No it isn't. The best sighting so far today ( 0934) was this horse/dragon galloping along the skyway. Mind you, that little black blob on the far right one third of the way up might have been a bird. This morning, the "tweet of the day" was Storm Petrel. And whoever-it-was described its call as ... " like a fairy being sick." I like that. It has its faults of course ... I personally have never heard a fairy being sick. So in some ways it doesn't really do the job. But I think we all know what it means. Luckily, these days we can just google them all .... anywhere, any time. Back in the day, we had to make do with vinyl. Or more portably, bird books. There's great fun to be had in looking up bird sounds in lots of different books and seeing how they describe them. So now I'm going to "raid" my ever-spiralling-upwards Bird Book Pyramid which is still growing ... and dig up some Storm Petrel Noise Descriptions ..... Observer's Book of British Birds "various "churring" and sharper notes." Another O B O B ............................. "Purring, churring and sharper notes! ( Just imagine the editorial squabbling about that tumultuous change of opinion !) Coward " Birds of the B. Isles" ( and their eggs) (of course) Though the birds sometimes call on the wing, most of the nocturnal sounds come from the nest .. " a harsh, purring, urr, long sustained and ending abruptly with "chikka", almost, indeed, a hiccough , is how Mr. Lockley describes it. ( Who the hell is that "Mr. Lockley " ?? What's he got to do with it ?) A Colour Guide to Familiar Sea and Coastal Birds. At the breeding grounds rasping, buzzing and grunting sounds such as "hikav", " ti-ti-tihk-ti-ti-tihk", "arrr-r-r-r". ( That's sorted then) Bird Spotting ( John Holland) .... no mention of any sounds whatsoever. Advanced Birding .. Peterson Field Guides ... no sign of it anywhere. Seabirds ..an identification guide Peter Harrison Despite a half page of small print, no mention of any sounds. Amazingly, it follows ships and "attends" trawlers. Actually, most "bird books", even huge ones that weigh about 8 tonnes,ones specifically about " ocean birds" don't have a word to say about the various noises Storm Petrels make. And I should know, 'cos I've wasted, oh. many ,many minutes, searching through them. But .... this next one is the best ... the "final word" on the fascinating facts of Storm Petrel vocalisations .... Basically, it is a Balkan Bird Book. That first word in the title is v. like the Russian word for a bird ... "pt-eet-seeya" And the other giveaway, on the second line, is, roughly, Balkan-skiya. Here's what IT has to say about it all ... So there you are .. a tiny grain of common-sense at last. That " yßucßa" is what we've all been looking for. So ...at last ... the music .... the remarkable Dominique A ... basically, he's two rugby players sort of bolted together.. and oddly, the combination has produced a fine song about birds who sing in the icy wind ...... there's loads of versions of this, and covers, but this simple acoustic one is the best...... Dieu que cette histoire finit mal
On imagine jamais très bien Qu'une histoire puisse finir si mal Quand elle a commence si bien On imagine pourtant très bien Voir un jour les raisons d'aimer Perdues quelque part dans le temps Mille tristesses découlent de l'instant Alors, qui sait ce qui nous passe en tête Peut être finissons nous par nous lasser Si seulement nous avions le courage des oiseaux Qui chantent dans le vent glacé Tourne ton dos contre mon dos Que vois tu je ne te vois plus Si c'est ainsi qu'on continue Je ne donne pas cher de nos peaux Parfois, qui sais ce qui nous passe en tête Peut être finissons nous par nous lasser Si seulement nous avions le courage des oiseaux Qui chantent dans le vent glacé Si seulement nous avions le courage des oiseaux Qui chantent dans le vent glacé ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sometimes, when The Significant Otter is out digging the garden or something, I get the guitar out and sing it myself.
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AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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