This morning me and TSO drove up to a local site well known for cuckoo sightings in May ,along with lots of other good stuff. We knew it was rather late for cuckoos but were hoping to get the usual handful of nifty ticks ... Tree Pipits Pied Flys, Redstarts, Wood Warblers, Spot Flys, Green Peckers, Whinchats, Goldcrests ... all good stuff. BUT ...... the really interesting thing was ... the species that WEREN'T there ! The first thing we noticed were many almost leafless trees ..... most unusual. It seems that everything is a month behind due to the crap weather. And the first thing you usually get are Tree Pipits ..... every other small tree usually has a Treep singing away conspicuously ... this time ... none. Very odd. But interesting. And we only managed to find 1 (one !) Redstart and one (1!) Pied Flycatcher. Crumbs. Wood Warblers ... none. Woodpeckers ... none. 1 (one) Orange Tip butterfly fluttered by. Lots of Willow Warblers ... no chiffs. It all seemed very odd. So ..we drove home. Adref, in your actual Welsh. Maybe, just maybe, it could have all been a dream ... So ..let's have some dreamy music .... ...and here's the "sing-along" version ... you know you want to ...
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Here's an interesting (?) sequence of birds ...... but what are they, and why ? And your challenge is to come up with a possible last one . Acanthisitta chloris Ptilostomus afer Cinclus cinclus Falco subbuteo Vestiaria coccinea Nestor notabilis ? ? Well, that shouldn't be too tricky ..... so here's Wir sind Helden and their excellent waxing "Echolot" ..... Apparently we are suffering the coldest May since 1997 ..or was it 96 ? And in between the coldness we've had stacks of heavy rain. Right now I can hear it bashing against the "office" windows. A couple of hours ago I was binning 40-ish Swifts and 10-ish Sand Martins desperately flying low over a local expanse of water, totally silent, desperately trying to find something to keep them alive, battling through the downpour. The older I get, the soppier I get .... I "rescue" woodlice/flies/spiders from the house ... they've no chance of surviving there .... every flattened bird hurts, every squashed squirrel, every midge on the windscreen ... though there aren't so many of them nowadays. And I think of all the not-fed-enough featherless chicks in their nests dying of cold and hunger. But for some odd reason, songs about sad things can be uplifting ..... like this one.. She says, "Wake up, it's no use pretending"
I'll keep stealing, breathing her Birds are leaving over autumn's ending One of us will die inside these arms Eyes wide open, naked as we came One will spread our ashes around the yard She says, "If I leave before you, darling Don't you waste me in the ground" I lay smiling like our sleeping children One of us will die inside these arms Eyes wide open, naked as we came One will spread our ashes around the yard ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've put several " House Lists" on here, but they're mostly fictional ones , or untraceable, or reclusive .... ... 778-whats-their-house-list-no-1.html 780-whats-their-house-list-2.html 788-the-house-at-pooh-corner.html ... but this one is the abode of a real person ! .... not some stuffed bear, or reclusive royal ........ ..... yes, you've probably guessed who it is ... So ...we're looking good here ..... for a start, 'tis in the USA, which has a lot more birds in it than we have in our tiny ,rainy, cold and battered little island. And what with Trumpo being filthy rich, he's probably got Packham-sized telescopes* in every window, and extensive grounds with lakes and pergolas and woods etc ..... so we're probably looking at 230 + species at least .... and with the height of the building, he can probably see stuff miles away. And what with him being unable to tell the truth 97% of the time, he has probably conjured up quite a few " suspicious sightings" over the years. If he was really smart, he could "invent" lots of splits ....a wily twerp like him could dream up at least 20 new versions of Roadrunner for a start. And now, an appropriate and bloody marvellous rendering of " Such Great Heights" * See previous post I am thinking it's a sign that the freckles In our eyes are mirror images and when We kiss they're perfectly aligned And I have to speculate that God himself Did make us into corresponding shapes like Puzzle pieces from the clay And true, it may seem like a stretch, but Its thoughts like this that catch my troubled Head when you're away when I am missing you to death When you are out there on the road for Several weeks of shows and when you scan The radio, I hope this song will guide you home They will see us waving from such great Heights, 'come down now,' they'll say But everything looks perfect from far away, 'come down now,' but we'll stay... I tried my best to leave this all on your Machine but the persistent beat it sounded Thin upon listening And that frankly will not fly. You will hear The shrillest highs and lowest lows with The windows down when this is guiding you home They will see us waving from such great Heights, 'come down now,' they'll say But everything looks perfect from far away, 'come down now,' but we'll stay... ( if that isn't a perfect song, then what is ?) (It's also been performed by The Postal Service, Ben Gibbard and , of course, The Wrong Trousers and many many more .... and now, you, should you choose to sing along with this handy video that shows you all the words in the right order ! ) [1062] Chris Packham's Nature Spotter's Guide What to Spot .... What to Pack .... What to Wear5/18/2021 There he was, on the cover of the Radio Times, having been shoved through the letter box by our postman, Kevin. Complete with smug grin, hugely expensive top-of-the-range camera and zoomy lens. Expensive tripod, bright red jacket ( not a good idea) and Field Guide clasped in his left hand. ( Not Kev .... Chris !) [ I'm not going to point out that Field-Guide-Carrying is not well regarded.] He also appears inside with a double-page spread all about what you need ... cleverly titled " Pack it like Packham." One of his top essential "things to bring" is Vegan Treats. Fair enough I suppose. Another one is Shower Caps .... he gets them from posh hotels and uses them to protect his very expensive equipment . You would think that anyone who can spend all that money on stuff would be able to buy his own shower caps. Then there's (you'll never guess) his water bottles. They have to be in his favourite Pantone Green. Obviously. Hey ! he lugs a Thermal Imaging Camera around for night shots too. Quintillions of quids ? There's lots of other stuff as well. That is really going to encourage young potential bird-spotters .... oh yes. I'm sure he means well .... but once you get famous, appear on TV etc you move into a different universe. You forget that spending £200 on a pair of binoculars isn't going to happen for many young beginners. While I was " looking him up on youtube" I came across a whole series of videos under the same heading SIBC .. Self Isolating Bird Club. Here's SIBC 1.... like most of us, he's trying to find ways of getting through all the problems we've all being plunged into ...... So ..... time for a cheery-up sort of song .... maybe we should all have a Birdhouse in Our Soul performed by the excellent They Might Be Giants .... Here's part 2 of a spiffing "article" about "Birdmanship" .... if you haven't read the first bit, just go one post back ........ Having arrived in the field, suitably attired, the sport may begin. Don't forget a notebook and pencil for writing out shopping or Christmas lists, since occasional jottings always look impressive. In a group, stay close to the expert, saying as little as possible, and when attention is drawn to some distant unidentified bird look intently in the opposite direction until the expert has pronounced judgement .... at which point a casual glance and an agreeable grunt will serve well. It is not really advisable to look for anything yourself for the experts use their ears more than their eyes, and you may be asked what you're looking at, which may be tricky if you don't know. Deafness or an enigmatic "ah-hah" may help until someone comes up with a name, but if it's not the expert the game could be up. Bird calls are a considerable challenge, for a " what was that?" can really put you on the spot. The reply " which one?" may give you a breather of a Percy Edwards act, and then an " I've never heard anything like that" may be the solution and will also allow you to indulge in the luxury of a truthful statement. Unless you are reasonably knowledgeable conversation should be avoided altogether. Always try to find someone who knows less than you, if such a thing is possible, and keep the comments general, such as " poor passage last year" or " I've no time for twitchers." On the subject of twitchers the birdman will find them easy to be "one up" on; bearing in mind that they are unquestionably inferior to the ticker, boredom will soon drive them away when you use such terms as CBC, moult studies, reverse migration and tertials. To prolong the contest, however, and beat them at their own game, the following techniques may be useful: firstly, there is the Rose ploy, for which I am indebted to the secretary of BAWLS, which consists of replying to comments about rarities to with a " yes, they are nice aren't they" , and you need not disclose that your statement is based only on having looked at the handbook illustrations. Another useful reply to questions such as " did you see the Little Bunting last month?" is the cunning " No, I was away" and they won't realise that you mean "away down the high street shopping" . At the end of the day you can congratulate yourself on quite an achievement, but don't give up the game when other beginners talk about the birds that, due to the demands of birdmanship, you missed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, plenty of top advice there, but if you think any cunning ruses have been left out, tell me about them ( [email protected])(or as a comment) and I will firmly keep them to myself ! Mystery Question ... what do you think BAWLS actually stands for ? And do you know what " the target bird" was ? And as for that snap at the top .... I was there ! Here's a terrific blast of a song from top French band Dolly .... " Tous des Stars" All those reading this will be knowledgeable people and generally competitive by nature, and will naturally wish to hold their own in the company of "real" ornithologists. Looking the part is, of course, essential, and there is a wide variety of styles to choose from. The country squire look with tweeds, deerstalker, brown or green collar and tie, plus fours and green wellies, together with a shooting stick, is rarely met with these days, but tempered versions excluding the more flamboyant trimmings still occur frequently ,especially among founder members of the RSPB and suchlike. Pimply youths should note that considerable skill is required to carry off this act, and may well be advised to leave it to the most gifted eccentrics. At the other extreme is the rural labourer image, which I would strongly advise, consisting of odd assortments of woollies, canvas jacket, jeans and wellies, liberally covered with patches, tears and bird droppings. The main advantage of this get-up is that it is cheap and readily available from jumble sales and Oxfam shops. Green wellies could be added for a touch of class. There is considerable scope for personal improvisation in dress, but the image of the Sunday afternoon birdwatcher ( new handmade woolly jumper, bobble hat and brightly coloured cagoule ) should be avoided unless you wish to blend in with the crowd. The finishing touch - and indeed the focal point of the entire get-up - are the binos ; disregarding the trivial point of what can be seen through them, they should be as old and as worn as possible. Those who can't afford such treasures may try and make as much as they can of their new Japanese fully-coated optics, designed by computer etc - until some cynic points out that the computer was programmed to make them as cheaply as possible. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [A] Have an informed guess as to how many years ago that was written. [B] How old was the writer of all that ? [C] What clues in the text led to your answers ? That was only the first half or so of the full article ..... the second half will be appearing shortly. But before you do all that, why not listen to this ... There was a program on the box a few days ago which tried to demonstrate differences in brain activity which lead to different male/female behavior patterns etc. It was deeply flawed in parts, well, in my opinion it was .... but it was interesting. Anyway, I got to thinking about male and female birders . For a start, what is the percentage of female birders ? You could maybe have an intelligent guess of that percentage .... and a bit later you'll get at least one figure that will give you a possible inkling of what that percentage actually is. So ..... have an informed guess. I "did" it like this ... I dug out of the depths of my chaotic "office" an old copy of " Rare Birds". It was Volume 5 Number 3 .... July-September 1999. And at the back there was a list of the top 656 twitchers/listers/whatever at 1st November 1999. And here's what I found out....... Overall, there were 32 females in the list, out of a total of ( see above) 656 tickers. That's 4.88% ..we'll call it 5%. Then I broke down the results .... the first 100 ....... 1st to 100th 1 female Then the 2nd hundred....... 101th to 200th 5 females 201th to 300th 6 females 301 to 400th 5 females 401 - 500th 5 females 501 - 600th 6 females 601 - 656th 4 females I was surprised to see that ( apart from the 1st 100) the number of females was about the same for each tranch. We've got to look at some extra factors ..... presumably quite a lot of "big tickers" don't actually reveal their totals. Some of them could be complete liars. I suspect that there could be a gender bias there. Could it possibly be that males might ( perish the thought) lie more than females ? Another big factor ..... all those 656 people were avid twitchers ..... and therefore not a representative sample of the whole range of birders/birdwatchers/bird-spotters/nature lovers and every other type you can imagine. They're all important. Moving on ..... that was 1999. If we went back ,say, 50 years, I expect the figures would show fewer female birders. So .... 5% is a sort of benchmark to compare with other years. BUT ... how do we get comparative figures for the pre-1999 -ers ... and post-1999 would be a big help too. AND ... I haven't got more recent copies of "Rare Birds" to provide more recent data. or older ones for that matter. SO ...... If any of you lot out there have got more recent copies of Rare Birds, or sources of similar data, you could maybe send me comparative figures .... then I could draw a graph! We like a graph !! ALSO ... you might have other sources .... all the "local" mags I've looked at either haven't got those sort of results, and mostly their lists don't have the "first names", just initials. If you have any comparable figures, my email is [email protected] That's because, as some of you already know, because I run a seaside bar. Well, used to. But I'll leave you with that lot to think about ..... and some music ... Yesterday 21 ducklings and their mum suddenly appeared in the garden and headed straight for the bird food. I took a quick crapsnap of the proceedings through the rain-flecked window and then got to wondering what we should do about it...... presumably they had walked along 150m of busy road and then along our back lane from a pond to get to our back gate. Dangerous stuff. So ...how were we to get them back safely ? Well, we put on our big coats, because it was pelting down with rain, and we "walked" them all the way back, Mrs Mallard leading the way and me and TSO alongside. Luckily all the motorists were very patient and trundled along behind the entourage. And then they got to the water and jumped in. Not the motorists .... the ducks. Job done. We hope. By a remarkable coincidence, later in the day we parked at a local "viewpoint" and there were two gormless sheep wandering gormlessly in the middle of the road. A road down which lorries zip along gormlessly at 50 mph every 20 minutes or so. We could not see how they had got out, or how we could get them in, so we tried to shunt them down a dinky side path but they bolted and ran into an unfenced ploughed field totally useless to sheep and started gallumphing around randomly. We couldn't work out what to do next, so we waited and watched a bit and eventually they somehow found a gap on the far side of said field and got through it. Whether that was "their" field we had no idea. We figured that was all we could do. Two "rescues" in one morning .... one hopefully successful, one inconclusive. Later in the day we sat outside a cafe eating a scone and swilling coffee, and 7 Swifts appeared ... plus 5 Swallows and three House Martins. There might have been more ... they were skimming over a wood and kept appearing and reappearing all the time. Then we went home .... Here's a bird description turned into a rather strange "poem"... or whatever you want to make of it....... Seen chiefly in mornings, when flying to lakes or smaller pools to drink. Flight path is straight and rapid with fast wingbeats; at distance look like Golden Plovers. Black belly and black flight feathers below, buff with blue-grey flight feathers above. Often draws attention to itself in flight by a soft rolling 'churr (choorr) ...churr...' (more a rolled "l" than a rolled 'r'), not unlike half a Turtle Dove song; on take-off a more drawn-out 'aschurrr.' Occurs on steppes and in semi- desert with or without low scrub, often on high plateaux and poor pasture. In Iberia rare and local, in N. Africa and Turkey relatively common. Feeds mainly on seeds. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [a] What species do you think it might be ? [b] What do you think of it, poetry-wise ? [c] It is to be found on page 300 of a well-known identification book. [d] Why not try doing "that sort of thing" yourself. Why not indeed. [e] What about moving on to the Music Spot ...... [f] OK then ... I woke up this morning to the predicted torrential rain and ferocious wind.
And it will keep doing it all day. Wonderful. And those Swifts I wrote about yesterday will be having a rough old time of it. Are birds free from the chains of the skyway ? Er ..... no. |
AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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