This is what you've all been waiting for ... some more peculiar/pathetic poems from the last 100 posts ... so ... here we go .... This one was at the start of post 909 about combining mothing with birding ..as many do, including me. Yes ... birders can be mothers too. It could be happening to you. Be cautious, if you have a go Your leisure time will sink to zero, They do you in, those early mornings So take heed of my well-meant warnings Birds and Moths will be your end And slowly drive you round the bend! Personally ..I've turned to philately. Latterly. (Terse ! But that's verse for you. It could have been werse. Of cerse.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This next, and brief, verse was from post 912 .... I was irked because every night when I thought I was going to get my third sighting of Comet Neowise, the clouds just kept rolling in and messing everything up.... read on 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. Ah yes ... how true that often is. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This next one is from post 918 ... it was my response to Tweet of the Day ..which was, rather vaguely, Swan. Here we go ... That was a trifle vague, I thought. Swan, he said .... but, hey? what sort ? There's Black, and Mute and also Whooper Any of which would be super-dooper. [Bewick's is another But I'll go no further.] His main theme was some verse so I quickly wrote this drivel : at least, I've made it terse not just a load of scribble.... As for poems, well, I found some ... and chose this remarkable one it's a bit full-on it's by Andre Breton (his portrait of his wife is quite fun !). It wanders about like a dr ke u n lo un t in the heat of the midday sun. But you'll have to wait for the swan it's quite a long way on its back is all it mentions (detail, it seems, he shuns). If you want to read that scurrilous poem by Breton, you'll find it at the far end of this helpful link .... 918-tweet-of-the-day-swan.html And if you would prefer something else, you could try this ... 190-a-leaked-flintshire-bird-club-exam-paper.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On post 931 the music was a rather odd but excellent performance by Peter Sellers of George Formby's " When I'm Cleaning Windows" with his own ukelele as well . .... ... so I banged out 3 extra verses with a birding theme ... When I'm up there on my ladder For miles I can see I've seen all sorts of cracking birds My list is 73, I bring my dinky telescope when I go out to work I've seen two sorts of Phalarope It's a funny sort of perk. if it's rain or shine, I don't mind as long as I have plenty of time to tick those feathered friends of mine when I'm cleaning windows ! [ It would be lovely and smashing if some of you lot out there could add a verse or two to my hurriedly improvised efforts .... either as a comment or email [email protected] ] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This next one is from post 954 ....... 12th October 2020 An uneventful day, birdwise, until 5:40 pm when a hefty female Sparrowhawk flew in and landed half-way up the Eucalyptus ! OK ... nothing rare ...and they're not unusual around the house, but never before has one landed on said Eucalyptus. Woo! Even The Significant Otter was impressed. It is now a welcome addition to my World-Beating Eucalyptus List.... Which, of course, I cannot find (how cruel is fate on all mankind) I know that Little Owl's on it And Tawny too, Too-woo, too-wit And Magpie with its pied plumage Plus the shuffling Sparrow ( Hedge) Kestrels have frequented it And almost every sort of Tit A Treecreeper, but one, that's all And I'm still waiting for a "Wall-" [Unlikely, yes, incredibly .. but the Euc is a long-lasting tree] .. Finches Gold and Chaff and Green Plus many others have been seen, S. (vulgaris) arrives in droves As do (sometimes) Carry On Crows Wrens , they the cloaking ivy browse . And what of Warblers, yes, they're seen And Woodpeckers ( Gt. Spot and Green) Have frequented our Towering Tree Planted, by the way, by ME ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. and this one is from post 966, and it has a puzzle inside it .... and quite a tricky one I have to admit. I 've decided to write a quite rambling poem in this cold November that's freezing the phloem my first bird today was a Great black-backed Gull and the second, Black-headed, which some would think dull I was doing quite well, when a Black-throated Diver swam into view, so I bet a fiver that the next one we'd see would have to be a Red-breasted Flycatcher, soon spotted by me it was hopping about in a Mulberry bush 'til a White-fronted Goose , in a terrible rush scared everything off, and darkness descended and we failed to ID an invisible bird and later, a Nightingale was briefly heard. This poem has in it a sequence to find To get it you'll need to use "knowledge" and "mind." But there's quite a few gaps, that just don't exist but don't worry, you should get a half-decent list. After the music, there's a link you can click which will reveal my dastardly trick ! If you're completely stuck, here's the link to the whole post, including another link to yet another helpful post ..... 966-a-poem-and-a-puzzle.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This one's from post 975 ....... a bit of doggerel really ........... I was chuffed because I'd just got Wigeon onto my House List. The Wigeon is one of those unfortunate birds that don't rhyme with much. Pigeon, smidgin, kitchen (?) ... An unfortunate bird is the Wigeon it's bigger than your average pigeon, but smaller than the Eider by a smidgin, and hardly resembles the Gudgeon, which lacks any semblance of gumption and can suffer from under-consumption. This poem has now reached a junction so I'm off for my 12 o'clock luncheon ! in my luxurious kitchen ( or is all this rubbish just fiction ?) (Once again, do I hear the distant scraping of barrels ?) 975-the-welcome-wayward-wigeon.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I reckon I've got enough of those to make them into a "slim volume" and inflict them on the few "friends" that are still alive. I could liven it up a bit by including some new daft stories/cartoons etc as well. And as for " The Rev" which went AWOL yesterday, he has re-appeared. Phew . It's been Dunkel und Kalt these last few days ...and here's the perfect song to suit !
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Here's a "New Years Day-Ticker" luring in a tricky species ... This must have been the duffest New Year's Day for ages as far as birding was concerned. Yesterday everywhere was totally iced up, roads, pavements treacherous. And most of today was the same .... and by the time it had got slightly less dodgy, there was very little time left. So the garden was the main source of sightings... but even that was an ice-rink, and the water bowls frozen solid. The male Blackcap was around again, but the female hasn't been seen for over a week now. Plus, "The Rev" seems to have vanished as well. But there'll be lots of excellent days to come....he said hopefully. We have a "character" in our area who does a NYD Big List each year, and he always gets a massive total.... I've tried it loads of times, and I get nowhere near his total...and others have the same results. But we all know what's going on. The technique is simple ... you tick off all the "standard" stuff before you even set off, so you've got plenty of time to connect with all the trickier birds. And on top of that, I suspect a few "extras" get into the notebook "because they're there most of the time and I'm counting them". I've often found on those outings that you can spend ages " not getting a Dunnock" and/or " just missing a Jay" ..... very frustrating ... but in the whole scheme of things, it's not all that important, and certainly not worth lying about. But now, the music .... can I "tick" the Loon as in Loon Pants ... which they are all wearing ? Can I tick Grasshopper Warbler because of the "reeling" in the song title ? Probably Knot. |
AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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