tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post7149378671843457761..comments2024-03-28T20:29:39.377+00:00Comments on Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park birds: Ralph Hancockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-65526013094912252342019-07-06T01:23:32.557+01:002019-07-06T01:23:32.557+01:00I'm reading Patrick Leigh Fermor's book Ab...I'm reading Patrick Leigh Fermor's book <i>Abducting a General</i>, about his kidnapping of General Kreipe, the senior German officer in occupied Crete. He and his companions are sustaining themselves on the snowy mountains with mulberry raki.Ralph Hancockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-19809431429264369242019-07-06T00:01:24.617+01:002019-07-06T00:01:24.617+01:00Yep, same word; the Spanish translation for that d...Yep, same word; the Spanish translation for that draught is mata-bicho.<br /><br />Speaking of heartening, pick-me-up, wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee beverages, I feel the need to exhume remembrances of the old pasalasierra (literally, "go over the hill"), an alcoholic spirit from the north of Extremadura famously said to reach 60% in alcohol content. That was the stuff muleteers of old took to brave the passage on foot of the only snow-covered mountain pass that connected the north of Extremadura with the adjoining region. Sadly it is no longer sold, although I am told that it tasted like an alien's (as in the movie Alien) spit would.TinĂºvielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04794275230697959519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-66181925258488349442019-07-05T21:53:47.866+01:002019-07-05T21:53:47.866+01:00Really 'bugs' for all insects is an Americ...Really 'bugs' for all insects is an Americanism, but I use it sometimes to describe what Pied Wagtails are digging out of the algae because I don't know what they're finding.<br /><br />I read that in Portugal, the morning shot of <i>bagaceira</i> (spirit made from grape skins) that people drink to set them up is called the <i>matabixo</i> (bug killer), evidently referring to bedbugs.Ralph Hancockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-75755565111363880852019-07-05T21:42:20.290+01:002019-07-05T21:42:20.290+01:00That's a splendid golden-looking bug if there ...That's a splendid golden-looking bug if there ever was one (they're bugs, right? I've read that only "an insect that has hemielytra and piercing-sucking mouthparts" can be called a bug, though). In Spanish bugs used to be called bichos (from vulgar Latin bestius, "animal"), but nowadays everything is a bicho, from poorly behaved children to ugly looking men down to birds.<br /><br />Welcome back to the long-absent female Kestrel!TinĂºvielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04794275230697959519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-84092991777827324012019-07-05T11:02:57.817+01:002019-07-05T11:02:57.817+01:00It was quite a spectacle. I only filmed about half...It was quite a spectacle. I only filmed about half of them.Ralph Hancockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-19083956291528447512019-07-05T06:05:09.524+01:002019-07-05T06:05:09.524+01:00Some nice shots of the Odonata. Enjoyed the video ...Some nice shots of the Odonata. Enjoyed the video of egg-laying Red-eyed Damsels- quite a few pairs!Conehead54https://www.blogger.com/profile/18423862602236191493noreply@blogger.com