Through the Trees - The Hansome Family

 The first vestiges of what might be considered a Dawn Chorus met our ears as we swung out of the Hammock, provided in turn by c2

ROBINs
and a backing track from one of the local and most raucous

KESTREL
No signs of life within the now single Moth Trap, and not even any rain water, but looking along the line of security cameras

we found the return of the first

RAVEN
of the year at a favoured perch but with nothing else to delay us, not even the Red-legges Partridge we left to investigate the cacophony of a Waterfowl Chorus coming from what was previously the Moors River which has now become an even wider spread Flood Plain. First to show through the dense barrier of trees something of a rare visitor to our 'patch' a male

GOOSANDER
not only a first for the year, but the first for a very long time!

The 'honking' came long before we clapped eyes on a decent number of

GREYLAG GEESE
which some readers may remember as the 'first species of the year' while the full beat of the watercourse is difficult enough to survey

through the trees with a number of the

SILVER BIRCHES
now adorned by deformed growths known as

WITCHES BROOMSTICKs

Finally, we decided that it might be 3rd time lucky if we made another seach of  Bounemouth International Airport Buisiness Park where stands the offices / workshops of

HONEYWELL
which bring back memorise as being the providers of the Station Keeping Equipment on all 3 of the Floating Semi-Submecible Oil Rigs on which we served. Also within was the object of our desire and yet another addition to the Year List

a couple of grounded (usually on the rooftops)

LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLs

7 Drunken Nights - The Dubliners

 While we are not exactly snowed under by new additions to the Bird Year List it was a little sad that we forgot to add yesterday's

GREENFINCH
by virtue of the fact that it was at the same perch, singing its head off, the following morning.

Otherwise, things were laboriously slow with a pair of 

MALLARD
cosying up on the float at the Irrigation Pond while it can now be seen that the

PUDDLE of MUD
is a flatterned area of road shavings.

Better news at the Gravel Pit where our second addition to the Year List awaited with 2 x

COMMON SNIPE
feeding 'line astern'.

Across the Southern Paddocks the

FIELDFARE
remain feeding in treble figures, while the

CORMORANT

on the Main Pond was about as obliging as it could be.
Of all the Bird Species recorded on the day the most prolific were an unusual number of

WRENs

which led us to producing this short cameo on the subject from over the years.
Nest

within one of the Horse Feeding Stations

Rescued from a Ladies Boudoir

JUVENILE

Nest in the Garage
and finally something of a novelty, these

WAXWINGs
are not DEAD but DRUNK from the alchohol within the fruits they had been eating, we have no idea of the origins of the image?

Mister Blue Sky - E.L.O.

 Not to much of that across the day but like the Curits Egg "Blue in Parts!"

What a start to the day as we recieved news along with an image from Dave of one of the
GOLDEN TWIN-SPOT 

having reached maturity!

Otherwise, and while still remaining dry but gloomy we first encountered a

BROWN RAT
at the Chicken Coop, our next-door neighbours, followed by

probably the biggest and most unexpectted surprise ever as the large
TERRAPIN

(once seen almost daily but having been lost for well over a year now)
slowly climbed out of the Main Pond!!!! Far more likely and new for the year were the c2

COMMON SNIPE
at the Gravel Pit with exactly the same combination there of

SHELDUCK

Unsurprising, no Moths but within the Solar Panal Compound another

First for the Year

LINNET
Not prepared to drive all the way round to the only openable gate, with the likelyhood of getting bogged-down, we climbed the Party Gate onto the Heath and walked, yes WALKED a novalty in itself, for a couple of circuits to be rewarded with a

DARTFORD WARBLER

the fist of the year under that all to brief patch of
"Mister Blue Sky"

and ditto as this ragged
RED KITE,
a distinguishable occassional visitor, and from under the 16 Reptile / Mammal covers

just this single but very welcome

FIELD VOLE

and thereafter a similarly lone

WOODLARK

bringing up our 53rd species of the year!

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