Pretties for You - Alice Cooper

Editor's Note - There was a Post yesterday which for some reason, beyond our control, settled on Wednesday 15th of March?? For further information please contact The Gremlins!

 At last we started hitting into the vein of what may surely be described as the Pretty Things also an English Rock Band not to be confussed with Alice's Mob!

starting with

PINE BEAUTY

then ably backed up by the

STREAMER
not at all a common Insect around here!

Otherwise across a more or less dull day weatherwise, some light releif with still more

FIELDFARE

lingering than might be thought this far into Spring and

MAGPIEs
well into nest building with just the roof to be attached and still no signs of the

EGYPTIAN GOOSE

goslings

but adults still on the banks of the
Moors River
and if we call this plant

SELF HEAL
(which has an abundance of alternative names)
it will surely be
Purple Dead Nettle?

The Neighbour's

CATTLE

again free-ranging
and a few very smart

CHAFFINCH

starting to arrive with another reminder of the

Recent Gales

Out on the Wily, Windy Moor We Roll and Fall in Green - Kate

 In line with recent days again there were Moths found in all of the traps amounting 14 Insects of 4 species before the delight of finding a single pair of

LITTLE GREBE
displaying on both ponds followed by this

FOX
hampering our entry to the Solar Panel Compound which along with the few Moths this

GREEN SANDPIPER

was spotted in the margins and before exit our second

BRIMSTONE BUTTERFLY
of the year while at the party gate with the Heath

where grows this small clump of not yet in flower
HONEYSUCKLE

we found, netted, consigned to the 'cool-box' and then 'clicked' for posterity and our valued readership this also First for Year

HUMMINGBIRD HAWK-MOTH
on the strength of which we decised to give the Heath a further looking at and to put the Horse before the Cart can report that we did not 'see' a single Bird on the ground during that full hour. However, we did 'hear' both drumming Lesser-Spotted Woodpecker close to the rifle range, a number of Chiffchaff at the gateway and an unknown number of Stonechat across the

Heart of the Heath.
No signs of the Goats as we neared the fenced off area so turned our attention to all else around us

including the cone bearing

PINES

The Naked Aspens, always last to come into leaf, with the Gorse
which may be in flower during any month of the year.

It wouldn't be a proper visit without turning the Reptile / Small Mammal Covers (bottom left) where from under the 16 we found

both

SAND LIZARD
and

SLOE WORM
with a bonus

FIELD VOLE
and we need not have feared for the absence of the

GOATS

as they raced towards us

on exiting.

The Land of Make Believe - Bucks Fizz Part II

 Having wandered the vast expance of the Mountain Stepp over an all to short a period it was a no-brainer as to where we might venture next

the even wider vista of the

GOBI DESERT
so caught the next train to

SAYNSHAND

in the far south-western area close to the boarder with China while of note was the small boy lower right corner who we discovered later was hoping to find his long lost parents in Beijing. It may also be of interest to note that on reaching the Chinese border all the wheels of the train are changed as of a different guage!

Having hardly settled in our seats we immediately fell into the company of some of Mongolia's most revered Television Stars, the most famous of which was, Batzorig (seen siting here with Jim the Medic) meaning Courageous and Strong! As the beer started to flow we decided it a good idea to wander through the train singing English songs and collecting money to aid the young lads search and gathered more than a "Fist Full of Dollars"! On arrival close to midnight it was readily agreed that none of us had ever seen so many Heavenly Bodies and there was a taxi seemingly just waiting to take us to a nearby

HOTEL
As morning broke we awoke to the company of a Mongolian gentleman who said he had been waiting for us to rise and intoduced himself as the Dean and Professor of the cities University, and also admitted there was an 'ulterior motive' to his wait as in exchange for inviting us to a Cook's Tour he would also be able to practice his command of English - sounded like a good deal to us!

Looks Like a Desert

BACTRIAN CAMELs

TEMPLE ARCHWAY

More Sand

having lost Jim and Billy temporarily then invited to join in a Mongolian Picnic

Show me the Way to go Home

Discovering the Roc Oil Base with Armed Guards at each corner.
Invited in and made welcome, but it went well beyond Welcome when we disclosed we were in the Same Industry back in U.K. -HIC!

Yet Another Ovoo!
and finally, no Birds found in the heart of the

GHOBI

Your Taxi Awaits

I'M BOARED, I'M the CHAIRMAN of the BOARED - Iggy Pop

 The day started with the loudest and best attended Dawn Chorus of the year which even included a

NUTHATCH
and a couple of yelps from a passing

GREY HERON
and if that were not enough both John and Dave disagreed with my identification of the recent

EXCAVATIONS

as compared with Badger's
which they both thought, without consultation, to be that of

WILD BOAR

a creature that has only been seen once in my lifetime with these images showing that

Magic Moment from Estonia
and from the Solar Panel Compound Moth Trap a

First for the Year

GREY SHOULDER-KNOT
bringing up the 15th species of the year along with the return of a

DOR BEETLE
plus a couple more

OAK BEAUTIES
and Best until Last

across the drizzle and gloom

we happened upon

our first

True Migrant Bird of the Year

this male

WHEATEAR

we will be hoping for better images as the weather clears and more birds move in!