It is dangerous to slam a portion of your body into a hard surface 15 times a second, with a force 1,000 times that of gravity. You or I could not do it. ...Read More
bird of the month Archive
Bird of the Month: The Acorn Woodpecker
Animals
Jul 30, 2014
Previous Birds of the Month can be found here.
Bird of the Month: The Northern Cardinal
Animals
Jun 20, 2014
Previous Birds of the Month can be found here.
As the most popular choice of state bird, the northern cardinal has a claim to be America’s favorite avian species. Seven states call it their own: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, ...Read More
Bird of the Month: The Peacock
Animals
May 27, 2014
Previous Birds of the Month can be found here.
I have some concern in presenting you with the bird of May. I have been raised to regard the peacock as very bad luck. I do not touch their feathers and I do not allow their picture in my house. When I see friends
...Read More
Bird of the Month: The Pelican
Animals
Apr 25, 2014
Previous birds of the month can be found here. Most recently: The Cuckoo.
Do you know Roald Dahl’s book The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me? It begins with a little boy, Billy, gazing at a run-down building which used to be a sweet shop. While
...Read More
Bird of the Month: The Cuckoo
Animals
Mar 26, 2014
Previous birds of the month can be found here. Most recently: The Raven.
When I speak of the cuckoo, I do not speak of jewelled marvels like this one:
(Male Asian Emerald Cuckoo)
There are many such cuckoos, each weirder, brighter and ...Read More
Bird of the Month: The Raven
Animals
Feb 27, 2014
Past Birds of the Month can be found here.
Which bird is most like the lilies of the field, which famously toil not, neither do they spin? You might say the cuckoo, which hijacks the nests of other birds rather than toiling over its own. You might say the swan, seeing in
...Read More
Bird of the Month: The Owl
Ancient Grains, Animals
Jan 23, 2014
Past Birds of the Month can be found here.
The problem with talking about owls is that there are so many kinds. When I say “owl”, do you think of a dozy, sweet-faced barn owl or the uncompromising burrowing owl?
...Read More
Bird Of The Month: Hoopoe
Ancient Grains, Animals
Dec 24, 2013
Last month: the goldfinch.
The hoopoe is twice-blessed, fortunate in both its English name (hoopoe) and its Latin one: upupa epops. Sometimes people call it the common hoopoe, but there is nothing common about this bird. Here’s a bunch of them striking various poses:
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