Thursday 7 January 2010

Beautiful Birds (16): Beautiful Books

Proud Peacock!

The cold weather has brought some surprising birds to our attention. A Bittern (Red Alert status) was sighted at WWT Llanelli in Penclacwydd last weekend, though David failed to hear its haunting boom when he was there. I gather there had been a sighting before Christmas, too. A Bittern (possibly the same bird?) was seen at Crymlyn Bog on 5 January 2010: you can read about it on the Gower Wildlife blog, along with news of other feathered visitors to my area of South Wales. The Rare Bird Alert site informs us that Monday 4 January saw a Black Kite (link here: then scroll down a bit for an image) flying among the Red Kites in Powys, and a Glossy Ibis appearing in Worcestershire. Wow!

If birds and books are joint passions, take a look at the Abe Books Beautiful Book Boutique, which is currently showcasing 30 Beautiful Old Bird Books. The covers alone are worthy of a glance: my favourite design has to be Wise and Otherwise. Peacocks and owls seem to be the most prevalent species. I wonder which designs you like best.

3 comments:

Matt Merritt said...

There's a lot of Bitterns around at the moment, so some might be continental birds pushed over here by cold weather. I spent all weekend trying to see one of three that were hanging around my area, all to no avail!

steven said...

hello caroline! there aren't very manu birds around here right now although i saw a bright red male cardinal on the back porch a couple of days ago. red against the white of the snow!!!! have a lovely day. steven

Crafty Green Poet said...

I'd love to hear or see a bittern. We had a woodcock along the Water of Leith recently, not so rare, but a total surprise, unfortunately I didn't see it....