Compton Bassett (Sunday 21st February 2016)

I discovered the footpath beyond Low Lane at the north-east end of Calne almost two years ago to the day, and meant to return in better weather. Since then I've seen a lot of pictures taken by other people showing the range of wildlife to be found there, including a family of red kites, but this was the first time I'd made it back there.

The path leads to the side of some gravel workings and landfill sites run by Hills so there are a lot of scavenging birds and gulls as well as waterfowl of many varieties. I had forgotten how saturated the ground is there and the walk was quite boggy. At the start of the path I saw a massive rook roost and a red kite flew overhead, and shortly afterwards I encountered a pair of buzzards.

When I reached the lakes I found that they had been drained and further deep excavations were in place. Additionally, safety screens had been placed beside the footpath obscuring the views, but there appeared to be very little birdlife there at the time. I walked on much further than the time before and almost reached the exit at the other end, at Compton Bassett, and at my destination I found this small lake that had not been emptied, with just two coots bobbing across it. Next time I think I will begin at the Compton end, and at a different time of day.

L.
22.2.2016 (1142 hr)

Blip #1765 (#2015 including archived blips)
Consecutive Blip #005
Day #2159
LOTD #999 (#1123 including archived blips)

Taken with Pentax K-50 (Red) and Pentax HD P-DA 55-300mm F4-5.8 ED WR lens

Landscape series
Calne series

Lozarhythm Of The Day:
The Soul Sisters - I Can't Stand It (recorded 1963)
I first knew this song by the Spencer Davis Group with Stevie Winwood on lead vocals when I was a teenager (and Spencer Davis was on my paper round), but soon discovered this original on a single which came out on the Sue label. It was written by Smokey McAllister, who had managed the Jewels. It must be the Soul Sisters' best known song as there are half a dozen other cover versions. I was reminded of it on this day when Cerys Matthews played it on 6 Music.
The Soul Sisters are Tresia Cleveland and Ann Gissendanner, from New York NY, and this single reached  No. 8 on the R&B charts and 46 on the US pop charts, and they are  understood to be performing still.