Yesterday I was, as usual, rummaging around trying to find various things I've been trying to find for ages. Those vinyl bird-song records for a start, my ancient copy of "The Heart of a Goof", that book about chickens being pivotal to most films,my New Naturalist spider book, quite a few of my Petit Nicolas books, ... where does it all end ? But what I did find was an ancient ,old,tatty, much-thumbed copy of British Birds, from June 2nd 1930 !! Vol XXIV, No. 1. Price 1s/9d . I hope it's worth a bit .... any offers ? The contents are remarkably boring. Nearly the whole thing is taken up by an article about , yes, Why Wings Work by ...... Lieut. R.R. Graham, R.N., M.B.O.U. ..although the title is actually " Safety Devices in Wings of Birds." In this gripping article, which rambles on feebly for about 700 pages, he has a go at explaining "how a wing derives power or "lift" from the air." And I'm not too happy with his explanation. Here's what he has to say .... just have a read of this ... ................ way that is not quite as simple ( that fills in the gap !) Now that. boys and girls, is a poorly explained load of crap ! I'll show you what's really going on ..... with a startling "thought experiment." Imagine you've hung up two long strips of paper an inch or two apart. Then you blow a fast stream of air between the two hanging strips. That bloke down there is just going to do it . But first, you have a guess as to what will happen. OK ... you've made your prediction. Now try it out for yourself and see if you're right. .......... you might be surprised. THEN you can watch the video !! The vital stuff starts at around 40 seconds. Well, by now you'll have tried it for yourselves and/or watched what happens on the video .... the two strips of paper don't move apart like you thought they would, but, counter-intuitively, they come together. That's because faster-moving fluids have lower pressure ! So when you send a fast-moving jet of air between the sheets, the pressure is lowered, and the sheets move inwards into the low-pressure area. That's Bernoulli's Principle that is. So when that stream of air whizzes over the upper wing surface, it speeds up and creates low pressure ...and the wing moves up into it. There is no " piling up" or "empty bits" ...... that's a load of old codswallop. To be fair, Vice-Commander BigBoat does put in a little footnote telling the reader that what he's written is not actually what really happens, but that's no use is it ! That's like writing a crap description of a Monotonous Lark and then putting a little footnote at the bottom of the page saying it's rubbish. Not much use. There.... that's sorted then.. I was going to put " Come Together" as today's music, ho-ho, but I changed my mind and picked this instead .... Leiva .... "Vertigo" ... he might look strange, his guitar looks like he's bought it from Poundland, but don't worry ...he's good ! Luces, vértigos, pequeña agonía
No dejes de soñar, escucho una vez más Y no termino de verlo se ha roto algo por dentro Soy una historia más en la ciudad Y yo sé que tú también estás así Crisis, vértigos, se comen el día No dejan de golpear mi parte de verdad Y no consigo vencerlo Se ha roto algo por dentro Soy una historia más en la ciudad Y yo sé que tú también estás así No volveré a ser como antes No volveré a ser igual Porque la vida se parte Y yo me quiero soltar No encuentro ni un instante de paz No volveré a ser lo de antes No volveré nunca más Porque la vida nos parte Y no me quiero agarrar No encuentro ni un instante de paz No encuentro ni un instante de paz
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A few posts ago ... #467 to be specific .... I explained the need to be more specific when naming birds ..... not just " Swan" but " Mute Swan" for example. And I gave you a specific example, and some for you to work out for yourselves. I suggest that you specifically look back 3 posts and have a gander. Because now I've got a few trickier ones for you... in rough order of trickiness. [a] LARK ....... WOOD [b] DOVE ...... ROCK [c] STORK .....BLACK [d] STORK ..... WHITE I hope you managed to sort those out without too much difficulty . What you're doing there is a sort of "shape-shifting" ..... I have to admit, that was one of my worst " links to the music" ever....
I'm quite pleased with it though. How am I going to link those two together ? Well. one of the "delights" of Sunday mornings is the end of the " Sunday Service" on the radio. At the end of the service, there's usually a spot where the organist, who are generally power-crazed monomaniacs and loons, breaks out from all the boring sluggish hymn-tunes and go a bit barmy ....whooshing up and down the numerous keyboards, pulling out all the stops ( literally) ( that's where the expression comes from) and ....and ... ... often playing quite a few bum notes in the process. ....... which no doubt they hope we won't notice. .......... but I do. It cheers me up no end to hear them cocking it up !!!!! ........... and today's was no exception. The Blackbird's song is bit like that. He sings most of his song sensibly and correctly. But at the end, there's nearly always few bum notes. If you haven't noticed that, have a closer listen next time you can. Aha .... the "link" has been established/explained/justified/triumphantly achieved ! But now, having scored a few points, here's "En Gallop" ..by Joanna Newsom. ( I made a right mess of that "Lapwing" at the front) Seeing as the huge storm that was forecast hadn't actually arrived (yet?) the Dog and me drove round to the Big Pool ..... whilst on the way, the wind got up "something considerable" (!) and when we got there we could hardly get the car door open. I could see loads of hirundines flying really low over the pool, and when I got closer and could get a good look I found there were at least 80 of them.... and every one of them was a Sand Martin. And they were completely silent .... none of that soothing buzz they make normally. We were very quiet too. But The Dog was keen to get running around so I descended to the river-edge saltmarsh and kept him busy stick-fetching. By that time the wind had got up a notch or two and there was v. little to see .... and 25 mins later we were back at the pool, which now only held 12 Silent Sand Martins. The weather was getting even more ominous as we drove away, but as we went by the low-tide shallow river a single Avocet was swishing along the river-bed. Which was good. Just another day in a little life. And here's a fine Roy Harper song re-imagined by Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel The kettle's on, the sun has gone, another day
She offers me Tibetan tea on a flower tray She's at the door, she wants to score She dearly needs to say I loved you a long time ago, you know Where the wind's own 'Forget-me-nots blow But I just couldn't let myself go Not knowing what on earth, there was to know But I wish that I had 'cause I'm feeling so sad That I never had one of your children Then across the room, inside the tomb, a chance has waxed and waned The night is young, why are we so hung up in each other's chains? I must take her and I must make her while the dove domains And feel the juice run as she flies Run my wings under her sighs as the flames of eternity rise To lick us with the first born lash of dawn Oh, really, my dear, I can't see what we fear Sat here with ourselves in between us And at the door, we can't say more than just another day And without a sound I turn around and I walk away We should, in general, try to be a bit more specific when discussing avian matters. There's been far too much wispy, wishy-washy wubbish wafted awound wecently. So ,,,here's wone way wound it ... ...and here's a for instance, for instance .. DUCK Well, that's a bit vague is it not !? Let's make it a bit more specific ... gradually .... letter by letter DUCK LUCK LECK LEAK TEAK TEAL ... not only have I done it, I've sneaked in another ornithological term as well . So ... what about turning CROW ( a bit vague) to ROOK ! (easy-peasy) Or ..... RAIL to SORA ( a bit tougher ,,,, well, it was for me ) Or ..... SWAN to MUTE. ( so was that) Or ....... CHAT to WHIN ( dead easy) Are there other ones ? Yes there are .... all will be revealed. Off you go then. Get thinking. And talking of vagueness ..here's Nouvelle Vague and " Dance with me" ..... very retro this ... "vague" by the way, is the French word for a "wave." So Nouvelle Vague = New Wave. Just reminding you all of my way of knowing " when are things in full swing." Or if you like, when Spring has well and truly Sprung. It's when you manage to get Swallow, House Martin and Swift in the same binocular view. Last year was terrible by that measure ... the Swallows just didn't turn up !! Ouch. Anyway, here's a super-relevant song ............. by La Bien Querida She's wearing a constellational skirt, the bass player has flames coming out of his right ear, and the guitar player is playing an F chord. Maybe F sharp, it's hard to tell, and the drummer seems to be using a thin stick of seaside rock as a drumstick. A whacky lot, these musicians. But not half as mad as us lot .....
When Spring has well and truly Sprung and Swallow, Swift and Martin fly and life is strong in heart and lung to see all three in't bins I try. It's not as easy as you think the sodding things, they whizz around and come and go in a half a wink the little beggars can't be found. Your bins get heavier by the min your neck feels like its going to snap stuff this for a lark, you're thinking this Spring thing's all a load of crap. Then as you're just about to flee For half a sec they're in your sights You've done it, the "Essential Three" Spring's here at last, and its delights ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I thank you, dear readers, for putting up with all this nonsense. Here's the link to what I wrote about all that last spring ... 110-the-big-three-at-last.html There we were .... the King of Bryher and me, swilling cocoa at Grumbling Stumps. He was quite affable, which was a bonus ... but then, he struck me with a zonker ... .. and here it is .... What is the only West Pal Passerine which has only 10 tail feathers ? Ouch!! That came out from left field ! And I wish he's left it there. Mind you, it's a pretty useless bit of knowledge. Back in my ringing days I might possibly have known. It hardly gets a passing mention In that ringer's book by Svensson ! He doesn't highlight its uniqueness Which goes to show its incompleteness ! If he'd said lots more about it I would not have looked a Twit !! (Their proper name is rectrices which sounds like some fatal disease. ) So, readers both ... what is that rather unique and tail-feather-deficient passerine ? There ... that was quite short. And you got a spontaneous bit of doggerel for free. But now .... Vetusta Morla " Mapas" Si quiero encerrar el ruido en murallas de cartón .. me dejo atrapar rendido en bobinas sin color. Si callo y otorgo, si dejo el silencio entrar .. envío postales sin sellar. Si busco en los mapas que nos dieron al llegar .. me pierdo en las rectas sin tratar. Cada error en cada intersección .. no es un paso atrás, es un paso más. Cada curva en cada borrador .. no es un paso atrás, es un paso más. Desvelo el final si borro mis cintas de cassette. Si quiebro la lente que escupe mi sombra en la pared. Si tiro la aguja al mar, si ahogo el altavoz .. conjuro el presente en el retrovisor. Cada error en cada intersección .. no es un paso atrás, es un paso más. Cada curva en cada borrador .. no es un paso atrás, es un paso más. Cada surco en cada borrón .. no es un paso atrás, es un paso más Cada error en cada intersección .. no es un paso atrás, es un paso más. Es un paso más! Es un paso más! Here's another Svensson book .... it sounds a bit fierce !
Here's a strange list ....... it contains all sorts of English words, including exclamations (Ow) biblical ships ( Ark), units of measurement, brave people, beverages, fictional creatures ..... Let's have a look shall we .... Ow Tilt Inch Coo Rave Hero Hag Lover Snip Veer Loo Ark Bitter Roo Row Kit Tea Mew Rouse Rake Wan Not Dive Tint Ail You have no doubt noticed that it's really 2 lists mixed up with each other. But which ones are which ? But there's a 3rd category, of which Ran and Wit are simple examples. "List", by the way, is "rhestr" in Welsh, which in my humble opinion is a collapsed version of " register" ! It's disgraceful the way they've nicked our words .. Wheelbarrow ( wilber) Shop ( siop) Garage ( Garej) and, of course, wrth gwrs !! Subtle, that one !! and the music is also subtly relevant .... and what a what a smashing song it is .... Draußen ist es grau und stumpf, ein kalter fieser Endzeitmorgen.
Als wär die Stadt ein Spiegel, ein Portrait von seinen Sorgen Er nimmt die Straßenbahn, er nimmt's wie's kommt, er nimmt seit Tagen, die kleinen weißen Dinger gegen das Gefühl im Magen. Die ihm nicht mehr helfen, wenn man ihn fragt haben sie's nie getan. In ein-zwei Atemzügen fängt's wieder von vorne an. Was am meisten gefehlt hat, war was am meisten gezählt hat. Das muss wohl überall so sein. Es gibt so viel zu vermissen, es gibt so viel zu verstehen. Es gibt so viel zu verstehen. Die nächste Straße, die gleichen Gesichter. Dieselbe Geschichte, die gleichen grellen Lichter. Ein Blick auf die Uhr, dann ein Blick in die Ecke. Und das gute Gefühl bleibt hier heute auf der Strecke. Sie führt Diskussionen mit sich selbst und mit der Zeit. Und wenn die Zwei in einem Raum sind gibt das immer Streit. Die Uhr schreibt Pflicht und alles klingt und stinkt nach Untergang. In ein-zwei Augenblicken fängt's wieder von vorne an. Was am meisten gefehlt hat, war was am meisten gezählt hat. Das muss wohl überall so sein. Es gibt so viel zu vermissen, es gibt so viel zu verstehen. Es gibt so viel zu verstehen. Die Hände kalt, die Augen schwer. Die letzte Seite im Kapitel. Ein kurzes Wort zum Abschied. Zuversicht als letztes Mittel. Und viel Verständnis gegen viel mehr Wut und offene Fragen. Denn alles was so nah war wirkt heut ziemlich abgeschlagen. Und was den Weg vom Nord- zum Südpol noch verkürzen kann, vielleicht in ein-zwei Leben fängt's wieder von vorne an. Was am meisten gefehlt hat, war was am meisten gezählt hat. Das muss wohl überall so sein. Es gibt so viel zu vermissen, es gibt so viel zu verstehen. Es gibt so viel zu verstehen. Was am meisten gefehlt hat, war was am meisten gezählt hat. Das muss wohl überall so sein. Es gibt so viel zu vermissen, es gibt so viel zu erzählen. Es gibt so viel zu erzählen. Many many years ago I was on my way to Norfolk for yet another scorching, sun-drenched fortnight . And like many of those Norfolk holidays, strange things happened. I'm sure that all of my faithful readers will remember the time I had to hitch all the way from Barrow to Bacton because the rest of the family etc bogged off without me. And my last lift was on a motorbike, which tipped over and nearly killed us both. What fun. Ho-ho. If you want more details, here they are .... -62-dont-go-birding-on-a-bike-2.html But this time I was in't Mini .... with the daughter in the back + 77 tons of luggage. The son was in my mum's car , driven by The Significant Otter. Also with about 77 tons of luggage. Naturally, I had planned a couple of stops along the North Norfolk Coast to pick up a few sightings And one of them was at Holme Bird Reserve ...a place I'd never liked, and in fact I'd never really got the hang of it .... never found the reception-sort-of-place ...never seen another living soul there... nowt! It had become a sort of mini-Snettisham as far as I was concerned. So ...we got there, and we were trundling along the v. narrow and winding track , hoping the see the breeding Black-winged Stilts ..and in front of us was a car full of big blokes. And then ...they went round a curve ..and drove serenely right slap bang into a bloody great ditch ! Splosh !! I don't know what sort of twerp was driving. Anyway, I jumped out of t'car and as I did so they were scrambling out of the doors and up the steep, soggy, muddy bank of the ditch ...all soaked to the skin of course. I can't remember quite how a tractor arrived, and why we waited for it, I mean, why would we ?, but eventually the car was hauled out backwards, with gallons of water pouring out of every orifice. And the really stupid and peculiar thing was ... the driver got in the car, and tried to start the engine !! Er ..... really ? Yes, he kept trying for quite a while. What sort of halfwit was he ? Did he have an Open University degree in " Wishful Thinking" ? Or maybe ( joke coming up) a DIPloma in BATHematics !! Anyway .... we saw the B-W-Stilts, a Life Tick for the daughter, which was good. Then we stopped off at another coastal hide to get a lifer ..... Marsh Sand .... yes, I know, but it was lotsandlotsof years ago and I was a slow starter. This too was all rather "eventful" in ways I will not describe ! For reasons of family harmony, if such a thing exists. And then we carried on to sunny Bacton .... good times eh ? I was actually quite young then .... oh yes! I "got" my first Lesser Whitethroat of the year today. Picked up " on song" as nearly always happens. I remember perfectly the first one I ever saw .... Typically, it was singing from deep within a very tall hedge. They like them. [That was when I lived in Dalton-in Furness. Its only claim to fame was at the Bus Stop. Some fan had spray-painted PINK FYLOD on the bus shelter in huge letters. For all I know it might still be there. I hope so. They've always been PINK FYLOD to The Significant Otter and me ever since.] I was also able to show Mr. G. his first L.W. ..... in almost exactly the same spot as today's. That's him in the picture up there, on the right..... it was his first job. He stuck it for a whole summer season ! In Filey !!! Here's a good video comparing Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat ... There we are then .... some facts, some fictions, and some songs... |
AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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