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v.edgy (the dot is silent)'s avatar

Last week, in the heat (in the UK), I finally downloaded Merlin (the app) because there was a bird making the sound of what I thought could only be a hoopoe. And I thought that because I'd recently watched a microcontroller lecture where they were simulating the sound of a hoopoe electronically. The lecture had taken place at Cornell University. That's right, the same university where Merlin was developed. Two worlds were colliding, so I very excitedly engaged Merlin, only to discover my mystery bird was in fact… a stock dove.

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What to read if's avatar

Loved this - and glad to hear some appreciation of pigeons as well as puffins (adorable obvs.); they're so clever and adaptable, adjusting to window sills etc. instead of cliff-sides...and all pigeons have the most seductive voices...

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Mark Diacono's avatar

Another joy Lev, and how good is it to get together with old friends and the words still fall into the right gaps

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Andrew Kitching's avatar

You don't miss them if you look for the "kind eyes", as one birder put it.

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S. OC's avatar

Sorry Lev. Say what you want about Pigeons. They will never appeal.

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Louise Tucker's avatar

Puffins are the unicorns of the sea. I love them.

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Rose George's avatar

Beautiful, this.

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Denise Foote's avatar

Well I never. 😄Thank you.

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Ana McKellar's avatar

I saw your post of that joke on BlueSky and figured I was missing the point because 🤔 🤷🏼‍♀️. Common, for me, with jokes, so thanks for explaining!

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