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Recent entries
some death-defying species from madagascar, my death defied and her extinction defied, yeah both in one trip - 2009-08-11
the borg - 2009-08-10
appearing soon in your hometown - 2009-08-10
tweet - 2009-08-09
don't be talking about me in front of my face, yall - 2009-08-06
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By public demand, and after a delay of an embarrassing number of years, I've finally put my notorious essay, Ender and Hitler: Sympathy for the Superman, free on the fabulous internets.
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A bibliography of my published books and stories.
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Here's my card-counting FAQ. |
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| Visit my original website but I recommend putting pop-up/banner blockers on first. |
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| A Sadean take on Asimov's classic Three Laws of Robotics can be found in Roger Williams' NOW REVIEWED ON SLASHDOT!!!
The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect. Adult readers only please -- explicit sex and violence. For updates
on the "Dead Tree Project" and other topics, you may visit
the localroger diary. |
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| Visit Peachfront's Cookbook, for recipes that are fast, cheap, and good. A work in progress. |
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| The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill blog by Mark Bittner about feral Cherry-Headed Conures in San Francisco. |
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it's a good day when sparrowhawk makes you miss the bus
2007-03-12 - 3:39 p.m.
all photos © 2007 by elaine radford
one of the many hides for observing the wild birds who use the wetland reserve
All day at the London Wetland Centre. It's actually in Zone 2 and easily accessible by going to the end of the Hammersmith and City Line, a "tube" line I'd never taken before. I don't know what I expected. Industrial hell, like wetland areas in Louisiana, I suppose. But Barnes, the neighborhood in question, appears to be yet another of the snooty and beautiful London neighborhoods full of pubs and fancy brick houses.
Some highlights:
- A Great-Crested Grebe catching a huge red-tailed fish that we were sure wouldn't go down --
and the other GCGR thought the same, hence swam over to get a piece, only to see his mate swallow
the fish whole and then laughingly toss water all over his face
- A female Rose-Ringed Parakeet who was just determined to break through the parakeet fencing on
the tit tubes and eat all the seeds herself -- hilarious to try to watch her shoulder open
the wire to get at the goodies
- A bad-tempered Mute Swan who tried to chase a couple of Canada Geese off the territory but
only succeeded in chasing them onto the land
- A male Sparrowhawk gliding in through the trees to investigate the feeder and its heavy
load of Tits, Greenfinches, and Reed Buntings, who wisely vacated the area when the
Sparrowhawk intruded itself
Let us not forget the two ugly voles, one of whom nearly ran over my feet.
The list, roughly in the order seen:
- Rock Dove
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Mallard
- Eurasian Coot
- Common Moorhen
- Grey Heron
- Long-Tailed Tit
- Chaffinch
- Wood Pigeon
- Great Cormorant
- European Robin
- Tufted Duck
- Canada Goose
- Black-Headed Gull
- Magpie
- Northern Lapwing
- Great Crested Grebe
- Little Grebe
- Reed Bunting
- Chiffchaff
- Blue Tit
- Green Woodpecker, a pair
- Winter Wren
- Greenfinch
- Greylag Goose
- Northern Shoveler
- Eurasian Wigeon
- Common Pochard
- Mute Swan
- Rose-Ringed Parakeet
- Teal
- Blackbird
- Pied Wagtail
- Great Tit
- Ruddy Duck
- European Starling
- Common Redshank
- Gadwall
- Herring Gull
- Goldfinch
- Sparrowhawk
At some point in the day I tried a Strongbow cider beer. That's a supposedly fun thing I don't need to do again. Dinner at the Ganges Indian restuarant in the Paddington area.
a waterfall in the new zealand exhibit area
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All Rights Reserved, Copyright © 2002-200- by Elaine Radford
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