UKC

I am taking things gently before a half marathon, so went for a joggly run this evening at dusk. Mostly road, but I particularly enjoyed half a mile of country lane where owls were hooting. They were definitely having a conversation.

In reply to BusyLizzie: I believe a lot of it is male territorial stuff, telling eachother which is their patch etc. When I was a teenager I used to be able to do a pretty realistic tawny owl screech. It used to attract other owls to the tree behind our garden - presumably they were checking me out as the new kid on the block

In reply to Michael Hood:

Marvellous! I live in an urban but quite tree-ish area and would not like to live too far from owls.

In reply to BusyLizzie:

One of the (few) joys of cycling along dark country lanes is when an owl suddenly appears and glides alongside you for a few seconds.

In reply to BusyLizzie:


Love 'joggly'! What a great word. Sums up all my running endeavours.



Probably discussing form, your possible times, working out odds, placing bets...

Mick

In reply to BusyLizzie:


I like your story, Lizzie, I too listen to bird sounds and wonder what they're saying. According to this website owls do apparently communicate:

https://www.reference.com/pets-animals/owls-communicate-1950077caef7963#

In reply to Yanis Nayu:
Oh I dont know, I much prefer the country lanes to the city part of my (cycle) commute, the other evening I was lucky enough to spot kestrels, a sparrow hawk, a buzzard wandering around a field and a barn owl on the way home

In reply to BusyLizzie:

I quite often hear an owl in a tree by my house having a chat with an owl who sits on top of a telegraph pole about 100m away. The owls also have shouty arguments with one of my cats.

In reply to Tall Clare:


Like this one...?

https://www.redbubble.com/people/groovyspecs/works/13678148-irritable-owl-s...

In reply to BusyLizzie:

This is the time of year birds start establishing territories. The males will be calling, or singing, in order to establish a breeding area, try to keep males away and try to attract females - all with the same song. Poets and artists have waxed lyrical for centuries about the beauty of bird song. The bird however is basically singing 'f*ck me and f*ck off' depending on who is listening!

In reply to the sheep:

I was referring to the dark rather than the country lanes. I live in the countryside, love the countryside and never ride in a city)

In reply to Tall Clare:

Have you been on the magic mushrooms again Clare?

In reply to BusyLizzie:

I remember being told that about 99% of birdsong roughly translates as either "fancy a shag?" or "f*** off". Puts it in perspective.

Edit: Oops! I see Ring Ouzel beat me to it. And a ring ouzel should know........

In reply to the sheep: You've given me this lovely Beatrix Potter style image of a buzzard meandering about on the ground just looking for something interesting, etc.

In reply to Michael Hood:

It was great, it just looked like it was having a wander, vaguely acknowledging me as i cycled past on the other side of the hedge

In reply to BusyLizzie:

Owls are fantastic, there are lots near me.
It is worth contacting environmental health to ensure that unnecessary light pollution is not damaging owl and other birdlife where you live.
Light pollution is no different to other sorts of pollution like fly-tipping, litter, dog and cat mess, noise and visual pollution.
Councils can ensure that lighting shines down only on the owners property, and not up and out to the sky and the wide owly world.

In reply to Removed User:


EH doesn't exist to protect animal's welfare - it's about human health, and light pollution would need to present a material interference with someone's use and enjoyment of their property for them to deal with it.

In reply to BusyLizzie:

Big fan of owls, there are a lot of tawnies in the part of Nether Edge Sheffield I live in. They are always talking to each other and fun to watch flitting around the trees at dusk.

In reply to Robert Durran:


Reminds me of a pub I used to go to.

In reply to BusyLizzie:

That's why running outside, especially in rural areas is infinitely better than mere exercise. Good luck with your half.

I will always remember being out for a run on holiday that took rather longer than intended so it was properly dark as I got back to the village we were staying in. For a few moments, as I ran back into the edge of the village, a barn owl flew over and along side me. A really magical experience.

In reply to BusyLizzie:

Sorry, been away at the coalface .. thank you all for lovely owl stories, and other birds. I saw two herons today - just love the way they trail their legs behind them!

In reply to NathanP:


Thank you! I did the Reading Half ?three years ago when it was absolutely stair-rodding with rain, so pretty much any other weather will be good (though I do take exception to hailstones) and with a following wind it will be ok,

In reply to Mick Ward:


Probably something like "too whit too whoo, just look at middle-aged waddle-mum, how can anyone run so slow, hooo hooo hoo"

In reply to BusyLizzie:

I met an owl the other week. I told him I was getting married. He said 'you twit, to who?'

In reply to DaveHK:


Thank youuuuuuu.

In reply to BusyLizzie:

Don't put yourself down - let your mates do it for you!

We were driving into Buxton one balmy summer evening on the road by the river when a heron majestically dropped into view. It stayed perhaps thirty feet ahead of us for maybe forty seconds. Long enough for the memory to still be with me. A wonderful sight.

When I was a child, I read a book by a relatively unknown lady novelist entitled 'The Flight of the Heron' about the Jacobite rising. Really about the complex relationship between two very different men. A paean to friendship. It's the first part of a remarkable trilogy - one of those books which has stayed with me when untold thousands of others have long been forgotten.

Mick

In reply to NathanP:


And why I don't get why people run with headphones on.

In reply to Mick Ward:


D. K. Broster. Great books.

In reply to Robert Durran:

Wow, have never come across anybody else who's read them. Agree, they were great books - beautifully and sensitively written. Sadly disregarded nowadays when so many bookshelves are stuffed with meretricious fare.

Mick

In reply to Mick Ward:


Yes, though possibly a bit over romanticised. I always think of them when driving the "Dark Mile" between Loch Lochy and Loch Arkaig (The name of the last of the trilogy).

In reply to Mick Ward:


We had The Flight of the Heron as a home reader at school. But, yes, the whole trilogy is good and (though it's years since I've read them) I think pretty consistent in quality.

In reply to Mick Ward:


Thank you, I will find it.

In reply to BusyLizzie:

We live in the middle of nowhere surrounded by woods and I love the bird life too. As someone said above, when I drive home in the evening through the lanes it's not uncommon to have an owl fly over the car. I hear them talking in the woods too. Dusk is a magical time; owls, bats, badgers, deer...

In reply to Yanis Nayu:


Their concern is pollution. All forms. Light pollution can be just as bad as any other form of pollution, hence it is within the council's remit.

In reply to BusyLizzie:

I have surprised herons a couple of times when following my nose along boggy paths near patches of water, here in Cornwall and most recently in Brittany. I'd love to meet or eavesdrop on an owl as you did. I reckon the ones you heard were discussing the etymology of joggliness.

Thread digression 1: Good to hear about The Flight of the Heron. Try Alfred Duggan for seriously good historical fiction set in ancient times up to the late medieval period.

Thread digression 2: The workers at a local authority building site right outside my house have taken to leaving a generator running all evening and all night in order to keep going some unnecessary lights that they have draped over a fence, so now we have a noise pollution and light pollution double whammy, one that I find very annoying. When I politely asked that we have quiet and darkness instead, I was told that the lights are needed to avoid a trip hazard, along a wide path where normally there is no lighting. That seems ridiculous to me. Can't people take a torch if they must walk outside at 3am or just accept that they need to go carefully?

In reply to mbh:

^Can't people take a torch if they must walk outside at 3am or just accept that they need to go carefully?

Yes, they should. It's very rare that it's really dark in towns, and unnecessary lighting just makes the dark darker.

Noise from a generator all night would drive me bananas and I would hope that a bit more digging into your local authority - environmental health? - might unearth someone willing to tell them to turn it off.