A Trick of the Tail - Genesis

 By and large our day was very reminiscent of part of the lyric of the Genesis track Squonk from the album - A Trick of the Tail.

Alive at both ends but a little dead in the middle. A tumbling and a bumbling we will go! 

On no more than a whim we decided to do the rounds in what is considered ‘reverse order’

which is to say heading firstly to the south where we found what may be considered as either A, 

PEREGRINE as First for the Year

or 'THE' Peregrine as maybe a returning bird but in ether event always so distant it always has to be verified by the use of the telescope, and as the lyric goes "alive at one end" before "bumbling" into a similarly

First for the Year

JACK SNIPE
in the idealy sodden former Sunflower Field. Mid-Water and there were no returns from the Moth Trap - not even a Dor Beetle and very few Birds. As if by way of compensation the first

CATKINs

Gently Swaying in the Breeze
which may have been an adequate end to
"a little dead in the middle"

but No as disaster struck when meeting 2 young men on the outside of the Solar Panel Compound fenceline and asking what might be their business there considering the sensitivity of the area and were they had found the party gate bulldozed and used as an

'Aftermath' (The Rolling Stones) 

entry point for their burgled buisiness premisses on the distant Industrial Estate close to Bournemouth International Airport to the tune of £60,000, dead in the middle of it as far as the lyrics are concerned.

There were 3 stout padlocks and chains on the gateway to the Heath so from the damage whatever must have been a mighty powerful vehicle to clear that.
Being duty bound to check in with Brighter Green the Solar Panel Parent Company both entering and exiting the compounds there was found to be just one glimmer of hope as one of the security cameras was activated at 20:42 so we now await the outcome?? and to qualify for live at both ends the first

BLACKCAP
of the year (a male)

plus a GREY WAGTAIL already seen a couple of times this year.

Little Wing - Jimi Hendrix

 With the overnight temperature hanging on to a balmy +8°C for a while now we have added yet another new moth species to the Annual Moth List by way of:-

DOTTED BORDER

backed up by something of a noticable influx of the more common creatures on the wing.

Garden Birds 

HOUSE SPARROWs

prospecting the Nest Boxes but no signs of nesting material carrying quite yet while others
further north at the Sewerage Works was found a small increase in

CHIFFCHAFF

with some having been vocal for a while with presumed new arrival

LONG-TAILED TITs

remain mute but surely it will not be long? while a second male

TUFTED DUCK
has joined the relatively longish-stayer at the Gravel Pit as another lone

RED KITE
cut across that air-space which was certainly not the previous one as all
'secondary feathers' were in place and in tact which just left the Moors River to draw a blank,
on birds but a single

OLD ENGLISH WHITE
at the western extremities of the Heath,

where last but by no means least, a small but uncounted number of just about vocal

SISKINs,
again First for the Year!
There's Always Tomorrow Cus Here Comes the Sun!

All Our Yesterdays - Part II

 Across these mostly lacklustre days we will add a little padding with a few of the sparkling birds of

ECUADOR

to compliment yesterday's Post. Alighting the bus at Machala we fell straight into the arms of

Britsh Ex-Pats Richard and Deirdre and later son Thomas who invited me to their home opening their garden to me, wined me and dined me and gave me shelter through a couple of nights. Most, but not all of the Birds were found in or around that garden.

CRIMSON-RUMPED TOUCANET

TOUCAN BARBET

GOLDEN TANAGER

TRANSPARENT BUTTERFLY

VELVET-PURPLE CORONET
while on a morning visit to the coast

SURFBIRDs

a young
WAVED ALBATROSS

swarms of the superb

INCA TERNs
and lastly before returning to the homestead a

TRICOLOURED HERON
and back at base

RUFOUS MOTMOT
and

INCA JAY
Such Happenings and Kindnesses take some pulling away from!!

All Our Yesterday's Part One

 Something of a watered down epitstle compared to the likes of the Madagascar Triolgy but a few things that caught the eye when grappling through the archive for inspiration! The 2 week organised Birds / Wildlife trip to

VENEZUELA

in 2009 proved to be one of the best yet, although our adventures were usually solo the highlights being the finding of only the second known nest site in that regeon of the amazing

DUSKY STARFRONTLET

and given the distrbution map, Venezuela not even on there, for

FORSTERS TERN
a very rare bird for the country

in general.
A long way to go for just 2 weeks and with still 3 weeks before returning to the Buchan Alpha Oil Rig a spur of the moment decission was made to extend the tour and in the first instance flying to Quito

ECUADOR
and then on no more than yet another whim caught a bus to sea-side town of Salinas for a short stay and fell immediately into the company of

BENITO HAAS
ex-Dutch pat, Wildlife enthusiast and owner of a Whale Museum, yes a Whale Museum.
En-route to his establishment the mile after mile of

SALTPANS
after which the town is named followed by

HUMPBACKED WHALE

MELLON-HEADED WHALE

SMALL WHALE SCULLs

another
HUMPBACKED WHALE

PYGMY KILLER WHALE
to show but a few, but it was the following morning when the real 'excitement' broke as between us we spotted a large, all while Gull

which with a few 'half decent' images

we concluded was a

GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL

which was accepted by the Powers that Be and the First and Only Gull
of the kind for the country!
With the weather being as it is we may have to post a Part II to this magical adventure tomorrow, but we shall see?

ISLA de la PLATA
"it ain't half hot mum"!!