5 November 2011
I'm changing focus a wee bit for today's entry. As well photography and now writing I also enjoy birding. However, it's been a very long time since I have been able to get out to do any birding. We that in mind I'm hoping to get out tomorrow (health permitting), and go up the road to Kingsbury Water Park for an hour or two and I'm looking forward to it. Anyway ...
Last evening I finished reading Bill Odies Little Black Bird Book. OK, it's not the greatest book ever penned but it was still funny in most of it. I'm sure most birders will have little stories to tell of other birders or even non-birders trying to be borders. Here's a couple of mine ...
At the top end of Queens Road here in Dorktown is a pub called the Cock and Bear, not a bad pub really but not as good as 25 years ago. Jan and I decided that we would go a walk along the tow path of the Coventry Canal just behind our flat as far as the Queens Road bridge, drop into the Cock and Bear for a drink and then call in on mother on the way home. OK, fine, off we went ... and saw very little. Getting into the pub we still had our binos aorund our necks. Getting out drink we went to sit down and an old chap started up ... "See anything then?" "Nope, not much." "Did you not even see a stinging nettle jenny?" "Never heard of them." "Oh, they're lovely little birds; about the size of me thumb nail they are and all sorts of colours in them." "Oh right, I know what you mean now. Usually they're called by their Latin name though." "Don't know Latin!" "It's a straight translation of the name you used, Maximus filliblustori ." "Oh is it?" I heard a few guys at the bar either openly laughing or not so quietly choking on their beer. The old chap didn't stay long after that.
Have you by any chance seen a spoonbill? Well, they are very large and very white and have this huge great soup-spoon shaped bill, hence the name. We have seen them just the once at a place called Blacktoft Sands. It's an RSPB site on the south bank of the Humber inland from the Trent joins it. It's a daft name to my mind cos the village of Blacktoft is on the north bank, not the south. Anyway ... there we were enjoying watching the big beautiful white birds moving through the water's edge, moving their heads from side to side feeding when a group of about 8 other older birders came into the hide. The usual "Anything about," was heard from one of them. "Yeah," say one guy, "a pair of spoonbills feeding over then back there." "Hmmp! Spoonbills," spoken with disgust by one the new comers, "two a bloody penny around here." Well, never being one for keeping quiet at such times I could let one go without comment! "Two a penny? Well your getting your money's worth here then aren't you? And in any case, we never get them where I come from!" He didn't stay long, less than a minute but was heard to mutter something like, "Bloody loud mouthed sod!" as he left. I was really worried about it as I continued to watch the spoonbills continue feeding and totally ignoring us all ;-)))
A few birdie pics then ...
What ahs all this do with Dorktown News? Absolutely nowt! With my memory and my senior moments I thought I'd better get it down on paper , well 'puter screen before I forgot it ;-)))
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