I always like finding new species, and am fascinated by “cryptic” ones that look just like others but have different DNA. (Are there really SEVEN Red Crossbills?) Not every species is really one, and if you obsess on the subject it will drive you mad. I like to argue and define, but my not quite …
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Mattanza Magdalena
It has been a rough year for our town– four funerals in one family alone, no water for a month in summer, loss of our only food store. Perhaps my young friend Jason Otero, who is a guide and hound trainer among other skills, just decided to cheer everyone up. He staged a mattanza– literally …
“A Pointer of the Veronese School”
The words are Datus Proper’s; the dog Daniel Riviera’s Vi:
Random Doggage
Jutta’s girls in Germany:
Asian Perch
Since Mima went nuclear on Lashyn, I have been in a quandary re “what bird?” Though there are some exotic possibilities, my perennial favorites have always been gosses and tiercel falcons with gyr and saker genes. I worry about keeping up with the falcons, nor can I afford or easily control a horse, though I …
Silk Purse?
Unfair– of all the 20th century military bolt action rifles I like the SMLE best, and there is nothing wrong with the .303 British round either– like the 7 mm Mauser and the 6.5 Mannlicher Schoenauer, it punches above its weight, and has taken virtually every big game animal on the planet. But nobody ever …
Model
A scientifically grounded anatomical artist must be innovative and intrepid. Katrina van Grouw’s model for the pouter pigeon in her ten- star Unfeathered Bird and the finished drawing.
Teaser
Would you consider these cats the same species? Thoughts on this and much more starting tomorrow. Returning soon to full service– the books go slowly, but too many good things to share… (And Annie D– recognize these creatures?)
Annie Oakley’s Parker
Tim Gallagher at Living Bird just sent me this note on the sale of Annie Oakley’s 16 gauge Parker hammergun. As you can see it is a nice little gun– but for $293,000, you could damn near buy my village, let alone house!
Three gurus and three guns: a silly photo post
I haven’t gone far. I have gotten several notes from friends who seem to think I am in some kind of death spiral. Not at all– just trying to get some work done under physiological conditions that make it difficult. I will post more pics and short stuff — and keep trying to master new …