The man who was my form teacher when I was 11 years old was a keen ornithologist and managed to enthuse quite a number of pupils, with the result that he would take groups of us out at weekends to go bird watching. The stretch of shore between Seasalter and Tankerton was not a frequent destination, but we did go there occasionally. A more frequent destination was the Isle of Grain, where we would walk across the marshes and along the bank of the River Thames: there would be ducks on the water, wading birds on the mud flats and other birds in the fields and hedgerows.
Romeo, which was the boys' nickname for the teacher, was a single man who taught Latin, English and rugby. Before he would allow any boy to accompany him bird watching, he insisted on visiting the parents so that they could vet him. There was never, to my knowledge at least, and impropriety - I think he just liked boys for their company, and he loved teaching them. He was generous as well. Each season he would take 3 or 4 of us to Twickenham to see a rugby international - all at his expense.
Oh yes - the zitting cistola. This, apparently, is a small, nondescript, brownish bird, named for its song, which sounds like zit, zit, zit. Its usual home is in northern Spain and southern France, but it has been moving north, although it has never before been recorded in England. According to the newspaper report, a few years ago somebody forecast that it would move into southern England about 2010, when January temperatures are predicted to have increased by 1 Celsius. Could this be evidence that global warming is faster than we previously thought?
So there you are - something else you never knew before.
"Learn to think like a winner. Think positive and visualize your strengths."
Vic Braden
No comments:
Post a Comment