Once Moors Into the Breach Dear Friends - Bill the Bard

The eastern boundary of the northern section of MY Recording Area is guarded by a mature tree-line, including Oak, Ash, Silver Birch, Rowan et al along with barbed wire fencing and dense bushes. These include among others Hawthorn, Holly, Elder, Honeysuckle and Blackthorn, which hold all the attributed of such things but become a darn nuisance when trying to focus the Canon beyond them. In turn this area then opens up to water meadows, through which the 

Moors River

meanders and where, on occasion, the odd decent bird turns up but never anything rare. That is unlike a previous resident which was not only uncommon but downright rare being one of only 2 sites in Great Britain where the

Orange-spotted Emerald

once existed before becoming extinct throughout the land. This was attributed to a pollution leak upstream but with some authorities believing that it was the change in vegetation that finally did for them. It has been my great privilege to have seen these beautiful Insects during a good number of trips to Estonia a country that despite the beautiful and effervescent Ille (pronounced Ella), is a county not to be missed - get it on the Bucket List! 

 An extract from Brooks

Among the breeding birds here

Mute Swan

 Cygnets

and Mallard still have a toe-hold, but neither 

Egyptian Geese 

nor 

Mandarin 

 male

 seem to nest as they did in my earlier years here. 

There is also a decent size herd of Charolais here but thus far not a sign of Cattle Egret,

and even on this very day there was some action along the riverbank
despite having to dodge the branches and twigs!

CORMORANTS

4 in total

but only these 2 falling to the Canon before we came across

REYNARD

The colloquial name Reynard stems from a literary cycle of medieval allegorical fables. 

The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century.

Wonderful tool that there Wikipedia init?

Same Time, Same Place Manana!

Something in the Air - Thunderclap Newman

Having only spent close to 50 years at sea you will readily understand that profanities are one thing I have always steered clear of (yours sincerely Pinocchio). However, I am prepared to stray from the path of righteousness, just this once, to utter a BLINKIN’ ECK! On opening the Blog to prepare yesterday’s post a massive 2474 hits met my eye which, if my memory serves me, is an ‘all time’ day record. Not absolutely certain where that came from, but heartening to find the link is being passed on as requested to all, while the finger of suspicion is gravitating towards you ‘Bomber’?  

Self Portrait

from left to right founder members

Speedy Keen, Jimmy McCulloch (a very young c1966) Pete Towshend (laterly with the Who) 

and Andy (Thunderclap) Newman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTZoJ01FpD8

What a generation to be a teenager, mid-60's to mid 70's and all I needed was a glimpse 

of one of my sisters Pop Magazines. There on the front cover was a picture of The Kinks complete with mohair, 4 buttoned, collarless burgundy suits and me dashing post-haste down to Burton's Tailors on St Mary's Street, Weymouth to get measured up. Already down to the plimsoll-line with debt the matching ensemble of almond toed, button-up side 'high-heeled' boots, collarless white shirt with lace bib and cuffs with somewhat shortened hair I was a Mod!

During all of this an orange cravat was considered but thought better of it as I didn't want to look ridicules??

 

With sister Pamela, Weymouth Promenade 1966

(All the Young Dudes carry the news)   

But there was certainly something else in the air!

 In line with yesterday's 'minor bang' this mornings retort was somewhat louder and no less sweet and somewhat predictable as the water levels decline across the River Stour. Even from the doorstep we could hear the flute like 'refrain' of the skulking

of the 'skulking'

CETTI'S WARBLER
which is always far more often heard than seen.

The noun refrain is chossen wisely a usually once they do flash up there is no stopping them.

Skulking also fits perfectly, except on very lucky occassions such as a week ago at Longham Lakes, where these images  and clip were captured, we very rarely see them here.

As a continuation of the introduction to our Recording Area (RA) for those who are not familiar, this post had already been pigeonholed for that purpose but came with a bit of a bonus.

A call from Adrian Tugwell to alert me to the arrival of the Solar Panel Cleaning Team, which he never fails to do after something of a bad start, not attributed to him or his crews.

(A longish tale of woe which we may cover in detail at a later date)

I am told that the detritus gathering on the panes can at time cut production by as much as 20%, a shilling or two in itself, so the cleaning takes place at least twice a year. 

Being a property of 2 seperate halves, you have to transit the B3073 from the Southern Sector

 to get to the northern side before reaching the bridleway

Northbound 

towards the Sewerage Works

and

Southbound

 towards home. either side there are Solar Panel compounds, 9 in all, which

on completion of the build was considered the largest of its type in Europe.

 Since then I have yarned with the Tugwell people who tell me their work streches as far as

Holland where some of the continuous runs of panels are 2 to 3 Km long.

We cannot compete with that!

What over the years had been sown with a veriety of cash crops the last of these was turf production which is hard and and intensive work.

I should know I've 'watched' these people for hours!

The main feature of the largest of these, designated Munich by the German construction crews, is an

Early Bronze Age Tumuli

(looking east)

which is not known to have been excavated, except by the 

 BADGERS

but along with the 2 others on the property are valuable to the history of Dorset

HERE COMES the PLANT

 PLENTY OF WATER NEEDED IN THIS GAME

Residents here include a pair of

RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE 

which arrived soon after construction was completed but even though considered a 'pair'

this introduced species from the Continent find it almost impossible to breed in GB.

Here come

The Boys From the Wet Stuff

Other onlookers included the first

MEADOW PIPIT's

Mipits Bathing

and the reappearance of,

or another

GREEN SANDPIPER

Had enough yet? and pass the on Link please!