Here's a small selection of my own Pertinent Place-names for you to absorb.... "OLD LEAKE" When you've got a carload of twitchers, there's always one old gaffer who has to get out for a furtive piss every 20 minutes. That's your "Old Leake" scenario .. it seems funny at the time, but when you reach the rarity site and find that the blasted bird vanished 4 mins ago, it ain't funny any more. "JOY HILL" The only reasonably elevated spot in your local patch ..... topped with a sometimes productive grove of trees as well. Apart from it being a great raptor-spotting spot, it also is a mecca for furtive and hurried conjugations ..... amo amas amat in real life ! "HERONSHAW HALL " I bet you've got some sort of decrepit once-stately home in your area. And round our way it is a "first port of call" when there's a "Big Day" in progress. There's acres of mixed woodland, two huge lakes, the house itself is awash with nest-sites of all sorts, and the only occupant is 93 years old and hasn't been seen for 12 years. Perfect. I hope you've got one nearby. Your very own "Heronshaw Hall." "SEA DYKE" I hope you've got a Sea Dyke equivalent where you live. The original Sea Dyke was a narrow, ½-mile-long inlet which brought the sea right into my patch. In fact, it has come to mean any unusual/unlikely feature in your own sphere of activity. We, for example, have a neglected and diverse woodland tucked away behind the Town Hall which very few people have even noticed and is a magnet for migrants . You might have a secret pond with an easy-to-spot resident Black Duck .. that's your "Sea Dyke Scenario." "B1184" The B1184 is infamous for its total lack of any birds at all. It is rumoured that way back in the distant past, around 1953 actually, the road was re-surfaced with effluent from the newly-built nuclear power station .... due to idiocy, mainly. These things will happen you know. You'll notice it is the only road with a red number on it .... this is a warning to anybody daft enough to use it. So ... B1184 is a simple code for a birdless and deadly spot. "SADCAKE INGS" It's on the left there .... the locals call it Sadcake Ings, but obviously the twit who drew the map didn't know that. Deep research by me has revealed that it is actually 5AD CAKE INGS .. so nowadays the whole area is awash with metal detectorists and those Unthanks singing songs. So, Sadcake Ings ,for us birders, means a potentially bird-filled ornithological paradise that has been ruined by "members of the public", film crews, media folk and brass bands. Or, to put it bluntly, us humans. Here's a smashing video + song of sad detectorists ..... 1184, by the way, is a very special number. It forms an "amicable pair" with 1210 . The factors of 1184 are 1 2 4 8 16 32 37 74 148 296 592 .... add them up ! And the factors of 1210 are 1 2 5 10 11 22 55 110 121 242 605 ... add them up.! I hope you were successful, and also impressed.
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Yesterday my daughter, who lives in Hertfordshire, got in touch to ask where she could see Nightingales in her area. Well, I dragged a 40-year-old "site guide" out of my extensive library, but it didn't help very much. In these digital times it is merely a "shite guide." But ... oh-ho ... I thought.... hey, Herts must have a Hertfordshire Bird Club or something like it, and sure enough, it has. Here's yesterday's sightings .... yes, that's just yesterday's ... round where I live, we get about 8 sightings per day on our site. Not that I'm irked at all. So ..here's just one day of Hertfordshire spottings ... Recent Bird Sightings Sun 28 Mar Ashwell [TL262419], 2 Shelduck, on dung heap pools - Ashwell to Eyeworth rd (Mike Ilett) Ashwell [TL259420], 175 Golden Plover, Ashwell to Eyeworth rd opp dung heaps (Mike Ilett) Ashwell [TL256387], 2 Wheatear, Ashwell to Newnham rd from dung heap (Mike Ilett) Baldock [TL262333], 7 Wheatear, on Baldock model airstrip (Mike Ilett) Batch Wood nr St Albans [TL138090], 4 Red Kite (Chris Ruis) Batch Wood nr St Albans, 5 Chiffchaff, 4 singing (Chris Ruis) Batch Wood nr St Albans [TL138092], 8 Redwing (Chris Ruis) Batch Wood nr St Albans [TL134086], 1 Meadow Pipit (Chris Ruis) Batch Wood nr St Albans [TL133088], 2 Linnet (Chris Ruis) Batchworth Lake nr Rickmansworth, 1 Wood Duck, drake. (Graham Clark) Batchworth Lake nr Rickmansworth, 1 Red-crested Pochard, drake. (Graham Clark) Chiswell Green nr St Albans [TL134046], 2+ Lesser Redpoll (Alan Gardiner) Chiswell Green nr St Albans [TL134046], 1 Siskin, male (Alan Gardiner) Clothall nr Baldock [TL259335], 2 Grey Partridge, pair off Warren Lane (Tom Speller) Clothall nr Baldock [TL268331], 2 Grey Partridge, pair off Warren Lane (Tom Speller) Coopers Green GPs - Stanborough GP [TL215110], 1 Black-tailed Godwit (Brendon Fagan) Coopers Green GPs - Stanborough GP, 3 Red Kite (Brendon Fagan) Coopers Green GPs - Stanborough GP, 7 Little Ringed Plover (Lee Evans) Coopers Green GPs - Stanborough GP, 7 Linnet (Lee Evans) Coopers Green GPs - Stanborough GP, 2 Meadow Pipit (Lee Evans) Coopers Green GPs - Stanborough GP [TL213108], 4 Ringed Plover (Rupert Evershed) Coopers Green GPs - Stanborough GP [TL213108], 5+ Little Ringed Plover (Rupert Evershed) Coopers Green GPs - Stanborough GP [TL213108], 1 Green Sandpiper (Rupert Evershed) Coopers Green GPs - Stanborough GP [TL213108], 7 Sand Martin (Rupert Evershed) Coopers Green GPs - Stanborough GP [TL213108], 1 Peregrine Falcon (Rupert Evershed) Coopers Green GPs - Stanborough GP [TL213108], 1 Great Black-backed Gull (Rupert Evershed) Gaddesden Row, 3 Chiffchaff, 3 singing males (Lee Evans) Gaddesden Row, 72 Brambling, A flock of at least 72 in the Widmore Farm cereal crops on Bradden Lane (Lee Evans) Harpenden, 1 Blackcap, overwintering male still using feeders (Alan Jackson) Harpenden, 1 Redwing, feeding on lawn (Alan Jackson) Hatfield [TL220080], 1 House Martin, first of the year (Brendon Fagan) Hatfield, 1 Egyptian Goose (Joe Wigmore) Hatfield, 1 Swallow (Joe Wigmore) Heartwood Forest - Langley Wood [TL162109], 2 Chiffchaff, singing males - 9am (Dan Fletcher ) Hitchin, 1 Little Egret, Purwell Meadows (Jane Havercroft ) Hunsdon nr Harlow [TL426139], 2 Wheatear, 2 males at the airfield early PM. (Laurence Drummond) Jersey Farm (St Albans) [TL174100], 2 Chiffchaff, singing males in Jersey Farm Park (Dan Fletcher ) Knebworth [TL252201], 1 Grey Partridge (Matt Livesey) Lynsters Farm nr Maple Cross, 2 Oystercatcher (Steve Carter) Lynsters Farm nr Maple Cross, 2 Wigeon (Steve Carter) Lynsters Farm nr Maple Cross, 2 Egyptian Goose (Steve Carter) Norton Bury nr Letchworth [TL236347], 1 Wheatear, n horse fields around dung heaps (Mark Reynolds) Norton Green nr Stevenage [TL224236], 2 Grey Partridge (Alan Ford) Norton Green nr Stevenage, 4 Wheatear, in recently ploughed field north of Kitching lane (R Best) Panshanger Park, 5 Chiffchaff, Singing males across the park (Allan Burrows) Panshanger Park, 1 Blackcap, Male (Allan Burrows) Prae Wood nr St Albans [TL120070], 10+ Red Kite, over and around the wood, a large area (Alan Gardiner) Redbournbury [TL117116], 6 Wheatear (Chris Hocking) Redbournbury, c.10 Common Snipe, flushed by low flying Common Buzzard (John Pritchard) Redbournbury, 1 Cetti's Warbler, singing from cover (John Pritchard) St Albans [TL158077], 2 Siskin (Chris Ruis) St Albans [TL158077], 1 Blackcap (Chris Ruis) Stanstead Abbotts Lakes - N lake, 7 Red-crested Pochard (Jane Free ) Stevenage [TL216244], 4 Wheatear, 3 males. just west of Potters Spring (west of A1). NW of Norton Green / SE of Almshoebury (Tom Speller) Stocker's Farm, 2 Little Ringed Plover (Graham Clark) Stocker's Farm, 2 Oystercatcher (Steve Carter) Stocker's Lake, 1 Yellow-legged Gull (Steve Carter) Stocker's Lake, 1 Red-crested Pochard, male (Steve Carter) Stocker's Lake, 5 Little Egret (Steve Carter) Stocker's Lake, 6 Ring-necked Parakeet (Steve Carter) Stocker's Lake, 8 Chiffchaff, all singing (Steve Carter) Stocker's Lake, 5 Cetti's Warbler, 4 calling (Steve Carter) Stocker's Lake, 4 Egyptian Goose (Steve Carter) Stocker's Lake, 4 Blackcap, singing (Steve Carter) Symondshyde Farm nr St Albans [TL200111], c.50 Fieldfare (Rupert Evershed) Symondshyde Farm nr St Albans [TL200111], c.30 Redwing (Rupert Evershed) Verulamium Park [TL140068], 10 Little Egret, on island (Alan Gardiner) How about that for a kick in the teeth ? And it's not just the sheer number and variety of sightings ... look at those fancy site names .... Verulamium !! Panshanger Park !! Coopers Green.!! (Plus .. Lee Evans sinking to the bottom with a mere "7 Linnets" ... .. has he gone soft or what ?) Round our way we only get sites like " Crapsley Sewage Works" and Turdsley Ex-Nuclear Power Station Compound" and "Scab Lane Bulldozer Park." But enough of this divisive point-scoring ! Tis Music Time .... What I don't like about that list is putting all the birds in the singular .. " 318 Starling " and "7 Sparrow" ..... it all harks back to the huntin' and shootin' days.
Crikey ! It is now 0916 BST and I've been up from 6am. And so far I've spotted two (2) birds ... a bedraggled Robin, and an immaculate Blackcap ( f). But why ? Well, as soon as I got up. I couldn't help noticing that the "Summer" part of the bargain was a tad premature. And a downright lie as well. I was met by torrential rain, a ferocious westerly gale and puddles the size of swimming pools everywhere. And it is still doing it now. There's no birds flying by, none up in the trees, nowt. And right now I can hear a Wren singing outside . A massive increase in sightings there then. So ... I read a bit more from that "The Last Three Minutes" book to cheer me up ... this jolly paragraph was written by Bertrand Russell in one of his many widely unread books .... "All the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius, are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system, and the whole temple of man's achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruins... all these things, if not quite beyond dispute, are yet so nearly certain that no philosophy which rejects them can hope to stand. Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul's habitation henceforth be safely built." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So ... suitable music .... A fine version of REM's " It's the End of the World as we know it" ..and here's the singalong version ... I told you it was windy ......
Here's a top ticker swotting up on his twitching terminology ... Birding Terms Explained { It Pays to Increase Your Birdspeak } Serendipity - the end of a long series of unsuccessful visits to a North Norfolk field study centre. Bempton - long-time member of local bird club committee. Life list yet to exceed 150. Blakeney - one who keeps sending in records for birds he didn't find to the Not BB Rarities Committee, just in case he gets his name in the rarities report. Blakeney Point - a Blakeney showing off their entries in the rarities report. Cley - sob on missing a major rarity. Covehithe - birder who's worked a patch for years, keeps records quiet, but smiles knowingly when various species are mentioned. Dawlish - the state you're in when your record has been Peleed (q.v.) in front of a group of birders. Dunge - the state of the feet after three days sleeping rough in a car on a summer birding trip. Fleet - tick a bird on minimal view possible. Fritham - see lots of birds by rushing around and Fleeting (q.v.) them all. Gib - the feeling of nervous panic experienced when you've walked around the north end of St Mary's for three hours withough seeing another birder. Hengistbury Head - mystery ailment requiring a day off work, which strikes whenever a major rarity turns up. Most common in early June and November. Insh - move stealthily towards a bird. Pelee - to disparagingly put down a record (eg, "Those pale fringes are on the median coverts not the lessers."). Skomer - bird which flies through so quickly, it has to be Fleeted by those who need it. Staines - a state of complete boredom approaching brain-death. Walney - twit who makes remarks like, "Yeah, yeah, got it, tertial fringes really showing well". Welney - a Walney wearing wellies. Wirral - run around in search of rarities but fail to find any. While you're assimilating those into your so-called brain, and let's face it, you can never get enough of them, here's yet another remarkably relevant bit of music ...... plus, it is a sing-along version for your extra pleasure ... I wish I had invented those words ... but they actually came from an ancient Not BB. If I can persuade The Significant Otter to use her fancy-pants laptop to take a snap of the cover, I'll bung it on here .... but I can't rely on it. Well, she did it, but it cost me £3 7s 11p + VAT.
There I was, in the back garden at 6:40am, when the first Chiffchaff of the year started singing high up in the trees. Excellent. Wizard. That sort of thing. It overlaps neatly with the still-with-us Blackcaps ..... there's still two females and a male that have been knocking around all winter. Then I went in and had breakfast, and finished off the last couple of pages of The Last Three Minutes, a jolly account of how the universe will end up. Here's the final paragraph ... "If there is a purpose to the universe, and it achieves that purpose, then the universe must end, for its continued existence would be gratuitous and pointless. Conversely, if the universe endures forever, it is hard to imagine that there is any ultimate purpose to the universe at all. So cosmic death may be the price that has to be paid for cosmic success. Perhaps the most that we can hope for is that the purpose of the universe becomes known to our descendants before the end of the last three minutes." But obviously the Universe has no "thoughts" or "opinions" or "purpose" at all. It has no concept of any " price to be paid" either. The whole final paragraph is a ridiculous load of old codswallop. So that's all sorted and we've nowt to worry about. A bit later I went out for a stroll and was very pleased to spot 2 circling Buzzards, and another Chiffchaff. Then me and The Significant Otter strolled along the estuary and had an ice cream ( Hufen iâ in your actual Welsh.) And then we came home, and I wrote all that ... Simple Stuff. And here's Echo and the Bunnymen doing "Simple Stuff" ... I couldn't find a live version of it ... I was a bit irked .. here we go .... We sat all night around a table Trying to string three words together Time has come And by the way, mine’s a double By the way, mine’s a double Lucky for some We don’t understand Everything we hear We just pick out the simple stuff Simple stuff We don’t need all those complications We’re tough stuff And we’ve got no intentions We sat all night around a table Trying to string three words together Time has come And by the way, mine’s a double By the way, mine’s a double Lucky for some We don’t understand Everything we hear We just pick out the simple stuff Simple stuff We don’t need all those complications We’re tough stuff And we’ve got no intentions Here's the "Top Gear Gas-Guzzling Gits" ..... and here's two of the TBBR "Bird-Spotters" They look very different .... but are they really ? So ... let's look at the facts. [1] In the very first sentence of the introduction, there's a pub. The Star and Garter, to be precise. They refer to it as a "watering-hole" ... how very bloke-ish that is. [2] Just over the page, they say their team is "World-beating" ... how very Boris-like is that ! [3] And on the very next page we read that David Tomlinson ( described as "a Squire-like figure") is best known for his penchant for amazingly fast cars ... a theme that is rife throughout the whole book. [4] On page 18 this same D.T. " managed to borrow" an eye-catching Porsche from Porsche (GB) to satisfy his craving for fast cars. [5] This fast, expensive car theme is everywhere throughout the book. And it isn't just sports cars. On page 63, for example, where they encountered an RAF long-wheelbase Land Rover. [6] On that very same page, we find that the "other team" ( Country Life) had a Saab Turbo, but " it could not keep up with our 911 when driven in anger, but a helicopter could not only blow off the Porsche, but even blow it off the road." ( Are you getting the theme here ... they're not birders at all ... they're petrol-heads ) [7] On page 92, we find that in the 1981 competition, we read that they used an Aston Martin, " a lovely virility symbol", [8] And on p137 we find .." Mark Carwardine, whose Panda Mini understandably lags some way behind our Black Panther Saab" . ( What a loser, eh ? ) [9] On page 46, "supposedly" looking for a Little Owl in the darkness, they spot a parked car nearby ... " We drove closer, yes, the car was occupied. We shone our torch into it, expecting to find enemy back-up, carefully watching the nest hole. I will draw a delicate veil over what the torch revealed, but it is sufficient to say that the occupants of the car had other things on their mind than Little Owls." How very testosterone-fuelled are these so called " bird-lovers" ? Well, just after that encounter, we get this ... " I turned the Porsche south, through Westleton, and soon the machine was in full cry as I pushed it through the lanes towards Leiston, the big Pirelli P7's gripping the road as tightly as a singing Reed Warbler grasps its perch. " Well ...there's plenty more of "that sort of thing" throughout the book, But I think I've shown you enough to prove my case ... they're nothing more than Top Gear plus Scopes ! And to round all this off, here's the finest "petrol-head" song in the known Universe .... ..and here's the "sing-along-with-Bruce" version ... If you can find other examples of "Petrol-Head Birding", maybe you could tell me about them, as a Comment or at [email protected]
And if you want to read about more leisurely birding, just go to p14 of that same book and read about an ancient bicycle-powered day list by two Suffolk school-boys in 1957. ( 1957 !!!) Us birders are occasionally allowed to pursue other pursuits you know. And one of mine is chess. And there's a lot of things they have in common ..... [a] I've got three copies of The Big Bird Race, and three copies of Bobby Fischer's " My 60 Memorable Games." For entirely different reasons. [b] Over the years I've travelled many many miles to see birds and to play chess. [c] And to do both I often hitched to whatever place I was going to...and back. [d] Sometimes I fared well, and sometimes I didn't. [e] Both pursuits need equipment. "Proper" chess sets aren't cheap you know. And you have to bring your (expensive) chess clock as well. (f) I collect bird books, and I have assembled many of them into a most remarkable pyramid. (f2) I also collect chess sets ..especially "pocket" sets, of which I currently have 43. [g] Both pursuits also have dedicated serious magazines. [h] And also, they both have dedicated highly frivolous and sarcastic mags as well. Kingpin is a brilliant and funny chess mag, and Brattish Birds is an occasional and silly and sarcastic publication written by me. You'll all be familiar with Not BB. I hope. [i] The two pursuits are in many way opposites. Chess is an indoor thing, highly regarded for its intellectual astuteness, whereas birding is an outdoor thing which is largely lampooned and ridiculed and regarded as drippy and soppy. Which, by the way, is unfair. [j] Both pursuits involve fierce rivalries, sometimes taken to extremes. [k] There have been accusations of cheating in both spheres. [l] Both pursuits are stuffed with males. But that is slowly changing. I'm sure I've missed some of the links between the two, but I think it has to be Music Time now ... a very young Bob Dylan ........... Well, apparently, everyone's doing jigsaws nowadays. So ... I've dragged up from my memory bank a video somebody made a long time ago for your entertainment...... and here it is, ready for a second go .... ..and another thing people are doing a lot is reading ..... so ,naturally, somebody has dragged up from the archives a nifty bit of reading for you to have a go at ... ..here we go .... Well, this is no ordinary story .... no. As you can see, there is a FULMAR in the title, and a WREN lurks in reverse almost immediately afterwards. There's plenty more to be found, and not just UK birds either. I've taken one or two liberties on the way, as you will no doubt see, but they were all, interestingly. in the interests of interestingness .... you should be aiming at 40+ ...... luckily some of them are really really obvious.. THE CASE OF THE TEARFUL MARINER Wearily Mr. Allen S. Gallinu leaned forward, his hair cascading in a golden arc towards me."Well' I may be a miser in some things, I may not get out of puff in quicker time than you, but one thing you must quite allow, Mr. Holmes. The body was stiff. Furthermore, without being too critical, a quantity of mandarin oranges was found in the stomach of the victim. Holmes replaced his nib, organising his thoughts. Our progress was nil. Nude bodies are rare in our small circle, and for Roy, alternative comedian, to be found dead in a hovel, fowl-smelling and rancid was unknown. " I resist all ideas that he died alone. Various clues point to a rosy future for this investigation. I'd reveal more facts.... but tell I, Watson, do you remember the case of the beer-barrel bra? We nipped that one in the bud, despite rumours of a ban. An aquittal was secured by a mere fluke of law !" " Nil remonstrandum" replied Watson, " a typical case of 'duam evodacni , aqua illud' if I ever heard one. A solemn silence filled the room. when to our amazement an arrow rent it in twain, thudding into the desk-top. Around the shaft was a piece of paper, black, not unlike a a scroll. Erasing all fear Holmes unwrapped and read it. "Leo,Pooh, Roo ,Kanga, Childhood tales fill my anger. A shapeless hag, I step inside ... Hadrian's Wall owes ten nag's hide." "This is kindling to a fire" said Sherlock, " a fire which will burn swiftly and who's prey is our skin. Grail we will not see at the end of this quest, but one day the black cap of the judge will prevail. The killer will fall in nettles of his own making, and out efforts will dip peroxide on these black deeds. We will remain alert, S.E Kensington is our hunting-ground. Watson looked up.... " you are not a budger. I garnish these tales, but Gad, wallow in sentimentality I will not." Finally, with a bruised rib, frustrated by paucity of evidence, Holmes retired to his study. ........................................................................................... Somebody typed that many, many years ago.... for all I know, many of these birds might be extinct ! Some of them were, as promised, dead obvious, some pretty dastardly, at least one of them needed a subtle mis-spelling.... so ...did you "get" all 45 of them ? Here's somebody doing a lovely version of The Cure's " Friday I'm in Love" Some of those somebodies were me, and one of them wasn't.
I found a list of those pesky collective nouns this morning .... A Cloud of Bats A Shiver of Sharks A Harem of Seals .... that sort of thing. But those were obviously not birds .... so here's some ... and the idea is .... You are going to match up some actual birds with right collective word..... ( or not, depending on your busy schedule or lack of.) So, assuming you are doing it, I'll show you the the collective words , and the birds are all jumbled up at the bottom ....some are easy-peasy, some are tricksy-wicksy..... off we go then ... A A mob of ...................... B A mural of .................... C A charm of .................. D A skein of ................. E A kettle of ................. F A crown of ................. G A deceit of .................. H An exaltation of .................... I A parliament of ....................... J A descent of ....................... K A pod of ..................... L A bellowing of ......................... M A murder of .......................... N A quarrel of .......................... O An unkindness of ................ P An ostentation of .............. Q A murmuration of ............... R A wake of ................... S A pitying of ................ T A company of ........ U A party of ........... V A watch of ......... Here's the jumbled-up list of the birds .... Woodpeckers Goldfinches Ravens Crows Emus Buntings Vultures Owls Pelicans Turtle Doves Jays Eagles Geese Peacocks Kingfishers Nightingales Hawks Sparrows Lapwings Parrots Larks Starlings . As any fule no, it is time for the music now ..... .. it has indeed been on here before ... ... and 'tis well worth another go .... .... this is the German song that all learners of German learn ...a sort of "rite of passage." .. and here's the "words" video to go with it .... go on, have a go ! "There is in all census work one very difficult period, which is only a question mark at present even in the most detailed studies. What happens between the end of the breeding season and the fall of the leaves ? Everything conspires against the bird watcher at this time. His enthusiasm usually wanes at the end of spring: he may be genuinely tired if he is an early-morning watcher. The vegetation thickens almost daily, song ceases, and then comes the annual holiday season for human families and probably absence from home for several weeks. In early autumn you may be interested in migration, perhaps the migration of exciting species of waders, and the Blackbirds and Thrushes are forgotten. Yet it is in these forgotten months that startling changes must be taking place in the numbers of birds. The juveniles meet with heavy casualties and there are migratory movements, perhaps only locally but nevertheless important. When the curtain rises again on a leafless countryside, we find that numbers are much as they were at thes tart ofthe breeding season. Until someone is persistent and ingenious enough to solve the difficulty of the late summer census, the most puzzling quarter of the land-bird's year will remain largely a mystery. Lots to think about there then .... and it came from the same interesting book I wrote about in the previous post. In which almost all "bird-watchers" are male. And now, of course, 'tis music time ... Les Discrets ... "Ariettes oubliées" And refreshingly, it has nowt to do with any sort of Census. [Written by Paul Verlaine][ Not me] Je devine, à travers un murmure, Le contour subtil des voix anciennes Et dans les lueurs musiciennes, Amour pâle, une aurore future ! Et mon âme et mon coeur en délires Ne sont plus qu'une espèce d'oeil double Où tremblote à travers un jour trouble L'ariette, hélas ! de toutes lyres ! O mourir de cette mort seulette Que s'en vont - cher amour qui t'épeures - Balançant jeunes et vieilles heures, O mourir de cette escarpolette ! [unofficial translation:][Not mine] "Forgotten Ariettas" I divine behind a whisper The subtle rustling of the ancient voices And, in the musical glimmers, Ô pale love, the future of a sunrise! And my soul and heart upside down, No longer are but some kind of a double eye, Which flickers through an uncertain day The arietta, alas! Of every lyre ! Ô dying like this all alone, As , leaving - dear frightening love - Swinging young and old hours, Ô dying of this swing. Here's a few links to some of my " survey articles" .... such as they are ... 53-strange-things-happen.html 96-ways-to-cheat-with-bird-survey-1.html 97-another-way-to-cheat-in-bird-surveys.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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