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Showing posts with the label owl

The art and reason of blogging...

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I was given a wake-up call yesterday, when visiting a pub (The Dolphin at Betchworth), whilst out on a long walk with my brother-in-law Bill. As we stood at the bar, I glanced through into the room beyond  and spied somebody who I used to work with (seemingly in a previous life). Beers purchased, I went to say hello to Sandy, who I hadn't seen for seven years. It was lovely to make contact again, and to meet her twin sister. She then introduced me to the other couple at their table - Alan and his wife (who I have shamefully not remembered her name). Alan stood up and shook my hand - he is an avid reader of this very blog. I was, of course, flattered. He then mentioned that some of my posts had alerted him to the presence of various footpaths, the large Brambling flocks near Reigate... it made me realise that blog posting sometimes has a positive end result, beyond my scratching of an ego. It also got me thinking of the audience that it might well reach. Sometimes it can be easy to ...

Finished, and thoughts on the flycatcher

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A few posts ago there was a sneak preview of my latest daubing, and today it was completed. I could have carried on adding layers, tweaking leaves and embellishing the owl, but there came a point where enough was enough. My next piece is a long-promised picture for my sister-in-law. She might just get it by 2017... Meanwhile, down at Dungeness, the dust has settled. The Acadian (for that is almost certainly what it was) Flycatcher remained until dusk on its day of discovery, but decided to move on (or succumb to the efforts of its journey) and has not been seen since. BBC film crews have been down to obtain footage for the regional news, newspapers have run sidebar stories about the 'first for Britain' and Martin Casemore has no doubt been bemused by his current celebrity status. It couldn't have happened to a more dedicated and unassuming bloke - I just hope that some of his magic dust comes my way when I'm down there later in the autumn. Part of the romantic in...

Owl abuse

Click here to see and read about a south American footballer indulging in a spot of owl abuse. It's actually quite shocking.