Click it! Phyletical Correctness Click 'it!
No suggestion that dog = mog, but D&G're 'aving no species discrimination 'ere, so extension canine follows feline. Actually, in the scheme of things, mogs 'n' dogs belong to different families in the same order, belong being a major difference; dogs belong to owners, owners belong to cats, and when G called at Holly Lodge one day, Jack's owner was vainly calling him. "Daft dog doesn't know his name!" Gene's reply, "Maybe he does and it isn't Jack." Gene'll never know what J's mam and dad called him, and even if he did he'd have trouble articulating it, so Jack it'll have to be.
Aother difference ... cat owneders don't say barmy things like, "You'd never
go for a walk if you didn't have a dog!" but Jack's owner was a runner, so question ... was Jack too? He was a trail hound, so waddya think? Dianne, with n-pair, double D, as in Dawes, and G as co-runner, thunk waddya, so Jack's arrival completed a trio with twice the legs and an infinitude of What the F next? potential. 'Twas G who got farmer-bollocked after J ran into a field full of sheep, (although there was room for Jack, so it can't have been full), but DD who earned credit when he ran into a field full of trail hounds and won! Jack got himself automobile-flattened while in G's care, but self-unflattened and ran into a field full of nowt (i.e. grass), shortly after which he ran into a field full of mystery from which he never returned. Stolen, perhaps, as a result of his performance in Field 2? Dunno, but Jack was as close as dog lacker G ever came to being undogless. You've already been on Wamials, Jack, but this is your page ... not all about you, though, OK?
English is brill. Leather dog lead .. lead for leather dog? Plastic cat flap .. you get the drift .. here it's W L's of the A kind, as, 4 egg sample, Diane, who is your all canoedlin', all swimmin' wamial friend, as with her Advice re Responsible Sex for Cattle * stunt. D, as we all, is/are, (a) floating fresh fartilizer flogger(s), on account of being n greats-grandkidlets of Noah The Arkist, the Premier A W L, a lot of yonks back.
* When D&G campervanned, (10-6-12), the thinly road to Mull of Galloway Lighthouse, one Mr. Cow decided to shag Mrs. Bull on the road 1 cm from P846VNL, as in plate de nombre of said van de camp. D opened said door of said van du thingy, avec un view de/à persuading El Rampant-con-Horns, to select a romanticlier spot. G said, "Shut the F-ing door!" and witnessed a performance lasting a fractionette of what would pass as crap on the "What was it like for you?" scale. Mrs. Bull sauntered off chomping, Mr. Cow limped after her. Road clear!
Explanates pic top R, a book pressied to D&G, (by Katherine 'tis thunk), front bit of '90's. A big mobule of wamials in guises multiflumulous, depicted in a pic by Mike Wilks, with 16 closer ups to assist, 'cos if sex weren't invented, less wood would Noah've needed. But wamials went 2 by 2, 706 in the pic, + a divorcee, on its tod. Competition aim ... find the todee, (not in the pic) and win a painting, as in pic, of it.
D, M & G were among 20 runneruppers and won limited print 19, the lucky wamial that got to stay home and watch telly. Wilks M. didn't number the closer ups. D, M & G did, as in order of appearance in book.
Click de pics, 'cos there's aint 1 but 2; book cover, as in The Big Pic, 'n' the prize pic as in won by D, M & G.
Twoth pic's of the todee, the 1 that really F-ed up its survival chances by leaving matie telly, front of, in.
Exhaustive Analysis of Wilks M's pics ... Martin did all the birds, Diane examined in detailedlinessitude
the wamials wiv 'orns, of which there were 2x as many wamials as 'orns, 'cept for unicorns, as in narwhal and rhino-saur-ass, 4 egg sample, while, G did naff all. Not truly! He spesherliseded in finding cryptic wamials, like frog, as in tadpole-cum-guitar headstock motif, and the like, & penning, (avec pencil), the tie-breaker clever-dick (ess) completionessment of the sentence-in-waiting ... Earth is the Ultimate Noah's Ark because ... We want the 10,000 quid!
Said Ark Book's got a bit by McKenna V, which misplaces two apostrophes, mammals on a bit about Bored Free and lists dolphs, chimps, tigs, tuskers & them as would blow yer pigsty down with an 'uff 'n' puff, as beneficieries. Tuff titty if you're a sheep tick, then!. But, to be fair, (fairer than being unfair), Mike did put 16 snails in big picture. Yea ... D&G know. Slugs didn't get to represent mollusca et al, but snails weren't official pair-passengers either.
The Ultimate Noah's Ark ....... According to Diane, Gene and Martin.
Mike Wilks' amazing painting features 354 different species of wamial, 353 as pairs, (as in couples), one represented singly. The challenge was to identify (a) the "odd" species, (b) the sex of the absentee. The tie-breaker was to complete the sentence, Earth is the Ultimate Noah's Ark because ...
The winner received £10,000 and the original Mike Wilks painting of the missing wamial. 20 runners-up received a limited edition print of the painting of the missing wamial .... signed, of course ........... by Wilks M, not the missing wamial!
Wamials appear in multifarious guises in the painting, some obvious, some less so, some severely hidden. They assume many forms, the natural apart. They might be masks, or motifs; pictures, puppets, or .placards; inflatables, or just plain indiscernables.
Featured species were fully described in detail in the book, and were classified as follows:
Mammals 185 species. Birds 111 species. Fish 22 species. Invertebrates 22 species. Reptiles 10 species. Amphibians 4 species. Total 354 species.
Cosy figules, (above) hardly represent Life on Earth now, or thenever, 'cos doesn't do to contemplate the crawlies creeping up your trouser/skirt leg, regardless of numerical superiority. So zoo-boat ticket holders: 52% mammal, 84% warm-blooded, 94% vertebrate! No backbone, no chance! Or mebbe old Noah thought invertebrate = upside down = sink! So how come they're flood survivors? Stowaways, that's how. Let's face it! You'd do the same, wuncha?
Stowawaying's one thing. Reckoning you're someone else is summat else! 'Cos t'ain't 354 species. 12 doggieus domesticurus breeds's all one specieseses!!
Didn't Noah look at their passports, for Heaven's sake? Likewise 2 lots of moggieus domesticaticus; but makes you wonder doesn't it? Two passports per species ... musta been loadsa poor buggers who never got a look in, just 'cos they didn't know a Noah. Not to mention superfluberths, like Albert Ross, who coulda just soared it out, Donald Duck, (as in unsinkable Drake), and Dick Moby, whose missus, Fanny, couldn't give a F about Arks & woulda been Whaley sick, as in Cetacean sick, as in C-sick, which is anti-seasick, on account of being removed therefrom! P'raps humans, instead of honouring the Arkonauts, should mourn all the poor sacrificees, who lost out when Ark tickets were dished out; 'cos it's the same the whole world over, which you've all heard before! There's no such thing as Such Thing! Mike Wilks didn't number the 16 details of the master pic. D,G&M did, as in order of appearance in the Big Book.
So, numbers, (1 to 16), following the 354 "species" in the lists below, are the details on which D,G&M reckon they'd found them. 2 for each, except one.
Aardvark (3, 9)
Aardwolf (1, 6)
Addax (1, 2)
African Buffalo (6, 16)
African Elephant (9, 16)
African Wild Ass (8, 16)
Agouti (16, 16)
American Beaver (1, 11)
American (Wide-nosed) Manatee (1, 13)
American Mink (7, 13)
Arctic (White or Polar) Fox (3, 13)
Asiatic Black Bear (10, 11)
Asiatic Elephant (7, 13)
Bactrian (Two-humped) Camel (1, 14)
Barbary Ape (5, 5)
Beech Marten (1, 12)
Bighorn Sheep (1, 2)
Bison (2, 12)
Black-backed Jackal (3, 14)
Blackbuck (10, 11)
Black (Hook-lipped) Rhinoceros (1, 14)
Blue Monkey (Diademed Guenon)
(10, 16)
Blue Wildebeest (Brindled Gnu) (12, 15)
Brown Bear (7, 9)
Brown Hare (11, 14)
Bushbuck (11, 12)
Cacomistle (Cacomixl or Ringtail) (6, 15)
Capybara (4, 6)
Chamois (6, 8)
Cheetah (7, 13)
Chimpanzee (13, 14)
Chinchilla (1, 12)
Coati (Coatimundi) (14, 16)
Colocolo (8, 13)
Common Dolphin (4, 4)
Common Genet (12, 15)
Common Hamster (13, 15)
Common Long-eared Bat (2, 5)
Common Pipistrelle (3, 9)
Common (Old World) Rabbit (8, 9)
Common (Brown or Norwegian) Rat
(9, 15)
Common (Harbour) Seal (8, 9)
Common (Burchell's) Zebra (7, 14)
Cougar (Mountain Lion or Puma) (2, 14)
Coyote (Prairie Wolf) (2, 15)
Cusimanse (9, 13)
De Brazza's Monkey (Chestnut-browed
Guenon) (15, 16)
Dibatag (Clarke's Gazelle) (2, 3)
Domestic Cats
Chocolate Burmese (13, 15)
Seal Point Siamese (6, 9)
Domestic Cattle (9, 16)
Domestic Dogs
Basset Hound (13, 15)
Beagle (14, 16)
Boston Terrier (15, 16)
Bull Mastiff (9, 16)
Irish Setter (15, 16)
Pembroke Welsh Corgi (14, 16)
Pug (9, 16)
Rhodesian Ridgeback (15, 15)
Rottweiler (8, 15)
Scottish Terrier (11, 16)
Shetland Sheepdog (12, 15)
Welsh Springer Spaniel (12, 15)
Domestic Goat (9, 13)
Domestic Horse (9, 14)
Domestic Pig (Swine or Hog) (7, 9)
Domestic Sheep (9, 9)
Douc Langur (12, 15)
Dromedary (One-humped) Camel (9, 11)
Eastern Chipmunk (Ground Squirrel)
(13, 15)
Eastern Quoll (Native Cat) (2, 10)
Eland (1, 3)
Eurasian Badger (9, 15)
Eurasian Otter (9, 12)
Eurasian Red Squirrel (7, 12)
European Mole (2, 12)
European Mouflon (1, 13)
Fallow Deer !5, 15)
Fennec (14, 15)
Fossa (10, 14)
Four-toed Elephant (Jumping) Shrew
(9, 14)
Franquet's Fruit (Epauletted) Bat (8, 8)
Gemsbok (Fringe-eared Oryx) (12, 15)
Giant Anteater (1, 3)
Giant Panda (14, 16)
Giant Pangolin (Scaly Anteater) (14, 15)
Giraffe (1, 16)
Gorilla (10, 11)
Grant's Gazelle (10, 16)
Greater Bushbaby (Thick-tailed Galago)
(9, 14)
Greater Kudu (10, 11)
Great Jerboa (12, 16)
Guereza (Eastern Black and White
Colobus) (8, 15)
Hedgehog (1, 9)
Himalayan Tahr (2, 16)
Hippopotamus (2, 15)
Honey Possum (12, 14)
House Mouse (4, 5)
Human (9, 10)
Hunting (Painted) Dog (3, 15)
Ibex (13, 14)
Indri (7, 11)
Jaguar (8, 13)
Killer Whale (Orca or Grampus) (1, 11)
Kinkajou (5, 8)
Koala (12, 15)
Kongoni (Hartebeest) (10, 14)
Leopard (14, 15)
Lesser Horseshoe Bat (2, 12)
Lesser (Red) Panda (4, 14)
Lion (10, 14)
Llama (8, 13)
Lynx (2, 16)
Malayan (Asian) Tapir (2, 12)
Markhor (15, 11)
Mona Monkey (7, 7)
Moonrat (3, 5)
Moose (Elk) (6, 12)
Mountain Goat (3, 10)
Muntjac (Barking Deer) (16, 16)
Musk Ox (13, 14)
Narwhal (3, 12)
Nilgai (9, 9)
Nine-banded Armadillo (14, 15)
Norway Lemming (15, 15)
Numbat (Banded Anteater) (7, 13)
Nyala (2, 16)
Ocelot (3, 14)
Okapi (8, 13)
Orang-utan (1, 13)
Plains Viscacha (4, 6)
Platypus (2, 9)
Polar Bear (1, 15)
Porcupine (3, 10)
Pretty-faced (Whip-tailed) Wallaby,
(10, 11)
Pronghorn (12, 14)
Przewalski's (Wild) Horse (1, 8)
Raccoon (14, 15)
Raccoon-dog (7, 11)
Ratel (Honey-badger) (10, 15)
Red Deer (11, 11)
Red Fox (9, 15)
Red Howler Monkey (1, 8)
Red Kangaroo (7, 7)
Reindeer (Caribou) (13, 16)
Ring-tailed Lemur (9, 12)
Rufous Rat-kangaroo (14, 15)
Sable Antelope (12, 14)
Saiga (9, 16)
Serval (1, 8)
Siamang (4, 5)
Slender Loris (4, 9)
Snoeshoe (Varying) Hare (3, 6)
Southern (South American) Sea-lion
(4, 10)
Sperm Whale (6, 13)
Spotted (Laughing) Hyaena (9, 14)
Springbuck (Springbok) (13, 16)
Spring Hare (3, 7)
Squirrel Monkey (1, 12)
Stoat (Ermine) (5, 7)
Streaked (Banded) Tenrec (13, 16)
Striped (Common) Skunk (7, 16)
Sumatran Rhinoceros (4, 14)
Takin (1, 10)
Talapoin (6, 16)
Tamandua (Lesser Anteater) (14) *
Tantalus Monkey (11, 15)
Three-toed Sloth (8, 11)
Tiger (8, 15)
Vicuña (9, 12)
Viginia Opossum (2, 6)
Walrus (Morse) (5, 12)
Warthog (14, 15)
Waterbuck (13, 13)
Water Buffalo (1, 2)
Water Chevrotain (11, 14)
Weasel (14, 15)
Western (Horsfield's) Tarsier (12, 13)
White (Square-lipped) Rhinoceros (6, 16)
Wlid Boar (15, 15)
Wolf (7, 14)
Wolverine (Glutton) (15, 16)
Wombat (2, 7)
Yak (1, 2)
Yapok (Water Opossum) (12, 13)
* Tamandua (Lesser Anteater) was the missing wamial.
The horned mammals, some of which have horns in both sexes, others only in males, were difficult to pair up and DG&M might have some of them, particularly females, in the wrong details. The total number ensured that they were all paired, however, so the missing wamial could not be from this group and must be hornless, (if a mammal).
Andean Condor (1, 16)
Arctic Tern (1, 8)
Atlantic Puffin (1, 14)
Avocet (11, 11)
Bald Eagle (10, 12)
Barn Owl (9, 16)
Bewick's Swan (10, 14)
Black-and-Yellow Broadbill (5, 5)
Blue Tit (4, 9)
Blue-winged Pitta (8, 8)
Brown (Common) Kiwi (14, 15)
Brown Thrasher (6, 6)
Budgerigar (4, 9)
Bullfinch (2, 9)
Canada Goose (9, 12)
Cedar Waxwing (7, 7)
Cockatiel (9, 12)
Collared Pratincole (1, 4)
Collared Puffbird (8, 10)
Common (Double-wattled) Cassowary
(10, 10)
Common Redpoll (4, 9)
Common Turkey (12, 13)
Cormorant (1, 12)
Corncrake (4, 7)
Cuckoo (13, 13)
Domestic Chicken (4, 9)
Eclectus Parrot (1, 1)
Emu (3, 9)
European Bee-eater (1, 1)
European Goldfinch (12, 15)
European Nuthatch (9, 9)
European (Barn) Swallow (2, 6)
Firecrest (13, 13)
Fulmar (5, 7)
Golden Eagle (4, 5)
Goosander (4, 12)
Greater Flamingo (3, 15)
Great Indian Hornbill (4, 13)
Great Kiskadee (3, 16)
Great Skua (Bonxie) (3, 4)
Great White Egret (4, 8)
Green Woodpecker (13, 13)
Grey Butcher-bird (7, 10)
Grey Heron (10, 11)
Hammerhead (Hammerkop) (12, 13)
Herring Gull (5, 13)
Hoatzin (3, 9)
Hoopoe (5, 14)
Jabiru (6, 16)
Jamaican Tody (9, 12)
Killdeer (1, 4)
Kingfisher (15, 16)
King Penguin (1, 6)
King Vulture (9, 11)
Lapwing (Peewit) (1, 8)
Long-bearded Honeyeater (1, 4)
Long-tailed Manakin (1, 12)
Magnificent Frigate-bird (Man-o'-War Bird)
(1, 4)
Magpie (Black-billed Magpie) (13, 13)
Mallard (14, 15)
Masked Lovebird (14, 16)
Masked Shrike (14, 15)
Monk Parakeet (13, 13)
Needle-tailed Swift (4, 5)
Northern Gannet (5, 8)
Northern Screamer (2, 11)
Ostrich (9, 14)
Oystercatcher (5, 8)
Peregrine Falcon (3, 11)
Plate-billed Mountain Toucan (9, 15)
Pygmy Long-tailed Sunbird (1, 7)
Rainbow Lory (Lorikeet) (4, 13)
Raven (11, 11)
Red-breasted Flycatcher (9, 14)
Red Kite (8, 9)
Red-tailed Tropicbird (9, 12)
Redwing (13, 13)
Rhea (13, 13)
Robin (9, 9)
Rufous-tailed Jacamar (1, 4)
Sand Martin (Bank Swallow) (4, 4)
Scarlet Ibis (4, 15)
Scarlet Macaw (7, 9)
Secretary Bird (11, 14)
Serin (9, 15)
Shelduck (1, 4)
Skylark (6, 9)
Smew (2, 16)
Snow Bunting (5, 11)
Snow Goose (1, 4)
Snowy Owl (1, 14)
Spoonbill (10, 15)
Standard-winged Nightjar (1, 3)
Storm Petrel (4, 4)
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (5, 16)
Toco Toucan (10, 11)
Wallcreeper (4, 9)
Wandering Albatross (1, 8)
Whiskered (Lesser Tree) Swift (10, 10)
White-barred Piculet (4, 9)
White-browed Wood-swallow (4, 10)
White Pelican (1, 7)
White Stork (4, 4)
White-throated Bulbul (4, 5)
Whooping Crane (3, 9)
Wood Duck (9, 16)
Woodpigeon (1, 4)
Wren (Winter) Wren (9, 9)
Wrybill (6, 8)
Yellow-backed (Crimson) Sunbird (5, 12)
Yellow-billed Oxpecker (Tickbird) (7, 8)
Anaconda (9,12)
Asiatic Cobra (13,13)
Common Chameleon (6,9)
Common Garter Snake (5,16)
Eastern Coral (Harlequin) Snake (9, 13)
Estuarine Crocodile (13, 14)
Galapogos Giant Tortoise (3, 13)
Green Turtle (6, 11)
Large Toad-headed Agamid (5, 13)
Spectacled Caiman (4, 8)
Amphibians
Common Frog (10, 15)
Common Toad (3, 14)
Fire Salamander (3,3)
Oriental Fire-bellied Toad (1,4)
Fish
Alewife (13, 15)
Archerfish (4, 16)
Atlantic Flyingfish (6,8)
Atlantic Salmon (13,14)
Bluefish (4,14)
Blue Shark (5, 9)
Boarfish (13,13)
Cod (4, 13)
Coney (14, 16)
Dolphin (Dolphinfish or Dorado) (5, 15)
Haddock (3, 13)
Hake (3, 13)
John Dory (1, 14)
Mackerel (13, 16)
Moorish Idol (Toby) (3, 6)
Sardine (Pilchard) (13, 13)
Siamese Fighting Fish (3, 10)
Smooth Hammerhead Shark (1, 4)
Snapper (2, 14)
Swordfish (1, 8)
Tarpon (2, 13)
Yellowfin Tuna (11, 13)
Invertebrates
Bee-eating (Chequered) Beetle (3, 14)
Brimstone Butterfly (8, 9)
Bumble (Humble) Bee (9, 14)
Camberwell Beauty (Mourning Cloak)
(14, 14)
Cardinal Beetle (3, 14)
Centipede (3, 11)
Cicada (2, 8)
Colorado Beetle (Potato Bug) (11, 14)
Common Earwig (14, 14)
Emperor Dragonfly (3, 11)
Garden Tiger Moth (10, 16)
Magpie Moth (2, 11)
Migratory Locust (2, 3)
Monarch (Milkweed or Wanderer) (2, 13)
Musk Beetle (3, 14)
Puss Moth (2, 11)
Red Admiral (12, 14)
Scarce Swallowtail (4, 9)
Scorpion (2, 12)
Seven Spot Ladybird (12, 14)
Spider Beetle (3, 14)
Tarantula (7, 12)
C
R
O
L
L
A
B
I
L
I
T
Y
C
R
O
L
L
A
B
I
L
I
T
Y
C
R
O
L
L
A
B
I
L
I
T
Y
(1) Upper left edge near animal's ear. (2) In the black and white picture on the green balloon. (3) Centre bottom on elephant's head.
(4) Top right on roof ridge. (5) Right of centre near gannet's beak. (6) In far right corner of whale's mouth.
(7) Bottom right in bird's beak. (8) Centre right edge on ledge near oxpecker. (9) Centre on flagpole near vulture.
(10) Left centre on window ledge. (11) Lower right on top of sea storm picture. (12) Behind the red balloon nearest
(13) Bottom just right of snake basket. (14) On centre of stage near kiwi. centre of picture.
(15) On the right in the tubing of the euphonium. SNAILS (16) Top right corner near green balloon.
Winning Tie-Breaker Anne Jackson, Hampshire
The Earth is the Ultimate Noah's Ark because ...
Gene's Tie-Breaker
The Earth is the Ultimate Noah's Ark because ...
life was born aboard her to be borne aboard her.
D,G&M were never 100% sure of the missing wamial's identity. The "hidden" wamial on the puppet theatre on (9) was a distraction. Including it gave the wrong total, so it was discounted. The vicuña pair didn't look right and the inclusion of infants as partners, (Barbary Ape and Red Kangaroo), seemed odd. One Domestic Goat was a puppet, the other was illusive, but was finally pinned down to a hornless version on the black and white picture on (13). Some of the horned wamials were difficult to match, but they could be eliminated because there was the correct number. Colocolo, Honey Possum and Virginia Opossum were difficult, but finally accounted for, leaving only the Tamandua on the tambourine (14). Another couldn't be found and when time ran out Tamandua was submitted as the missing wamial. This was the correct answer. Only one Tamandua was on board.
Scroll For Sex
The requirement was to identify the missing wamial and its sex, implying that this would, by some means, be possible, either directly through obvious sexual differences, or indirectly through some other characteristic. D,G&M believed that male and female Tamanduas looked alike, in any case, the tambourine Tamandua was head only. Therefore some other reasoning would be required. In the wild female Tamanduas are almost constantly accompanied by an infant riding on their backs and, since infants were included as partners elsewhere, (see above), D,G&M decided that the lone tambourine Tamandua must be male. The female was missing. They also reasoned that, since part of the prize was a painting of the missing wamial, a female Tamandua, complete with "piggy-back" infant would be an appealing subject. If you've clicked up this picture up above you'll see that it wasn't and in fact the competition organisers accepted either sex, because they're difficult to tell apart, unless, (as they pointed out), you're an Anteater! Mmm!
To Miff A verb of mostly Passive Voice, as in D,G&M were miffed, The Last Ark contest did the miffing, (Active), in asking for sex, then reckoning either would do. C'mon! The tambourine Tamandua musta been one or t'other. Fair bet if you offer a Tamandua sex, you'll get turned down if you ain't t'other sort! Prob won't stand much chance either, if you're not into ant sandwiches! Fussy, or what? An' another thing ... 20 adult runneruppers got Tamandua limited edition print. D,G&M's is 19/35, so who's got the other 15? Woulda been a 16-minus winner and 5 uprunners, but no lim-ed for them. Plus no under-ager got it right anyway, so there's 15 Tamanduas out there on the loose ... all the same sex, but no idea which! Finalmently ... Ark evidence, as in existence thereof. Don't go scampering up Mount Acrobat. Too much of a slog, maps in Turkish and D,G&M will not accept responsibility for falling off, or drowning, flood therein. An' anyroadup you'd be better off spending design time on your own Ark, as in dimensions thereof, as in could you you make one small enough to be invisible when perched on said Acrobat? Not to mention the question of contraception. No breeding pre-disembarkment! Speshly wamials with breeding cycles shorter than flood duration. They'da been either mightily frustrated, or sneakin' into Noah's loo for crafty nooky when he was busy Ark steering!
Shed of D&G has muchly holed door hanging off, so even shut is accessible to wamials unless rock blocked. D naggeth G constantly re repair of said door, G being saved by Mrs Blackbird, who moved in. That was May 2011. 3 chicks hatched. May 27th chicks had gone. She was back in May 2012, letting herself in despite rockablock, while D&G were in Turkey. 4 eggs confirmed 13th May. D saw 1 chick 1st June, G saw 3 on 2nd June. By 10th/11th June all chicks had gone. 13 clickapics below from 2012. G faces prob of furnishing new proper closing door incorporating Blackbird crackable combination code!
9th August 2012 saw work start on said shed beginning with nest removal, which revealed an embedded egg, see picable clicks. Said egg had a hole in, as in the shell, with a yellow mass inside, so did something get out, as in hatch, or did something get in? Maybe it was neither. Waddya think, or otherwise?
16th April Two swallows seen near Heddon-on-the-Wall, two swallows seen at Whitley Bay.
19th April Six swallows seen in Plumbland.
25th April Swallows flying around Croft Farm, landing on TV aerial and washing line, but didn't go into outside loo.
27th April Two swallows briefly on wire between Croft Farm and Croft Wood.
No swallow entered Croft Farm outside loo for the first time in many years. A lone swallow was sometimes seen in the vicinity.
Perhaps one of the pair died in the poor weather during migration. Thereafter the summer was a good one weatherwise. All
swallows had left the Plumbland area by 29th September at the latest.
C
R
O
L
L
E
R
S
11th April First lone swallow seen near Croft Farm at 1.10pm.
14th April Swallows seen in Plumbland and Threapland.
15th April Two swallows seen near Croft Farm at 11.30am.
No evidence of swallows entering the loo, but a large amount of other nesting material was deposited on the shelves in the loo and
also in the old swallow nests. This material was clearly not of swallow origin, large quantities of leaves on the shelves and grass
straw in the old nests. Gene removed this material on 11th and 12th April and again on 16th to 18th April, during which time the East
Corner Nest was badly damaged, the West Corner Nest was slightly damaged. All this activity was complicated by the in-loo camera
malfunctioning on 16th April, necessitating visiting the nesting sites many times. Camera function was not restored until 25th April.
The removed nesting material was consistently replaced with neat linings of moss in the West Corner Nest and on 22nd April it was
decided not to interfere further. Swallows were unlikely to return under these circumstances and it was believed that the new
occupants were robins, soon confirmed. One egg was confirmed in the West Corner Nest on the day camera function was restored.
25th April One egg.
28th April Two eggs.
29th April Three eggs. Female robin on nest in evening.
30th April Female robin incubating during the day, but also left the nest, being fed by the male in a nearby bush. Both birds then
left. During absence Gene checked the nest. Three eggs. Female returned to nest later and the male visited to feed
her from time to time. Nest not always attended by either bird, even during hours of darkness.
1st May to This pattern of female incubating, male feeding female at nest, and female leaving the nest for short periods
8th May continued. On 5th May female seemed to leave nest for several hours, on 6th May she seemed to hardly leave at all.
7th May was wet and windy, 8th May was dull, cool and damp.
8th May Late evening Diane and Gene heard a thud outside. Gene investigated, but found nothing.
9th May At 6.00am the female was absent. 6.30am the male arrived at nest with beak full of food for female. After a few
seconds he left with the food. Neither bird seen at nest again. Gene checked nest. Still three eggs.
10th May Nest appears to be abandoned.
It is possible that the female abandoned the nest because she realised that the eggs were not going to hatch. More likely the female
was taken by a predator. The male clearly expected to find the female present on 9th May and Diane and Gene believe that a tawny
owl is close by. There are also cats in the area. There might be another explanation, but the loo robins didn't make it this time.
18th May Gene removed the three eggs and put them on the bird table. They had been eaten a few days later.
1st July East Corner Nest removed.
After a very good, long summer swallows stayed on in Plumbland until well into October, although in ever reducing numbers. Diane
and Gene were absent on 8th and 9th October, after which no further sighting. Swallows by this time appeared to fly with house
martins, sometimes difficult to tell apart when dashing past. Swallows sighted in Plumbland 6th October. Last hirundines seen on
7th October, (swallows and house martins?)
11th April Possible swallow sighting north of West Newton.
16th April Two swallows in Plumbland.
17th April More swallows in Plumbland. Greater numbers in Threapland.
No swallows came to Croft Farm outside loo this year.
No swallows seen in Plumbland after 5th October.
You are viewing the text version of this site.
To view the full version please install the Adobe Flash Player and ensure your web browser has JavaScript enabled.
Need help? check the requirements page.