Or, from pigeons to eagles to art. The whole thread started when artist Graeme Boyd of my pigeon discussion group emailed us this video of Chinese pigeons being flown with whistles. Everyone knows that this is an interest of mine. I even have a collection, sent to me by a German scholar who taught in …
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Links to Friends’ Work
A couple of new ones: Sarah Madigan’s sculpture. She often works with things like birds and bones (see post below) and will be working with my old frozen falcon. Can’t wait to see. And: Duke Kuonahani’s The Dogs Bark, a series of sharp, succinct, knowledgeable, and funny movie reviews. As he might say, “An essential”, …
Country Life
A long thoughtful post about the good and bad, but above all the different things about country as opposed to urban life. A snip: “More often there is instead a deep reserve of caution. This wariness is a byproduct of living a connected life. The outsider does not know or feel the history of shared …
Quote of the Week
Nothing good ever transpires in an argument carried past 2AM. (Gerard Vanderleun)
Philip Larkin…
… was a very serious poet, but he may be best known for his mordant “This be the verse”, with its famous NSFW first line that was even the theme for an issue of Granta. I was surprised and tickled to see a YouTube of Larkin photos over a reading of that poem at Carl …
Dead Stuff
Says Darren, blogging about his mummified fox : “I think everyone seriously interested in animals collects dead animals, or bits of dead animals.” Certainly this is true of me, and of most other naturalists I know. The comments turned into reports on collections. Mine, responding to and quoting an earlier one, was: ” “Those of …
Thanksgiving Hunt
I’m back home from a week’s hunt in Texas, my usual Thanksgiving trip augmented this year by the coincidence of the annual North American Falconers Association Field Meet, also in Amarillo this week. These trips are the highlight of my season and uniformly fun and productive hawking adventures. I’ve posted about them here and elsewhere, …
Wintering goldens
Yesterday I drove through the sagebrush country of the Little Colorado Desert, which is always a pleasure as it serves as a winter home to migratory golden eagles. I’ve noticed our eagle population has substantially grown over the last few weeks – the birds arrive with winter temperatures. They come from the north, and most …
Frozen waterhose
Before I’m willing to turn on the big stockwater tank and its heater for the wintertime, for some reason I procrastinate until my little tank is empty and the waterhose that feeds it is completely frozen. That happened today. Usually the hose freezes overnight, but thaws during the day so I can refill the tank …
Web Miscellany
The US faces an invasion from another alien species, the Madagascar hissing cockroach. In Rome, the city government is attempting to deal with a starling investation with a team of starling stalkers. Apparently with mixed results. I believe I know some falconers who’d be willing to take on the job for the $187,000 the city …