UK Amazon Kindle Forum discussion
General Chat - anything Goes
>
Tits like coconuts. The bird thread!
Patti (baconater) wrote: "Birds and words!I enjoyed this article.
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20170..."
Fraid I couldn't see this, Patti. Apparently it's only available outside the UK because it's 'not funded by the licence fee'.!
Bugger.Let me see if I can copy and paste it.
Thanks for telling me.
The hawk cocked her head and glared at me, her eyes gleaming golden with determination. She wanted to know if I was serious about the job at hand.“Just do like I showed you before,” said Joe Healy-Rennison, my instructor and fellow pack member at Ireland’s School of Falconry. He encouraged me in his easy Irish manner, pushing a freshly severed chicken foot into my gloved fist. Then I stuck my left arm straight out to the side, tensing my shoulder as Lima, the beautiful brown Harris’s hawk, swooped down in a gush of wind, lighting upon the edge of my covered wrist. I rotated my hand as her sabre-like beak snapped up the chicken foot. She swallowed it whole, shaking her gullet, then blinked with satisfaction.
Ashford Castle is a historical Irish castle in western Ireland (Credit: Credit: Andrew Evans)
Ashford Castle is a historical Irish castle in western Ireland (Credit: Andrew Evans)
We were hunting for small game in the vast forest – some 350 acres of thick woodlands – surrounding historic Ashford Castle at the northern tip of Lough Corrib in western Ireland. As we stepped deeper into the ancient woods, massive tree trunks rose up like Greek columns with a vaulted ceiling of green, heart-shaped leaves. The day was warm and overcast, a dry spell following the wet and gloomy Irish morning.
“Hold onto Lima,” Healy-Rennison commanded, as I tightly pinched the speckle-feathered bird’s jesses, or tethers, under my thumb.
“Now she’s ‘under your thumb’,” Healy-Rennison explained with a smile.
“Quite literally,” I replied, amused to learn the etymology of a phrase that I’ve used for most of my life. Only now I was standing in the place where the phrase was born – in the wet green woods of the Anglo-Irish gentry, with a giant hawk on my wrist, her jesses wrapped around my little finger. “Yet another phrase we get from falconry,” said Healy-Rennison, who advised me to add the extra grip of my pinkie.
The phrase "wrapped around your little finger" has its origins in falconry (Credit: Credit: Andrew Evans)
The phrase "wrapped around your little finger" has its origins in falconry (Credit: Andrew Evans)
Healy-Rennison then covered the bird’s eyes and head with a small leather hood to keep her from distraction until we reached our hunting spot.
“Hence the term ‘hoodwinked’,” he said cheerily, continuing to teach me English – the English of 16th-century falconry, a rare jargon that entered the colloquial, thanks in part to one amateur falconer, William Shakespeare. Experts still argue about how much falconry Shakespeare actually practiced in real life, but he was no doubt personally acquainted with the sport, as his plays carry more than 50 references to falconry.
Macbeth advises “scarfing the eye”, a reference to hoodwinking a falcon to prevent the bird (his lady) from distraction. He continues the falconry metaphor with holding the lady back on her perch while other falcons prepare to “rouse”, or take flight. French terms like “rouse” (from the Old French ruser, when a hawk shakes its feathers) entered English with the Norman invasion of 1066. But it is Shakespeare who helped forge a new meaning: “to rouse” as in “awaken”.
Lima only roused slightly when I removed her hood, fluffing out her feathers before settling back into to her sleek, sharp self. Then she hurled forward, dashing upwards into the highest tree.
Falconry metaphors provide a basis for many familiar terms, such as "take flight" (Credit: Credit: Daniel Nugent/Flickr)
Falconry metaphors provide a basis for many familiar terms, such as "take flight" (Credit: Daniel Nugent/Flickr)
My eyes searched the dappled camouflage in front of me – tree limbs, leaves and shadow – but I could not see her.
“Just keep walking,” Healy-Rennison instructed. “She sees us far better than we can see her.”
“Eyes like a hawk,” I mused aloud, treading onward.
“Ten times stronger than a human’s eyesight,” said Healy-Rennison, adding, “Like reading a newspaper across a football field.”
A hawk’s eyesight is ten times stronger than a human’s (Credit: Credit: Andrew Evans)
A hawk’s eyesight is ten times stronger than a human’s (Credit: Andrew Evans)
I adjusted my glasses, squinting at the luxuriant blur and feeling even more inferior to the half-kilo bird that was teasing me deeper into the forest.
From medieval falconry to modern English
Bate Birds beating their wings while still tethered; from the Old French batre (to beat), eventually “to hold back, restrain”, as in a bated breath.
Booze From the 14th-century verb bouse (Dutch origin), to drink excessively. A bird that drinks too much water will not hunt, similar to those who are “fed up”.
Fed up A bird that is no longer hungry has no incentive to hunt.
Haggard A wild hawk that’s difficult to train. One of Shakespeare’s favourite terms.
Hoodwinked To prevent a bird from immediately searching for prey, falconers cover the bird’s head until they are in the right place to hunt.
Rouse From the Old French ruser, when a hawk shakes its feathers. Figurative meaning “awaken” first appeared in late 16th-century England.
Under his thumb Tightly gripping the jesses, or tethers, under one’s thumb prevents the bird from flying away until it is released.
Wrapped around his little finger Wrapping the jesses around the pinkie finger adds an extra anchor in securing the bird.
“There, she’s found something!” Healy-Rennison called, pointing at Lima, who had magically appeared on a high oak limb ahead of us. We both rushed forward like urgent, obedient children. “See how she’s wagging her tail?”
Healy-Rennison pointed upward, and sure enough, Lima was bouncing her tail feathers up and down. “That means she’s spotted something. She’s signalling at us to find it.”
We dropped down to the ground and began crawling around on all fours. My first falconry lesson had reduced me to the same state as the rodents we were hunting, but like the haunting harp music of the Emerald Isle, this is tradition.
Humans have hunted with birds of prey for thousands of years, and for nearly 800 years at Ashford Castle. Built in 1228, the old Norman castle evolved into an elaborate chateau, eventually purchased by the Guinness family and transformed into a Victorian hunting lodge. To that end, the beer barons expanded the estate to more than 26,000 acres (larger than Manhattan), conserving the kind of old-growth forest that once covered the whole of the British Isles.
This is what all of Ireland used to look like, I told myself while rummaging in the underbrush under Lima’s watchful gaze. Everything was forest, and filled with fairies, say the legends. Prime leprechaun habitat too, I thought.
“So, they used to hunt mice and squirrels in medieval times?” I asked stupidly.
Humans have hunted with birds of prey for nearly 800 years at Ashford Castle (Credit: Credit: DEA/W.BUSS/Getty)
Humans have hunted with birds of prey for nearly 800 years at Ashford Castle (Credit: DEA/W.BUSS/Getty)
“Not really – more like rabbits,” Healy-Rennison explained, motioning for me to stand up. “Big rabbits. A hawk like Lima can lift a 5kg hare, easy.” Some still do, given a chance.
I do the maths.
“That’s like me picking up a car!” Healy-Rennison nodded, handing me another chicken foot, and I stuck out my arm. Lima swooped down once more and gobbled up the reward, but we could only repeat this search and retreat game so many times.
“If she has too much to eat, she won’t hunt anymore. Hence the term ‘fed up’.” I looked back at Healy-Rennison, who nodded. Again, the term comes from falconry.
In Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew, the male lead Petruchio likens taming his new bride to training a hawk:
My falcon now is sharp and passing empty;
And till she stoop she must not be full-gorged,
For then she never looks upon her lure.
Another way I have to man my haggard,
To make her come and know her keeper’s call,
The art of falconry has offered the English language several idiomatic phrases (Credit: Credit: Andrew Evans)
The art of falconry has offered the English language several idiomatic phrases (Credit: Andrew Evans)
A falcon or hawk that is fully gorged, or “fed up” will no longer work for her master. On the other hand, a “haggard” is a wild hawk that may never be fully trained. Shakespeare uses the term five times to describe different women in his plays, which in later English came to mean wild, unkempt and dishevelled.
After two hours crawling through the forest, I was feeling a bit dishevelled myself. My first falconry lesson ended without any kills, but a whole pocket full of new vocabulary.
If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called “If You Only Read 6 Things This Week”. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Earth, Culture, Capital, Travel and Autos, delivered to your inbox every Friday.
Sorry the text is so dense.
That's a really interesting piece. I had no idea so many of our words and idioms came from falconry.
What about hawk and spit though. I've never hear a bird clear its throat.
Just got back from an afternoon walk around Berry Head Country Park. It was bitterly cold overnight, so it was a surprise to hear a lot of noise from the cliff where a breeding colony of guillemots assemble. According to the warden, 76 arrived on the 20th and there were at least 250 there today. For me, it's always the first sign that spring is on the way.
Oh, forgot to report peregrine falcons on the Grand Hotel in Scarborough, and Great Northern Divers in the harbour.
Blue titsLong Tailed Tits
Robins
Blackbirds
Jays
Wood Pigeons
Great Tits
Wrens
Dunnocks
Thrush
There's an owl sanctuary nearby and we hear them frequently. I've seen a kestral and sparrow hawks.
We also have squirrels, shrews and mice
We've got tawny owls hunting around us every night. I never tire of hearing their calls.
I think we've got 2 ravens nesting in our garden. I just assumed they were crows but not sure now after watching the spring watch programme last night. The best was there last year and they've started rebuilding it. Their call is different to crows caw caw noise. It's deeper and resonates on still days. I'll try to observe properly now I know what to look for.
If they shout 'nevermore' they are definitely ravens.
We've got owls too. Great sounds through the evening and early morning.
We have several territories on my local patch and they are extremely vocal every morning before it's light, nice to hear so many around. We had a couple of Ravens a few weeks back, first 2 I've seen up there in all the years I've been walking it.
There is a Black Throated Thrush at one of the RSPB satellite sights, or was last week, sadly I wasn't well enough to go up to try and see it, a friend of mine did and said it was amazing !
Isn't that always the way - the ones we miss are the most amazing!Grey and miserable this morning, but yesterday was glorious. I went for an early morning walk along Brixham breakwater: https://www.goodreads.com/photo/autho...
Snoozing in the sun on concrete ledges on the old re-fuelling station were six purple sandpipers, winter visitors that we see ocasionally: https://www.goodreads.com/photo/autho...
I sat in the sun watching them for the best part of an hour before one woke up and began feeding: https://www.goodreads.com/photo/autho...
It's no good, I've got to visit Brixham! Ashamed to say that though I live so near I've never been there - and I'm missing all this wildlife... Looked beautiful yesterday, BJ.
Lovely photos BJ ! Will maybe post some of mine from last Saturday when I get them off the camera.
Kathy wrote: "It's no good, I've got to visit Brixham! Ashamed to say that though I live so near I've never been there - and I'm missing all this wildlife... Looked beautiful yesterday, BJ."I'm not surprised, Kathy. Brixham is so tucked away that one only gets here if one has set out with a determination to make it the destination. I could have added that at the breakwater one of our resident seals was cruising around breakfasting on crabs. Then I went up to Berry Head where I saw lots of seabirds (including gannets feeding) and 6 or 7 harbour porpoises feeding near the base of the cliffs.
B J wrote: "Kathy wrote: "It's no good, I've got to visit Brixham! Ashamed to say that though I live so near I've never been there - and I'm missing all this wildlife... Looked beautiful yesterday, BJ."I'm n..."
OK, B J. You've convinced me.
Watch out for crabs! I was once driving up a hill just out of Brixham town and came across a large brown crab just walking along in the road! It was in the days before I cooked live ones and I put it in a bag in the car and then back in the sea at Bude, my holiday base that year.
Lynne (Tigger's Mum) wrote: "I think we've got 2 ravens nesting in our garden. I just assumed they were crows but not sure now after watching the spring watch programme last night. The best was there last year and they've star..."From everything I've read, ravens are massive. This video gives a good guide to the corvid family and their voices - https://www.bto.org/about-birds/bird-id/bto-bird-id-corvids.
They are very big, the call is correct but I haven't seen the tail in flight yet. When they fly off they really cause a big flap and one of the sites to identify the, says that's one of the differences. Crows don't disturb the air as much. I shall wait and see.
They are big Lynne, their tails are unmistakable so they are easy to identify in flight.Had a lovely little Wren hopping about in my garden earlier today, just beautiful!
L.A. wrote: "Watch out for crabs! I was once driving up a hill just out of Brixham town and came across a large brown crab just walking along in the road! It was in the days before I cooked live ones and I put ..."Whereas other towns may have their fleshpots, all we can offer is hundreds of crabpots.
Anyone taking part in the Great Garden Birdwatch? It's pouring down here. Even the gulls are in hiding.
I did start to fill in the form but when it got to passwords etc I lost my oomph and put it off. I don't know how I'd count all those LBJs. I thought if taking a photo and counting them that way. Yesterday there were a lot of whitish feathers and the cat next door got the.blame but in he afternoon the sparrow hawk did a whooosh across and scattered all the mob so it may not have been the cat's fault,
I thought about it but it's chucking down here too and so grey that I'm afraid I copped out. The sparrowhawk descended here too a couple of hours ago which has left it very quiet...
Himself does it. It's amazing how birds avoid the garden in that hour, whichever one he chooses!
Evie and I did it, the weather wasn't too bad here but we got an over abundance of Starlings, two Grey Wagtails and very little else in the hour, I'm sure they know they are being counted and go into hiding like you say Kath, 2 hours after we finished the feeders were full ! One Sparrowhawk has got to be worth all my Starlings Lynne, it's a long time since I saw one in our garden, lucky you !
It was miserable here doing my GBW. The council chopped a very large ash tree down recently, so the birds are a bit upset about that. I phoned up the council as I knew it had a TPO on it and I'd not had a letter, but the tree officer told me it was OK, it had a nasty fungus and had to go. He said it was the same fungus that caused this nasty accident some years ago http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1489072...
That was a nasty accident Joo.The bird counting was zilch here - rain plus they haven't been coming round for ages due to next door's cats :-(
Considering the gale force winds here this morning, I'm impressed to see the stand with the bird feeders hanging from it still upright, not to mention the resilient birds still clinging on to them and feeding.
I just couldn't resist the blue sky and went to the beach at Broadsands for a walk. The sun may have been shining, but the wind was a bit much. When I was there last week the sea was like a mirror with a large flock of scoter serenely floating about. Today the breakers were roaring in, there were no birds on the sea, but the narrow strip of wet sand at the top of the beach was heaving. As far as I could tell it was a mix of herring, black-headed and black-backed gulls. There have been sightings of Mediterranean and Iceland gulls in the bay in the last few days, but I couldn't spot any. Having said that, with a bitter wind making my eyes stream I'd have struggled to tell an Iceland gull from a sheep. I soon beat a retreat into the marshy wooded area at the top of the car park. Hundreds of small birds had had the same idea. The birdsong was a delight (robin, blackbird, long-tailed tit, dunnock, cirl bunting, chaffinch, even a firecrest) but I have to confess that the highlight of the trip was finding the beach cafe open.
While I was reading your exploits, BJ, it struck me that what you needed was a long, hot drink (and a muffin). I'm impressed the beach café was open. Full of intrepid wildlife enthusiasts...?
It's not possible to get inside, it's just a cabin with a serving hatch, but you're right, Kathy, all of us using the cabin as a windbreak and clutching mugs of tea were festooned with cameras and binoculars.
OH saw a lovely hen harrier yesterday.
B J wrote: "I just couldn't resist the blue sky and went to the beach at Broadsands for a walk. The sun may have been shining, but the wind was a bit much. When I was there last week the sea was like a mirror ..." I saw the sheep! Also a horse. We've got your list from robin to firecrest just outside the front door, and even a couple of wrens that look suspiciously like they're thinking of building a nest in the potted bay tree! The bird song is great - it's definitely good to be hearing it again. The last couple of years we've been joined by a mistle thrush whose song is loud to say the least and seriously stands out.
My birdies are not eating their seed at the moment and I've run out of fatballs....... any suggestions of what I could put out for them as a temporary measure, that I'm likely to have in my cupboards?
That's a fine collection to have on your doorstep. We see very few thrushes in the gardens around here. I suspect that such ground feeders are frightened off by all the cats.
T4bsF (Call me Flo) wrote: "My birdies are not eating their seed at the moment and I've run out of fatballs....... any suggestions of what I could put out for them as a temporary measure, that I'm likely to have in my cupboards?" Breadcrumbs are going down well with our lot at the moment, and old tired fruit (apples, pears)
A farmer friend of ours who feeds his wild birds simply puts a block of lard on his bird table in the bad weather. They love it. It's soon stippled with beak-marks.
Cooked porridge, cooked rice, crumbled biscuits and (this never happens in our house) stale cake.
Great, thanks all, I think I've got all that in the cupboard. They are quite empty at the moment, as I haven't done a big shop since Ken's been in hospital.
dried apricots, sultanas, raisins, uncooked oats
I've tried it with the cheese, breadcrumbs and cooked rice today...... so far - no birdies...... but they usually come about 4 or 5 o'clock normally - so there's still time. I even went out with my Kindle Fire and played a recording of them singing and tweeting, that I made last summer!!
You've changed your routine so they're probably checking it out before committing! Robins especially usually love cheese. Blackbirds too. When it's cold it's the fatty foods they go for first.
Any suggestions for a bird for St Valentine's Day?
It was obviously being said with flowers ; )