Years ago (1996) I swooshed up to Wigton in the north of Cumbria to see a Spanish Sparrow ... and see it I did. I expect some of you did too. Hey .. I was a sprightly youth then. But somehow, I'm not any more. Getting old is like being punished for something you haven't done. And I certainly haven't done it. Bah ! I wish I had now. Back to the Sp. Sp .... But another thing I noticed was ..... there were loads of Tree Sparrows around ... in fact I don't think I've seen such a concentration of them anywhere before or since. And as I stood there looking at "the bird" I began to wonder just how many ( or few) genes separated the two species. And it also occurred to me that there's a lot of radioactive material in Cumbria as well. Both natural and man-made. That's the sort of thing that can alter a few genes ..... Not that I'm suspicious or anything. And then we got talking about the various ports that weren't so far away .... and how a Spanish Sparrow could easily survive a boat trip. As far as I know they aren't naturally migrants, but one might easily hop onto a boat and then get stuck inside somewhere. And then hop off again, and filter along to where it was, in front of us. But hey, I've ticked it anyway. It makes up for all those things I've missed by 10 seconds or 2 minutes or 2 hours ..... or even 2 days. But in these troubled times, a bit of healthy scepticism and critical thinking never comes amiss. I suppose it would be appropriate now to play a bit of Spanish music .... and probably by top Spanish band, Love of Lesbian..... Anyhow, here they are .... "Mi Primera Combustion" ...
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AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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