tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post1808044291458402743..comments2024-03-29T01:41:15.713+00:00Comments on Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park birds: Ralph Hancockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-83018048801764832742016-03-01T19:51:40.245+00:002016-03-01T19:51:40.245+00:00Good picture. They do this quite often, in pairs, ...Good picture. They do this quite often, in pairs, starting in winter. It's partly a hunt for suitable trees to nest in, but mainly a way of advertising their pair bond and their superiority to other Egyptians.Ralph Hancockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-74970878400751700032016-03-01T19:49:14.006+00:002016-03-01T19:49:14.006+00:00Yes. But mainly he is telling the other thrushes t...Yes. But mainly he is telling the other thrushes to shove off, because it's <i>his</i> bush.Ralph Hancockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-2386013985832766842016-03-01T19:21:06.693+00:002016-03-01T19:21:06.693+00:00Went for a wander on Monday myself and came across...Went for a wander on Monday myself and came across an Egyptian Goose at the top of a tree. Granted it was a fairly flat surface for it but Ive never seen one perched quite like this!<br /><br />https://www.flickr.com/photos/robbrazierphoto/25389586786/Robhttp://www.robbrazierphoto.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-14500159854440222992016-03-01T11:07:00.622+00:002016-03-01T11:07:00.622+00:00This 1964 poem by Basil Bunting doesn't seem t...This 1964 poem by Basil Bunting doesn't seem to be as well-known as it should be by birders, given that it de-sentimentalises so helpfully:<br /><br /><br />A thrush in the syringa sings. <br /><br />'Hunger ruffles my wings, fear, <br />lust, familiar things. <br /><br />Death thrusts hard. My sons <br />by hawk's beak, by stones, by cat and weasel, die. <br />From a shaken bush I<br />list familiar things, <br />fear, hunger, lust.' <br /><br />O gay thrush! <br /><br /><br /> Harry G.harryghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04184350321693687780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-5180603121549994832016-03-01T00:42:23.184+00:002016-03-01T00:42:23.184+00:00Heinrich Hoffmann might also have had a take on it...Heinrich Hoffmann might also have had a take on it. Or Proust, of course. Jim n.L.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-28828356108347931272016-02-29T23:43:20.442+00:002016-02-29T23:43:20.442+00:00Hard to tell with the picture that small. I suppos...Hard to tell with the picture that small. I suppose the inert bird had flown into a window and stunned itself.Ralph Hancockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-67282120954481010012016-02-29T20:59:58.578+00:002016-02-29T20:59:58.578+00:00It seems like we also share favourite poems!
Rega...It seems like we also share favourite poems!<br /><br />Regarding morals and birds, have you seen this video?<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JSLmmkdj4E<br /><br />The more sober among us will think that the bird is trying to mate with the unmoving bird. But I'll be darned if it doesn't look like the little fellow succeeded in resuscitating a friend.TinĂºvielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04794275230697959519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-38968228821236259262016-02-29T20:43:29.251+00:002016-02-29T20:43:29.251+00:00It's lucky that birds don't do morals. Or ...It's lucky that birds don't do morals. Or many other things. As Auden wrote in 'The Fall of Rome',<br /><br />Unendowed with wealth or pity,<br />Little birds with scarlet legs,<br />Sitting on their speckled eggs,<br />Eye each flu-infected city.Ralph Hancockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-35799791591019857112016-02-29T20:39:27.470+00:002016-02-29T20:39:27.470+00:00Sad but inevitable. No cover, lots of big gulls.Sad but inevitable. No cover, lots of big gulls.Ralph Hancockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-34916122700519910902016-02-29T19:56:47.979+00:002016-02-29T19:56:47.979+00:00I've been reading (quite furiously) back to le...I've been reading (quite furiously) back to learn what's the Black Swan been up to in the last few days. Is he still trying to break up displaying couples? Has his interest in the whiter Girlfriend been affected by her appearance?<br /><br />Stuff for moralists, this! I wonder what Aesop would make of it.TinĂºvielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04794275230697959519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-22138571363881336142016-02-29T19:56:25.224+00:002016-02-29T19:56:25.224+00:00I'm afraid the Round Pond goslings were down t...I'm afraid the Round Pond goslings were down to two when I visited at 2pm today.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com