Driving South - Stone Roses

Driving south 'round midnight, man, I must have been insane.
Driving south 'round midnight in a howling hurricane.
I stopped for an old man hitcher at a lonely old crossroads.
He said I'm going nowhere 'cus I'm only here to see if I can steal your soul.

The 04:00 start paid dividends there being little or no traffic on the road, but then managed to drive straight past my first programmed port of call Fleet Pond in Hampshire. The rest of the day was spent in the county, starting with a search for another American vagrant, but there was time to stop and enjoy the

Sunrise over Beaulieu Pond.

Not at all an easy subject to photograph from the road and unfortunately no time to enter Beaulieu Abbey but the

Abbot's House presented no difficulty at all. Somewhere along the Beaulieu to Brockenhurst road stands

The Hawkhill Inclosure which due to explicit directions from Sheila Edwards was easy to find (thanks mate), now all I had to do was find the bird.

That too was made easy by the presence of 50 or so fellow birders (find the birders, find the bird) but the song remained the same "it was showing well earlier but hasn't been seen in the last half hour"! It was good to see a couple of familiar faces, including John Pitman, and luckily we didn't have to wait long as the

Dark-eyed Junco* (* addition to Year List) soon broke cover from the foliage of a recently fallen Pine Tree, wind blown during the ongoing gales.

Only giving brief, but good, views there was little likelihood of a photo call so these images are from the archive.

It was now time for a general wander through the New Forest, a National Park that covers some 220 square miles, hoping for an addition or 2 to the list. Unfortunately, there was little in the way of bird-life, only Raven* was added, but as ever there was much to see. Just a drop in the ocean, this sawn-off tree stump colonised by moss attracted my attention and reminded me of one of my favorite traditional sons written by Ralph Vaughn Williams/ Linden Lea contains the lyric "by the Oak tree's mossy moot" which somehow just does it for me, a fantastic song.

New Forest Pony.

The photo gallery could have been of epic proportions but managing to contain myself just this quaint Forest house is published as best speed had to be made for

at the western border of the county. A fantastic wetland converted from what was a gravel excavation site have held mixed fortunes for me, there always seem to be a host of good birds on the 'What's About' boards but I rarely see many of them. However, the first sighting today was the very best I could have wished for, as entering the Ivy Hide there before me stood my dear friends from Emsworth

Paul & Tess Lifton. None of us could believe the coincidence, but spent a great deal of time catching up.

Here too birds seemed a little thin on the ground, but Nuthatch*,

Marsh Tit,

Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, Siskin left, Goldfinch right plus

Great Spotted Woodpecker were all good to see.

Lesser Redpoll at close quarters.

Grey Squirrel sitting in his soup bowl.

My best photo of a Jay thus far, a Treecreeper*

plus a couple of distant male Goosander brought the visit to a close. To end the day, in company with the Lifton's, we drove back into the Forest to watch the traditional roost of Hawfinches* at the Arboretum along the Rhinefield Ornamental Drive. I decided to B&B in the Forest with a view to entering Dorset airspace tomorrow. Talk to you then.

Driving South - Stone Roses

I'm not trying to make you I don't want to touch your skin. I know all there is to know about you and all your sins. Well you ain't too young or pretty and you sure as hell can't sing. Anytime you want to sell your soul I've got a toll-free number you can ring
0-8-0-0 treble-six oh yeah!

The Year (January) List now stands at 127

Look Back At Norfolk - A Magic Place To Be

All good things, unfortunately, have to come to an end, so it's with great reluctance that I leave Norfolk but more particularly Blakeney,

my little (temporary) home at the bottom of the garden

and this every morning. The Weston's, Pip & Alison have looked after me more akin to a family guest than a B&B lodger, while their teenage children too seem to warm to me and take time to chat most evenings. I'd like to thank all 4 of them for making me so much 'at home' including those extra cups of tea to keep me going while Blogging, 'bag meal' in lieu of breakfast when required and that home made Christmas Cake - hic!

A message to those who could holiday here, be quick or there may be

NO VACANCIES!

Blakeney is a fine little village with all that village life offers,

such as it's Mighty Church which is out of proportion to population but that is how it was!

and the beautiful Harbour, Blakeney Quay along with the the old Sloop Juno.

The White Horse at Brancaster Staithe where I have stayed on occasion and where still there exists one of the best restaurants along this coast.

The Saxon Church at Burnham Deepdale.

The Inner Harbour and

Outer Harbour, Wells Next The Sea (can you see any Red-necked Grebes?).

For novelty value this had to be the shot of the trip, and an expensive protest in the meantime. Obviously a fisherman's van on the Quay Side, it should be explained to our overseas readers that DEFRA is the Governmental Department responsible for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, including 'fishing quotas'. I have a very strong opinion on this subject, which I will keep to myself, may end up as bait otherwise?

Stow Mill at Mundesley,

and Weybourne Mill.

Of all the ornate village signs along this stretch of roadway, I think this Arctic Tern at Stiffkey is my favourite!

I should be reporting from somewhere a little further south tomorrow, but destination, as yet, is uncertain.

Finally, it is plainly obvious that many of you have fulfilled my New Year Wish to pass on the Blog Link (via all addressees on you E-Mail) as over the past couple of days the readership has increased by a massive 2,230 Readers. The Russian Federation, for instance, have leapt into 'three figures', closely followed by Switzerland and Poland is also on the cusp.

Thank You, and Pass It On!

http://bagsy-thecaptainslog.blogspot.com/

	Num	Perc.	Country Name
	23317	75.63%	United Kingdom
	1890	6.13%	United States
	405	1.31%	Canada
	362	1.17%	Estonia
	330	1.07%	Germany
	289	0.94%	France
	266	0.86%	Australia
	225	0.73%	Italy
	220	0.71%	New Zealand
	212	0.69%	Netherlands
	208	0.67%	Spain
	195	0.63%	India
	176	0.57%	Brazil
	145	0.47%	Japan
	132	0.43%	Sweden
	121	0.39%	Belgium
	110	0.36%	Russian Federation
	94	0.30%	Switzerland
	81	0.26%	Poland