Vicious weather again

The safari once again was kept indoors by bad weather, which gave us the opportunity to sort through another bag of stamps and see what 'oddballs' with a story popped out.
After an early lunch an improvement in the weather gave us the chance to nip out to the park but alas yesterday's juvenile Black Tern was long gone. Over 50 House Martins hawking insects over the weather was a fine sight on a blustery afternoon but not really recompense for the lack of the tern.

The French are just takin the Michael with this one of Large Copper.

Wouldn't mind bumping into one of those exotic critters on our travels. Crackin little animal is the Yellow Footed Rock Wallaby the most colourful and well marked of all the marsupials. This animal was recently very rare and vulnerable but with good conservation mamagement has come back from the brink and there are now several thriving populations within its former range.

Much more likely (or perhaps not, these days) to bump into a Water Vole.

Malta it seems can celebrate its plants, shame it can't do the same for its birds - just think how brilliant a bird observatory or could be. Those butterflies' days are numbered too, when they run out of birds in the summer the 'hunters' practice by shooting at butterflies!!!

The wedged boulder called Kjeragbolten has a drop of 'only' 976m (3202 feet; or 3 feet less than England's highest mountain Scafell Pike) down to the bottom below it. Another of our Extreme Photographer's favourite places..we did tell you he is an Extreme sort of a guy.





Never mind the kids lead poisoning is the biggest problem facing the successful re-introduction of Californian Condors in the western states due to them eating shot infested carrion.

You thought yesterday's ancient finds were old? This one is pre 2nd June 1953 when Elizabeth II was crowned after her father's (chap on the stamp, George VI) death earlier in the year...no Penny Black's have turned up yet.

UNESCO declared falconry as a Cultural Heritage in 2010; which is possibly what the writing at the top of the stamp says, my Arabic isn't that good. Snhame they haven't done the same for the conservation of Little Bustards in northern Africa too.

Hey hey...our common or garden Green Shore Crab has found its way onto a stamp!!!

Will we live long enough to witness this again??? Winning Euro 2012 would go some way to ataining the euphoria a second World Cup win would bring. BTW see the famous towers behind Bobby's raised arm...my brother-in-law was on the team that demolished them :(
Where to next? To watch the annhilation of Wales of course...yeah right!

In the meantime let us know who's qualifying in your outback.