Monday, March 09, 2009
Being a creature of habits and simple pleasures, Saturday was given over to the Hyde Park Owls again. They are bigger than they were and can now fly. We were not aware of this until they started clambering about and rather than falling when they launched themselves, they flew and didn’t fall. There was the perhaps inevitable comic moment when one landed on the male who promptly flew to another tree.
Have a picture.
There was the usual assortment of birders and hangers on, and it helps to remind me why speaking to birders can be infuriating as they can be such a pretentious and snobbish lot. There was a thoroughly nice chap (whose name I didn’t get) who was there for a couple of hours with us who gave me a gentle ribbing about my old school optics, but was humble enough to use my scope for a little digital photography… The mental posh dude turned up again, but I’m warming to him – a little English eccentricity does no harm. We were riffing for a bit about the function of eye lashes within Eurasian avian predators. Rockin!
Other birders were largely annoying, and remarkably dismissive of the situation, some only staying long enough to get the fancy optics out, clock the bird and fuck off. But there you go, nowt stranger than folk.
There were parakeets nearby, have a picture.
Heard a Green Woodpecker, saw a Great Spot and the usual passerines were kicking about.
And I managed to dip on the Med Gull twice in a day. Bummer.
And uncharacteristically off topic, Ayr United went top of the league after thumping Stranraer 5-0 on Saturday. A win at Raith next week and the title is in the bag!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Piss poor pun, but I care not. Took Mrs Thing to the Tawny Owls in Hyde Park on Saturday (technically a twitch I suppose, but I'm not counting it as such). The info was about on londonbirders for a while and it seemed like this was the best time to go and see them. Birdguides had been there earlier in the week (see the blogolinkthingy on the right) so this does just kind of duplicate the info there, but with more idiosyncratic and gratuitous swearing.
Fuck my boots they were fucking ace!
See what I mean? Fucking ace!
There was quite a fuss about them, understandably and we showed a couple of tourists the young 'uns through the scope and I even showed them to some kids (and I generally hate kids). This involved taking a tripod and scope that are set up for someone that is 6'2" down to about 3 foot nothing. Gave them all a look (you never know what little spark may encourage them on) and moved off, with not so much as a thank you from their bloody mother. Yeah, cheers.
I'm assuming that this is a second brood? Or do they always nest late? All my books say laying in March, a month on the eggs, 4-5 weeks in the nest hole, and then the same again before they leave, meaning that the huge rat population can justify two broods. Dunno.
And then there was this madcrazy looking bloke who was looking for the second adult, and asked (in an overly posh voice) if the mother had been seen. In response to a question from Mrs Thing he was heard to say "I've been coming to these Isles for three yaahz". Which promoted much quizzical thinking - we've been here a lot longer than three years mate, but what has that go to do with the barring on a Tawny Owl?
Owls, he actually said Owls, not Isles. I've never heard it pronounced like that before! How we hooted with laughter (geddit?). He's probably some totally famous gentleman Ornithologist, or he is just mad.
There was a nice birder bloke called Nick there too, who seemed equally blown away.
They really are a piss easy, and absofuckinlutely top way to spend a couple of hours.
And we didn't find the Med Gull by the round pond, and honestly couldn't have given a shit.
