I was complaining a few posts back about the drastic lack of Waxwings . And the consequence is .... everywhere I go in my little local area I walk past places where I've seen them in the past .... some just holding the odd one or two, some which have had hundreds ..oh yes ! But I've not spotted a single one. Bah. And then I read in the paper that the Capercaillie is declining drastically. As apparently are many other woodland birds. But that Caper news is bad for me ... I've yet to see one. My tentative plan is to "get" Ptarmigan and Caper in a mad dash north .... but it will probably never happen. I'm too old, too decrepit, and insufficiently motivated. But, moving on, the article moves on to the House Sparrow ... ..apparently , since 1966 they have declined by 10.7 million pairs in the UK. ... but on the other hand, in Wales , there's been a 92% increase in H.S numbers from 1995 to 2018. What's going on there then ? Maybe loads of the English ones have scarpered into Wales .... it fits the facts ! I hope they have thought about that. The Headline tells us that Climate Change and Habitat loss is to blame. BUT ...moving on to the larger picture... On Monday 21st, in the early evening, Jupiter and Saturn are going to be VERY close together in the evening sky .. well, they LOOK close together ( 0.1% apart) but of course, Saturn is a lot further away. Have a look in the South-West just after sunset .. it should be best between 4:40 and 6 pm. An event like that has not happened since 1226 !! There was one in 1623 but the UK was in daylight at the time. Here's some relevant links ... -ode-on-not-ticking-the-capercaillie.html 172-a-proper-poem-about-the-capercaillie.html 335-the-waxwing.html 386-the-panorama-not-incorporating-the-wily-waxwing.html 392-waxwings-and-jungle-juice-and-a-cunning-plan.html But now, the music ... Sunday, 5pm, 17h .... Saturn and Jupiter easily seen low in the south from the house
Like this ... S J It will be on view over the next few days ... as long as the skies are clear.
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AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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