.
"Like the trembling heart of a captive bird."
This is one line from the song "First time ever I saw your face" sung by Peggy Seeger (posted on Tracker-Bar - Friday 18th).
Yesterday those words came straight to me as I held a very frightened partridge in my hands.
On hearing a crashing and fluttering coming from the greenhouse, I thought it may have been the cats after a bird.
But no. There was a bird knocking over all my pots of cuttings, but no cats.
It was a young partridge; not one of the common Grey Partridges, but the more unusual Red Legged Partridge.
.
.
This bird is not a British native, but was introduced here in the second half of the 18th century strictly for sporting purposes. It is usually found in South Yorkshire, the Midlands and East Anglia. It is a fairly rare bird for this area but I have seen them before up in the fields at the back and this is only the second time I have had one in the garden.
This fellow in the greenhouse was only a youngster and did not have the full markings of the adult birds shown above.
These are 'ground' birds and are somewhat reluctant to fly, so I put him down on the lawn and he ran off at great speed.
It is a pity I couldn't have taken a photo, but I had to hold him with two hands.
Apart from the Christmas Partridge in a Pear Tree, I cannot relate this incident to some music, so still on the subject of birds.....how about Woodpeckers?
.
.
This one above is from 1940 with some pretty awful lyrics.
He's up each morning bright and early,
To wake up all the neighbourhood,
To bring to every boy and girlie,
His happy serenade on wood.
Whereas this next one is the "Laughing Woodpecker" song from 1947.
If I remember rightly, it was always being requested on 'Children's Favourites' on the radio.
.
.
"Ha ha ha ha ha"
Do you know somebody actually got funding to find out ......
Why woodpeckers don’t get headaches – winner, Ornithology, 2006
"Woodpeckers and Head Injury,", Lancet, 1976; "Cure for a Headache," Ivan R Schwab, British Journal of Ophthalmology, 2002
It is pretty baffling, when you think about it. Woodpeckers headbutt trees for a living, experiencing impact deceleration of more than 1000 times the force of gravity. So how do they prevent catastrophic brain injury? The difference between ordinary people and good scientists is that where we just wonder, the scientist finds out.
And a birdie dittie to finish...
There was an old lady of Harrow
Whose views were exceedingly narrow.
At the end of her paths
She built two bird baths
For the different sexes of sparrow.
.
How about "The Partridge family" of the 70's... Kath
ReplyDeleteAh....but was there any music? I have to admit that I cannot recall the signature tune...and I'm afraid I have to confess to collecting old sheet music from about 1850-1950.
ReplyDeleteA good suggestion though.
Cheers.....Bernard
They were a band (from the TV series of the same name) who boasted David Cassidy as lead singer...ring any bells now? Kath
ReplyDeleteAn entertain post altogether. I'm afraid the partridges in the Midlands seem hell bent on achieving extinction .. I keep seeing their bodies on the roads. They have no road sense.
ReplyDeleteA very interesting post. I didn't know there were more than one sort of partridge. I saw lots on my holidays. On one occasion there were about 30 of them running up the lane in front of our car.
ReplyDeleteHi Kath,
ReplyDeleteDavid Cassidy?...I thought he was a footballer.
Valerie, around here it's always the pheasants that end up as road kill. They are not very bright.
There is only the one native partridge, Cherie, the grey, and your right they usually go around groups or as my book tells me, a "covey of partridges".