No the sun is not quite as high as an elephant's eye but it is getting there - shining directly into my sitting room today and now high enough in the sky to not shine directly into my eyes. And at the week-end is February and if we can try to look beyond the dreadful figure of 100,000 then the Vaccination Programme seems to be going well so there just might be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. One more month - and a short one at that, only 28 days, and it will be March and signs of Spring will emerge as if by magic.
So, what to write about today? Well Wednesday is Matthew Parris day in the Times and he talks today about the birds at their Bird Table (he has had his knee operation and is home, legs up, recuperating.) He just wonders, because there are so many birds at their feeding station, whether we might be teaching birds to get their food at such places in the Winter rather than search for it. The RSPB recommend it - and they know what they are talking about - but he does begin to wonder.
And that brings me back to covid in a roundabout way. A friend rang yesterday for a chat during which he told me he had gone into our local Pet Shop last week to restock on Bird Food. As we are told, he had gone in wearing his mask. While waiting another elderly lady came in and was asked by the Shop Owner to please put on a mask. At this the lady said there was no need as she had had her first vacination! It's not only the young who neither listen nor care is it?
Oh and while I am on the subject of wild life can we have a minute to contemplate rabbits? We had plenty in our fields when we farmed, then there would be a cruel outbreak of Myxamatosis and the farmer would have to go round his fields killing suffering rabbits and how he hated that. Then a year or two would pass and the population would surge again. This morning after my breakfast I was reading Monty Don's entry about rabbits in 'My Garden World'- did you know (or are you indeed interested to know) that rabbits can have as many as ten babies at a time and they usually have four litters a year? Perhaps we could persuade some of the trendy TV cooks to put Rabbit Pie back on the menu. My mother used to make a super one.
Enjoy the sun, especially if you live in the North of England. Snow is forecast for tomorrow (but remember Monday it is February!)
.JPG)
24 comments:
100,000 deaths is an appalling figure to have to contemplate and live with but I do recall one or two bloggers last summer being amused at how serious people were taking the virus and jesting that it was "only a bit of flu."
I read Monty's section about rabbits but given that he always seems to grow enough vegetables to stock a shop, I'm sure that he can spare a few.
Plenty of rabbits for pies but how would the majority of people get hold of them?
100,000 is almost the number of inhabitants of my home town - I fail to imagine the entire town of Ludwigsburg wiped out. Horrible!
Rabbits are extremely fertile, and for a reason - they used to have enough natural enemies such as foxes and other carnivores to need that in order to survive. I have never eaten rabbit pie but my Sicilian husband's grandma (Nonna) made a delicious roast rabbit. I suspect Nonno (grandpa) caught them on his fields just outside the village where I spent every summer for 10 years.
The months fly by, don't they Pat? Enjoyed your post!
People fail to understand that like with the flu vaccine, the covid vaccine just makes the disease easier for you when you get it; doesn't really prevent spreading the virus. We hope that it does, but so far no conclusive evidence.
Hence,the masks and lockdowns.
We also get years of huge rabbit numbers here, followed by a couple of years of disease which seriously cuts down their numbers. Our local butcher used to sell rabbit but this seems to have stopped now. When we enquired we were told that the person who used to supply them was currently having a wee holiday At Her Majesty's Pleasure.
Have been warned even after I get second shot to continue distancing and masking. I have isolated since last March...I mean going no where...will be moving-my 31st move-in the spring...moved here three years ago to help homeschool the girls...will go to Florida and help with the boys...another apartment as sold home several years ago...I love your blog...you are amazing...
Watching the birds in our garden foraging for food in our garden I'd say the feeders we have in no way reduce their ability to search out food. Pretty intelligent, birds.
As a vegetarian, I'll give the rabbit pie a miss.
I love rabbit pie or stew - there is one Greek restaurant here in Toronto that does an especially tasty version! I have one recipe that I have used that calls for 40 cloves of garlic in the cream sauce and it was amazing! The trouble is, here, rabbit is very expensive - if I was to buy one in the supermarket it would cost me $25Cdn - about 15 pound in the UK.
Where I walk a lot down by the lake we are asked not to feed the birds (ducks & swans included) nor other animals - such as coyote! The ducks seem to do fine on their own and the park workers do have bird feeders here and there that they fill so I think they are well looked after.
I used to write a column about birds for my local newspaper when I was in Indiana, and one of my readers had the same question about feeding birds. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology in New York has done studies into just that question. Seems birds treat feeders like they do any other food source. They enjoy the plenty while it lasts, but once it's gone, they move on. Also, it may look like it's the same birds coming in all day, but it's often different flocks of the same species, making daily rounds of favorite feeding sites. I think it's important for people to supplement feed birds during the winter because habitat destruction has destroyed so many natural areas that used to provide them food.
In the 1970's, in the north of New Zealand, rabbits had not reached us. We were on a 6 acre property and one spring saw 2 rabbits on the lawn - so cute. By autumn there were rabbits everywhere, they undermined my potting shed and dug under our avocados. That was when rabbit came on the menu, usually in casseroles- delicious.
I have put bird food out and since then have not seen any birds other than the two large wood pigeons who sit each day in our cherry tree. Not sure where all the birds have gone here!
The sunshine is lovely but when it shines into the house at such a low level it highlights all the dust and grubby marks!
I am delighted with the response to my two bird feeding stations - lots of happy customers. They bring me such pleasure.
Rabbits - there used to be an "owd bwoy" who trapped rabbits in the war years in the valley we've just moved from. He had been friendly with the lady at the bridge, and she recounted that during the war he would trap as many as 800 in a week (or it might even have been a day - I know I was shocked by the figure), which went up to the Valleys to feed the miners and their families.
Derek - we used to live near a couple who kept a blog and she - a retired GP - said that lock down was totally unnecessary and Covid was just "bad flu". I believe this is still her stance - she told me to my face anyway, back in September.
Some of the young are very strict about the Covid rules; only this morning I heard a little girl, who looked about 5, reminding her mother about sanitising her hands because she'd just touched the door of the village shop! Rabbits? Well, they breed like rabbits, don't they?
The coyote manage the rabbit population in my area. Due to black bear in my town, everybody was asked to eliminate their bird feeders. The bird population is strong and we have a good variety. Sparrows, crows, woodpeckers, bluejays, chickadees, and cardinals are frequent winter visitors. An owl visits on occasion and even hoots in the middle of the night while hunting. Wildlife visitors are always welcome.
How the days and weeks fly by, and I still have trouble remembering what day of the week it is!
The covid figures are shocking indeed and hopefully will strengthen our resolve to do our best to protect ourselves and others.
As for rabbits; I grew up in the country during the war and I am sure ate many a rabbit stew without realising it. One of my uncles who was a builder, so not called up, would go shooting and supply the family with pigeons and rabbits to supplement the meagre meat ration. We were so fortunate and had home grown vegs to go with them.
Enjoy your sunshine while you can. Not long till Spring now.
We had sun here today too, albeit a bit chillier than you (-10C), and it was lovely. What a difference it makes to one's mood, doesn't it!
I don't think that birds 'forget' how to forage, but that is just my opinion. We live in town, and the feeders attract red squirrels which are terribly damaging little critters. My husband doesn't want to draw them and so we no longer feed the birds, but I see plenty of them, because we have lots of places for them to hide from the winter winds.
When we move back to the country, he'll tell me I don't need the birdfeeders because they attract the bears.
People are believing such utter nonsense during this, I've lost all patience with them
As a little girl, I remember watching fascinated, as my Mum skinned a rabbit for our dinner, usually in a stew; I seem to remember Dad coming back from the pub with our weekly rabbit. Our local farmer did a roaring trade there!
I suspect the taste would be improved these days with all the herbs and spices that are available.
Spring is coming, Weave, and I'll be so happy.
The very first thing I do every morning when I come downstairs (5am) is to let the dog out, and have a look outside. This morning it is 11 C, dry, and almost Spring-like.
Thank you Amanda - I think you have given us a sensible answer about the birds and their feeding habits.
As to rabbits - well as John rightly says 'they breed like rabbits dont they?'
Thanks for calling -- I do love to read your comments = the next best thing to a face to face conversatio,
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