on Day One (or more accurately Night One) we secured the first Moth of the year in the form of a likely migrant

SILVER Y
and across the following days

WINTER MOTH

DARK SWORD-GRASS
and

MOTTLED UMBER
which may have been considered bibliclly as
Walking on Water!

Despite that we have not yet (early days) been able to emulate it but with a balmy +12°C on the clock covering the first night of Feb we did manage to secure this

MINOTAUR BEETLE

along with the tiniest

WOODLOUSE
Add to that a none to shabby 71 species of Birds, across our Recording Area during that first month we consider to have got off to a half decent start? Back to the present and following that usual track it was seen that others were gathering to 

pursue their passions, more Horse Jumping me thinks, while out bound to the south one of last year's

SYGNETs
followed by more Strange Bedfellows

PHEASANT, CARRION CROW and MAGPIE
likely feasting on the corn we scattered there yesterday?

while on the way back the second survivour of a total of c7 eggs.
 We make no apology for continuing with the first 'repeat' of the new month either as being completely captivated by

the fabulous combination of both

GREEN SANDPIPER

and

GREY WAGTAIL

at the newley formed and now thawed

puddle

A veritable ***** Michelin to your average avian!

just off the main bridleway and showing no sighs of being anything but

HAPPY TOGETHER

Longham Lakes - Part II

 A long time in coming we hear you say, continued from Saturday, but all 'Good Things' come to those who wait especially if you are one of the

Angling Fraternity
who are now back in numbers, and while checking the island in the South Lake

EGYPTIAN GEESE

were in residence there

 along with

LAPWINGs

in company with
COMMON SNIPE and infuriating CANADA GOOSE

as is usual, and now they have cropped the screen of

SALLOWs
(left) down to ground level there are open views to the likes of

GREAT CRESTED GREBE

 

up and down

like the proverbial Fidler's Elbow,

while other Warefowl included

WIGEON

occasionally being attacked by one of the numerous
COOTs

along with numerous

POCHARD

with females, strangely, seemingly absent.

After the Snowdrops of recent days on home turf more signs of the oncoming spring our first

DAISIES
The 'bird of the morning' a very distant

CATTLE EGRET
on the
Hampreston Water Meadows

would not have been seen, let alone identified, if not for a passing Birder bearing a telescope, images from the archive, while all the time the contender for second place,

can you see it yet?

RAVEN

continuously calling from its lofty perch.

Eternal Flame - The Bangles

 Still in 'catch-up mode' going back a bit it was 03:20 on the previous Sunday morning and had to ask myself the same question, “am I only dreaming or is this burning an eternal flame”, only way to find out was to swing out of the hammock and check? Yes, stood on the doorstep to the east a

TAWNY OWL

was knocking it out 'double four time' as we have found on many a winter's night since we arrived here. Convinced, given the mass vocals of late spring, that they have successfully bred across all of those years but with only single evidence of them having done so, when a lady resident pointed out

the activity within the cramped conditions of the
 DOVECOTE

where, to our knowledge only a single chick

had been brought off.
Returning to early morning Sunday, but particularly the hammock, we had hardly fluffed the pillow when there was another call to attend, that of a 

LITTLE OWL
this time to the west which is the direction of the only nest site in this

anciently pollarded
ASH
with suspicions of breeding over the years without substantial evidence, and with 2 additions to the Year List in quick succession it was back to the ZZzzzzzzzz's!

Another Firey Dawn
but daylight brought with it even more

MIST
as the sky above the Southern End filled with

JACKDAWs and ROOKs

From the Northern Ponds only a slightly better representation of the female

SHOVELER
still present and just look at those 'hooters'!

While back at Base Camp

and again from the doorstep these 2

GREEN WOODPECKERs

were captured eating their fill on the
Tennis Court.
To end the day, late afternoon and another

New Kid in Town
which may have been 'clicked' far better had we not been cackling to one of the regular anglers.
Undoubtedly a TUI but we don't remember seeing this Robinson varient before?