Dorktown Birder's Club

The Dorktown Birder's Club meets tonight and I shall be there.  I was hoping to get to Draycote again today but Bella-pup ...

... at last I have a pici of her, started passing blood with her motions last night so we ended up spending most of this morning at the vets.  Thankfully she now seems to be OK but the vet has put her on some anti-biotics to be on the safe side. 

Back to birding then ... I joined the birder club last year and kept forgetting when the meetings were on so I only attended that one time.  The Sunday after the meeting there is a feild trip organised and I was hpoing to go this comeing Sunday but with my Domestic Superviosr not feeling so well (she's managed to strain her diafram would you belive), I'm going to be needed to take her to church.  Anyway, even when I do manage to go I shall be going in my own car and will follow the mini bus they hire for the trip.  I shall be doing that becuase I need to take my scooter and getting it in the bus along with 11 other birders and all their kit would be more than a little difficult.  Next month I shall be going though!

Garden birding can be great fun for most people.  Up until May 2008 we lived in Bed'th and there was a wood behind our bungalow and our bird list there was very good.  Our star birds there were jays and bullfinch.  We had flocks longtail tits moving through on a daily basis, there was a regular crowd of blue and great tits and look at these ...

 ... just two of the shots Jan got of the birds we had visiting every day.  Anyway, in May 2008 we moved to Atherton in Manchester and again set up our feeders.  We were there for only 9 months before we had to move back here to Dorktown.  We did get a good few birds up there though.

However, back here in Dorktown, my brother Dave had the back garden slabed sometime ago, which is great for garden maintainace but pure for birds.  I can't moan about Dave for having it done becuase like me he hated gardening!  It is the job I do when I can't find anything else to do, let's face it, there might be re-run of Morse on telly I could watch instead ;-)))  But we do get some birds and we do put feed and water our for them.  Our current garden list is very impressive indeed ... wood pigeon, collard dove, house sparrow, dunnock, robin, blackbird, starling and one solitary goldfinch ... see, I said it was impressive ;-)))

I joined the army in 1967 and served for just over 12 years.  I bought myself out in 1979 just before the battalion I was stationed with was due to go to Cyprus for another 2 years.  (It actually ended up being 3 years becasue the replacement battalion for them was sent to Falklands instead.)  Having spent 15 months in Cyprus before that I didn't see the point pof going back to do the same job again so I asked for a posting to another infantry unit in Germany.  They refused it saying that I needed that battalion and that the battalion needed me.  By that they didn't mean that I was essencial to them that couldn't do without me, no, they thought that if I was posted then it would take them around six months get a replacement.  So I bought myself out and they still had to wait for a replactment!  The point of all this is that during all that time I went to West Germany, Holland, Cyprus twice, Kenya and all over the UK and guess what?  I wasn't interested in birds!  I remember seeing vultures over the coastal areas of Western Cyprus and the number of different birds of all shapes and colours in Kenya was amazing.  The only one I can remember clear though was a couple of ostriches.  Ah well ...

From Bill again ...

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN  GUILTY OF LOOKING AT OTHERS YOUR OWN AGE  AND 
THINKING,  SURELY I CAN'T LOOK THAT OLD?  WELL...YOU'LL LOVE THIS ONE!



 MY NAME IS  ALICE SMITH AND I WAS SITTING IN THE WAITING ROOM FOR  MY

 FIRST APPOINTMENT WITH A NEW  DENTIST.   I NOTICED HIS DENTAL  DIPLOMA,

 WHICH BORE HIS FULL  NAME.




 SUDDENLY, I  REMEMBERED A TALL, HANDSOME, DARK HAIRED BOY WITH  THE

 SAME NAME HAD BEEN IN MY  SECONDARY SCHOOL CLASS SOME 30-ODD YEARS  AGO



 COULD HE BE  THE SAME GUY THAT I HAD A SECRET CRUSH ON, WAY BACK  THEN?


 UPON SEEING  HIM, HOWEVER, I QUICKLY DISCARDED ANY SUCH  THOUGHT.


 THIS BALDING,  GRAY HAIRED MAN WITH THE DEEPLY LINED FACE WAS FAR  TOO

 OLD TO HAVE BEEN MY CLASSMATE.   AFTER HE EXAMINED MY TEETH,  I  ASKED

 HIM IF HE HAD ATTENDED MORGAN   PARK SECONDARY SCHOOL ..


 'YES, YES I  DID. I'M A MORGANNER! 'HE BEAMED WITH  PRIDE.


 'WHEN DID YOU  LEAVE TO GO TO COLLEGE?' I  ASKED


 HE ANSWERED,  IN 1965.  WHY DO YOU  ASK?


 'YOU WERE IN  MY CLASS!' I EXCLAIMED.


 HE LOOKED AT  ME CLOSELY.

 THEN  THAT

 UGLY,

 OLD,

 BALD,

 WRINKLED,

 FAT  ARSED,

 GREY  HAIRED,

 DECREPIT,

 BASTARD  ASKED....

 'WHAT DID YOU  TEACH?