Evensong
Last Thursday happened to be the warmest day so far this year, 17-18 C and calm, for once, so when I got home I took a mug of something and the camera out into the garden.
The Houselight family was there (in the tree at the bottom of next door's garden): Tom, Danni, and young Oliver, who far from being turfed out on his ear, is still getting fed. We spent a little time calling and bobbing at each other, as you do. (I'd claim I'm trying to see if I can get a reaction from them. Most people would just say I'm as birdbrained as they are.) And they preened and, er, stuff, and then, while Tom and Oliver went off to practise landing on TV aerials, Danni went up into the nest and laid an egg. As luck would have it, the camera was inside at that moment emptying itself into the computer. Suffice to say, it doesn't look like an altogether comfortable experience - think of Robin Williams's sketch about men "sharing" childbirth: "unless you've ever passed a bowling ball, you aren't sharing a damned thing!"
In any event, I'll spare you more dove photos - for now - because in the still-bare branches of the b*st*rd spiny tree from heck, this blackbird was giving an impromptu recital.
Tomorrow, of course, the Met Office is predicting up to 5 cm of snow.
The Houselight family was there (in the tree at the bottom of next door's garden): Tom, Danni, and young Oliver, who far from being turfed out on his ear, is still getting fed. We spent a little time calling and bobbing at each other, as you do. (I'd claim I'm trying to see if I can get a reaction from them. Most people would just say I'm as birdbrained as they are.) And they preened and, er, stuff, and then, while Tom and Oliver went off to practise landing on TV aerials, Danni went up into the nest and laid an egg. As luck would have it, the camera was inside at that moment emptying itself into the computer. Suffice to say, it doesn't look like an altogether comfortable experience - think of Robin Williams's sketch about men "sharing" childbirth: "unless you've ever passed a bowling ball, you aren't sharing a damned thing!"
In any event, I'll spare you more dove photos - for now - because in the still-bare branches of the b*st*rd spiny tree from heck, this blackbird was giving an impromptu recital.
Tomorrow, of course, the Met Office is predicting up to 5 cm of snow.
