Here's an odd picture .... I took this picture at the edge of a muddy lake about a year ago ... I was trying to get a shot of a water rail walking across it ... but instead, when I looked at the result later, I was very surprised ...to say the least ..to see that something else was there ..an oddly-dressed man/boy standing on the left, with a bulbous head, short carroty hair, a white collar, black jacket of some sort, and holding up in his left hand some sort of colourful,clownish hat with a peak . I didn't see him at the time ... surely I would have. He was only a few metres away from me . Apart from anything else, it was quite a splashy, noisy sort of place to walk about in. Surely, I thought, it must be some sort of ghost. It wasn't like any other ghost picture I had seen... they're usually like this .... or maybe .... So ... have another look ...... because I had another surprise when I realised what it really was... but I'll put that after the Music Spot so you won't see it until you've had a bit of a think .... it's Nena Daconte with a joyous and rather unusual video for "Ay ¡ Amor !" And here's that "ghost" picture again ...... but turned around anticlockwise ... I hope you'll feel as foolish as I did ... Now tilt your head to the left ... and that ridiculous head appears again. Bah !!
What's the chances of that happening ? Mind you ... I have seen some very odd things when out birding .... some that I can't really explain .... but that's for another time ...
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Yes, yet another of my brilliant ideas has sparked a riot of controversy in the bird-feeder world. I bet you didn't know there was a " bird-feeder world" out there ... and neither did I until I came up with this ... Here we go then .... frankly, it irks me a bit that while I am out shopping or working or just maybe upstairs or whatever, the bloody birds are eating all my expensive bird food when I'm not there. That's not on. Well, I then and there invented, sui generis, the switch-off-able bird feeder. When you go out, or off, or away, beth bynnag, you just get your little zapper out, point it at the feeder and shut it down. A little hatch closes, a little slider comes down, that sort of thing. Simple, yet effective. I mean, what's wrong with that? I've told lots of people about this idea, and they seem to think it's a bit mean. Not at all ... in fact it would probably increase the amount of bird-feeding that goes on ..and here's why.... A lot of people have stopped feeding the birds because it can be expensive. So ..they don't refill them promptly, or they chuck them away. So ... the birds lose out. So .. only feeding them when you want to will reduce the cost considerably. So .... more people are likely to keep doing it. I'm sure that should such a device start to come on to the market, loads of people would object, and write letters to The Guardian etc .... but I bet they would go out and buy one eventually. Oh yes. Such is the frailty of mankind. After all, nobody objected when Winterwatch etc set the little birdies lots of problems before they could get at the food ... mazes, puzzles .... what a mean trick. So that's sorted then ..come on somebody, start making them. The world awaits. I don't want any royalties or anything. Just do it. Phew ..... nice to get that out into the ether or whatever it is. Well, I know what it is but that's another story. Scientists couldn't work out how light and other forms of radiation, which were thought to be waves, could travel through empty space ... waves need something, some "matter" to wave, if you see what I mean.... so they invented this "ether" that pervades "empty" space. The truth is, they haven't a bloody clue ! Anyhow, it's music time, recently voted the 2387th best bird-related music spot outside London .. up 3 places from last week. We're going to have a bit of Poppies and "Cam" .... I bet you never realised that the Welsh could make music like this ! ...... and, it's got a brilliant, understated middle 8 .... which they play twice. They shouldn't have chucked all that glass on Aberystwyth Beach though ........ beth bynnag = "whatever"
It was my dog's 11th birthday yesterday .... and she got a card ! Here it is. She isn't a Dachshund though, but that doesn't matter. But what does matter is .... those bloody birds !! Seriously ...what the hell are they ? The "artist" is having a larf !! "Impressionism" is OK .. in its place. But birds ...they deserve better. Maybe I shouldn't take it too seriously ...bet here's a much more dodgy example.. What, exactly, is that ?? It was on the front cover of last year's Llandudno holiday brochure. That is downright rubbish that is. He/she/it should have their paint brushes confiscated. And inside we find this ( see below) ... they're at it again. It starts off " Peidiwch a phoeni" ..."don't worry". Don't bloody worry ? An unknown species roaming the Llandudno beaches. Grrrrrrr. I mean, they don't go putting a picture of the Eiffel Tower in their brochure do they ? No. Because visitors to Llandudno aren't going to see it there are they. No. So ... there ought to be a campaign to stop all this duff depictions of birds. But I'm far too lazy to do it. Here's a few more examples of misleading depictions of birds .... .... but they're misleading in a variety of ways ... As a change from the usual weird music, here's a much younger version of my dog ( the one who's now 11) failing her Mountain Rescue Certificate about 5 years ago. ... Here's one of the more unusual Big Birdwatch entry forms .... submitted by ...well, you can see for yourselves ..... here is the whole thing ... Here's the top bit in more detail ... you'll want to be able to study it more closely I expect ... ...here's the middle bit + a bit of overlap ... .. and here's the last bit ...... Well, that was a few minutes of silliness ... now here's just over 4 more minutes of silliness ... Yelle ... " "Que veux-tu ?" Just keep your eye on that shaking tree ..... Here's the "answer" to a question I'm going to put to you in the future ...... On my way back, it was still there .... so I took another, closer snap..... of course ! .and if you STILL haven't worked out what it was, I am , of course, going to show you an even more zoomed-up picture of it .... this should sort it out for you ... ... How about that ! Un-bloody-believable !! Of course !!
But, of course, it didn't really happen quite like that. It wouldn't really have sat there all that time while we went to town and back. I spotted the " odd bird" from a good way away and took the first picture . Some sort of strange-looking chaffinchy-thing ? Then we walked a bit closer to it ... took another snap. Still it didn't budge. We began to think it wasn't a bird at all. We got a bit closer and took that third crapsnap. Aha !! And as you can see form the final snap, it was actually a "bashed-up" lock. As someone once said ... "all the mistakes are just waiting to be made." Aren't they just ! An Aztec in action !! He's on "my" bit as well. It's not right !!! Two days ago .... I heard the first Chiffchaff singing. It was the first of two warm(ish)(10½°) dry sunny days !! Wooooo ! Not only that, but when I looked out the back door first thing, there was a lovely fine mist enveloping the trees, and a Gt Spot was drumming away like mad . Yesterday .... 2nd Chiffchaff. A bit disappointed not to find any Sand Martins in the various possible spots ... nor any Wheatears. But they'll be along soon. This morning ...a couple of hours ago ... ok, it was drizzling ....( it sounds better in Welsh, glaw mân) , but that woodpecker was really close this time ... and then the amazing but very-elusive-for-the-last-4-weeks-female-Blackcap put on a good show again. Still couldn't get a decent snap of it though. If you want to see a really crappy picture of it, have a look on post #1. Bring a hand lens. Nothing too remarkable, nothing to leap into the car for ... but that doesn't matter. It's all very , er, nice ! Yes, I'm a soppy old Hector ( at times). Now, thematically, it's "Dafydd Iwan yn y glaw" .... by top Welsh band Datblygu. I wonder who made that video ? could it possibly have been me ? Yes it was ... and I spelled his name wrongly and then found I couldn't change it ! The only comment it got was pretty much right ! Later... it's 4;50 pm, I'm back in the "office" and looking out of the window, there's a smashing Buzzard flapping northwards over the house !
For "office, read " tip." I hope you've remembered what an "Aztec" is by the way ... see post #4 if not. This week Vicar Hornbreak has sent me in his Nature Notes as he does most weeks, unfortunately. First off, 'owd Peter Shuffle's cottage has been infested with Bramblings all winter, and the whole village has rallied round to get rid of the noisy little beggars. They're still there though. Surely they'll be off soon to sleep the summer through in the mud at the bottom of the village pond like they do every year along with all the swallows, swifts, bees, flies, fallen women and all the rest of them. Carter Higgs came round to the vicarage yesterday to show me something he'd caught out in Piggly Woods, but I told him to put it back where he found it. One of my flock, Miss Boniface fromSmallpox Cottage about 17 miles away called round with a melanistic Gannet she found on her roof on Thursday. I told her to put it back where she found it as well. I was disappointed to notice it later that afternoon swimming around on Hangman's Pool . I suspect she was just too lazy to carry it back home. [ Ecclesiastes, Ch 10, v 18] I've noticed that the church spire is almost full of Treecreepers. If you think about it, a church spire ... especially a wooden one like what we've got at St. Vogelschau's, is like an inside-out tree as far a Treecreepers are concerned. I've had to put up a big appeal notice on the church door ...what's left of it ... I would have put a thermometer on it, but they haven't been invented yet so I've made do with a shovel, and I've put the amount of money collected ( 7 groats) up the handle. I'm most disappointed to mention that I've only seen 26 Kingfishers by the vicarage lake this morning. I fear for them you know, because on this very day last year ( 3rd before Mafeking) there were 116. There have been a few strangers around the village of late and I do wonder if they have been eating them .... although it could be the other way round I suppose. They're vicious little sods. [ I got this report yesterday..... and it is only this morning that I learned that Vicar Hornbreak was found dead at 5am by his "housemaid", a Miss Chancer, and apparently his bedroom was so full of Bramblings that it is assumed he suffocated. We read of plagues in the Bible, but we don't expect them in these temperate climes. ][Numbers, 8,18] I will have to oversee the arrangements for "Miss" Chancer to get evicted after the funeral, and make arrangements for her to be thrown in the village well as a warning to other women who might wish to follow in her footsteps.[Ezekiel 16,29] Well readers, that was interesting in many ways. We all have something to learn from these country anecdotes ... though I'm not quite sure what. But now, music time looms as always .... here's the excellent Vetusta Morla with Un Día en el Mundo ...... you'll never guess where they finish up !! One of my Rules of Life is this ... if I can think of something , then someone, somewhere will probably be doing it. Whenever I go to a biggish twitch ( which I don't anymore (much)) I notice that there is a time, about 15 minutes after the target bird has been seen, when people start wandering around and socialising. Very often, they leave their £1200 telescope standing there, all on its own, while its owner is chatting to X or indeed Y. An unscrupulous person could easily sidle up to it, look through it for a minute or two to make what he/she is about to do look reasonable, then pick it up, sling it over his/her shoulder and walk off with it. Or simply take it off the tripod and slip it into their poacher's pocket. How hard could it be? Surely it's been done. Seriously. So ... what I say is, don't leave your telescope behind. Simple !! Or .... good idea this ... have a telescope that nobody would want to nick ! Like mine. It's far too heavy, and about 80 years old. As I've hinted in the title, there's loads of other ways to lose your telescope, so just watch out. Plus, I lost my first pair of binoculars in an "interesting "way. No doubt you'll get to know how eventually. Now , here's REM ... "Losing My Religion" One of REM shoved me out of the way many years ago..... that was on their first tour of the UK when nobody had heard of them, so they probably thought it was OK !
A while ago , down at the Estuary, I came across one of the "other" local birders .... we'll call him " Curly" for security reasons. Curly had spotted a few Med Gulls out on the mudbanks and was a bit irked because he thought there could well be more, and he wanted to beat his " Local Patch Med Gull Record." As you do. He had tried flushing them up ...as all us clever-arses know, Meds are dead easy to ID when they're flying around.But they wouldn't respond to all his arm-waving antics. Personally, I recommend a starting pistol for these occasions. I can't understand why it's not standard kit . So I suggested that he get himself a drone.This could initiate a two-pronged attack. First, he could whoosh it over the flock at a low level ..that would put the buggers up .And if that failed, he could wait for them to settle , then film them. ¡ Sorted ! But here's the thing. Once he had the visuals ( don't scratch them, it only makes them worse) , would he be able to do the ID-ing? Think about it. When have we had to ID birds from above? We don't very often get the opportunity. And when do you ever see an illustration of a bird from above. You don't. No. So ...here my idea ...which is free to anyone out there who wants it. You write a book called, simply, "Birds from Above." It would be like a normal field guide, but all the ID information and all the pictures would be "top views." I think it might be a bit too soon for it right now. But now I've told you all about how useful drones might be to the bird-spotting fraternity (?) they'll all be at it . Just saying ! I hope you were impressed with that ¡ I did a bit earlier. That's from my book, "Punctuation Marks from all Angles." OK ...enough of this silliness, conjecture and tripe .... let's have some music .... ...here's Klee and the beautiful " Zwischen den Jahren" Years ago I started to use an old empty diary to keep a record of my best birding exploits. That section there ( for August 17th) reminds me that on that day in 1993 I saw the Titchwell Oriental Pratincole ..... thus completing my Pratincole collection. I remember it well. Mainly because I got lost on the way. How could I possibly get lost on the coast road ? I don't know. It was a long time ago. You can also see that on the same day in 2003 I spent a whole day on St. Martin's ( Scilly) but obviously I didn't see owt much. And the same date the next year I was returning from Scilly on the boat and got a Sooty Shearwater and 4 Storm Petrels.I think that was the trip where our luggage didn't come back with us.... which was a bit awkward. We weren't the only ones though. As all the cases etc were dumped on the quayside in pouring rain, and people left with their stuff, a few bedraggled wrecks remained in the wet waiting for their luggage ... and waited ..and waited. We were a bt irked, to be honest. Anyhow, we got it back the next morning. But I was young then ! Sort of. Anyway, I can thoroughly recommend this idea of keeping a sort of multi-year record book of what you did. Right then ... here's top French band Indochine with " Pink Water" .. . Je pars, je ne reviendrai jamais
Bientôt le monde m'aura oublié tu sais... Que j'aille... la, la, la, la Tu vois... Je recherche un endroit pour me cacher et pour me faner en paix Ne jamais les croire Quand ils t'en parleront Si tu pouvais me voir... Je partirai et je resterai Seulement vêtue de toi Souviens-toi encore Quelques fois de moi... Et ne leur pardonne pas Je pars je ne reviendrai jamais Des roses De l'eau de rose sur moi... Deux filles dans un jardin Un jardin étrange Mais retiens-moi par la main Et si demain tu ne me rejoins pas Alors continue sans moi Je partirai et je garderai que des restes de toi Souviens-toi encore quelques fois de moi... Mais ne leur pardonne pas Je pars je ne reviendrai jamais Bientôt le monde m'aura oublié tu sais Je partirai et je resterai Seulement vêtue de toi Souviens-toi encore Quelques fois de moi... Et ne leur pardonne pas Je partirai et je resterai Seulement vêtue de toi Souviens-toi encore Quelques fois de moi... Et ne leur pardonne pas Hey.. I'm writing something sensible and useful today. Crumbs. I'm sure you all remember the disastrous Indonesian tsunami ... it killed huge swathes of people on the beaches over long stretches of coastline. However, had I been there, I could have saved quite a few of them.... especially as this one was a classic. It did exactly what a text-book tsunami does ...... most noticeably, the sea goes out .. and out ... and out ...pretty smartly, leaving stranded fish all over the place and an irrepressible desire for the observers on the beach to start walking out with it. Oh dear. Well now ... I knew about all that. It's a classic bit of Earth Science that all Earth Scientists learn. That's the thing about maths and science and the like ..... we learn things that, on the whole, are actually useful, that describe the real world. Unlike studying the novels of Henry James or the plays of Euripedes or the pencil sketches of Cezanne etc. So ... had I been on one of those Indonesian beaches, I would have told all the people to go uphill rather than out to sea. And why. Amazingly, there was a young girl on one of the beaches who had recently done a school project on tsunamis ... and remarkably, she saved loads of people ... she simply told them to go up into the hills and not to follow the "tide" out. And she told them why. And they all lived. So, dear readers .. if you are on some beach somewhere and the sea start to whizz out into the distance rather quickly ....... go inland, go uphill. You know it makes sense. OK .... I hope you feel a little bit smarter and a little bit safer. Know you know. And you can tell other people. And now, Noir Desir and "Des visages, des figures" ... very moody .... Just yesterday on the news there was a sad and tragic story about a child left in a car by a river ... and while the driver was away briefly the car rolled into the river and the child died.
I don't know for sure how that happened, but I suspect that the driver didn't put it into reverse gear, in addition to deploying the hand-brake. Lots of people don't know that the gear-system acts as an excellent brake when you're on a slope. You just put it into reverse gear when pointing downhill, and into first gear if you're pointing uphill. Just try it yourself on a quiet bit of sloping road. Engine off. Handbrake on. Put it into the appropriate gear ( see above). Then release the handbrake.The car will move a few inches and then stop. Sorted. I don't know if it works with automatics though. |
AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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