Loved this post, Thomas. It is a great reminder of the birds that share our spaces, and how rich that "bird land" is. They are fascinating creatures. Some even recognise individual human faces, even years after seeing them. They're quite intelligent too. Thanks for the information about apps too.
You're welcome Terry and thanks for the kind words. I'm trying to pay more attention to my immediate environment, to be more 'present' as they say but I think my abilities have somewhat eroded over time. I am trying to turn my writing into a task that is set up to force me to (re)engage with the world and really notice things. It's working quite well so far.
There are gulls in Wyoming thanks to where the rivers bunch up at reservoirs and dams. Even saw a bald eagle nest atop a utility pole there. And that says nothing of the museums, with material from the many times the state was fully underwater. Many marine fossils related to what's there you'll also find on the coast at Dorset if you take a stroll.
Moving to somewhere on the Jurassic Coast is a goal of mine. Seeing a bald eagle sounds pretty amazing. I get why people become hardcore birdwatchers- I would’ve found it laughable as a younger man. Funny how things change.
I remember reading Ada; or, Ardor by Nabokov and he had a description, I've forgotten its exact context, of the protagonist reading books on horticulture and ornithology. That scene had happened just shortly after I noticed that Nabokov used very precise descriptions of the flora and fauna in the environment around the story and I grokked that one of the interesting boundary lines between what we often call "pre-" and "post-War" (War = WWII) literature is the switching of a common language and understanding of things like types of plants, bugs, critters with the common language and understanding of parts of machines, office accoutrements, computers.
That’s a fascinating observation. Part of this recent nature observation/writing kick of mine has come about as a result of a burgeoning awareness of just how little I know about the natural world. I also suspect cultivating this knowledge is the solution to the attention crisis and our overly technology centred culture and society.
Loved this post, Thomas. It is a great reminder of the birds that share our spaces, and how rich that "bird land" is. They are fascinating creatures. Some even recognise individual human faces, even years after seeing them. They're quite intelligent too. Thanks for the information about apps too.
You're welcome Terry and thanks for the kind words. I'm trying to pay more attention to my immediate environment, to be more 'present' as they say but I think my abilities have somewhat eroded over time. I am trying to turn my writing into a task that is set up to force me to (re)engage with the world and really notice things. It's working quite well so far.
That sounds great. I think we tend to spend a lot of time racing from A to B but missing the middle!
Haha, and sometimes even going from A to B can be a relief from going from A to A in a constant circle!
😂😂🤔
Simply noticing is the beginning of art, and, possibly, enlightenment
I think it’s all there is to it, tbh.
There are gulls in Wyoming thanks to where the rivers bunch up at reservoirs and dams. Even saw a bald eagle nest atop a utility pole there. And that says nothing of the museums, with material from the many times the state was fully underwater. Many marine fossils related to what's there you'll also find on the coast at Dorset if you take a stroll.
Moving to somewhere on the Jurassic Coast is a goal of mine. Seeing a bald eagle sounds pretty amazing. I get why people become hardcore birdwatchers- I would’ve found it laughable as a younger man. Funny how things change.
I remember reading Ada; or, Ardor by Nabokov and he had a description, I've forgotten its exact context, of the protagonist reading books on horticulture and ornithology. That scene had happened just shortly after I noticed that Nabokov used very precise descriptions of the flora and fauna in the environment around the story and I grokked that one of the interesting boundary lines between what we often call "pre-" and "post-War" (War = WWII) literature is the switching of a common language and understanding of things like types of plants, bugs, critters with the common language and understanding of parts of machines, office accoutrements, computers.
That’s a fascinating observation. Part of this recent nature observation/writing kick of mine has come about as a result of a burgeoning awareness of just how little I know about the natural world. I also suspect cultivating this knowledge is the solution to the attention crisis and our overly technology centred culture and society.