It all started on March 3rd 2018 . I'm sure you all remember it.... But the 2nd post was better .... it featured a new bird to science .. ... The Spring Crosby !! ( ... there it is .... a bit peculiar ) So ..... I wrote them all down in a empty book as I posted more and more articles for you to enjoy. BUT .... ages ago I lost the blasted book. I had got up to number 257 ... " Echinoderms" BUT Yesterday I found the said book. So I can now write them in the said book ..... BUT .... as you can see, there's 2016 - 257 (!) articles to write in it. Eek. It'll take me AGES to write all that lot in it assiduously !! But I've started ... and I'm finding it quite interesting. In other news ,,,,, I've got some smashing birding books yesterday, More bedtime reading !
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Well, I haven't found any so far.
I've walked and walked in the darker and darker and darker recent weeks and have not heard a "seep" or owt like it. And ... the night-time Tawny Owl has shut up too. Double Whammy ! And another problem is the terrible wet and windy weather which doesn't help the cold and soggy ornithologist is his/her horrible nightmigging outings. So ..... should I resort to carting a contraption which can ID them more efficiently ? I think you aren't supposed to do it. Er ..... maybe not. Hey-ho. Just as the garden started to get some sun this morning, a whoosh of small birds swooped into the nearest tree. Bins up, not expecting much, BUT .... amidst the Blue Tits, House Sparrows etc
BUT then a GOLDCREST appeared ! It's a while since we've had one in't garden. And then, the usual Jackdaw Arrival happened, very noisily, and ... The Goldcrest and all the other stuff vanished. And here's another thing... ... the Winter Visitors have not arrived, despite my long walks in the hope of getting some. ... and I'll be peeved if they don't turn up soon. For ages and ages I've been trying to subscribe to the local monthly local birding newsletter ... but when I go on the website I follow the rather circuitous instructions but I then get to a dead end. BUT ..this morning TSO ... ( my partner in "life") ( The Significant Otter) had a go at finding how to do it .... and it worked !!!!! She did it by a completely different method. God only knows why the info on the aforementioned unworkable instructions ever got onto the website. SO ..... I am very pleased ....... but I've still missed out on loads of newsletters etc. And on top of that, the info that comes up now is far better, more comprehensive and reliable. But the crap stuff is still there on the website. So lots of people still can't access it. Bloody brilliant. There should be a picture of a book here, but the stupid computer doesn't seem to want to put it in that empty box. So I've put one of my terrific drawings on here instead. SO .. The book I want to tell you about is by Jim Flegg ... " A Notebook of BIRDS 1907 - 1980.... and illustrations by Norman Arlott, Robert Gillmor and the excellent and wonderful Laurel Tucker. She's the one who made all the beautiful illustrations for The Big Bird Race.
It is full of short-ish articles under themes ...Behaviour, Food and Feeding, Migration, Aggression, "It is amazing" , Goings and Comings, Physique .... all good stuff. Here's a few headings for you to get the idea .. " Kestrel taking Prey from Barn Owl" "Red Grouse Flying Out To Sea" "Turnstones feeding on Human Corpse" " Collared Dove in Surrey" ...and, as they say, many many more. Wandering out of our local supermarket this morning, a flock of about 30 Starlings were whooshing around in a most wonderful way. And then I thought ..... Why do they do that ? Robins don't do it. No way ! Nor do woodpeckers. Nor do Thrushes. Does anybody have any idea why they do do it, or they don't ? Every night before bedtime I stand on the front step listening for owls mainly, but I also see/hear flocks of mallards, pigeons etc. Why do they do that? I've got loads and loads of "bird books" but I've never found any reasons for all that. If any of you lot out there have any ideas about that, ? Any, er, theories ? Well, a good start would be to find out why us humans congregate quite a lot. But why ?
/ Yes, I did ... I staggered downstairs and opened the front door .... and, dear readers, a full-blown, dreadful tonking of torrential rain + a ferocious wind was in full power. We have had lots of hefty rain lately, with many-a-day of continuous soggyness. And, of course, nights. And being a soppy old twit, I felt very sad. God only knows how the birds survive this sort of stuff.....can you imagine the sheer misery of it all. Any sensible birder would live in East Anglia ( Norfolk-and-Suffolk) if they've got any sense. The weather is good .... the birding is good...... woo ! Anyway .... I'm going to venture outside now .... and I hope you will too. But why not listen to this first ... Transatlanticism..................... I wrote this awhile ago ..but the computer keeps collapsing .... This morning I saw a male House Sparrow do something odd ..... it hopped backwards a few hops ! Maybe the ferocious wind ( see above) blew it backwards (?) There was nothing in front of it.... or anywhere near it to disturb it or frighten it. Moving on ... I drove down to the river first thing, but the weather was atrocious. I could hardly open the door such was the wind .... and rain was torrential. See pic above. Anyway, me and the TSO are going to get out of the aforementioned weather and she will take me to a swish eatery with big windows for spotting things. And ..by the way .... I've done so much of " birding from the garden window" that I've got to the stage where I can recognise quite a lot of my avian visitors individually. ... and I've given them appropriate names. |
AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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