High Hopes - Pink Floyd

In a bid to finalise the catch up we are a little 'all over the place' with today's post

but doubt that bothers our Valued Readership one iot!!

The remainder of the Fish sequence follow along with other news and images of previous days.

 This was the scene as we left the Heath, haveing activated the 

Moth Traps with towering cumulus just above the tree-tops and the final rays of the Sun 

heralding the Solstice.

There's a feeling I get when I look to the west
and my spirit is crying for leaving!
In my thoughts I have seen
rings of smoke through the trees
and the voices of those who standing looking!

Ooh, and it makes me wonder
Ooh, it really makes me wonder

 COMMON CARP

As the Druids continued their annual chantings, 4 of us gathered at the

Moth Monitoring Station

including one of my 4 apprentices the vivacious

Chloe, Mark Sterling along with brother Phil whom you have all met before.

With the view from the previous evening foremost in our minds, an upbeat weather forecast and no fewer than c11 Traps deployed surely the little critters would be bursting out of the confindes?

DACE
 Not a bit of it, as it was almost the complete Damp Squib, with not even a single addition to the Year List. However, we say 'almost' as Mark had a desire to see the beauty of a

SCARCE MERVEILLE du JOUR

a creature that has been absent from his life for the last 42 yea

as luckily the recent trend of catching them on a daily basis continued.

FOUR-SPINED STICKLEBACK

 That also held true, except for the long absence, for the diminutive

ROSY MARBLED

which also showed up in decent numbers.

Despite the somewhat dismal turn-out it was roundly agreed it was

a moment not to be missed and to be enjoyed again real soon!

 PERCH
 Having said farewell to my guests it was now time to embark on the
daily rounds of hopefully other creatures.
 Given the season, it was considered a little unusual to see a

LITTLE EGRET

 along the banks of the
Moors River
which could also be said of a

CORMORANT

 at the
Gravel Pit

 in company with a

 a rather splendid

GREY WAGTAIL

 If there was any consolation with the Moths it was the confirmation of a

  GREEN PUG
from the day before, which was duely added to the list as the 216th
Macro Moth Species of the Year.

While thumbing through the Fish photo file we also came across this strange looking

CORNISH LUMPSUCKER

(taken on the last day of July 2014 at Portland Bill)

Those were the days when opportunities arose to hook-up with

Dave 'The Fungal Punk' Higginson Tranter 

one of the most knowlegable Wildlife Warriors ever encountered in my life!

Always sure to come up with the bizzare or exotic he and his acrobate daughter
were always of great value not only to myself but many, many others.
We'd like to think you were reading this Ol' Mate!

Gone Fishing - FISH (Derek Dick)

One of the great overlooked divisions of the 'wild world' is that of the  

PISCINE'S

unless you just happen to be a frogman!

Lucky for me, living within sight of the River Stour, my acquaintances include many 

of the angles who gravitate to this spot as the angling season opens annually on the 15th June.

Always reluctant to divulge their success rate or more particularly their beat,

Anglers, a bit like Bird Watches, are reluctant to discuss such matters.

Knowing my interests in 'catching' them is nonexistent, most are happy to share

the success with me which has allowed for quite a file of images over the years 

now to be shared with our valued readership, in part.

Back along I was an avid Spear-fisherman myself so know the drill!

 First of these is the mighty

BARBEL

accompanied here by none other that the current

Water Baliff - Bill Graham

The intent was to have a

Smoked Salmon Sandwich
for lunch but on opening the packet it was rather thought that an Atlas had been opened

at the U.S.A. page!

 TENCH

To add a little contrast to the post we would also discuss the matter of the

HOUSE MARTIN

BLEAK

(Ian, below, went out and purposefully caught this speies as haveing never heard of such a thing)

as in these restrictive time we have been barred entrance to the airport. 

It is at about this time that we would have hoped to estimate the number of breeding birds

there in what has become a thriving colony of numerous nests,

ROACH

 (known as the 'little boys' fish as being the first a child might catch

mine was from the Attenborough Gravel Pits in Nottinghamshire)

with at this time little beaks ever open!

CHUBB

However, there was an indicator as dozens of adult birds are now 

hawking Insects above the Heath before heading in the direction of the nesting site.

PIKE

caught and presented by

Ian Tilly

one of the annual caravan holidaymakers here with his wife Ruth from the Midlands.

Ian tells me they are already booked for this summer (should indeed summer ever dawn)

and am already looking forward to the re-acquaintance!

Fish, is the front man for the sensational Scottish prog-rock band Marillion who

completely captivated me many years ago. 

While we use the expression 'Prog Rock' their music (and more particularly lyrics) are more

akin to a Social Document of the lives of young people in the tenement blocks of Edinborough!

Having spent a full year shipping in and out of Rosyth during what was

ridiculously described as the Cod War with Iceland, the city became very familiar to me,

as did the people with these lyrics suming it up perfectly!
It's six o'clock in the tower blocks the stalagmites of culture shock
And the trippers of the light fantastic, bow down, hoe-down
Spray their pheromones on this perfume uniform
And anarchy smiles in the Royal Mile
And we're waiting on the slyboys, flyboys, wideboys
Rooting, tooting cowboys
Lucky little ladies at the watering holes
They'll score the Friday night goals
I was born with a Heart of Lothian

From the album

Misplaced Childhood 
(I Saw a Magpie in a Rainbow)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-aocgsE8-Q

5 of the finest musicians the world ever produced, Fish - Vocals, Ian Mosley - Drums, Pete Trewaves - Bass Guitar, Mark Kelly - Keyboards and Steve Rothery - Lead Guitar

Marillion (the name derived from JRR Tolkien) who are surely 

The Heart's of Lothian!

All of this should surely be endorsed with an airing of their follow-up album

Clutching at Straws
(but still drowning - Yeah!)