FRUITS AND NUTS AND SEEDS

This term we are bringing the bird mixtape to the masses and offering you the chance to make or receive, or make AND receive, a mix cd filled with songs about birds.

If this is the first you have heard of the bird mix, you are not on our mailing list. This for a start is bad and wrong. Email us at madaboutthebird@gmail.com and we will put it right. Furthermore we will supply you with all the mix details so that you will not be left out in the cold.

But the deadline by which all mixes must be made is FRIDAY 2ND WEEK (30th January) so you must be quick. Hurry! Hurry!

LEADERS OF THE PACK

Are we ahead of the crowd or are we ahead of the crowd?
There is only one answer to that question and it is YES.

For on page 12 in yesterdy's G2 was an article entitled 'FEATHER YOUR NEST', announcing to the world that birds are the very last word in fashionable design, and showing a selection of cushions, candles, rugs, coat hangers, earrings etc. etc. that are all BIRD BIRD BIRD. Here is a shortened version of that article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2009/jan/22/birds-interior-design-homes?picture=342130660

but the real one is much better.

Keep your beady eyes open also for the Observer this Sunday, which will feature a guide to the Top 50 British Birds.

Bird of 0th Week, HT09

THE WAGTAIL

In my official capacity as ambassador for the bird world, of course I like every bird absolutely equally. But when I am off-duty, and as a flawed and sadly partial human being, my warmest feelings are reserved for the wagtail.

The best thing about wagtails is the way that they run. This is hard to describe but if you have not seen it for yourself imagine a swift loping motion that manages to be graceful and comical at the same time. When they run their tails wag up and down and this too is funny to watch. Their tails wag pretty much all the time, actually. Perhaps this makes them the dog of the bird kingdom.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=l7u4nsUKppM

There are several sort of wagtails. The most common to Britain is the PIED WAGTAIL, and this is lucky for us because he is also the most handsome and lovable. Arguably. However, the yellow wagtail and the grey wagtail are nice too.

I am finding it quite difficult to gather ACTUAL, SCIENTIFIC information on the wagtail, for two main reasons.
1. The different species of wagtail provide a 'taxonomical nightmare' from which many an unhappy ornithologist has yet to awake.
2. The writers of wagtail information are so overcome by the wagging tail that they fail to mention anything else.

In Oxford, wagtails sometimes hang out in Radcliffe Square, on Holywell Street or in Exeter's quad.