Good Morning, Mr Magpie, What A Fine Fellow You Are.
If you've been following this journal for a while, you've probably got an idea of what I talk about. I talk about videogames; I talk about television; I talk about my family and friends; I occasionally talk about language or writing.
Here is a load of rambling about birds.
I am by no means a bird expert or a serious birdwatcher, so I can't actually say anything insightful; I just like birds. They're cool, varied little living creatures that pop up all over the place, and it's fun to watch them move!
Here is an assortment of birds I've seen in London, and some brief thoughts on each of them. This is not a list of every bird I've seen in London; it's just the birds that came to mind while I was writing this entry. I'm still thinking of others, but it's too late; I've written the entry now! Sorry, thrush.
I don't know if any of this is worth reading, but sometimes you just have to talk about birds.
Blackbird: Blackbirds were one of the first bird species I ever learnt to recognise. Not the most exciting bird to look at, but they sing beautifully. (I just looked up a video of blackbird song, and both the cats freaked out and jumped up onto my desk to see if they could spot the bird through the window.)
Goldfinch: I don't often see goldfinches in London, but I'm delighted whenever I do. Very exciting colours! My dad doesn't like them because they're not as gold as the name promises; he thinks they should be called red-faced finches.
Jackdaw: Jackdaws have weird, unsettling eyes, which I appreciate, because it makes them easy to distinguish from other corvids; I haven't listed crows, rooks or ravens on here because I can never tell them apart! Of course, the problem with their weird, unsettling eyes is that they unsettle me.
Jay: Like a goldfinch, a jay is a rare and thrilling spot in London. They've got such pretty colours on their wings!
Red kite: The kite is the only bird of prey I spot on a regular basis, and it's always exciting to see! The forked tail makes it easy to recognise, but it doesn't need that to draw the eye; the way it moves is so different from other local birds. I've only ever seen them in flight, never at rest. Occasionally I've walked past strangers on the street and I've had to resist the urge to tell them 'look up, there's a kite right over us!'; this would be very poor etiquette in London, where the most crucial rule is 'don't impose on other people', but I feel bad that they're missing the exciting bird!
Magpie: I almost forgot this one, even though it's one of the birds I see most often and one of the first I learnt to identify! When I was a kid, I was taught to say 'good morning, Mr Magpie, what a fine fellow you are' to stave off misfortune when I saw a magpie on its own, and I still say it in my head.
Nuthatch: I've only seen a nuthatch once, a little over a year ago! It was perched on a tree trunk in a small park, head down. It's always a thrill when I see a bird I didn't actually know we got in London; I saw it and went 'wait, is that a nuthatch?' and whipped out my phone to check.
Pigeon: Pigeons are underrated. Varied, endearing birds that liven up every corner of London. I find it very funny that, when I approach a group of pigeons in the park, they'll start walking towards me in unison in a way that feels unintentionally threatening; I think they're just hoping I'll feed them!
Robin: My grandmother apparently befriended a robin; she said it used to come and visit her in her garden. I think this story gave me expectations of interspecies friendship that the robins I met were unwilling to meet. They're very cute little birds, even if I'm disappointed by their reluctance to hang out with me.
For the avoidance of confusion, I'm talking about the European robin, rather than the American robin. (The mechanical robin that appears in Mary Poppins is an American robin, which severely confused me as a child; it didn't look like a robin at all!)
Rose-ringed parakeet: Feral parakeets are a common sight in London these days! They make a racket, but I'm fond of them. They're a stunning bright green and don't look at all like our native birds. If you're on my access list, you can find a photo of me with one perched on my hand over here.
Seagull: I lived in Brighton for a few years and learnt to look at seagulls with suspicion; they are aggressive arsehole birds who will steal your lunch. But I like the way they'll drift and wheel together like leaves blown on the wind: gathered together, but not moving in unison.
Sparrow: I don't see sparrows very often, but occasionally you'll pass a bush that's full of sparrows having a loud party, and it's always a delightful surprise.
Starling: Like pigeons, I think starlings are underrated. The first time I got a good look at a starling was actually surprisingly recent: out of the kitchen window, about six years ago. My reaction was 'holy shit, what's that bird? It's gorgeous!'
I can actually tell you exactly when it was, because I was so starstruck (starlingstruck?) that I immediately sent a message to my family about it; it was early in the morning on 3 May 2018. My message:
I just saw a starling gathering nesting materials in the garden! I always thought of starlings as a very common bird, but it turns out I had no idea what they looked like; I had to look it up afterwards, because I didn't know what it was. I thought it was some sort of beautiful blackbird mutation. They're so pretty!
At our current house, the starlings fly in flocks past my bedroom window every evening as dusk approaches. They're so beautiful in motion. I feel lucky every time I see them.
Blue tit: I love blue tits. Great little birds. Cute colours, cute mannerisms. They used to perch in a bush outside my window and invariably brightened my day.
Great tit: Like a blue tit, but with a duller colour scheme and annoying call. Overall downgrade. A great tit is better than no bird at all, but my reaction when I see one is mainly disappointment that it isn't a blue tit instead.
Long-tailed tit: I knew long-tailed tits existed - there are only three tits I can name: great, blue, long-tailed - but I didn't actually see one until May 2020, at which point I messaged my family in great excitement: 'There are long-tailed tits outside my window! I've never seen them there before!'
While I don't see long-tailed tits often, they always pop up in large numbers. You never see one long-tailed tit at a time; they blow into your life in a group of about six, hop around cutely, and within a minute or two they're gone.
Wagtail: I'm glad I started this list, because new birds keep coming to mind and I keep going 'oh, that one, that one's great'. I love wagtails! They have a delightful colour scheme and a delightful silly little run. Their name is also both very apt and very cute.
Great spotted woodpecker: I caught a glimpse of one of these flying up into a tree at a local park a few months ago, and I was SO THRILLED. I didn't even know we had woodpeckers in London! And the colour scheme is so cool: the bright red patches go so well with the black and white.
I've just realised I haven't even got into water birds! But this entry is already too long, so I'll set those aside for now. I will mention, however, that a year ago I looked out of my window, saw a heron in flight, and for a moment I genuinely thought, I know dragons don't exist, but I have no idea what else that could be.
Here is a load of rambling about birds.
I am by no means a bird expert or a serious birdwatcher, so I can't actually say anything insightful; I just like birds. They're cool, varied little living creatures that pop up all over the place, and it's fun to watch them move!
Here is an assortment of birds I've seen in London, and some brief thoughts on each of them. This is not a list of every bird I've seen in London; it's just the birds that came to mind while I was writing this entry. I'm still thinking of others, but it's too late; I've written the entry now! Sorry, thrush.
I don't know if any of this is worth reading, but sometimes you just have to talk about birds.
Blackbird: Blackbirds were one of the first bird species I ever learnt to recognise. Not the most exciting bird to look at, but they sing beautifully. (I just looked up a video of blackbird song, and both the cats freaked out and jumped up onto my desk to see if they could spot the bird through the window.)
Goldfinch: I don't often see goldfinches in London, but I'm delighted whenever I do. Very exciting colours! My dad doesn't like them because they're not as gold as the name promises; he thinks they should be called red-faced finches.
Jackdaw: Jackdaws have weird, unsettling eyes, which I appreciate, because it makes them easy to distinguish from other corvids; I haven't listed crows, rooks or ravens on here because I can never tell them apart! Of course, the problem with their weird, unsettling eyes is that they unsettle me.
Jay: Like a goldfinch, a jay is a rare and thrilling spot in London. They've got such pretty colours on their wings!
Red kite: The kite is the only bird of prey I spot on a regular basis, and it's always exciting to see! The forked tail makes it easy to recognise, but it doesn't need that to draw the eye; the way it moves is so different from other local birds. I've only ever seen them in flight, never at rest. Occasionally I've walked past strangers on the street and I've had to resist the urge to tell them 'look up, there's a kite right over us!'; this would be very poor etiquette in London, where the most crucial rule is 'don't impose on other people', but I feel bad that they're missing the exciting bird!
Magpie: I almost forgot this one, even though it's one of the birds I see most often and one of the first I learnt to identify! When I was a kid, I was taught to say 'good morning, Mr Magpie, what a fine fellow you are' to stave off misfortune when I saw a magpie on its own, and I still say it in my head.
Nuthatch: I've only seen a nuthatch once, a little over a year ago! It was perched on a tree trunk in a small park, head down. It's always a thrill when I see a bird I didn't actually know we got in London; I saw it and went 'wait, is that a nuthatch?' and whipped out my phone to check.
Pigeon: Pigeons are underrated. Varied, endearing birds that liven up every corner of London. I find it very funny that, when I approach a group of pigeons in the park, they'll start walking towards me in unison in a way that feels unintentionally threatening; I think they're just hoping I'll feed them!
Robin: My grandmother apparently befriended a robin; she said it used to come and visit her in her garden. I think this story gave me expectations of interspecies friendship that the robins I met were unwilling to meet. They're very cute little birds, even if I'm disappointed by their reluctance to hang out with me.
For the avoidance of confusion, I'm talking about the European robin, rather than the American robin. (The mechanical robin that appears in Mary Poppins is an American robin, which severely confused me as a child; it didn't look like a robin at all!)
Rose-ringed parakeet: Feral parakeets are a common sight in London these days! They make a racket, but I'm fond of them. They're a stunning bright green and don't look at all like our native birds. If you're on my access list, you can find a photo of me with one perched on my hand over here.
Seagull: I lived in Brighton for a few years and learnt to look at seagulls with suspicion; they are aggressive arsehole birds who will steal your lunch. But I like the way they'll drift and wheel together like leaves blown on the wind: gathered together, but not moving in unison.
Sparrow: I don't see sparrows very often, but occasionally you'll pass a bush that's full of sparrows having a loud party, and it's always a delightful surprise.
Starling: Like pigeons, I think starlings are underrated. The first time I got a good look at a starling was actually surprisingly recent: out of the kitchen window, about six years ago. My reaction was 'holy shit, what's that bird? It's gorgeous!'
I can actually tell you exactly when it was, because I was so starstruck (starlingstruck?) that I immediately sent a message to my family about it; it was early in the morning on 3 May 2018. My message:
I just saw a starling gathering nesting materials in the garden! I always thought of starlings as a very common bird, but it turns out I had no idea what they looked like; I had to look it up afterwards, because I didn't know what it was. I thought it was some sort of beautiful blackbird mutation. They're so pretty!
At our current house, the starlings fly in flocks past my bedroom window every evening as dusk approaches. They're so beautiful in motion. I feel lucky every time I see them.
Blue tit: I love blue tits. Great little birds. Cute colours, cute mannerisms. They used to perch in a bush outside my window and invariably brightened my day.
Great tit: Like a blue tit, but with a duller colour scheme and annoying call. Overall downgrade. A great tit is better than no bird at all, but my reaction when I see one is mainly disappointment that it isn't a blue tit instead.
Long-tailed tit: I knew long-tailed tits existed - there are only three tits I can name: great, blue, long-tailed - but I didn't actually see one until May 2020, at which point I messaged my family in great excitement: 'There are long-tailed tits outside my window! I've never seen them there before!'
While I don't see long-tailed tits often, they always pop up in large numbers. You never see one long-tailed tit at a time; they blow into your life in a group of about six, hop around cutely, and within a minute or two they're gone.
Wagtail: I'm glad I started this list, because new birds keep coming to mind and I keep going 'oh, that one, that one's great'. I love wagtails! They have a delightful colour scheme and a delightful silly little run. Their name is also both very apt and very cute.
Great spotted woodpecker: I caught a glimpse of one of these flying up into a tree at a local park a few months ago, and I was SO THRILLED. I didn't even know we had woodpeckers in London! And the colour scheme is so cool: the bright red patches go so well with the black and white.
I've just realised I haven't even got into water birds! But this entry is already too long, so I'll set those aside for now. I will mention, however, that a year ago I looked out of my window, saw a heron in flight, and for a moment I genuinely thought, I know dragons don't exist, but I have no idea what else that could be.