And now for something completely different!!

24^th July 2016, and what have I done to further my hobby? A slow ponderous walk to the Carsington wild life centre AND BACK. Hirundines in good numbers, and Swifts no doubt starting the fattening process for their long journey home, and that’s about it.

So I was looking at another of Julian’s’ pictures of a Robin, this time from an angle that showed strange elongated claws, and very spindly legs.

          

And the word legs gave me the inspiration I was looking for. You see, most of my readers will not know that I have another hobby as well as Ornithology, a hobby that does not have a collective word, does not have an “…ologist”, but some have been known to tell me what the hobby SHOULD be called.

Now before you deride my second hobby, please be aware that I have appeared on the BBC Antique Road Show in 2013, with some of my collection, so it gives my interest some credibility.   As proof, and as seen on TV!!……………… (Sarah is on the left!!)

 

Yes….I admit it…I collect legs. Well to be more precise, pocket size items that are in the shape of a leg.

No discrimination, I have (naturally-) legs of the more artistic female form, and legs with socks.. the male style. Apart from the shape, which can vary widely and depends on whether the leg is hand carved or machine made, legs have a huge variety of finishing, like bows, buttons, even creases.

I’ll show you some others later on, but basically all 73 in my collection are items that have a function. They are not just carved or made in a leg shape for fun, they can be used. A large proportion of the legs are pipe tampers, the little hand held device that my Grandpa would use to tamp down his backy ( i.e. Tamp = Tampers).

I also have Scissors, pipes, combs, toothpick, vestas, nut-crackers, bottle openers, tweezers, and even an American pair of industrial callipers; a shoe horn, a French dragees bottle, and most important a nail file.

The nail file is important because it was the first item I bought, albeit at the time not for a collection, but because Mary and I were on holiday at Weymouth in 1962, and she needed a nail file. At the time, we just thought the leg shape was fun, and never expected it to lead to a TV appearance. When Mary has had reason to take the file out of her bag, someone has often said “that’s unusual”.

In 2009, whilst attending an Antique fair at the NEC, and having cash on the hoof due to selling some silver sugar tongs (another story!), I had the opportunity to buy 2 ivory pipe tampers, and thus the collection started. Mary gave me her nail file to get the collection moving, and I have been adding different shapes and styles (no 2 the same) as we visit antique centres on our holidays etc over the last 7 years.

Sometimes, a very kind person gives me an addition to my collection as happened this week when I received a well wrapped package with the notation “As soon as I saw this I thought of you”. I took it as a very kind get well gift, which the lady found whilst browsing in an antique shop in Norfolk.

So these are a few examples.

The first one dates from c1850, a bone and Ebony Pipe Tamper

                                        

   

A plastic comb, in a case - a corporate "give away" from "Notebook of Birmingham"

An ivory hinged toothpick, c1830. 

A brass boot shaped bottle opener. (collection addition 24/7/2016)

A Brass vesta in the shape of a leg, probably German.

Well, I have to say that there are 2 tenable, if not remote connections with birds…. The gift from a fellow birder, and the Robins legs…. Well…..that’s good enough for me this week!!

I welcome any comments on this hobby, just as much as I do on Ornithology. I have been a philatelist, a bit of a horologist, stretching it a bit, a botanist, but  what could you suggest for my hobby. Remember I do have the delete button!!       

A Cornucopia of Knowledge!!!

17^th July 2016, and once again my confinement means that I have to apologise for the lack of bird news due to my inactivity in the birding world, although hopefully this is not the case in yours.

So I’ve put together what I hope you will find some interesting bits of info re Birding.

A follower of my blog was asking about telling the difference between Swallows and Swifts. If only she could have been at my house to-day – the Swallows have been high and fast, clearly searching for food.

Anybody admit to being a Twitcher?  I’m afraid I am one of those people who will not admit to twitching, and when I was interviewed on radio Derby 3 or 4 years ago the excellent presenter Andy Potter asked if I was a Twitcher. My reply was polite (as I was on the air!!).

In an article in the Guardian, it states that serious birdwatchers will take exception to being called a twitcher.  Birdwatching entails recording the birds one sees, even the common ones. It entails having the greatest respect for them and making strenuous efforts to minimise disturbance when making observations. These observations  contribute towards our knowledge of birds. This information as is gathered can tell us if the bird population is increasing, stable or falling and can help with their conservation.  Twitchers are only interested in adding to their list of rare birds.

I leave it to you where you fit – probably in the middle somewhere!

I have probably mentioned that I have researched a large number of bird societies to find out why they have used the particular bird that appears on their logo, and these are the first 2. I am indebted to those PR people, Chairs and Secretaries who did not treat my request as spam! More will come later

Carsington Bird Club (CBC). CBC has a Black Necked Grebe as its logo, because it was the rarest bird on the water on the day the Queen opened the Reservoir on 22^nd May 1992. 

Next year will be the 25^th anniversary of the opening, and it could be a good fund raiser to get people to nominate their suggestion for the Silver rarity in 2017. Arbitration by the Bird Club….. not me!

West Midland Bird Club (WMBC) Jim Winsper of the WMBC reminded me of the background to the choice of a Ruddy Duck for their logo, which in 2003 was changed to a grey heron and in 2014 to a Black Redstart.

“The Ruddy Duck was adopted as the logo following the escape from Slimbridge of some of these birds which in turn settled in the WMBC region. Sir Peter Scott, who was responsible for adding Ruddies to the Slimbridge collection, had strong ties with the club, and these common links made a Ruddy Duck most apt for the club.”

There was much debate throughout the UK, about the decision by the Government to cull the Ruddy, due to its alleged hybridisation with the Spanish White Headed Duck. But the law prevailed, and many lakes and reservoirs saw dawn raids to cull these birds.  My records show that I saw a Ruddy Duck every year from 1992 to 2015. When you consider that the cull took place in 2003 > 2005, was never going to be 100%, I’ve done well to know, sorry find a lone bird somewhere. (Stuffed and caged examples do not count). My immobility has stopped me going to the location where I saw a pair in 2015, so I hope they are a) surviving, and b) reproducing.

From my perception, the WMBC logo, when they changed to a Grey Heron in c2003, cocked a snoot at the Government decision, by incorporating a perceptible drawing of a Ruddy Duck. 

If you Google West Midland Bird Club/old logo you will see a drawing of a Heron facing right. Rotate the image anti-clockwise by 90 degrees… eureka… a Ruddy Duck.!!

Sorry these are both such interesting stories, I have got carried away so it will have to be.. 

TTFN