BIRDWATCH

BIRDWORDS: Take a look at the Culture magazine in the Sunday Times today, where there is a DOUBLE-PAGE SPREAD (p.46-7) reviewing the finest bird books in town, together with a dazzling picture of an owl mid-swoop.

BIRDART: It has come to my attention that the British Museum has lots of birds and things that are sort of bird-like, especially in the Egyptian and Assyrian rooms. Seek and you shall find, children.

CELEBRITY THINGS WITH WINGS

THAT'S RIGHT. Quentin Blake gives his unconditional support and approval to the wing-based activities of our society. GET IN, is what I say.

WINGS FROM WELL-WISHERS

NEWEST NEWS

SPOTTED: one fine kingfisher, in Christchurch Meadows. This is not something that can be seen every day, or even (anecdotal evidence suggests) every year. If you have the fortune/misfortune still to be in Oxford, we recommend you get yourself down there with all haste.

Bird of the Holiday, Christmas '08

And what a choice there is from which to make our selection. It strikes me that Christmas is a very happy time for birdlovers, what with all the turkeys, turtledoves, calling birds, french hens, geese a-laying, swans a-swimming and red red robins bob bob bobbin' along.

But we've chosen THE PARTRIDGE for TWW's Christmas bird of 2008. Please look to your right for a hugely inaccurate depiction of a partridge entangled in a pear tree. Real partridges nest on the ground and eat seeds, not pears. They are smaller than pheasants and bigger than quails but just as edible as both.

The CHUKAR partridge, which has a fetching black and white stripy wing, is the national bird of Pakistan.

When partridges fly they make a loud whirring noise and when they squawk they go 'Cheevik!'

A BIRD IN THE HAND

Picture this: it's the last day of term and spirits are running high. As I skipped merrily through Exeter's quad, I saw Molly the hawk (pigeon-swooping over for the day) being spirited round the corner and into her 'travel box'. Not one to miss a bird opportunity, and certainly never having been deterred by 'boxes', I flung myself madly in front of her keeper and demanded a photograph. LITTLE COULD I HAVE ANTICIPATED that the kind-hearted man would not only agree, but allow ME to hold Molly on the falconry glove. You may observe the photographic evidence of my UNTRAMMELED DELIGHT above.

RETURN OF THE WING

We have been very remiss. However, we are now back with a will, with a vengeance, and most importantly, with more bird news than you can shake a stick at.

SO.

1. Here is a programme about Messiaen that was on Radio 4 and features Stephen Moss, the Guardian's birdman. In it you will learn how Messiaen used birdsong in his music, how birds are 'the songsters of creation' and 'reconnect us to place, to seasons, to the fundamentals of life.' Too right.

(It is called 'the Golden Oriole'! I think that's just wonderful)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ft26k

Furthermore, Messiaen being Radio 3's 'composer of the week' you have mere hours to enjoy the programmes about his life and work on iPlayer:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00fvfjq

2. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/darwin/

The Darwin exhibition at the Natural History Museum. We have good reason to believe that this is very birdy, and even if it is not, it is quite clearly amazing and exciting and you will at least get to see a picture of a bird with bright blue feet that lives in the Galapagos.

3. We urge you to

CONSIDER THE BIRDS

(by Colin Tudge)

http://tinyurl.com/69j643

A treasure trove of bird facts, bird brains, bird biology, birds in songs, birds in books, birds in history and everything else bird, including an examination of the troublesome question: 'Are birds really dinosaurs?' I hear that it also includes a scathing attack on today's politicians and economists so, like, something for everyone really. Put it on your Christmas lists.

4. Mother Goose

Hackney Empire, London

http://tinyurl.com/4r8aqq

AND

Grand Opera House, Belfast (this one has a game!)

http://www.goh.co.uk/mothergoosegame/

I confess I have no idea what happens in a Mother Goose pantomime, but presumably there's a bird in there somewhere so it must be OK.

A bird fact for 7th week

DID YOU KNOW: swallows and swifts mate mid-flight mid-air? (not with each other though. as far as i know.)

Bird of the Week, MT05

THE WIGEON
(Eurasian variety)

Not to be confused with the pigeon, the wigeon is a river bird belonging to Family ANATIDAE, which means 'Geese, Swans and Ducks'. The male is a bird of many colours: he has a yellow forehead, an orange-chestnut head, neck and breast, a grey back and flanks, white underparts and a large white patch on the wing. The female is less fortunate, being brown and mottled. Like last week's bird (the brambling - please see below to have your memory refreshed), wigeons are at their best in winter, when they can be seen throughout the British Isles. In fact, our male wigeon is a rather sorry sight in summer - in common with many other drakes, this is his "eclipse" period when most of the smart characteristics of his plumage are lost.

If you take a walk by the river and listen carefully you may hear the drake's pleasing whistle ("Whee-oo!") or the duck's purring growl.

some bird facts for 4th week

DID YOU KNOW: a wren only weighs as much as a 20p piece?

DID YOU KNOW: turkey feathers are wonderful for cleansing auras, the bowels, and the entire digestive tract?

OTHER THINGS WITH WINGS

some stirrings of concern have reached our ears. 'what about OTHER things with wings?'

we are not out to disenfranchise any species, and we do have a place in our hearts (and society) for things that have wings that are not birds.

to this end, please read and savour the facts below about KITTI'S HOGNOSED BAT

also known as the bumblebee bat, this little feller measures only about 3cm across. this makes it, not only the world's smallest bat, but one of the smallest mammals in general (with and without wings). it has a little piggy nose and is reddish brown in colour.
it lives in burma and it is extremely rare. this is probably to do with the fact that females only give birth to one baby bat per year. also that they are so small, any kind of census is unreliable. but if you're interested in having a go, why not follow the tips outlined here: http://www.edgeofexistence.org/edgeblog/?p=468

THE BIRD ON THE STREET, 4th week

We must needs look back before we can look forward. Unless we are owls, who can do both whenever they like.

Bird events of the past seven days:

1. A Eurasian Eagle Owl graced the skies of Exeter College last Thursday. Manfully swooping in to do the pigeon-intimidation in place of a lesser bird (an inefficient and moody harrier hawk), the owl was received with open arms by the birdloving folk of Exeter. One young man was heard to say that its size and bulk were comparable to that of the sort of ornamental stone sphere found on the end of walls. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_Eagle-owl to see his extremely menacing threat posture married with the wisdom of ages (the owl, not the young man)

2. We must not say too much, but we may be receiving CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT from a birdloving and excellent celebrity...as soon as we know more, we will sing like birds.

BIRD OF THE WEEK, MT04

look what we have for you!

fourth week bird of the week is the BRAMBLING

this cheeky little chappie is small and round and, apparently, gregarious in winter. so do make friends. he's mostly a country bird but he will hang out with chaffinches on garden crawls in the colder months.

he has an orange breast and a white tummy. when he flies you can also see his long white rump. (we're not sure which part of the bird this refers to)

THE BIRD ON THE STREET, 2nd week

What Is It Like To Be A Bat?
Saturday 18th October - Saturday 29th November
A solo exhibition of new work by Jan Crombie exploring the search for identity at different stages of life. Two groups of paintings: 'What the F*** is Beebo?' and 'What is it like To Be a Bat?' span childhood, adolescence and adulthood.
http://www.ovada.org.uk/exhibitions.php?exhibition_id=48

It might not actually be about bats, but it IS probably influenced by Thomas Nagel's philosophical essay of the same title. Which is also not actually about bats. But is really very interesting anyway.

BIRD OF THE WEEK, 1st/2nd week MT

Our display at freshers fair was, of course, triumphant, but we did not lose our heads. We used the alluring power of visuals to draw in supporters and, more importantly, quiz them about their favourite bird. Having analysed the results carefully, we are able to exclusively reveal that the FAVOURITE BIRD of Oxford's incoming class of 2008 is

THE OWL

in all its many forms.

The picture above depicts THE SPECTACLED OWL, which looks a bit like a monkey. This owl is a generally unsociable bird, he roosts singly in trees with dense foliage. Like most of us though, he has a strain of the romantic within; on calm, moonlit nights he becomes very vocal, making a series of knocking or tapping sounds which sound like this: "PUP-pup-pup-pup-pup-po". Naturally this is very exciting for lady owls, who respond with a scream "ker-WHEER", which has been likened to a steam whistle.

(Thank you to owlpages.com for vital owl info).

Owl right!

In the beginning was the bird...

Hello friends. If you are reading this post, we are very pleased. Perhaps you have fortunately stumbled across this (excellent) blog or perhaps you were directed here by an (excellent) email. No matter which; welcome one and all to Things With Wings.


The purpose of this blog is to provide a forum for birds, bird facts, bird opinions (and other things with wings; we do not wish to exclude the bats). Got a bird, or a bird fact or opinion, that you want to share? Let us know at madaboutthebird@gmail.com. Thank you very much and good night.