Yesterday was, in a "local-birding" context, a good one. For me anyhow. 2 buzzards flew overhead at the estuary, and then ... a Lesser Throat sang. The first one of the year. A nearby human ♀ stopped in her tracks. The first one I ever saw was, sure enough, in a high hedge. And so was this. It was about time this duff spring got going. Then, in the p.m. at the coast I got 2 Wheatears ... at last. That's v v late. ..and then, on the way back, 2 Tree Sparrows. Yo! And ..woo ! Tree Sparrow features on one of my most unusual lists..... here is that list ... Tree sparrow Little Auk. That's it. The whole list. A clairvoyant might work out what the list is actually about, but I doubt that you will. Then nothing momentous happened until 9:30 pm when I was getting the cat in. I think you already know that he's called Lupin. Anyhow, as I opened the door, I heard a v v v v distant v v v faint Tawny Owl. Just in case it was a distressed sheep or a child of some description, I listened some more and yes ... it was. A bloody ♂ Tawny Owl. Cripes. Normally this wouldn't matter two hoots ( ho-ho). Tawny's are the norm where I live..... totally taken for granted. But this year ... none. Not a hoot, not a ke-wick, not nowt. Grrr. I blame stochastic processes. Unpredictable beggars, those. So that was good too. Nothing momentous , nothing of much significance to anybody else. But I liked it. But ...but ...where are all the Swallows ? I saw 4 about 10 days ago, and I've seen a couple of singles, but that's all. I hope there isn't a crash. You know those "crashes" ... we had a Whitethroat crash years ago ... they just never arrived. A Swallow crash would be .... a bad thing for the nation's morale. And topically, here's a Nena Daconte song about Swallows ... "Golondrinas" in Spanish .. it starts "when the cursed swallows die, they don't return to the city." I think it's fair to say that this song is sung "ecstatically" .... Wasn't that absolutely scrumptious ... including all the mistakes. That's genuine live music for you ...and now, you have the chance to sing along and improve your Spanish accent at the same time ... here you go ...
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AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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