Albatrross - Fleetwood Mac - Part I

Armed with a little 'good advice' from our valued friend Mark Forster
my then ladyfriend Sue Hallam (who I still thankfully see occassionaly) and I embarked on
what for anyone would be a 
Trip of a Lifetime!
Starting in Beijing and for the second time conquering the Great Wall, we then moved on to
Xian to marvel at probably the most fantastic sight either of us had ever witnessed the
Terracotta Army.
Transiting south overland with 'stop offs' we spent a few days in Hong Kong before doing similarly in
Brunei - fabulous!
Flying into Perth, Australia we the drove the coastal path to Cape Leeuwin the most south westerly point on the continent before spending 5 days in the Stirling Ranges, WA.
From there it was to Darwin from where we flew to a flooded Alice Springs (the highest rainfall ever recorded) then the Ghan Train to Adelaide then onward to Sydney to visit some of my family members. A decent amount of time was spent on both North and South Islands of New Zealand but it was on the latter that the afore mentioned 'good advice' kicked in! Mark had recommeded

"if you do nothing else, be sure to pay Captain Gary Melville of  Kaikoura a visit"
so we did and this is just part of what we found!!

 The lie of the land before leaving harbour.

 Not the best of New Zealand views but nonetheless still spectacular.

A few 'Goodies' even before reaching the open ocean.

BLACK-BILLED GULL

a breeding colony of

 WHITE-FRONTED TERN

 PINTADO PETREL
(Painted Petrel)

 sometimes refered to as

Cape Petrel

before encountering our first, but by no means last,

 Albatross

 WANDERING ALBATROSS

 Only 5 of us on the boat made for perfect viewing

with some close ups of

 DUSKY DOLPHIN

 HUTTON'S SHEARWATER

KELP GULL

NEW ZEALAND FUR SEAL

The other 'seal' was that of approval and we were only still half way through.

Keep Watching!

One in the Hand is worth 2 in the Bush - Part II

Continuing the Space Filler while times remain tough 

Out in the Field.

 FIRECREST

(along with the Goldcrest Great Britain's smallest bird)

at the Portland Bird Observatory (PBO)

 SUB-ALPINE WARBLER

 at the same location with the

 JACKDAW

on our own patch

 STORM PETREL

was caught overnight by the Buchan Alpha Standby Boat

and sent up to me the following morning.

  ROBIN

of the juvenile kind are an annual catch locally and where possible returned to nest or close local.

 Where this image of the 'rare' 

PADDYFIELD WARBLER

 originated from is not known as there are no details in 'properties.

Having spent long periods in the Far and Middle East while visiting a 

number of 'ringing stations' it could be from anywhere but my gut tells me it was 'wonderful'

TAIWAN?

While back on the Oil Rig any day without a

 KITTIWAKE

was 'rarity' in itself but a couple of decent other 'rareties' manifested themselves as

 LAPLAND BUNTING

and

LITTLE BUNTING

The happy ending to this particular story was that this 'tiny thing' 

was loaded aboard a Bristow's Helicopter the following day and flown to 

Aberdeen.

From there it was collected by a bone fide 'ringer' who then transported it to

the tiny village of Cove, just 5 miles south of the city, duely 'ringed'

before being released to what was described as a large (for the village) and

appreciative crowd - never to be heard of again!

However, that was by no means the 'rarest' bird ever captured on 

Buchan Alpha!

Back at the 'Bill' a decent trio of Warblers across the years were

 MELODIOUS WARBLER

 The 'scarce'

MARSH WARBLER

one of my luckiest records as entering the PBO that day Martin was walking

directly towards me with this 'Lifer' for me in his clutches!

(it is also of coincidence that there is one. on this day of compossiotion, at

Bestwall Dorset a stone's throw from here.

PALLAS'S (sometimes refered to as Leaf) WARBLER

Others there have included

 RING OUZEL

 LESSER WHITETHROAT

 NIGHTINGALE

and

REED WARBLER

to name but a few.

However, as usually traditional, the BEST is left until last as a personal opinion.

Nothing at the PBO has ever outshone the Magical

 PALLID SWIFT

of 

10/11/1984

 Not only as a 'rarity' found 'grounded' by a lady some miles away

who also had the wit to phone the Warden

but as a bird that usually 'never lands' save for in the breeding season.

By comparison but by no mean as rare, the 'highlight' onboard the

BUCHAN ALPHA

Floating Semi-submersible Oil Production Platform

was the presumed night-time arrival of a

 SHORT-TOED LARK

 which was easily caught at roost

 with the ever present kid's fishing net.

Buchan Alpha Moonpool

the opening at the centre of the vessel through which all 

Pipework, Cables and Blow-out Preventers etc

pass onward to the sea-bed!

HERE'S A SALUTE TO 18 FANTASTIC YEARS

in the Off-shore Industry and the company of some Fine Crews.

This post is dedicated to my ex-Boss and Very Good Freind

Off-Shore Instalation Manager

Les Evens

You left us too early Old Ships!

One in the Hand is worth 2 in the Bush - Part I

During the Depression we once again cling to the 

ARCHIVE

to at least bring our discerning and valued

READERSHIP

a little succour! 

Bird Ringing and other ways of monitoring Animal life are vital to

note trends in all species, but as far as our avian friends are concerned there is an added

bonus should you be one of the lucky or calculationg few.

Watching the process, mainly at the

Portland Bird Observatory (PBO),

and being a life-long mariner has brought with it that valued experience of viewing 

Birds in the Hand.

Here are 3 or 4 dozen, both 'common' and exremely 'rare' which will cove 2 posts!

We start on a personal note when a couple of years ago, while driving back to base 

we found and caught this

 BARN OWL

(in our own backyard)

which was seen to have blood on its face but still a trial for a

Fat Lad to catch!

 A couple of holidaymakers (you remember holidaymakers)

showed great interest in the bird and volunteered to traspot it to the

Ringwood Owl Sanctuary

where, unfortunately, it died overnight.

 A fairly scarce

YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER

(PBO)

 Far, far more uncommon

BARRED WARBLER

(PBO)

 A common garden bird the

WREN

this one finding its way into the Farmhouse lounge 

with the fleet footed (myself) managing to catch it.

An absolute delight to observe even on 'home turf' in the heart of a 

Reed Bed

 BEARDED TIT

has to be high on just about everybodies favourites list

 but seen in the hand, again at the PBO,

WOW!

 BLACKCAP

(male)

 BLACKCAP

(female)

 TREE PIPIT

 BRAMBLING

 SWALLOW

(this quartet of relatively 'common' birds all mist netted at the PBO)

 CETTI'S WARBLER

 another denizen of the redbed more ofted heard than seen.

(Radipole Lake)

 WATER RAIL,

maybe not thought of by some as a long distant migrant, was captured onboard the

Buchan Alpha Floating Oil Production Platform

in the

North Sea.

 A complimentary ticket was issued, transpoted to Aberdeen by

Bristow's Helicopter, 'ringed' and released into a local reedbed.

 (male)

and

 (female)

REDSTART

were again visitors to the PBO while back on 

 Buchan Alpha

we had captures an exhausted

COMMON TERN

 and we leave you, for this Post at least with a 

Right Bobby Dazzler.

As the second hand ticked past mid-night heralding my 60th birthday in stroad the

Chief Engineer

anouncing "eer's your birthday present Bags, an many more of them"!

 He handed me a cotton bag of the type issued to all of the crew just in case of such an occassion,

the Catching of Birds that is in oppose to my Birthday's

in which was found an active 

 LITTLE STINT

the first for me in the hand

and the first for the 

North Sea Bird Club

which acts in the same way as any County Bird Club with its own

Recorder, Rarities and General Committee.

WATCH OUT FOR MORE TO COME IN THESE LEAN TIMES!