AS you all know, throughout this lockdown thingy I've been trundling round my dinky 3k local patch. One thing it does is .. it reminds you about various birds that simply aren't there any more. and one of them is ... kingfisher . They vanished from one of their "haunts", as us older folk call them, three or four years ago for reasons unknown, but there's lots of possibilities. I've been up and down the place for many hours, and there's not been a sign of them. But ...last year I found an alternative stretch of water where I did find them. On average, I would "get" one for every 3 hours of walking. That was fine ... it is a lovely walk as well. But this year, going over the same route, I've seen none at all ... and that's over a total walking time (twt) of about 25 hours. Maybe they've gone somewhere else. But why? And where ? But death is, maybe, a likelier fate. All it takes to wipe them out are old age, random accidents ( fishing-line-entanglements are a noticeable hazard) and getting clouted by vehicles as they go overland from one spot to another ... and many more. But my question is .... for how many hours can you NOT find them before you start thinking that they've gone ? This is a dilemma that all us observers/surveyors/casual strollers face. Perhaps there is some magic formula for "that sort of thing." But I don't think so .... On a completely different tack ... last night looked really good for my 3rd sighting of Comet Neowise... the skies were clear at 9pm .... but when I looked out as the darkness set in, the blasted clouds rolled in yet again. I even got the scope out of the car in advance so I could have a go at a stunning crapsnap of it. I probably should have left it there ... There's that age-old rhyme ,known throughout the birdwatching community .. ..and it applies to astronomical events too .. If you bring your bins, You'll probably see nowt. And if you forget to take them, You definitely won't. T'was not to be. Yet another evening of looking up at nothing. But ...here's a punchy spot of music ....
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AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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