Every flaming month there's more and more ornithological research papers appearing in the scientific journals, so many that you need people like me to pick out the best ones for you to read ..... and by "people like me" I mean big-headed halfwits who are, basically, deep down, just trying to think of something to write about. So here we go then .... I've read them all... so here's my Top 10 Best Reads ... and why 10 ? Because the rest were right boring ! [1] Gannet, A. and Nuthatch, E : Is nominative determinism getting rarer ? Avian Review, August 2018, p7 -23. [2] Darringer, P.C., Normanton, C.P.A, Harmetoff, R.E., Anstadter, G.H., Cape, W.R., Witzend, A.N.,Stappenworte, D.V.: Are too many avian researchers writing too much too often? Yearly Review of Avian Research, 2017 vol 523, p 231-548. [3] Slopbucket,A, Bogbrush,Y. Why do big birds nest on small islands? An overview of recent studies. Big Birds, Feb 2018, pp 313-247. [4] Craven, C.F.C. and Cottidge, V., Are all top birders tiny ? The semiotics of size versus skill in the birding hierarchy . Tidschrift fur Scheiss 2018 vol17 pp 306-742. [5] Darling, P.M. and Thorogood, C. Juvenile migration strategies in hirundines, a "random walk" analysis compared to a Markov Chain approach. Journal of Applied Psychopathematics, July 2018, pp 6-18. [6] Harris, A. and Tweedie, M. The Spring Crosby effect : how a "fake bird" deluded large numbers of UK birders and the subsequent consequences: a review with recommendations to the BBRC . Studies in Delusional States and Societal Norms, June 2018, special volume. [7] Dumbledorsby, G and Hattenburrow, C. How come all those experts, who tell us that there's enough for a lifetime of study in the average back garden, bugger off to distant exotic climes when they want to make a nature documentary? Annual Bulletin of the Widnesian Institute of Vague Studies and Passable Exams, pp176 - 214 [8] Papp, C and Krappmeister, W.W. Genetic Drift" in the Fair Isle community: a long-term study in an isolated population, focusing on its unlikely obsession with knitting, folk-dancing and hanging around on a deserted airfield. Winstonian College Psychogenetic Review, August 2018, pp 844-1076. [9] Fringe, E.E . Do conservationists conserve the right things ? Or, should they be destroying housing estates full of Blue Tits to create reed-beds with remarkably few Bitterns ? The Journal of Futility, February 2018 pp 77-85. [10] Semblance, R.E. and Nuance,M. Should birders be recording what they don't see rather than what they do ? Digest of Controversy, March 2018, pp15-41. To complement the "strangeness" of some of those papers, here's Joanna Newsom singing " Yarn and Glue" a capella in what seems to be a church hall or similar in 2004 .... 14 years ago . A gutsy performance ! And amazing words too. Do you know what this is, son?
This is the Panopticon And all around us blink the brash And shifty eyes of common cash So do we die or do we travel Down the path by which one dabbles In the arts of antediluvian crafts With yarn and glue? So gather twilight to your breast And couch the rabble-rouser's nest And we will take a day of rest And we will all be heaven-blessed And we will gather round to dine And pass the time with wicked rhymes And toast in dandelion wines To hear their mellifluous chimes We toast the fallow furrows that we sow And we toast the monies that we owe, owe, owe And we toast the creditors we daily face Who topple down with gruesome grace And we toast the aristocrats with blood of blue 'Cause we know that our collars are that color, too And we toast the artisans of antediluvian crafts With yarn and glue We do, we do. I'm typing this at 7:40 pm with a female Tawny Owl calling away like mad out in the back somewhere .... a very welcome development in a largely Owl-free season. There's also been a Gt. Spot and a Bullfinch in the garden, and several flocks of seemingly disorientated pinkfeet going over. Plus, a gloriously colourful sunset. Wooo ! Simple Stuff.
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AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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