Birders' Nest

[Elgarian Redux]

I actually know little popular (encompassing rock) music. (I'd say the same about classical! ) What popular music I heard growing up was whatever my friends had on when I was at their house (I had one "cool" friend; all the Motown I know, I learned from her singles), what seeped through the ceiling when my older brother moved to the unfinished upstairs and got the means to play recorded music (I think he had two, or maybe three, records), and what I heard in my boarding school dormitory during my one-year internment there.

Growing up, we had a radio that was used only to listen to a weekly church service; no record player, no stereo. The number of rock concerts I've been to, I think I can count on one hand and still have fingers left over!¹ I didn't deliberately listen to popular music (with one exception²), probably in large part because I had no way to do so, until I was in college and living on my own. I have a few LPs and maybe the same number of CDs of popular music.

But somehow, Led Zeppelin IV seeped into me, I do own it, and Black Dog is my favorite cut on the album. Go figure!

And mostly I don't know any of the artists' names, and most times, I don't know the lyrics, though I might know the choruses and/or the title of the song.

¹BTO with Blue Oyster Cult as warm-up when I was in high school. Guy at school asked me to go because I had a car and he did not; he needed wheels, so he bought my ticket.
R.E.M. as a present to my R.E.M.-loving then-small child; I do know some R.E.M. as a result of that R.E.M.-loving now-grown child
Paul Simon as a present from a friend who didn't want to go to the concert by herself
I think that's it... or at least, that's all I remember... 

²The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, February 9, 1964, the cultural event of the year and possibly the decade. I was six and had to watch it on the crappy television in the basement.

This all sounds understated and curiously accidental. But you are an Owl, wise and true (thread duty), so I acknowledge all this with great interest, and quietly ponder the sobering fact that when you were watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, I was 16, bewitched by the Beatles on the one hand, and Elgar & Sibelius on the other. The start of all my musical puzzlement. Yikes.

[owlice]

This all sounds understated and curiously accidental.

Accidental sounds right for me. Boy howdy, does it ever!!

I'll add that I was interested in classical music even as a tot, an interest that was aided by grandparents with a piano and some 78s (which are now in my house -- the 78s, I mean), an excellent (auditioned) choir at church, music lessons both in elementary school (the school also had a choir and an orchestra, both of which I participated in with respective degrees of success/shame) and outside of it, and exposure to it through occasional concerts and the usual "Nutcracker" ballet attendance in velvet.

[Elgarian Redux]

I'll add that I was interested in classical music even as a tot, an interest that was aided by grandparents with a piano and some 78s (which are now in my house -- the 78s, I mean), an excellent (auditioned) choir at church, music lessons both in elementary school (the school also had a choir and an orchestra, both of which I participated in with respective degrees of success/shame) and outside of it, and exposure to it through occasional concerts and the usual "Nutcracker" ballet attendance in velvet.

Ah, revelation! This was the missing factor! Three cheers and Great Blessings upon your grandparents, the church choir, and Nutcracker.

I owe my classical music inauguration to:
(a) a remarkable English teacher who came into a lesson one day and played Symphonie Fantastique to us instead of English. POW!
And
(b) a friend across the way who said one day, 'I'll listen to the Beatles if you'll listen to Rimsky Korsakov.' The Beatles had no impact on him whatsoever, but I was forever smitten by Scheherazade - it was like windows and doors blowing open all at once. We were both devoted to astronomy in our teens. (He went on to become a successful infra-red astronomer.)

[I also had an uncle who once played 'The Thieving Magpie' to me on a 78. (Thread duty)]

[owlice]

I owe my classical music inauguration to:
(a) a remarkable English teacher who came into a lesson one day and played Symphonie Fantastique to us instead of English. POW!

A fabulous choice!! Kudos to the teacher!!

And
(b) a friend across the way who said one day, 'I'll listen to the Beatles if you'll listen to Rimsky Korsakov.' The Beatles had no impact on him whatsoever, but I was forever smitten by Scheherazade - it was like windows and doors blowing open all at once.

YAY!!

We were both devoted to astronomy in our teens. (He went on to become a successful infra-red astronomer.)

Is he still working in the field?

[I also had an uncle who once played 'The Thieving Magpie' to me on a 78. (Thread duty)]

I got ya covered:

Eurasian Magpie (Sweden)

[Elgarian Redux]

Is he still working in the field?

Alas no. He died in 2011, a highly regarded infra-red astronomer in Mexico. He did his PhD at Imperial College, London, where he met Brian May (also a PHD student at that time) - who asked him to be the keyboard player in Queen!! He said no thanks.

I remember one night in my garden - I'd be about 15, he'd be 13, I can't remember just when it was - we set about learning together where all the constellations were. And he suddenly cried, 'I've found Lyra! I've found Lyra!'. 'Where? Where?' We were so excited. And the whole thing exploded from there, for both of us. 

I got ya covered:

Eurasian Magpie (Sweden)

Thanks. I needed your intervention at this point. We get lots of magpies, but recently they've stayed away from our garden in favour of the adjacent field (bullied by the coal tits, no doubt). This pitiful distant blurry photo is the best I've been able to get.

[Kalevala]

If there's a way to assess yield in advance, I don't know it, and I'm okay with that. Part of the charm of having a chestnut tree is IMO the randomness of the yearly harvest.

From what you posted, it seemed like the chestnuts were ripe and coming in--or perhaps I'm mistaken?  I have no idea how many have ripened and fallen going by your post.  I was thinking that you had some idea of how many might have been pollinated well from what has fallen.  Or perhaps you were talking about seeing the number of nuts growing on your tree.  I'm not a mindreader.   

Best wishes,

K

[Iota]

Haven't got too much time to comment on things at the moment (and I stopped 'liking' everything after a few pages, as I thought it might flood your alerts page, but like it I did!), but I must say, @Elgarian and @owlice, reading through the exchanges between you is an immense pleasure. Frequently laugh-out-loud, enlightening, breathtaking images round every corner, and a flow of charming vignettes from two clearly very active lives. Really you two should have your own show!

The Dancing Queen/Black Dog introduction of the Sentinel Lark to the Hall of Pop and Rock fame still lingers very pleasurably in the mind. In your capable hands something that would have probably forever passed the world by, has been rightfully brought to its awareness, and the world seems unquestionably a brighter place for it. Your place in avian history is secure.
(Fwiw I felt both the Abba and Led Zep seemed equally fitting/amusing ..)

[Elgarian Redux]

Haven't got too much time to comment on things at the moment (and I stopped 'liking' everything after a few pages, as I thought it might flood your alerts page, but like it I did!), but I must say, @Elgarian and @owlice, reading through the exchanges between you is an immense pleasure. Frequently laugh-out-loud, enlightening, breathtaking images round every corner, and a flow of charming vignettes from two clearly very active lives. Really you two should have your own show!

The Dancing Queen/Black Dog introduction of the Sentinel Lark to the Hall of Pop and Rock fame still lingers very pleasurably in the mind. In your capable hands something that would have probably forever passed the world by, has been rightfully brought to its awareness, and the world seems unquestionably a brighter place for it. Your place in avian history is secure.
(Fwiw I felt both the Abba and Led Zep seemed equally fitting/amusing ..)

Sir, I have long believed you to be a Gentleman and a Scholar, and it is now officially confirmed. May I say that I am honoured by your comments, and I'm sure Owlice will be, too, when she reads them. Most importantly of all, I believe the Sentinel Lark would like to offer you this:

[Photo by Owlice, and greatly admired by one and all.]
[I hope she doesn't mind me reposting it like this]

[Iota]

Sir, I have long believed you to be a Gentleman and a Scholar, and it is now officially confirmed. May I say that I am honoured by your comments, and I'm sure Owlice will be, too, when she reads them. Most importantly of all, I believe the Sentinel Lark would like to offer you this:

[Photo by Owlice, and greatly admired by one and all.
[I hope she doesn't mind me reposting it like this]

Haha, thanks! It's the Jimmy Page air guitar pose that makes that so perfect!   

[Elgarian Redux]

Lovely sunny evening, and a garden full of birds. Nothing unusual, but I took a few photos (including the old pal who is always around) and here they are.

The goldfinch's head looks a bit of a mess. Is it a juvenile just getting his new adult plumage, maybe? Looks a bit miserable!

[owlice]

Alas no. He died in 2011, a highly regarded infra-red astronomer in Mexico.

Ooooh. I'm sorry. My condolences.

I remember one night in my garden - I'd be about 15, he'd be 13, I can't remember just when it was - we set about learning together where all the constellations were. And he suddenly cried, 'I've found Lyra! I've found Lyra!'. 'Where? Where?' We were so excited. And the whole thing exploded from there, for both of us.

What a lovely memory to have, and your writing conveys the excitement very well. Did you learn where all the constellations are? (I have not. I'd feel bad about that, except that I know that many professional astronomers also don't know where they are!  )

I feel fortunate to live in a time when we can see so much of the sky, so deeply into it, but also sad that so much of humanity has no night sky, no stars at which to gaze, because of light pollution.

Thanks. I needed your intervention at this point. We get lots of magpies, but recently they've stayed away from our garden in favour of the adjacent field (bullied by the coal tits, no doubt). This pitiful distant blurry photo is the best I've been able to get.

You did not need my intervention! You got it anyway, but you certainly didn't need it! Your photo is fine, perfect, in fact: you can ID the bird from it!

Do Coal Tits really bully magpies?! Magpies seem so... unbullyable, as they are often so bold; it would be quite something to see a little Coal Tit taking a magpie to task!

[owlice]

From what you posted, it seemed like the chestnuts were ripe and coming in--or perhaps I'm mistaken?  I have no idea how many have ripened and fallen going by your post.  I was thinking that you had some idea of how many might have been pollinated well from what has fallen.  Or perhaps you were talking about seeing the number of nuts growing on your tree.  I'm not a mindreader.   

Best wishes,

K

I'm not a mindreader, either!! And confusion reigns again!! 

Yes, the chestnuts are ripening and the tree is dropping nuts, and sometimes burrs, every day. (Today's yield was 27 nuts.) All of the burrs fall eventually; some release their nuts before falling and/or when they fall, and for the others, I pull the burr apart to get the nut out.

But most of the burrs on the tree have nuts that do not develop, I assume because they were not pollinated. I can't tell which burrs were pollinated/which will develop nuts and which will not. Once the nuts start to ripen, part or all of the green burr (usually) turns brown. It's a big tree, though, and right up against the house; there are many burrs I cannot see from the ground. Also, the tree will drop nuts typically for 10-15 days, so burrs that are still green now may have developed nuts in them and turn brown later.

Chestnut burrs are super spiky and sharp, and the spiky spines retain their sharpness practically forever (or so it seems). When I'm home during chestnut season, I try to ensure there are no burrs on the lawn the day the lawn service mows, because mowed-over chopped-up chestnut burrs means don't walk barefoot! for at least the next five years.

[owlice]

Haven't got too much time to comment on things at the moment (and I stopped 'liking' everything after a few pages, as I thought it might flood your alerts page, but like it I did!), but I must say, @Elgarian and @owlice, reading through the exchanges between you is an immense pleasure. Frequently laugh-out-loud, enlightening, breathtaking images round every corner, and a flow of charming vignettes from two clearly very active lives. Really you two should have your own show!

The Dancing Queen/Black Dog introduction of the Sentinel Lark to the Hall of Pop and Rock fame still lingers very pleasurably in the mind. In your capable hands something that would have probably forever passed the world by, has been rightfully brought to its awareness, and the world seems unquestionably a brighter place for it. Your place in avian history is secure.
(Fwiw I felt both the Abba and Led Zep seemed equally fitting/amusing ..)

Iota! Wow, what a lovely post; thank you. That's so kind of you to say!

I'm glad you're enjoying the banter (all Elgarian's doing!, discussion (all Elgarian's doing!, and photos (all... well, never mind!). I'm just riffing off of Elgarian's brilliance (and trying to find pics to match).

Sentinel Lark to the Hall of Pop and Rock fame

I'll never look at the Sentinel Lark photo the same way, and I daresay that somewhere, a Sentinel Lark, motivated by your comment about Pop and Rock fame and aspiring to it, is busting some moves right now.

And maybe this little dude is, too:

Southern Red-billed Hornbill (South Africa)

[owlice]

Sir, I have long believed you to be a Gentleman and a Scholar, and it is now officially confirmed. May I say that I am honoured by your comments, and I'm sure Owlice will be, too, when she reads them.

I am indeed honoured. Very much; thank you, @Iota!

Most importantly of all, I believe the Sentinel Lark would like to offer you this:

[Photo by Owlice, and greatly admired by one and all.]
[I hope she doesn't mind me reposting it like this]

I do not mind at all, at all.

Haha, thanks! It's the Jimmy Page air guitar pose that makes that so perfect!   

    Yes!!

[owlice]

Lovely sunny evening, and a garden full of birds. Nothing unusual, but I took a few photos (including the old pal who is always around) and here they are.

The goldfinch's head looks a bit of a mess. Is it a juvenile just getting his new adult plumage, maybe? Looks a bit miserable!

The goldfinch does look like he's getting new plumage.

These are really beautiful shots, Elgarian. So clear and sharp; even the irises of the Robinborbasaur and Chaffinch are visible, though these dinosaurs have quite dark eyes (though not as dark as the Goldfinch).

What did you do to get them to pose so nicely for you??

[Elgarian Redux]

Ooooh. I'm sorry. My condolences.

Somehow we'd gradually lost touch years earlier - you know, young families, kids, mortgages, geography. But of course I regretted that when it was too late.

I remember the first time he went to Peru on some astronomy jaunt, he went off to see the Naszca lines, met Maria Reiche, and came home with a collection of ancient artefacts that he'd picked up from the desert.
'How did you get these through customs?', says I.
'Just put 'em in my suitcase,' says he, blithely.
I presume if they'd searched his luggage, he'd have spent the rest of his days in a Peruvian jail. He was a very unworldly fellow, as befits an astronomer. We shared a lot: astronomy mostly of course, but music too (we were both smitten by Elgar and Sibelius); geology (as boys we once spent hours clambering up a valley in Derbyshire looking for a 3" layer of volcanic ash that the geology guide book said was there - it was a great day but I can't remember if we found it.); archaeology (prehistoric stone circles and the like - which proved a huge inspiration to me, later); and we played a lot of back-garden cricket too.

What a lovely memory to have, and your writing conveys the excitement very well. Did you learn where all the constellations are? (I have not. I'd feel bad about that, except that I know that many professional astronomers also don't know where they are!  )

We knew most of them, because once we acquired telescopes we were out every clear night looking for nebulae and galaxies, and we needed to find our way around quickly.

I feel fortunate to live in a time when we can see so much of the sky, so deeply into it, but also sad that so much of humanity has no night sky, no stars at which to gaze, because of light pollution.

It's a serious disconnection from the rest of the universe, so there must be a widespread (but unrecognised) psychological impact. On the most basic level, if people don't look at the sky, they're missing fully half of the visual experience available to them. That can't be good.

You did not need my intervention! You got it anyway, but you certainly didn't need it! Your photo is fine, perfect, in fact: you can ID the bird from it!

Ahem. Compare your photo with mine, O Owl! The problem is that the magpies just aren't coming in the garden at present for some reason, and stay far away in the field. Eventually I'll get some better ones.

Do Coal Tits really bully magpies?! Magpies seem so... unbullyable, as they are often so bold; it would be quite something to see a little Coal Tit taking a magpie to task!

No they don't. That was just me being silly. I chose coal tits because they are the most unlikely-seeming bullies I can imagine. AND YET, not so fast:  in many ways they are brave fellows. They were the first birds to decide to venture onto the kitchen window bird-feeder, and they still do, while the ferocious starlings and the brainless pigeons still fear to tread thereupon. (For which we are grateful.)

[Elgarian Redux]

I'm glad you're enjoying the banter (all Elgarian's doing!, discussion (all Elgarian's doing!, and photos (all... well, never mind!). I'm just riffing off of Elgarian's brilliance (and trying to find pics to match).

What Owlice doesn't realise is that I feel like this too, except that from where I sit, she is the one making the running, and I'm the one trying to keep up.

And maybe this little dude is, too:

Southern Red-billed Hornbill (South Africa)

That's not a real bird! It's a cuddly toy! You wind him up and he swings back and forth to the strains of 'Eye of the Tiger'.

[Elgarian Redux]

The goldfinch does look like he's getting new plumage.

Good. I wondered at first if he wasn't well, but he seemed lively enough.

These are really beautiful shots, Elgarian. So clear and sharp; even the irises of the Robinborbasaur and Chaffinch are visible, though these dinosaurs have quite dark eyes (though not as dark as the Goldfinch).

What did you do to get them to pose so nicely for you??

Praise from you about a bird photo is praise indeed, so thank you. To answer your question:
1. The chaffinches and the robin (especially the robin) are natural models. Fearless and vain. They think they own the place. So I'm choosing easy shots here.
2. I ask myself: 'What do I imagine Owlice might do in this situation?'

The photos you post here are a tremendous inspiration, you know. They help me to try harder (albeit in my much more limited bailiwick).

[owlice]

Somehow we'd gradually lost touch years earlier - you know, young families, kids, mortgages, geography. But of course I regretted that when it was too late.

I remember the first time he went to Peru on some astronomy jaunt, he went off to see the Naszca lines, met Maria Reiche, and came home with a collection of ancient artefacts that he'd picked up from the desert.
'How did you get these through customs?', says I.
'Just put 'em in my suitcase,' says he, blithely.
I presume if they'd searched his luggage, he'd have spent the rest of his days in a Peruvian jail. He was a very unworldly fellow, as befits an astronomer. We shared a lot: astronomy mostly of course, but music too (we were both smitten by Elgar and Sibelius); geology (as boys we once spent hours clambering up a valley in Derbyshire looking for a 3" layer of volcanic ash that the geology guide book said was there - it was a great day but I can't remember if we found it.); archaeology (prehistoric stone circles and the like - which proved a huge inspiration to me, later); and we played a lot of back-garden cricket too.

We knew most of them, because once we acquired telescopes we were out every clear night looking for nebulae and galaxies, and we needed to find our way around quickly.

What a lovely friendship to have! Surely it sustained and influenced him even when you were not in touch, just as it has sustained and influenced you all these years.

Ahem. Compare your photo with mine, O Owl! The problem is that the magpies just aren't coming in the garden at present for some reason, and stay far away in the field. Eventually I'll get some better ones.

Of course! As I heard a guide say to someone who already had pics of some bird or other, "One can always try to get better pictures."

No they don't. That was just me being silly. I chose coal tits because they are the most unlikely-seeming bullies I can imagine. AND YET, not so fast:  in many ways they are brave fellows.

I'd have believed you if you'd said yes! Gullible... so gullible...

I once saw an American Robin (a thrush, considerably larger than a Coal Tit, and not usually aggressive) harassing a Red-tailed Hawk, who could easily have dispatched the Robin and still have room for lunch, dinner, and a late-night snack. The hawk was perched in a tree (near the Einstein Memorial on the grounds of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences); looked like he was minding his own business, just hanging out, enjoying the weather, and that robin was having none of it -- he wanted that hawk gone. I suspect the robin had a nest nearby. The robin was successful in getting the hawk to move, but that didn't stop the robin's harassment: he followed the hawk and dive-bombed him a few times for extra credit.

I'm the one trying to keep up.

Hahahahaha!! Nope!! You know what tune was on the radio in my head when I woke up this morning?
"is a leopard, a leopard, a leopard, oh yeah!"

On repeat.

Sticky tune, it is, it is. You did that!

I'll get you, my pretty, and your little guitar, too!

That's not a real bird! It's a cuddly toy! You wind him up and he swings back and forth to the strains of 'Eye of the Tiger'.

hahahahahahaha!!! That should be a real thing!! It's another opportunity for us to make millions!! Millions, I tell you!!!

[owlice]

So I'm choosing easy shots here.
2. I ask myself: 'What do I imagine Owlice might do in this situation?'

The same thing you're doing: choosing the easy shots!! Or the easiest one possible, anyway.
Time for thread tax.... hmmmm... maybe these will do... 


Carolina Wren (Maryland)
These are incredibly loud for their (tiny!) size.


Boat-billed Heron (Costa Rica)
These look impossible.


Purple Grenadier (Kenya)
This one's expression... where I have seen that expression before....? Let me think, let me think...