NICE to go TRAVELLING - Frank Sinatra

With a measly +8°C on the gauge and a fresh westerly breeze the words “abandon all hope ye who enter here” sprung to mind as we visited the Moth Trap, but "it’s an Ill Wind that doesn’t throw up something good"!

In this instance a 3rd

JERSEY TIGER MOTH
and a

putative

SVENSSON'S COPPER UNDERWING

which would need close scrutiny of the underwing to prove authenticity by those more in the know than myself while the

HOUSE SPARROWs

profited from some of the released insects.

As far as other Wildlife was concerned it was to be just a cursory look around to fine a small

BRIGADE

of

BULLFINCHES

Male, Female and a couple of Juveniles, awaiting our arrival at Compound 13
while at the main Compound we found some delightful
Feathered Friend

had left a 'deposit' across the padlock tumbler.
However, the visit was short with far larger fish to fry as meeting my friend Sue (she of the recent Australian Posts) for lunch at the

FRAMPTON ARMS

just a few miles east of Weymouth

where, within a few minutes we were discussing the options of getting back together on the road again! My hopes are certainly high as just a few of the adventures we embarked upon in that previous life included.
China, Australia, U.S.A on a number of occassions, her beloved Cypress with shades of

GREAT-SPOTTED CUCKOO

and

SHORT-TOED TREECREEPER
as far north as

claiming to be the most northerly town in the World where we were invited to join the celibration

of a successful and strictly controlled Bowhead Whale Harvest

the highlight being the sharing to everyone in the community of the
Muktuk or Muktac
the blubber of last years catch, cut into ribbons at that time and marinaded in its own blood with no chance of me missing this extrordinay ritual.

but no doubting the

claim of being

the most southerly

City in the World

as spring-board for Antarctica and the attendant
DOLPHIN GULL

No Brainer Me Thinks - Let's Go!

Friday On My Mind - The Easybeats

 Yes, we have to go back a few days, when we hope we don't make it sound to High Falutin that a bit of business needing attending to and then back to the Good Stuff - WILDLIFE! At the traps

CLOUDED MAGPIE

LIGHT CRIMSON UNDERWING

verified by Dave and

PRETTY PINION
were all added to the Year List.
As for the less falutin hopes of the day, they all collapsed within an hour of reaching Weymouth and so looked to regain our losses on Portland firstly looking down from the Heights across

CHESIL BEACH

OLYMPIC RINGS
marking the Sailing events in Portland Harbour during the 2012 Olympic Games, the

Village of Fortuneswell
along with their own version of

STONEHENGE
Arriving at the

PORTLAND BIRD OBSERVATORY
there was little need to ask the perenial question
"is the anything about?" but as ever good to see Martin Cade the Warden, his new Assistant Jody and just a few Familiar faces, the news being BAD!! A lone wander put up very little unless you count an extremely distant

MANX SHEARWATER

FISHERMENs HUTs

just c3

GANNETs

and the
ACTIVE LIGHTHOUSE
We faired no better across the Sand Flats at Ferrybridge wher all that was seen were a

small group of

SANDERLING

a static
LITTLE EGRET
and a lone 'first for the year'

SANDWICH TERN
not that we do any counting in that direction these days!
Final gambit and a drive along the Abbotsbury / Nottington road with, if nothing else,

views of both the

PUMP HOUSE at NOTTINGTON
bringing back a 'million memories' of my first arrival in Weymouth and residing in an old and leaky WWII Army Hut as a close neighbour to this fine looking structure!

It would have been easy to rely on Elvis and, Did You Ever Have One of Those Days, for our headline, but each of them have their charm when you can get Out and About!

Tyger, Tyger - Burning Bright - William Blake

In the Forests of the Night!

 A most welcome start to the day as we plucked this pristine 'first of the year'

JERSEY TIGER

from the 5th and final trap of the day,

and as if lightning stricking twice moments later similarly a

CHEVRON

During the exiting circuit of the
Solar Panel Compound

what we consider to be the 'local'

GREY HERON
not even flinching at our approach while also in the area

SMALL TORTOISHELL

feeding on the
RAGWORT

as a swarm of

GOLDFINCH
did likewise on Thistle and where all else to capture our imagination

amounted to clusters of

PURPLE LOOSESTRIF
For no other reason than to check the progress of the crops we heaed south again to find the

WHEAT / BARLEY

(Fields of Gold - Sting)

whatever it may be? just about ready for the Harvester.

At 18 Acre there is no doubting what the once

Mystery Crop is a field of golden (or soon to be)

SUNFLOWERs

A pass by the locally based
AIRBUS COLIBRI

led us closer to home and to take in the magnificent

INDIAN BEAN TREE 

and finally watching this

MOORHEN

Dicing with Death along the Main Road.
(a note of thanks to John)