Oh Island in the Sun - Harry Belafonte

 It would seem an obvious choice that after our Sunday runs with Equador we would board a flight from Guayaquil to Baltra Island, part of Galapagos followed by the short boat ride to the island of Santa Cruz but not before a novelty shot of my Oil Rig Shipmate and then Boss, Mike Hughes or MYQ's as he was also know

straddling the
EQUATOR

our first

BIRDS

AUDUBON'S SHEARWATER

The Pathway to the

GALAPAGOS FLYCTCHER

while on the rocky foreshore and sandy beach

GALAPAGOS SEALIONs
(the one's on the left)

Ditto with the

(CREYFISH)
in the Fish Market

GALAPAGOS IGUANA

Second Day and the Rain Struck not that it made any Difference!

GALAPAGOS LAVA HERON

LARGE GROUND FINCH
(female)

LARGE GROUND FINCH
(male)
part of the Darwin (finch) Complex with a day trip to the

ISLE of FLOREANA
producing

BROWN NODDY
their very own endemic

FLOREANA GIANT TORTOISE

GALAPAGOS DOVE

a by-product Cruise Ship the
GALAPAGOS EXPLORER

GREAT FRIGATEBIRD

with young and finally, for this week at least

GALAPAGOS LAND IGUANA

Changes - David Bowie

 Reguarded as the highest gale force of the year thus far our hopes of getting 'out in the field' were low but, Faint Heart never won Fair Lady!

A cursory wander around Home Turf produced nothing more than yet another Mottled Umber, which we will not lumber you with yet another image, and then by way of a CHANGE it was off to

LONGHAM LAKES
where Birds and / or Other were by no means numerous

but a decent start was afforded by this 'fly-in'

LITTLE EGRET

with its larger cousin

GREAT WHITE EGRET

landing fairly close by.
Similarly, and again unusual, only a single

COMMON GULL
across the whole of the wander while of the Waterfowl lots of

POCHARD

female

a few
WIGEON

male
were mostly in flight, while the lone

LITTLE EGRET
obligingly appeared from behind the 'island' as

REED BUNTING
and

KINGFISHER
were also represented by singles.

It took an age to find
GREAT CRESTED GREBE

and then only c2 which also applied to

GADWALL
The final encounter was like lightning striking in the same place twice as again a single

RING-NECKED PARAKEET
was just about seen but roundly heard at the very location of our last visit.

There had been a single report in the interim on the
Dorset Birds Website
while these images, from the archive, do not represent the poor views we were afforded on the day!

HOME and AWAY

 So, how many days is it now of High Winds and Heavy Rain, by our estimate to many but still we ventured out there! Problem was only to the tune of a couple of

DOR BEETLES

and on the Moors River Floodplain a noisy but addition to the Year List

EGYPTION GOOSE
now if that doesn't pull in a couple of thousand or more 'hits' then nothing will.

Additionally, it is muted that the Puddle of Mud will soon become a Lorry Park,

a seemingly abandoned Hired Bike, still there after our full circuit and an image surely enough to

Drive You Up the Pole
but fear not, there is always a selection from our second South American jaunt, particularly Peru, in 2010 to brighten the day!

BRIGHT-RUMPED YELLOWFINCH

PERUVIAN BOOBY

HUMBOLDT PENGUIN

PURUVIAN SEALION (male)

KILLDEER
(an occassional visitor to the UK)
Just a Taster!!

CREEP - Radiohead

 Early morning brought with it a batch of intermittent and heavy rain showers with high winds

but as the

SUN
clipped our horizon an hour later so both moderated somewhat allowing for some
Field Work with once again nothing in the Moth Trap, now reduced to a 'single'.

Overnight a pair (female) of 'first of the year'

TEAL
(male)
had joined the

COOT

LITTLE GREBE
and male

TUFTED DUCK
on the Gravel Pit while next, and taken longer to find than is usual,

at the traditional site, another addition to the Year List this singing

TREECREEPER
10 minutes later we were overlooking the flood-plain of what is the

Moors River

where upon were a number of
GADWALL
the final addition of the day with the Year Total now having reached 45.