Here's the lowdown on my Augusts from the dim and distant past ..... Aug 1st 1987 Black-winged Stilt, my first, at Holme , Norfolk. Brilliant. 1987 Marsh Sandpiper, Cley, later that same day. 2004 I found a Pec Sand at Conder Green, Lancs. Aug 2nd 2002 Two Ruddy Shelducks at Chew Valley Lake. 2005 Juv. Pec Sand at the Eric Morecambe Pools Aug 3rd. Nuffink. Aug 4th 2002 2 Sooty Shearwaters off Lizard Point. Excellent. Aug 5th 1999 Marsh Sandpiper at Marshside Marsh, Liverpool. 2003 Great White Egret at Allan/Eric Morecambe Complex at Leighton Moss ... I wrote the excellent fully illustrated description. Aug 6th 1990 Sooty Shearwaters, Bacton Cliffs, Norfolk. Aug 7th 1987 Crane, my first, Horsey, Norfolk. Aug 8th Nothing Aug 9th 2002 Balearic Shearwater, after some "probables" at Lizard Point on 4th and 8. Aug 10th 1987 Purple Heron, Welney, Norfolk.... smashing. Aug 11th 2002 Cirl Bunting ... Exminster hospital footy fields... my first, and only. Aug 12th 2003 Male Black Duck at Porthloo Duck Pond. Aug13th 2003 2 Wilson's Petrels from the Kingfisher Scilly Pelagic . Woo !! Aug 14th 1998 My first Storm Petrel, from the Douglas-Heysham ferry. 2004 Cory's Shearwater, Sabine's Gull and Wilson's + 5 Bonxies and 20 Storm Petrels from a Scilly pelagic on the Sapphire.Terrific. Aug 15th 1979 Bonaparte's Gull, Bangor, N. Ireland. I stood in the same puddle with it. 1993 Honey Buzzard, Swanton Novers Gt. Wood. Aug 16th 2003 1 Med Shearwater, 1 Bonxie from the Sapphire pelagic. Aug 17th 1993 Oriental Pratincole, Titchwell, Norfolk. Bloody amazing. 2004 Coming back on the Scillonian 3, a Sooty Shearwater + 4 Storm Petrels. Aug 18th 1999 Semi-palmated Sandpiper, Belfast Harbour. Aug 19 Zilch Aug 20 Zero Aug 21 Nowt Aug 22 Absolutely nothing at all. Aug 23 1993 Buff-breasted sandpiper, Lane Ends, Pilling. 1994 Icterine Warbler, St. Mary's Island, Newcastle. Smashing. 1999 Long-billed Dowitcher, Belfast Harbour 2003 White-winged black Tern, Conder Green, Lancaster. ( I got news of it while I was still on Scilly .... but it waited for me specially. Aug 24 1996 Black-winged Pratincole ...Leighton Moss, and on 27th. Wizzard !!! Aug 25 A complete blank. Aug 26 2002 5 Red-crested Pochards at Leighton Moss Lower hide. Aug 27 1996 The pre-mentioned BWP at LM. Aug 28 A sea of nothingness. Aug 29 2001 White-rumped Sandpiper at Leighton Moss ( stayed to 1st Sept.) Aug 30 1987 Woodchat Shrike at Lytham, Lancs. Aug 31 1987 Wryneck, Lytham Railway Platform. Nearly landed on Morris Jones' head. Well... only 7 empty days. And some excellent birds. And many moments of pleasure. That song is all about the people in her life that have died ... she meets them one by one, for a fleeting moment as they disappear into the darkness. I hadn't heard it for years, but yesterday I was reading a Simon Armitage poem and he mentions it .... he writes about a song with " Here come the hills of time" in it.
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AS you all know, throughout this lockdown thingy I've been trundling round my dinky 3k local patch. One thing it does is .. it reminds you about various birds that simply aren't there any more. and one of them is ... kingfisher . They vanished from one of their "haunts", as us older folk call them, three or four years ago for reasons unknown, but there's lots of possibilities. I've been up and down the place for many hours, and there's not been a sign of them. But ...last year I found an alternative stretch of water where I did find them. On average, I would "get" one for every 3 hours of walking. That was fine ... it is a lovely walk as well. But this year, going over the same route, I've seen none at all ... and that's over a total walking time (twt) of about 25 hours. Maybe they've gone somewhere else. But why? And where ? But death is, maybe, a likelier fate. All it takes to wipe them out are old age, random accidents ( fishing-line-entanglements are a noticeable hazard) and getting clouted by vehicles as they go overland from one spot to another ... and many more. But my question is .... for how many hours can you NOT find them before you start thinking that they've gone ? This is a dilemma that all us observers/surveyors/casual strollers face. Perhaps there is some magic formula for "that sort of thing." But I don't think so .... On a completely different tack ... last night looked really good for my 3rd sighting of Comet Neowise... the skies were clear at 9pm .... but when I looked out as the darkness set in, the blasted clouds rolled in yet again. I even got the scope out of the car in advance so I could have a go at a stunning crapsnap of it. I probably should have left it there ... There's that age-old rhyme ,known throughout the birdwatching community .. ..and it applies to astronomical events too .. If you bring your bins, You'll probably see nowt. And if you forget to take them, You definitely won't. T'was not to be. Yet another evening of looking up at nothing. But ...here's a punchy spot of music .... Here's four " beginnings" from four different months of the year, and four different places. And your mission, should you wish to attempt such a thing, is to work out, using all your experience, knowledge and your, er, brain ..... which month each one represents... there's clues in there to help you along the Wibbly-Wobbly Way to Wisdom so, here we go ... .. right then, the next Big Brain-Baffler looms into view ... By now you should be feeling Kwite Konfident and/or Suitably Smug .... ..at last, the Conk-Cracking-Calendar-Crunching -Challenge .... Blimey .... there were quite a few helpful clues in there, but pinning it down to the exact month wasn't a complete doddle. Not at all. And nor, I think, was this ... if all is what it seems ... Je me fais la nique
Les mains dans le blouson Tout mon corps me pique C'est la salaison Quand ils loadent leurs bras Elles rient de bonté Tic tic et tac, ça semble écrit sur le papier Ma tristesse infectera ma mâchoire Plus je convoite et moins je suis belle à voir C'est comme un merle, la fille que tu crois retenir Tape, tape, t'appuies au hasard pour la faire jouir Que faire De l'énergie que j'perds Quand j'te veux Damn, dis-moi comment mieux Que faire De l'énergie que j'perds Quand j'te veux Damn, dis-moi comment mieux (Touché, touché yeah) Je suis allée noyer ma fame puisque c'est elle qui t'a plu Un billet pour Stella qui sucera mes amours déçus Dans le noyau des villes, ils m'interpellent depuis leur quechu' «T'es-t'es-t'es qui? De la monnaie, pas des vendus!» Revenue au matin pleine de sueur Mon corps menti entre les bras du passeur Accroupie, laisser toute la meute rager T'es-t'es-t'es qui pour me traiter, pour me traiter, toi? [Christine and the Queens & DâM-FunK] Que faire De l'énergie que j'perds Quand j'te veux Damn, dis-moi comment mieux Que faire De l'énergie que j'perds Quand j'te veux Damn, dis-moi comment mieux Chris, I don't know why you trippin' Touché, touché, touché, touché Touché, touché, touché, touché Touché, touché, touché, touché Touché, touché, touché, touché (You got to keep on rollin' girl Keep rollin', rollin') (B-b-b-baby) Touché, touché, touché, touché (B-b-b-baby) Touché, touché, touché, touché (B-b-b-baby) Touché, touché, touché, touché (Oh no) Touché, touché, touché, touché Yeah Today is Pi Approximation Day. What is Pi Approximation Day? It's always on the 22nd of July because that's 22/7... ...which is the commonest Pi approximation ... but there's loads of others .. 22/7 = 3.14285714286 ... 355/113 = 3.141592620 ... 52163/16604 = 3.141592387 ..... 86953/27678 = 3.1415926006 ... and then there's this sort of thing ... " infinite series" ... Pi/2 = 2/1 x 2/3 x 4/3 x 4/5 x 6/5 x 6/7 ........ and on and on .. ( and on) and Pi/4 = 1 - a third + a fifth - a seventh + a ninth -one eleventh + one thirteenth..... ...and so they go on for ever and ever. Every calculation of pi is just an approximation ..... even though computers have generated thousands of digits of pi, they can never get all of it. And you might think ... what use, for us birders, is pi ? Well, I needed it to work out the area of my 3km-radius local patch. 16-the-3k.html 880-crafty-calculations.html ( There's more, but I can't find them) ( If you find them, let me know) There's also a fascinating post-from-the-past-that-I-can't-find in which a bird surveyor had 3 circular survey areas to cover,and all three circles were touching each other like 3 beer-mats. Each had , if I remember rightly, a radius of 1km. And my π -related question was ... was was the area of that space in the middle ? That should keep you busy for a while. Meantime, here's a mesmerising video .. Christine and the Queens .. "Tilted" ... I die way before Methuselah
So I'll fight sleep with Ammonia And every morning with eyes all red I'll miss them for the tears they shed But I'm actually good Can't help it if we're tilted I am actually good Can't help it if we I am actually good Can't help it if we're tilted I am actually good Can't help it if we're tilted I miss prosthesis and mended souls Trample over beauty while singing their thoughts I match them with my euphoria When they said, "Je suis plus folle que toi." But I'm actually good Can't help it if we're tilted I am actually good Can't help it if we I am actually good Can't help it if we're tilted I am actually good Can't help it if we're tilted Nous et la man on est de sortie Pire qu'une simple moitié on compte à demi-demi Pile sur un des bas côtés comme des origamis Le bras tendu paraît cassé tout n'est qu'épis et éclis Ces enfants bizarres Crachés dehors comme par hasard Cachant l'effort dans le griffoir Et une creepy song en étendard qui fait: I'm doing my face With magic marker I'm in my right place Don't be a downer I'm doing my face With magic marker I'm in my right place Don't be a downer I am actually good Can't help it if we're tilted I am actually good Can't help it if we I am actually good Can't help it if we're tilted I am actually good Can't help it if we're tilted I am actually good Can't help it if we I am actually good Can't help it if we're tilted I am actually good Can't help it if we're tilted Well, something is, according to this headline ... I didn't turn to page 25 ... no. I made my own list of 10 possible reasons. Which I will show you shortly. But we'll have the music spot first, so as to give you some time to make your own list of Possible Pigeon Popping-off-to-sleep Problems ... could it be that they're living in a dump ? Well, here's my Top Ten Reasons Why Pigeons and Magpies are Awake at Night. [1] The Terrible weather we've be getting lately .... gales, torrential rain etc [2] Liverpool fans and their noisy celebrations. [3] Illegal raves ? [4] 5G ??? [5] Toppling statues .... where can pigeons poo without them ? [6] The racket other birds make. [7] Noisy Traffic ... or the Lockdown Lack of Traffic. [8] Revellers swarming out of newly-opened pubs. [9] Dangerous cladding on hundreds of tower blocks. Favourite Pigeon Spots. [10] Eating too many of those discarded takeaways. There's a whole Universe of Possibilities .... but here's the Official Reason... So ...at least that's shed some light on the subject, in an illuminating sort of way. So, if you've got a shed with a night-light on it, shed it immediately.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Comet update ... weather far too crap... so far I've seen it twice ... 1st time, good. 2nd time ... thin cloud made it very pale. Next few nights don't look good either. Yes ... birders can be mothers too. It could be happening to you. Be cautious, if you have a go Your leisure time will sink to zero, They do you in,those early mornings So take heed of my well-meant warnings Birds and Moths will be your end And slowly drive you round the bend! Personally ..I've taken up philately. Latterly. There's the "Moth in Question" ..only the size of my little fingernail. Dinky. So naturally I looked it up in my Pyralid Moth book ... but it wasn't in there. ....so I turned to my "proper"moth book ...Skinner ! The book. The "Mother's Bible" and Vade Mecum !!! BUT ... I can't find the blasted thing . It looks like this. I'm hoping some of you have got your own, find-able copy and can look it up for me. Remember the size ... "little fingernail" in my self-devised body-bits-measurement-system which generally does the job. But more of that later. Tell you what ... I'll shrink that photo down to get the moth down to its real size .. but that depends on the size of your screen ... a lot bigger than mine, I think .. so just pick the one that's little-fingernail-size out of this array ... And as for music, how about this ....... ? Avid readers will remember vividly my groundbreaking article featuring Eeyore's House List....... 788-the-house-at-pooh-corner.html And after a barrage of requests for more of "that sort of thing" I have prepared a few more ... starting, of course, with Piglet's friend WOL. Here's Wol's tree-house ... note the unusual bell-pull .... more on that later .. As far as house-listing goes, so far so good. Generally speaking, being high up should boost your list... but not too high of course. So he's probably OK with that. But ...being in a wood, which looks likely in Wol's case, can be a bit restricting. You haven't got your broad vistas, your views of high-overhead scarce migrants and the like. But, as it happens, owls have very acute hearing and would be able to pick them up on call. But .. what about windows ... where's those vital window-based look-out points? Aha ! There they are ... a bit on the small side, but then , so is Wol. Are there any round the back? There's no mention of any. So ...what about the interior ... that might give us a clue ... Good signs would be big picture windows, well-organised shelves of the best bird books available, maybe a scope set up by the best viewpoint , no visitors to distract from the main task of house-listing .... Hmmm... it all looks a bit pokey to me .... and no sign of organisation/bird books/ telescopes, binoculars, framed photographs of Bill Oddie ..to be honest, it looks more like a tip full of layabouts. But ... on the plus side, he does appear to have a barometer. .... Oh dear ! O Weh O Weh ! What has given rise to this shambolic scene? But we must try to be positive ... it's quite possible that they've just been celebrating getting Hoopoe on Wol's house list ..which brings him up to 47. Our only hope is, he might eventually find a Mrs Wol, who will get that shameful shambles shipshape shortly. So he's messed things up a bit.... don't we all, but with my advice maybe he can stop making the same mistakes .. ..and now, here's some earlier " Celebrity House Lists" ...
778-whats-their-house-list-no-1.html 780-whats-their-house-list-2.html and, for those with lapses of memory ... 788-the-house-at-pooh-corner.html 908-celebrity-house-lists-wol.html I've just thought ... there's an obvious question I haven't asked .. or answered. Here it is ... can he count himself on his house list ? And here's another thing ... my House Mammal List is incredibly small... .... can I tick myself ? ... and if you haven't read that book, even in German like wot I 'ave, here's a spoiler alert .. S P O I L E R ..... that Bell-Pull is Eeyore's tail ! ..... but that's another story. and my German blog should be find-able at ... https://therockyroadtogerman.weebly.com/ At the end of the previous post I put " I still haven't found what I'm looking for" in The Music Spot ... and suggested that it should be a " birder's anthem", a song to sing on the way back from a drastic and deadly DIP. So ... I then thought ...there must be loads of unintentional but luckily appropriate " birder's songs" in the "Pantheon of Pop Music" which could cover most scenarios from the mundane to the fantastic and from the disastrous and to the slightly irksome. So I'm going to find some and put them on here. And any suggestions from you out there would be very welcome... ...either as comment, or email at [email protected] ..and here's a few I've selected already ... #1 Drive all night ... #2 ... The Waiting #3 Eye to the Telescope .. #4 Passenger Seat.. surely he's not really looking up at satellites and shooting stars ... he's really looking for birds. Obviously. It's a pity that such a gorgeous song should contain a major flaw. There's no way you can get confused as to the difference between shooting stars and satellites ! Satellites crawl across the sky, whereas shooting stars whizz across in a second or two. Often less than that. And ...by the way ... I "ticked" Comet Neowise last night. Woo ! Jings!! Briwsion !!! 11:53 pm .... walked down the street ..... looked to the right of the Plough and a little bit down ..there it was, tail trailing upwards, away from the sun ( which, of course, was well below the horizon) , looking terrific in the starry background. After nights and nights of cloud and rain, I got it at last. And it should be good to see over the next few weeks as it gets to slide along, night by night, under the Plough...... There's loads of " how to see it" videos of various levels of usefulness, so I picked this one .. Well... there's the mystery crowd. Are you in there ? They're a drab-looking, rather aged-looking bunch ! Notice the incredibly low percentage of fems and juvs. This morning, scrabbling about in my "office" , I emerged from a huge heap of stuff with a file that I hadn't seen for centuries ... and that picture up there, cut out from a newspaper, was in it. I knew what it was straight away ... I've written about it on here a good while ago, but I can't find it ...such is the hugeness of this bloated, burgeoning concatenation of scribble. I "got"it too, but not amongst that lot. So ... before I reveal what it was, we'll have the music spot, currently rated 5473th best bird-related music spot in the "North of Birmingham" division .. up by 7 ! I chose it specially for its relevance ......it ought to be in the"Birder's Song Book" but unfortunately it doesn't exist ... except, maybe, in one of Oddie's Ouvres. ...here's the sing-along version .... Ok ... back to the distant past ....here's the thing they were looking for ... and now .... the big reveal ... here's the caption that went with that picture ...... well, two captions actually ..... There's plenty more interesting stuff in that hefty file ..... ho-ho !
Ages ago, I wondered if The Big Bird Race could be rerun .... maybe even with some of the original participants. But strangely, it came to nothing. Younger readers might not know about the dreadful, earth-shattering loss of the original film .... it was only shown on TV once, and those were the days when you couldn't just save it with the flick of a switch ... if you missed it, that was it ...gone. And I was one of those people that missed it. Bah. Dam and Blarst !!! But here's another idea ... why not republish it as a Bande Dessinée ? You know ... large-format high-class "comic" books ... v. popular in France .... ... here's a few examples, from my own extensive collection.... in no particular order ... So ...that's one thing sorted. It would fly off the shelves !! It might enthuse a whole new generation of telescope-toting twitchers !! But here's another thing ... there's a terrific bright comet in our night skies at the moment .. Comet Neowise. Over the next couple of weeks it will be easily visible below the Plough/Big Dipper. And here's a map wot I've drawn to show you where it will be on various dates in July ! Woo. So far, of course, every night has been cloud-covered and rubbish. But I am sure it will clear up eventually ..yes, er, totally ...um ..confident. And as for the BD ... Well, you and me will buy it anyway ... ..as will toi et moi !! ..... and this Manu song is an absolute adrenalin-rush ... whooooosh ... Toi et moi c'est indicible Tout est là , tout est possible
Cet hier que tu aimes tant Mon cœur se serre défit le temps Tout est là simple et charmant Toi et moi tout simplement Talk to me. Parle moi. Talk to me. Let me understand please Make me understand Let me understand Let me understand please Let me understand make me understand please. Cet hier que tu aimes tant Mon cœur se serre déchire le temps Tout est là, ne vois-tu rien ? Toi et moi tout simplement. Toi est moi on s'aimait tant Mon cœur se serre déchire le temps Tout est là, ne vois-tu rien ? Toi et moi tout simplement. |
AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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