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Yeah, like, Lawrence. Merry jolly and all that. Androo (More cattle, sheep and wine vines around here than roos, but sometimes we see a couple. ) On 20 December 2013 17:04, Bill Wootton <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Thanks, L. I get the picture of these little dashers. > > B > > On 19/12/2013, at 10:27 PM, Lawrence Upton wrote: > > > I take it likewise - I'm not a twitcher. But the chink chink sound,as you > > say; and the size; and look; would have done it. I have a feeling that it > > was black-headed,which I think makes it male. But this was many years ago > > and the event is a memory I can access only because of the poem. I was > > editing some verse from a quarter century recently, which played around > > with autobiography, and the memories came back as I chanted the words > > internally. I can - sort of - see Ogo Dour now. (The clifftop rather than > > the Ogo, cave, which is lower down), know where I was - sort of - and > think > > that I remember that bird fly out. That part of the world, western side > of > > The Lizard, near Predannack Airfield there are loads of them; so if you > > walk there,particularly away from the coastal path theyre always flying > up. > > Trouble is,away from the coastal path it's marshy particularly because in > > the 1940s they dumped concrete for their airfield, apparently without > > thinking of drainage!! Fewer on the coastal path because there are so > many > > noisy bipeds. I have a feeling they don't fly far day to day; but I noted > > this one because it could be read that it flew out into the wet granite > > greyness of sky and sea and thought “No way”; generally they go from one > > bush clump to another so it would have landed quickly anyway. > > > > > > Well, that's my story > > > > > > > > On 19 December 2013 04:43, Bill Wootton <[log in to unmask]> > wrote: > > > >> Stonechats new to me, L. Not the Siberian nor the African I take it. > Liked > >> their dash. Did you hear a sound? Meant to be like two stones knocked > >> together apparently acc to Uncle Wiki. > >> > >> B > >> > >> Two weakly defined subspecies are currently accepted:[2] > >> Saxicola rubicola rubicola. In the south and east of its range, from > >> Denmark southwest to Spain and northern Morocco, east to Poland and > >> Ukraine, and southeast to Turkey. > >> Saxicola rubicola hibernans. Northwestern Europe in Atlantic coastal > >> areas, in southwestern Norway, Great Britain, Ireland and northwestern > >> France. Birds in coastalPortugal are also often listed as this > >> subspecies[2] but this is disputed.[3] > >> The two subspecies differ in colour intensity following Gloger's rule, > >> with S. r. rubicola paler and with larger white patches in the drier > >> European continental and mediterranean climates, and S. r. hibernans > darker > >> brown with less white in the humid Atlantic oceanic climate. They > >> intergrade broadly where their ranges meet, from southeastern > >> England[4]south through France and Spain, and many individuals are not > >> identifiable to subspecies. Extreme examples of S. r. rubicola from the > >> driest southern areas of its range such as theAlgarve and Sicily are > >> particularly pale and with a large white rump, and can be very similar > to > >> Siberian Stonechats in appearance.[3][5] nDNA microsatellite > >> fingerprintingreveals a very small degree of separation between the two > >> subspecies.[6] > >> In the past, the European Stonechat was generally considered conspecific > >> with theSiberian Stonechat and African Stonechat, lumped together as > Common > >> Stonechat S. torquatus. A new review adding mtDNA cytochrome b sequence > and > >> nuclear DNA microsatellite fingerprinting evidence strongly supports > their > >> separation into distinct species.[2][6] Due to a misunderstanding of the > >> rules of Zoological nomenclature, for a short time the name S. torquatus > >> was erroneously used for the European Stonechat rather than the African > >> Stonechat.[6] > >> Together with the Siberian Stonechat and Canary Islands Stonechat it > >> constitutes eastern and western representatives of an Eurasian lineage; > the > >> Asian and European populations separated during the Late Pliocene or > Early > >> Pleistocene, roughly 1.5-2.5 mya, and Fuerteventura was colonised by > >> western European or northwest African birds somewhat later in the Early > >> Pleistocene, about 1-2 mya.[6] > >> The etymology of the English name derives from its call, sounding like > two > >> stones knocked together. The scientific name Saxicola means > "rock-dweller", > >> from Latin saxum, a rock +incola, dwelling in; and rubicola, > >> "bramble-dweller", from Latin Rubus, brambles + incola; the subspecies > name > >> hibernans refers to Ireland (Latin, Hibernia). > >> > >>> On 18 Dec 2013, at 10:01 pm, Lawrence Upton <[log in to unmask]> > >> wrote: > >>> > >>> white out at some distance > >>> > >>> grey-green nearer > >>> > >>> the stubble-below cliffs > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> a cliff top pool > >>> > >>> a temporary thing of rain > >>> > >>> wonderfully blustered > >>> > >>> we look in > >>> > >>> leaning away from the edge > >>> > >>> being pushed to > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> seeking life > >>> > >>> some dirt or something > >>> > >>> but there is none > >>> > >>> only the moiled clay soil > >>> > >>> at its base > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> a stonechat dashes > >>> > >>> from grasses out into sea sky > >>> > >>> returning sharply > >>> > >> > > > -- Andrew http://hispirits.blogspot.com/ 'Undercover of Lightness' http://walleahpress.com.au/recent-publications.html 'Shikibu Shuffle' http://abovegroundpress.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/new-from-aboveground-press-shikibu.html