A few days ago I spent £2.49 on that book up there ... Eric Hosking's " An Eye for a Bird." And the first chapter I read was the one about Hilbre ... or Hilbre Island if you aren't familiar with it. As a teenager I went there many times, and managed to avoid getting stuck in the mud, falling over on the slippy rocks, freezing half to death,and especially drastic, reading the tide tables wrongly and drowning. I wrote a jolly thing all about it ...here .. 398-hilbre-100-ways-to-read-your-tide-table-wrongly.html Eric H. writes about it dramatically in the book ... As may be imagined, the water sweeps in at a dangerous pace .... 10 m.p.h. at times ..and men, women and children have been drowned when caught in the landward-rushing seas. Here lay the scene of Charles Kingsley's poem " The Sands of Dee " where Mary went to " call the cattle home." The western tide crept up along the sand, And o'er and o'er the sand, And round and round the sand, As far as eye could see. The rolling mist came down and hid the land: And never home came she. .... But still the boatmen hear her call the cattle home, Across the sands of Dee. I'll have a try at getting The Significant Otter to take photographs of the wonderfully action-packed map of Hilbre and various occupants and visitors, including a youngish Prince Philip on the Little Eye, Roger Tory Peterson doing a painting etc. I really must go there again before I drop down dead or perish in torrential rain just like wot I've just said. I'll brave the tide and wind and sludge I'll slip and slide Or hardly budge with feet so cold and hands so numb and me, so old my end has come. ..which would be a fitting end for me, and I'm sure the Significant Otter would be quite pleased to get me out of the way. The next chapter is about Minsmere ..... another of my favourite spots. In the book, he goes all over the place ... Holland, Finland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Jordan, Pakistan, Africa ... and much more. Anyway, Hilbre-wise, I've always managed to get back. Mind you, I've been to Lithuania .... and I got back from there as well ...
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There's said canal .... but they arrived much more recently. There's only three left now, from the original 18 that were dumped there out of a van. They still get photographed a lot. The previous installment(Part 1) (Jan/Feb/Mar) is a few posts back at #1129. You need to remember that this list was compiled in the 1990's. Over the years, things have changed with the bird population. And me ! OK .... In April Shelducks are commonly seen in small groups and Common Sandpipers are still passing through. There is a light Redpoll movement. Blackcaps arrive in the second week, and Garden Warblers a week later. Whimpbrels may pass over late in the month, and at the very nd Lesser Whitethroats put in an appearance, and a Cuckoo is sometimes heard. and right at the end of the month there has been a Coot record (30:4:95) and a Yellow Wagtail (25:4:94). Common Sandpiper passage continues into MAY ( latest 20th) and the first week usually sees the first Common Tern. Shelduck are still loafing around and there is a possibility of Wood Warbler ( 2nd - 10th) . The light Redpoll passage continues , and the first Swifts arrive usually by the 10th. Nearly 30% of Heron sightings are in this month. Unusual sightings for this month include Coot (17:5:94), Whinchat ( 2:5:95) and Grasshopper Warbler (10:5:93). JUNE is a quiet month but Shelducks are still frequent in the fields and there is a slight peak in Great Spotted Woodpecker sightings. But over the years......... Common Sands have almost disappeared, you can forget Wood Warblers ... they've pretty much gone years ago. Whinchats .... no chance ! Groppers .... there's been 1 (one) recently but I missed it. Bah. The strange thing is ...... the stretch of the canal I surveyed has hardly changed at all over the years. In fact, it hasn't changed at all. You won't be surprised to hear that there's been a few changes since then. Here's another stunning song from Death Cab for Cutie ...... For the first time since it started, it looks like I'm not going to get 100+ species inside my 3K this year ... in case you don't know, I have my very own "3-kilometre - radius - " local area" centred on my house .... I've got about 40 days left, and I'm only on a measly 94. 16-the-3k.html So ... I've made a target list of the ones I'm in with a chance of getting at the last minute ...... in no ralucitrap redro ....... Whooper Swan Pintail Ringed Plover Ruff Med Gull Goldcrest Bewick's Swan Whooper Swan Waxwing ( Grrrr) Redwing ( GRRRRRRR) Redpoll + a motley selection of Geese. I'm not overly confident I'll do it. Anyway, here's a smashing Neil Young song ... " Cinnamon Girl " I wanna live With a cinnamon girl I could be happy The rest of my life With a cinnamon girl A dreamer of pictures I run in the night You see us together Chasing the moonlight My cinnamon girl Ten silver saxes A bass with a bow The drummer relaxes And waits between shows For his cinnamon girl A dreamer of pictures I run in the night You see us together Chasing the moonlight My cinnamon girl Pa send me money now I'm gonna make it somehow I need another chance You see your baby loves to dance Yeah...yeah...yeah ... and here's the "lyrics" singalong version .. Here's an "unusual" sort of Birdingbook. Here's a bloke who lives in a little village. He doesn't go whizzing off to distant dips. ( And nor do I anymore.. well... hardly ever) (Been there done that.) He does a circuit round the village most days. He keeps detailed lists of all the birds he sees, and where, and what they're doing. He describes his Daily Wander through the top spotting-spots in the village, then he goes home and writes it all up. Chapter two lists his TEN RULES FOR WATCHING BIRDS. Here's an abbreviated version of said list ........ 1. Anticipate what you may expect to see. 2. Do not neglect the commonplace... and do not spend your time looking for rarities. 3. Have access to the right places. 4. Go alone. The person who can be relied upon to walk without talking is very rare indeed. 5. Learn to stand still. 6. Go early in the morning. 7. Learn how to identify birds by their plumage. 8. Learn how to identify birds by their silhouettes 9. Learn to identify birds by their calls. 10. Don't cheat. There is a temptation to take some of the common birds for granted. ( I've written about that).......(somewhere in all of this ... ). Then he has a detailed chapter for each month, each one with a summary at the end. Seeing as it is November, let's have a look at HIS November in 1980 .. Species seen on 26 days ..(he has his own way of doing it) ..... Wood Pigeon, Starling, Magpie, Rook, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Robin, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Great Tit, House Sparrow, Chaffinch. Seen on 20-25 days ... Collared Dove, Wren, Redwing, Mistle Thrush, Greenfinch. 15-19 days.... Black-headed Gull, Fieldfare, Stock Dove. 10-14 days... Song Thrush, Grey Wagtail, Moorhen, Herring Gull, Goldcrest 5-9 Days... Dabchick, Lapwing, Pied Wagtail, Hedge-Sparrow, Coal Tit. 2-4 days .... Gt. Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Long-tailed Tit, Tree- creeper, Bullfinch, Goldfinch. One Day Only .... Mallard, Sparrow-Hawk, Yellow-hammer, Little Owl, Reed Bunting, Teal, Blackcap, March Tit. Well.. I've never seen that done like that. I might give it a go in December.... That's me in my younger days ... notice my brilliant home-made BCA device ... " Bird Calls Amplifier" ..which I have christened as the "Vismigophone". [I can tell I drew that before 2012 because one morning I made myself a cup of tea and it tasted awful. I made another one ... a different brand .... and that tasted horrible. Overnight, my tea-sensors had gone crackers. Everything else was OK ..coffee, beer, Orange Juice .... very odd. ] But I digress....... In the "good old days" when I was young and sprightly I would get up at some unearthly hour and go vismigging .... often from the comfort (?) of my own garden. However, these days I feel the cold a lot more, I'm not as patient as I used to be, and I find it harder to pick out wispy, faint, 300m-above calls from birds I can hardly see. And here's another thing. The passage isn't anywhere as good as it used to be. Why, I don't know. It may well be linked to the gradual decrease of diversity and numbers of birds around my area. Who knows ? ( Maybe I'm not as good as I used to be either ) Moving on .... I'm hopefully looking forward to the much-awaited " Warbler-Wintering" .... every winter in the garden we get one or two Blackcaps and/or Chiffs over the season, sometimes just the one, sometimes three. It's hard to be sure as to the exact numbers, because one male Blackcap looks very like another. But occasionally you get to see them together ... but I still don't really get to know the true numbers for sure. Now ...for your entertainment ..... a video of various strange things in the sky ... some of them are quite ordinary .. the Rainbow + 2 "suns" on either side is not rare .... and one is surely a bird .... .. and who could forget my very own UFO ... 313-my-very-own-ufo.html And here's a "relevant" song .... I bet you've all been rabidly waiting for my world-famous Common Gull Counts. What with the crap weather and much-higher water levels this autumn I've only "done" 11 of them so far. For those who don't know why I'm doing them, it is all because a few years ago the Common Gulls simply didn't arrive as they usually do each winter .... but that time they didn't. So I now count them each winter ....always hoping, of course, that occasionally something better might turn up.... occasional Med Gulls, the unlikely but well-worth-waiting-for Iceland and Glaucous versions turning up. So ..here's the results so far. 7/361 means that there were 7 Commons in a flock of 361 . Here's the results so far ..... it's a bit early for "the graphs" yet ..... 2nd Sept 21 0/69 5th Sept 21 2/229 12th Sept 21 6/193 I Heron 13 Sept 21 2/107 12 Canada Geese flew over 16th Sept 2/110 20th Sept 8/177 26th Sept 19/162 (!!) Cripes was what I actually wrote. 14th Oct 4/166 25th Oct 17/356 Drizzle 30th Oct 0/0 Low tide .... but due to RAIN it was a raging torrent. 12th Nov 5/177 + 1 RB Merganser So .... the intrepid counter (me) has got off to a good start. Well ... a start . Let's have a bit of beautiful celebratory music ..... .... Death Cab for Cutie .... and the wonderful " Marching Bands of Manhattan " .. music doesn't get much better than this .... ..and here's the "singalong" version ... absolutely beautiful ... There's been some terrific bird books released lately .... and you don't want to miss out .... [1] The Observer's Book of "A-bit-Rarer" Birds [2] Crumbling Decrepit Mouldy Hides of the UK. [3] 37 Ways to get rid of Brainless Birders. ( See also # 7 and #8) [4] My Birding Marathon "doing" every Zoo in the UK. [5] 1000 Crafty Swindles to get your Garden List up to 100. [6] How to Boost your Life List Legitimately. [7] 88 Excuses to get away from Dodgy. [8] Another eighty "more abrupt" ways to get away from Dodgy. [9] Hilbre Island and its Horrible Hazards. ( Sad tales of gormless ginks) [10] Build your own 200m Vis-Mig Observation Tower. If you know of any more recent publications, kindly let me know. You can use the Comment Thingy .. or email [email protected] Here's a special hide which enables you to get to the windows a bit swifter... What with the weather being total crap,and the winter coming shortly, I expect quite a few of my dedicated readers haven't got out much lately ...so here's a few "rarity submissions" for you, featuring Boris, Stanley, Liam and "the Donald" .... there might be more, but these are all the ones I can find ..... 196-from-the-rarity-committees-files-joris-bohnsons-black-stork.html 574-stanley-unwins-bbrc-rarity-submission.html 542-amil-garglers-bbrc-submission.html 818-doh-nald-crump-spots-a-rare-bird.html If you, dear reader, can find another one in the stygian depths of this blog, maybe you can draw my attention to it. In the meantime, I'm going to write some more of "that sort of thing". This is a sad, but beautiful German song ........ Yes, Florida's State Bird has been booted out ... and so far we don't know what will replace it. Perhaps one of my readers will send in their choice. Here's everything you need to know ......... By act of the 1927 Legislature, the Northern mockingbird, is, officially, Florida's state bird. According to Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 3, the "melody of its music has delighted the hearts of residents and visitors to Florida from the days of the rugged pioneers to the present comers." The selection of Mimus polyglottos, (that name tells you a lot about this bird) makes sense in some ways, not so much in others. On the plus side, it might be the most common songbird in the Sunshine State. It's found everywhere from the western limits of the Panhandle to the southern-most of the Keys and all points between, with the exception of the western Everglades. On the other hand, there's nothing that particularly says Florida about the Mockingbird. It's found through most of the United States, and is the official bird of Arkansas, Texas, Tennessee and Mississippi. It's often seen as a symbol of the South, yet it is the Northern mockingbird, with a range that extends into southern Canada. Mexico, the Bahamas and the Caribbean are also home for this bird. The '27 Legislature was right about one thing: Northern mockingbirds are quite the singers. According to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, a male mockingbird will build a reportoire of 200 songs during his lifetime. They are especially vocal in spring and summer during breeding season. Hear an unusual bird call? Think it's something new and exotic? There's a good chance what you're hearing is the ubiquitous mockingbird. In the 1890s, they were so prized for their singing abiity that they were caught, caged and sold for as much as $50, depending on the talents of the individual bird. Contrary to the brightness of their song, northern mockingbirds are a bit drab when it comes to looks. They are medium-sized, mostly gray with a long, thin bill with a slight downward curve at the tip, and a long tail. They have black and white bars on their wings that flash when the bird flies. They go about nine to 11 inches in length, have red-brown eyes with a dark eye line. There are a few birds that resemble the northern mockingbird, the closest of which are the blue-gray gnatcatcher and the loggerhead shrike. Gnatcatchers, however, are about half the size of the mockingbird, and the shrike has a large, black mask on its face with a bit of a raptor's hook at the end of the bill. The mockingbird is unmistakable in flight, with its white wing bars apparent. Northern mockingbirds are omnivores, eating bugs and lizards through much of the spring and summer, and berries in fall and winter. Also on their menu: crawfish, snails, lizards and the occasional small snake. Also on the menu: poop. They can become aggressive when defending a patch of tasty berries against marauding robins or cedar waxwings, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservations Commission. As noted above, they're probably the most common songbird in Florida, found in scrubs, the 'burbs, in open fields and along the edges of forests and hammocks. According to the FWC, a 1969 study found that there were as many as 400 mockingbird pairs per 100 acres in the St. Petersburg area. One of the key reasons why the northern mockingbird is so abundant is its ability to thrive in human-altered environments. They also reproduce quickly; a pair can have as many as three broods a season in Florida. One pair was documented as having four broods in four months, April through July, according to the FWC. In Florida, breeding season begins as early as February and continues into August, peaking in May and June. Both males and females take part in constructing a bulky nest made of sticks and lined with finer material. Females typically lay clutches of two or three eggs, which take a little less than two weeks to incubate. Mom handles sitting duties. Both parents feed their offspring until they're ready to leave the nest 10 to 12 days after hatching. For the parents, it's rinse and repeat a second time and possibly a third. Do a little research and you'll read accounts of northern mockingbirds attacking humans. These aren't fiction. They do happen. But it's almost always when said humans knowingly or unknowingly approach a mockingbird nest filled with eggs or chicks and the occupants get a little uneasy about their presence. It happened a few years ago in Boca Raton, the target so angry that she made something of a campaign to have the mockingbird dethroned as the state's official bird. (Her suggestion as a replacement: the flamingo. Really.) One of the things these incidents spotlight is the intelligence of the northern mockingbird, a word not usually associated with birds. Experiments by University of Florida researchers in 2009 found that mockingbirds were able to identify people who regularly approached their nests. They could assess risks people posed to their offspring and identify people out who frequently approached the nest even in a crowd and even after they changed clothes. Here's a lovely (?) rendering of "Mockingbird" for your delight ...... ... and here they are ... well, some of them ... It seems that I've not photographed lots of my crappier attempts ... I'll dig out some more shite ones and get get them snapped ... the TSO has to do it because my so-called "camera" is also crap. So ...here's the music ....... a bit of a belter ... The Joy Formidable ... " Whirring" It seems that the TSO does not see any sense in displaying crap drawings. So, as things stand, she ain't going to take pictures of any of them. I can understand her point of view, but I think she's scoring points. |
AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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