Hi Roger,
Thanks for all that.
Delicacies? Hence, '4 and 20 blackbirds baked in a pie'?
We have blackbirds here as well. And most other exotics like pigeons,
starlings and sparrows and the like. To us they are pests whereas in
their own territory one feels differently about them. I remember
thinking, whilst there, that Prague must have the fattest pigeons in
existence and that seemed perfectly appropriate, whereas ours just seem
a bit grungy or not quite right.
Thanks for (re)alerting me to Helen MacDonald. I had come across her
briefly just recently (an anthology) and the few poems therein had
struck me. I will now be more watchful.
As for crows, well, our crows, the native ones, are actually Australian
Ravens. They have a very distinctive call. Some Aboriginal groups don't
like them hanging around at all. They link them to kadaitcha and, I was
told by one friend based in Alice Springs, that they are old men
(ghosts, if you will) spying and they bring bad luck. We met another
Aboriginal women from the Murray area and she said whenever she'd hear
the crows she knew she was being called back home (she's an artist). As
for us white white guys, well, I don't mind the crows. for some odd
reason, they remind me of my childhood. But others may differ. I mean,
they're big black birds with sharp eyes. Some people are spooked by
that, especially up close.
Our wrens are quite gorgeous. We get a few blue wrens about in our
garden (it's the males than are blue, the jennies are brown). Not at
the moment, definitely seasonal.
This does put one in a Messiaen mood. I used to listen that obsessively
many years ago. Old vinyl so it's stashed away somewhere.
Cheers,
Jill
On Saturday, March 11, 2006, at 11:02 PM, Roger Day wrote:
> Jill,
> On the European mainland, songbirds are - or were? - considered a
> delicacy. It will be interesting to see how the two attitudes towards
> wildlife play out across Europe. For example, hunts still thrive in
> France (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/428122.stm). It reminds me
> of Eva Joly - swedish by origin - who is one of the investigating
> magistrates in the Elf case. According to my French friend, Gill, the
> French have had some difficulty in understanding her northern
> rectitude.
>
> Is it me or is the crow more "accepted" in Oz? Pace Hughes, where the
> crow isn't always a good sign, against, say, the Adelaide Crows?
>
> Thanks for the link. Listening to the "Superb Fairy Wren" - which is a
> wonderful name btw - as I write. its song prickles my hair.
>
> This reminds me of Mesiaen and his Reveil des Oiseaux, Oiseaux
> Exotiques and Catalogue d'Oiseaux. I cannot sympathise with his
> religion, however I like these works. An English poet, Helen
> MacDonald, has experimented with bird song - Andrew Duncan on HM here
> - http://www.cccp-online.org/archive/cccp11/page_16.html. Helen
> MacDonald studied ornithology and is particularly interested in the
> falcon - http://www.powells.com/biblio?isbn=1861892381. She really is
> a falconer and a remarkable poet, I've also had the pleasure of
> hearing her read. This is a sample of her work:
>
> Wren. Full song. No subsong. Call of alarm, spreketh & ought
> damage the eyes with its form, small body, tail pricked up & beak like
> a hair
> trailed through briars & at a distance scored with lime scent in the
> nose
> like scrapings from a goldsmith's cuttle .
>
> Jenny Wrens really are the most delicate and wonderful of birds.
>
> Roger
>
> On 3/10/06, Jill Jones <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> Hi Mark,
>>
>> Yes, I guess they are noisy. Never thought of it but now I recall,
>> European cities seem so much quieter on the bird front.
>>
>> Last night I came home as a whole pile (flock?) of parrots - most
>> likely lorrikeets - were squawking in the tree across the road, just
>> on
>> dusk.
>>
>> In our garden, we had magpies nesting in the jacaranda one year, until
>> they found out that it lost its leaves and therefore their cover, so
>> they went back to the more traditional and evergreen gum tree two
>> doors
>> up. But they visit us all the time (and shit on our paving). We also
>> get nearly everyday or seasonally, said parrots (lorrikeets and
>> rosellas), currawongs, new holland honeyeaters, welcome swallows,
>> silvereyes (such lovely little birds), the australian ravens we call
>> crows. Even a sacred kingfisher once. Also, unfortunately, all the
>> pesky exotics such as sparrows, starlings, pigeons and noisy mynahs.
>>
>> Some of the above, and others, are mentioned on this site, including
>> some of their noisy calls: http://www.anbg.gov.au/birds/birds.html
>>
>> So, can get real noisy.
>>
>> Is it 'ruffle' their feathers?
>>
>> And 'having a lend'? To have someone on, take the piss.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Jill
>>
>> On Saturday, March 11, 2006, at 01:37 AM, Jill Jones wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Mark,
>>>
>>> First of all, what's a grackle? I assume you're not having a lend.
>>>
>>> But I would be interested in the correct name for the term as well.
>>> There does seem to be a thing about poets and birds.
>>>
>>> I'm a lazy bird watcher myself and rarely know the correct word for
>>> ornithological things. But I notice them all the same. Tonight, there
>>> was a real racket across the street as I was coming home, ooh, about
>>> 7ish. Most likely parrots of some kind. I couldn't see them but they
>>> were, obviously, apparent.
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>> Jill
>>>
>>>
>>> On Saturday, March 11, 2006, at 01:06 AM, Mark Weiss wrote:
>>>
>>>> OK, I need some feedback from birdwatchers. In the winter birds puff
>>>> out their feathers fro warmth. Is there/are there a term/terms for
>>>> this? From the scientific to the colloquial.
>>>>
>>>> I realize this question is likely to inspire some general levity,
>>>> not
>>>> to say tom-foolery (origin?), which I'd appreciate as much as the
>>>> next guy/gal, but I really could use the help on this one.
>>>>
>>>> A tribeof grackles has taken up residence in the park outside my
>>>> window--maybe 25 males. Quiet so far--probably waiting for a
>>>> critical
>>>> mass to build up. Oh lucky me.
>>>>
>>>> Mark
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________________
>>> Jill Jones
>>>
>>> Latest books:
>>> Broken/Open. Available from Salt Publishing
>>> http://www.saltpublishing.com/books/smp/1844710416.htm
>>>
>>> Where the Sea Burns. Wagtail Series. Picaro Press
>>> PO Box 853, Warners Bay, NSW, 2282. [log in to unmask]
>>>
>>> Struggle and radiance: ten commentaries (Wild Honey Press)
>>> http://www.wildhoneypress.com
>>>
>>> web site: http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~jpjones
>>> blog1: Ruby Street http://rubystreet.blogspot.com/
>>> blog2: Latitudes http://itudes.blogspot.com/
>>>
>>>
>> _______________________________________________________
>> Jill Jones
>>
>> Latest books:
>> Broken/Open. Available from Salt Publishing
>> http://www.saltpublishing.com/books/smp/1844710416.htm
>>
>> Where the Sea Burns. Wagtail Series. Picaro Press
>> PO Box 853, Warners Bay, NSW, 2282. [log in to unmask]
>>
>> Struggle and radiance: ten commentaries (Wild Honey Press)
>> http://www.wildhoneypress.com
>>
>> web site: http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~jpjones
>> blog1: Ruby Street http://rubystreet.blogspot.com/
>> blog2: Latitudes http://itudes.blogspot.com/
>>
>
>
> --
> http://www.badstep.net/
> http://www.cb1poetry.org.uk/
>
>
_______________________________________________________
Jill Jones
Latest books:
Broken/Open. Available from Salt Publishing
http://www.saltpublishing.com/books/smp/1844710416.htm
Where the Sea Burns. Wagtail Series. Picaro Press
PO Box 853, Warners Bay, NSW, 2282. [log in to unmask]
Struggle and radiance: ten commentaries (Wild Honey Press)
http://www.wildhoneypress.com
web site: http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~jpjones
blog1: Ruby Street http://rubystreet.blogspot.com/
blog2: Latitudes http://itudes.blogspot.com/
_______________________________________________________
Jill Jones
Latest books:
Broken/Open. Available from Salt Publishing
http://www.saltpublishing.com/books/smp/1844710416.htm
Where the Sea Burns. Wagtail Series. Picaro Press
PO Box 853, Warners Bay, NSW, 2282. [log in to unmask]
Struggle and radiance: ten commentaries (Wild Honey Press)
http://www.wildhoneypress.com
web site: http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~jpjones
blog1: Ruby Street http://rubystreet.blogspot.com/
blog2: Latitudes http://itudes.blogspot.com/
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