Thank you so much for the bird posts! You’ve nudged me to go looking for birds, and it’s been a joy. The other day on a meander around a large pond, I saw 17 bird species!
I am doing a bit of research on hawfinches at the moment (they'll be a key species in my eco-sitcom, Fieldwork), and I have it on very good authority that if a hawfinch bites you, you stay very, very bitten. You probably scream a bit too.
The hawfinch's beak is not just big, it's strong and can exert a force of between 300 and 470 Newtons, which is amazing given it weighs only 50g - 60g.
They are also incredibly elusive, hard to spot, don't sing very much, and nigh-on impossible to trap except for where they are very common (common being a relative term here, as they aren't common at all). Which is why most researchers give them a miss.
Oh, and they have little club-shaped extensions to their wing feathers, which look like a little frill or series of steps, which apparently make a whirring sound when they fly.
No no you carry on. I too am in awe of the crunching power of the hawfinch, and am delighted you’ve chosen them as a KSS (Key Sitcom Species). I see them all too rarely, and while I thought I might have a chance this winter, which seems to have been a good year for them, I haven’t managed to find any yet. Also, I did not know that about their feathers, so thanks for that excellent snippet.
I think I might have to make tomorrow's newsletter a hawfinch newsletter. They were once so common that they were seen as an orchard pest, but like so many creatures, numbers have crashed over the last 50 years. I'd love to one day see one in person, but that would also require getting up at absurd o'clock, so unlikely to ever happen!
Hello, Dave!! You'll be pleased to hear I'm still plugging away at Fieldwork. Going to submit it to Sitcom Mission, which gives me a much needed deadline to hit.
Light rain sometimes falls available on Kenny’s.ie in Ireland with free shipping and able to ship worldwide
Ooh good to know, thank you
Names of microseasons sound like haikus
Then my work here is done, because that’s exactly what I intended.
Would you like some of our cormorants? Please? https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/cormorants-are-making-nests-on-the-toronto-islands-here-s-why-that-s-a-problem/article_a97142a3-15e1-5e84-91fa-af0f54e18ad1.html
And now I have to look up why those albatrosses are so calm around humans.
Warning: contains gratuitous violence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtCl-gIE7WM&ab_channel=GardenbirdsUK
Thank you so much for the bird posts! You’ve nudged me to go looking for birds, and it’s been a joy. The other day on a meander around a large pond, I saw 17 bird species!
I am doing a bit of research on hawfinches at the moment (they'll be a key species in my eco-sitcom, Fieldwork), and I have it on very good authority that if a hawfinch bites you, you stay very, very bitten. You probably scream a bit too.
The hawfinch's beak is not just big, it's strong and can exert a force of between 300 and 470 Newtons, which is amazing given it weighs only 50g - 60g.
They are also incredibly elusive, hard to spot, don't sing very much, and nigh-on impossible to trap except for where they are very common (common being a relative term here, as they aren't common at all). Which is why most researchers give them a miss.
Oh, and they have little club-shaped extensions to their wing feathers, which look like a little frill or series of steps, which apparently make a whirring sound when they fly.
OK, sorry, I'll shut up now.
Update: I ended up writing about hawfinches here: https://fieldworkpodcast.substack.com/p/fieldwork-why-hawfinches
Also, am I the only one who feels like the plural of hawfinch should be hawfinch?
No no you carry on. I too am in awe of the crunching power of the hawfinch, and am delighted you’ve chosen them as a KSS (Key Sitcom Species). I see them all too rarely, and while I thought I might have a chance this winter, which seems to have been a good year for them, I haven’t managed to find any yet. Also, I did not know that about their feathers, so thanks for that excellent snippet.
I think I might have to make tomorrow's newsletter a hawfinch newsletter. They were once so common that they were seen as an orchard pest, but like so many creatures, numbers have crashed over the last 50 years. I'd love to one day see one in person, but that would also require getting up at absurd o'clock, so unlikely to ever happen!
Hi Suw!
Hello, Dave!! You'll be pleased to hear I'm still plugging away at Fieldwork. Going to submit it to Sitcom Mission, which gives me a much needed deadline to hit.
Good luck!
This year I’m going to make a determined effort to not find our local “song” thrush just a bit annoying …
It’s good to see this kind of devotion to personal growth.
Calendar starts halfway between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox I think?
Oh yes. Thanks.
Now corrected.