Wildlife Thread

[MyNameIsTerry]

Stupid councils removing trees annoy me too. They bang on about commitment to conservation and the rip trees out for no reason.

Near me they pulled down old trees for the mosque to put a car park on. The mosque had planning permission to build an underground one but never bothered. Years later they do this. Saves them money.

On my GFs street the local church are trying to remove all the trees in the street complaining about safety issues. It's nonsense and the residents are telling them no.

A tree lined street is a really nice thing to see. Councils and road authorities don't clear the drains as they used to so leaf build up can cause flooding and councils usr such excuses for cheap culling. They do the same to avoid maintenance costs where trees overhang roads.

Culling councillors would be a better cost saving measure

[Pain]

Just Chatting....

Leading world twitching authority Nesta Twiggs recently gave a talk on identifying birds from their calls and song. After describing how the Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) has a song that sounds like ‘a-little-bit-of-bread-but-no-cheese’, she was asked how one could distinguish the various chats (Yackeridiae) by their calls. She had this to say on the subject....

The voice of the Chitchat (Yackeridiae droneonandonia), a regular of the urban landscape, has a droning, monotonous, often repetitive quality, with the warbled ‘iwuslike’ followed by a range of monosyllabic sounds and punctuated at the end of each phrasing with a single short ‘like!’ or more pronounced ‘like-yerno’.

The Idle Chitchat subspecies (Yackeridiae blah-blah), has a call very similar in structure to that of the Chitchat but with a slower, intermittent delivery, the phrasing much interspersed with ‘um’ and ‘er’ followed by increasingly long pauses.

The Backchat (Yackeridiae belligerentia) has an aggressive staccato delivery, most often heard when it feels it is in a confrontational situation. Its harsh ‘WOTCHOOLUKINAT!’, with rapid querulous interjections of ‘yeah? yeah? YEAH?’ rising in pitch and volume, is usually accompanied by a threatening posture.

The Stonedchat (Yackeridiae reeferusia) is far more numerous than it once was and is most likely found in weedy places and, whenever out of its tree, on grass. It has a laconic, almost comical voice, frequently preceded by a series of short, guttural cough-like noises, followed by a wheezy ‘hey-man-likewow-man’. When foraging, the voice becomes more urgent and the phrasing changes to ‘man-i-gorragetapeetza’ ending with an emphatic ‘likenow-man!’

The Livechat, sometimes known as the Callback Keystrike (Yackeridiae bytextus) is very elusive, never seen and rarely heard. One can wait hours or even days to make contact, and even then one’s patience often goes unrewarded. Proof of its actual existence relies entirely on the wonders of modern technology, leading some to believe it is a mythical creature.

[Darksky]

Hilarious Pain

Ive said this before but you really do make me laugh.

[fishman65]

I agree Darksky. This is one of your best Pain. Are you sure you're not a bird watcher? The 'Stonedchat' used to be me once.

[fishman65]

I'm getting seriously fed up with all the tree felling going on this year. Have I missed something? Is it international 'Let's Wipe Out Trees' year? Ash trees disappear across the road. On the other side of town, fields and hedges are now lunar landscaped. A town further afield has scheduled felling of 50 lime trees paused.

The iron maw of mankind, sap drenched.

[Darksky]

The iron maw of mankind, sap drenched.

I feel a poem coming on Fishman

[fishman65]

Here's one I prepared earlier...

Building Sights

The grass cries seeds,
entombed at birth
in concrete seas,
her flowing hair,
root ripped and scalped.

Hungry beasts, garish yellow,
jaws sap-drenched
and bleeding life,
tear the rich dark flesh,
of this weeping earth's
unmothered womb.

The destroying seed of man
now falls upon this land,
birthing straight lines,
and a newer wilderness
of shackled sterility.

A hum of no longer bees,
but chains of saws
and petrol fumes,
scattering songbirds
in frantic mute dismay.

Save the wild geese,
caressing the sad wind
with mournful pipes.

May 2013

[Darksky]

I never know what to say any more Fishman. You’ve heard it all. Speechless.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Isn't it amazing how fast things can get done and all those coppers we don't have to turn up when you are a victim suddenly appear as if they've been sitting about waiting...or maybe it was all pre planned for some time?

Follow the trail of brown envelopes...

In China things just get done. Over here, not so much. Trying to get the council to deal with anything is not a rewarding experience.

All that displaced wildlife for some more properties.

At the back of my GFs house there was an old builders yard than turned into a mini wood. One neighbour kept complaining about trees overhanging her fence. Council action? Chainsaw it all into a grassy area now doubling as a fly tipping zone.

Councils will strip an area and "replant" rather than maintain. Nothing to do with the environment and all to do with cost.

[Carnation]

Great Post pain

And another great poem fishman

I feel some neighbours are as much to blame as the council selling off land.
I've got a few neighbours that have had trees removed around their homes. Literally just an ugly stump remains. Don't they realise trees are oxygen!!!
Did anyone see the episode in Tales of the Unexpected about the trees screaming when it was cut? Apparently this is not too far from the truth. Yeah, cut the dead branches and spruce up like we have a haircut but I could never bring myself to cut into the heart and soul of a tree.
Not forgetting the birds. I have what you call a natural garden. As I look along the row of other gardens in my neighbourhood which originally was meadowland what do I see? Fencing and concrete. No shade in the heat of the summer days, no visitors of wildlife, nothing to look at while they burn themselves sitting in the roaring sun. I just don't get it.