Birders' Nest

[Elgarian Redux]

We could make millions!! Millions, I tell you!! 

Unquestionably. I've started spending my share already.

[Elgarian Redux]

We could make millions!! Millions, I tell you!! 

OK. Clear space in your bank account. This afternoon I got out my cheap and nasty recording equipment and attempted to put some of the lyrics to music and make a demo. I couldn't tackle the whole thing, but just took the last part, with one or two slight textual adjustments, thus:

Following the line of that slanting trunk
above the acacia tree behind the safari truck
to the broken end of a limb of the big ol' tree ...
[stay with me ...]

in the picture of the landscape, and along the branch
of the broken limb  -- not the little limb
that looks like a lightning bolt ...
[we're getting there] ...

but a proper limb – there's a leopard's paw,
and then attached to that leopard's paw
is a leopard, a leopard, a leopard, oh yeah!

And that is where the leopard is
That is where the leopard is,
That is where the leopard is, oh yeah!

The resulting music file was too big to upload here, but I'll give a Soundcloud link below which I hope will work. The vocals aren't very clear so you'll need the words above to follow what's going on.

It will make you cry (for all the wrong reasons)

Where the leopard is

[owlice]

OK. Clear space in your bank account. This afternoon I got out my cheap and nasty recording equipment and attempted to put some of the lyrics to music and make a demo. I couldn't tackle the whole thing, but just took the last part, with one or two slight textual adjustments, thus:

Following the line of that slanting trunk
above the acacia tree behind the safari truck
to the broken end of a limb of the big ol' tree ...
[stay with me ...]

in the picture of the landscape, and along the branch
of the broken limb  -- not the little limb
that looks like a lightning bolt ...
[we're getting there] ...

but a proper limb – there's a leopard's paw,
and then attached to that leopard's paw
is a leopard, a leopard, a leopard, oh yeah!

And that is where the leopard is
That is where the leopard is,
That is where the leopard is, oh yeah!

The resulting music file was too big to upload here, but I'll give a Soundcloud link below which I hope will work. The vocals aren't very clear so you'll need the words above to follow what's going on.

It will make you cry (for all the wrong reasons)

Where the leopard is

exploding head emoji here

Elgarian, you are amazing!!! WOW!!! I'm laughing in delight at this!!!

WOW!!

WOW!!

I was going to post some birds, but I need time to listen to this a dozen more times!! (WOW!)

[Iota]

OK. Clear space in your bank account. This afternoon I got out my cheap and nasty recording equipment and attempted to put some of the lyrics to music and make a demo. I couldn't tackle the whole thing, but just took the last part, with one or two slight textual adjustments, thus:

Following the line of that slanting trunk
above the acacia tree behind the safari truck
to the broken end of a limb of the big ol' tree ...
[stay with me ...]

in the picture of the landscape, and along the branch
of the broken limb  -- not the little limb
that looks like a lightning bolt ...
[we're getting there] ...

but a proper limb – there's a leopard's paw,
and then attached to that leopard's paw
is a leopard, a leopard, a leopard, oh yeah!

And that is where the leopard is
That is where the leopard is,
That is where the leopard is, oh yeah!

The resulting music file was too big to upload here, but I'll give a Soundcloud link below which I hope will work. The vocals aren't very clear so you'll need the words above to follow what's going on.

It will make you cry (for all the wrong reasons)

Where the leopard is

Haha, brilliant, Elgarian! Really catchy too! Bravo!!

[Elgarian Redux]

Haha, brilliant, Elgarian! Really catchy too! Bravo!!

Be careful. Your hearing may never recover.

[owlice]

Trying to regain my composure and capture my resolve to post a few birds here...

{takes deep cleansing breath}

Okay, birds.

Remember the Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird from a previous post and Elgarian verse? Here's another photo of the same bird:


Tinkerbirds are in the Barbet family. I'd never heard of barbets before taking the safari trip that inspired the purchase of the P900 camera. Gotta pay the thread tax, so here are a few more African Barbets:

Oops! Sorry... that's a Saguaro cactus on the run.

Let me try again... here's another Tinkerbird:

Northern Red-fronted Tinkerbird
So cute!

And here's a Red-fronted Barbet:

Gee, a Red-fronted Barbet looks a lot like a Red-fronted Tinkerbird, which is also a Barbet... who decided that was a good idea?!

The first African Barbet I ever saw was the Red-and-yellow Barbet; my first thought was, "What a crazy-looking bird! Someone sewed together scraps from other projects for this one!"

He was eating bits of baked chicken at the time...

Southern Crested Barbets have a similar color palette:


I still think the Red-and-yellow Barbet is crazy-quiltish! These Black-collared Barbets are sartorially a bit more organized:


So many spots on this one!:

D'Arnaud's Barbet

But not all Barbets are spotted/speckled/polka-dotted/yellow or yellowish...

Grey-throated Barbet; check out the tufts on his forehead!

I have to stop here... need to listen to a certain Soundcloud again...

[Elgarian Redux]

Trying to regain my composure and capture my resolve to post a few birds here...

{takes deep cleansing breath}

Okay, birds.

Remember the Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird from a previous post and Elgarian verse? Here's another photo of the same bird:

Here's a bird I'd never heard of a few days ago, and now here he is, seeming like an old chum.

Tinkerbirds are in the Barbet family. I'd never heard of barbets before taking the safari trip that inspired the purchase of the P900 camera. Gotta pay the thread tax, so here are a few more African Barbets:

Barbets. You see what I mean? Never heard of 'em then suddenly here they all are.

Oops! Sorry... that's a Saguaro cactus on the run.

These newly evolved cacti with running capabilities ... do we need to worry about them?

Let me try again... here's another Tinkerbird:

Northern Red-fronted Tinkerbird
So cute!

Cute indeed.

And here's a Red-fronted Barbet:

Gee, a Red-fronted Barbet looks a lot like a Red-fronted Tinkerbird, which is also a Barbet... who decided that was a good idea?!

Probably a politician.

The first African Barbet I ever saw was the Red-and-yellow Barbet; my first thought was, "What a crazy-looking bird! Someone sewed together scraps from other projects for this one!"

He was eating bits of baked chicken at the time...

Looks kind of like a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker gone all wrong.

Southern Crested Barbets have a similar color palette:

Punk barbet!

I still think the Red-and-yellow Barbet is crazy-quiltish! These Black-collared Barbets are sartorially a bit more organized:

I call that handsome. Scary but handsome.

So many spots on this one!:

D'Arnaud's Barbet

Barbet with measles!

But not all Barbets are spotted/speckled/polka-dotted/yellow or yellowish...

Grey-throated Barbet; check out the tufts on his forehead!

Again, strangely scary. Pardon my neuroses.

Superb images yet again. Thank you so much. I simply wouldn't normally be exposed to bird photographs of this calibre.

[owlice]

These newly evolved cacti with running capabilities ... do we need to worry about them?

At this point, an army of Saguaros might be very welcome....

[Elgarian Redux]

At this point, an army of Saguaros might be very welcome....

I can see why (provided they're on your side). I worry about you guys over there.

[Elgarian Redux]

Fabulous morning up on the hills - and we found a new path, normally too boggy to be traversible by us. So - an adventure!

There was a meadow pipit on the wall, standing sentry just at the start (see below).

And there were lots of reed buntings - specially trained to know precisely how long they can wait on top of a post before flying off just as you click the shutter. I managed not a single successful photo apart from aforesaid pipit. But it is glorious country up there. I'll give something of its flavour.

[Iota]

Oops! Sorry... that's a Saguaro cactus on the run.

Hahaha, brilliant, looks like a fugitive sock puppet!

The first African Barbet I ever saw was the Red-and-yellow Barbet; my first thought was, "What a crazy-looking bird! Someone sewed together scraps from other projects for this one!"

He was eating bits of baked chicken at the time...

Haha, wow yes, great description!


I singled only those two out, @owlice , but, almost needless to say, all the photos dazzle and intrigue as always!


Lovely pics too, @Elgarian Redux, you really have something special going on with your locality, must be a wonderful thing!

[Kalevala]

Hahaha, brilliant, looks like a fugitive sock puppet!

@owlice The photo of the African Barbet made me think of this guy:  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hairy_Woodpecker/id  [the white speckles on the black]. 

K

p.s.  It's fun/interesting to compare the photos and descriptions of the differences between the hairy and the downy woodpeckers.  One big clue:  look at the differences between the lengths of their beaks particularly vs. the size of their heads.

[owlice]

I can see why (provided they're on your side). I worry about you guys over there.

Thank you. I worry, too.

Fabulous morning up on the hills - and we found a new path, normally too boggy to be traversible by us. So - an adventure!

There was a meadow pipit on the wall, standing sentry just at the start (see below).

YAY! for the new path, the adventure, and the pipit!! What a pretty little bird and what lovely lovely views. Glorious indeed -- how wonderful to have such beauty near and around you!!

And there were lots of reed buntings - specially trained to know precisely how long they can wait on top of a post before flying off just as you click the shutter.

Clearly that is their superpower!!

[Elgarian Redux]

There's a lovely place a few miles away with a scrumptious tea garden, set among tall trees - perfect for breakfast or lunch on a sunny day. There are several resident birds - most notably a jackdaw, a blackbird, and a robin (there are surely more than one of each, but I can't tell them apart).

All these guys have learned that when people eat lunch or breakfast, there's food leftovers to be had, and down they come onto the tables. So brazen are they that sometimes they don't even wait for the patrons to leave the table! Today we had a jackdaw visitation. Jackdawsaurus Rex!

Later at home: a red admiral called in. They're common visitors at the moment - the windfall apples attract them.

[owlice]

There's a lovely place a few miles away with a scrumptious tea garden, set among tall trees - perfect for breakfast or lunch on a sunny day. There are several resident birds - most notably a jackdaw, a blackbird, and a robin (there are surely more than one of each, but I can't tell them apart).

All these guys have learned that when people eat lunch or breakfast, there's food leftovers to be had, and down they come onto the tables. So brazen are they that sometimes they don't even wait for the patrons to leave the table! Today we had a jackdaw visitation. Jackdawsaurus Rex!

That's a very handsome Jackdawsaurus Rex!! Definitely a king among lunchers; what a stately dinosaur!

I've had a few encounters with brazen breakfast/lunch freeloaders, too, including this Gallirallusaur who tried to join me the second he saw me sit down and was very persistent:

Buff-banded Rail

and this cheeky Wrenosaur, who similarly wanted to join me at the table:

Rufous-backed Wren

Later at home: a red admiral called in. They're common visitors at the moment - the windfall apples attract them.

Lovely!! We have Red Admirals here, too, and also have Red-spotted Admirals, which are solely North American:


Red-spotted Admirals (Also called Red-spotted Purple and White Admiral, because why shouldn't butterflies be as confusing as birds?!?!)

[owlice]

Hahaha, brilliant, looks like a fugitive sock puppet!

Not a sock I would want to wear, for sure! 

I singled only those two out, @owlice , but, almost needless to say, all the photos dazzle and intrigue as always!

You're very kind; thank you.

[owlice]

p.s.  It's fun/interesting to compare the photos and descriptions of the differences between the hairy and the downy woodpeckers.  One big clue:  look at the differences between the lengths of their beaks particularly vs. the size of their heads.

Yup! Downy beaks are downright dainty; Hairy's are not.

[Elgarian Redux]

I've had a few encounters with brazen breakfast/lunch freeloaders, too, including this Gallirallusaur who tried to join me the second he saw me sit down and was very persistent:

Buff-banded Rail

For pity's sake - is that really as big as it seems? Looks as if he might have pushed you out of your chair.

and this cheeky Wrenosaur, who similarly wanted to join me at the table:

Rufous-backed Wren

Wow. Now that is one dazzling bird! Sort of cocky but elegant.

Lovely!! We have Red Admirals here, too, and also have Red-spotted Admirals, which are solely North American:


Red-spotted Admirals (Also called Red-spotted Purple and White Admiral, because why shouldn't butterflies be as confusing as birds?!?!)

As the song goes: 'Obfuscation ... is the name of the game'.

These are terrific photos. The antennae are so sharp (mine always have motion blur).

But what I want to know is: how come these butterfly naval officers are all admirals, whatever their colour? Where are the able seaman butterflies, the petty officers, the ship's pursers? (Web search tells me there is a 'captain butterfly' somewhere.) It's no use having all these admirals demanding that the jibboom spanker should be spliced if there are no lower order butterfly seamen to splice it. I tell you, the butterfly navy is in crisis.

[Elgarian Redux]

I've had a few encounters with brazen breakfast/lunch freeloaders, too, including this Gallirallusaur who tried to join me the second he saw me sit down and was very persistent:

Buff-banded Rail

I've been trying to estimate the actual size of this fellow by comparing him with the knife handle: is he about a foot long? I guess that's big enough to qualify as a disconcerting breakfast guest to accommodate on the table. But for some reason he seems even bigger than that in the photo.

[Iota]

There's a lovely place a few miles away with a scrumptious tea garden, set among tall trees - perfect for breakfast or lunch on a sunny day. There are several resident birds - most notably a jackdaw, a blackbird, and a robin (there are surely more than one of each, but I can't tell them apart).

All these guys have learned that when people eat lunch or breakfast, there's food leftovers to be had, and down they come onto the tables. So brazen are they that sometimes they don't even wait for the patrons to leave the table! Today we had a jackdaw visitation. Jackdawsaurus Rex!

Haha, what a redoubtable looking character! I wouldn't presume to come between him and his mid-morning snack!

And, owlice,  what colourful and bold visitors you get at your breakfast table!