THE OTHER DAY I found an old Bird Book I must have bought from a second hand shop. So I started learning all about Birds. Then I got a more modern bird-identification guide. Yesterday I took it out and went bird-spotting (without binoculars or any special equipment) and I saw ~ literally all these birds lined up in a row ~ a baby herring gull, a magpie, some Canada geese, a duck that was probably a male mallard in eclipse plumage (ie it looked like a female, only had a yellow bill) and this duck keeps diving a lot. Every time I see it, it's disapearing. 2 coots. And a (male) grey wagtail. If it wasn't a grey wagtail then it was a yellow one, but the birdbook said the grey wagail appears bluish on top, which this one did. Wow how exciting is that.I actually identified some real birds. I was hoping the baby herring gull was a giant skua (known in America as a jaeger) but no such luck. And that the mallard duck was a teal. But no. But grey (or yellow) wagtails are pretty rare so how cool is that? Also, I saw a pied wagtail near the wheelybins by the post office where it likes running along the ground picking off ants. Oh, it's a bird's life!%20L.JPG)
Oh. They're not the best-looking birds are they. If I wanted to be a beautiful vulture then I'd be an African lammergeier. I think these look brilliant:
