Our local reserve, Grumbling Stumps, has had very limited access over the last few months ...basically, some paths only, with a one-way system, and every hide is shut . That, of course, is all to do with the near-impossibility of getting "social distancing." But ... I've started up a solution to all that. I'm a "solutions" sort of person. So , my first thought was .. ..why don't we "space people out" in the way we've seen at restaurants, on trains, in pubs etc .... that is, they've blocked seats subtly with notices on the "not to be used" seats ..... right up to having huge life-sized stuffed-toy bears/gorillas/Afghan Hounds etc doing the blocking. So ...having got permission from the "Top People" at Gr.St, we've got it going. We got a whole load of volunteers to make life-size stuffed toy versions of a selection of our local birders and famous ones ! Oh yes !!! They are toiling away at their task right now ...... and the first one has been installed, so I'm told. It's a larger-than-life effigy of The Flat Controller, made, I'm told, mainly out of takeaway food packaging, all carefully stitched together to create a rather intimidating " don't mess with me" atmosphere which should keep the rabid crowds under control. And in the pipeline are similarly gruesome cloth-based giant versions of Bill Oddie, Lee Evans, The King of Bryher, Silent Tommy, "Curly", "Mr. G", Piss Crackem, Me, and many others . Our volunteers are doing a fantastic job, the only setback being a serious case of uncontrollable laughing by one of older stitcher-uppers, who had to be carted to the local hospital where she was pronounced to have contracted a serious but also laughable case of " Cloth-based Oversized Birding Celebrity Syndrome" which fortunately can be reversed by a nice cup of cocoa. And a digestive biscuit. I'm hoping to get some photos of the "socially distanced hides" very shortly, and I will bung them on here when available. I know you can't wait. And now the music ... I was going to choose " They might be giants" but then I found this .. there's birds in it too ...
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
|