PEACHFRONT SPEAKS

Recent entries july 4, 2018 - 2018-07-04 the triangle continues of courtney, boobear, & nyota - 2018-07-03 Cookie so cute telling, "Hello" to sparrows - 2018-07-01 lovebirb in love - 2018-06-30 wren with fluffffff - 2018-06-24 Read my new book, The 10 Best Things You Can Do For Your Bird at Amazon or at many other fine distributors like Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, and more. 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. A bibliography of my published books and stories. Here's a simple card-counting FAQ to get you up to speed on the basics. Here's the true story of the notorious DD' blackjack team, told for the first time on the fabulous internets. No other team went from a starting investor's bankroll of zero to winning millions of dollars. 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 official fan site, Passages in the Void.. My Bird Lists -- My Louisiana State Life List, My Yard List and, tah dah, My World Life List. HEY! What happened to the Peachfront Conure Files? The world's only OFFICIAL Peachfront Conure site now features free peachfront conure coverage, including a magazine length Intro to Conures previously published in American Cage-Bird Magazine, now free on the web. I offer the best free Peachfront Conure information on the internet. If you have great Peachfront Conure info, stories, or photos to share, contact me so I can publicize your pet, your breeding success, your great photograph, etc. on my site. Thanks.

part three: gloucestershire trip report 2004-06-14 - 6:03 a.m. Note: You can read part one of my England trip by clicking right here. Part two is right here. The bird list/photos are here, and the taxicab photos are here. Don't forget to check out Evesham Abbey, the breath-taking Worcester Cathedral, and a day trip to Bath. All photos © 2004 by Elaine Radford June 2, 2004 The days are long this time of year in southern England. We could hear the birds start tuning up for the dawn chorus around 4 A.M. and there was plenty of light by 4:30. Today D. and I decided to slip out early for a dawn chorus stroll. We heard a lot more than we saw. Some of the more challenging birds (warblers? chiffchaff? who knows) escaped smugly unidentified despite good looks. The song of the cuckoo amused us; it really did sound like a cuckoo clock going, cuckoo, cuckoo. Here's the list roughly in order of first appearance: Blackbird Swift Pheasant Chaffinch Wood Pigeon Mistle Thrush Cuckoo, heard only Carrion Crow Eurasian Collared Dove Pied Wagtail Blue Tit Long-Tailed Tit Great Tit House Sparrow Magpie Greenfinch Song Thrush Robin There were lots and lots of rabbits, but we only caught a glimpse of the small fox with its long bushy tail dashing across our path. After a rest, we hiked to Moreton-in-Marsh, where we encountered a Kestrel kiting attractively overhead. Later a Common Buzzard soared lazily over the town. The Victorians had their rubbings, and we have our cameras. We poked around a picturesque old graveyard for quite some time, enjoying the quiet and wondering about the days gone by that could only be hinted at in the restrained British epitaphs. By this time, it had emerged that we had philosophical differences about food with our friends. They wanted to eat from fast food places and the grocery store, and we wanted to explore the famed British pubs. To make up for lost time, D. and I visited not one but two pubs this day -- the Resesdale Arms where we sampled the Courageous Directors Bitters and the Swan Inn, where we tried the Wadworth 6X. There was a TV studio across the street from the Resesdale Arms, and I wonder if this had some influence on the ironic name of their bitters, which featured a large golden chicken on its seal. Hmmm. Although the Resesdale Arms was a "17th century coaching inn," it also featured fusion food, and we returned for a terrific dinner. I'm afraid I went a little overboard with the stuffed rainbow trout and the Bailey's and white chocolate cheesecake, but it was well worth it. D. clocked us at having walked around 12 or 13 miles that day, but I was pretty much flying home over the golden fields after all that ale. A pretty sight on the way back -- a hot air balloon sailing overhead and two wild Quail running across the road. June 3, 2004 We explored a new path through the Aston Magna area, discovering a pond with a noisy flock of watchful Lapwings and a charming thatched house with roses growing up the walls. There was an abandoned church and graveyard nearby. At a roadside stand, we lunched on chicken breast on a "bap" -- you might know it better as a bun -- and "to-MAH-to." In the evening, we hiked to Naunton, along the way encountering a lovesick male Pheasant flirting with a female through a hedge. We also had our best looks yet at a male Kestrel kiting dramatically and then diving. On our return, he was perched, content, at very close range on the telephone wire. Among the interesting structures in Naunton was a 16th century stone dovecote with space for 903 nests. June 4, 2004 I needed to get away so I struck out on my own in the morning. I finally found a butterfly -- I was starting to think England had nothing but cabbage whites -- and I was nearly in touching distance of a deer and a singing Grasshopper Warbler. A magical moment came when I spotted two rabbits "dancing." I don't know if it was a mating ritual or a territorial display. I'll vote for mating, because it looked almost choreographed, like a crane dance, but I'll have to investigate to find out for sure. I saw a large Cuckoo fledgling but no sign of an adoptive parent. Maybe it was already big enough to take care of itself. In the evening we went to Chipping Campden, where D. and I enjoyed the Hook Norton Best Bitters at the Volunteer Inn. The owner warned us that we had arrived just in time to be served in a glass because, after 6 P.M. he could only serve in plastic, because "this is the biggest night of the year." As it turned out, it was the night of the Cotswolds Olympics, famous for events such as "shinkicking," which is apparently exactly what it sounds like. We couldn't verify this information for sure, because it was time to meet our friends for the return trip before the evening really got started. What we did have time for was an excellent dinner at Hicks' Brasserie and Bar, sea bream for me, lamb for D. As the restaurant opened, they played "Ode to Billy Joe," but otherwise they played pseudo-jazzy instrumentals, so I guess they do know what the name "Hicks" implies in America. The food was great, and the atmosphere upscale, so it was amusing to look out the window to see the children running to catch the various shuttles to the fair. Note: You have just read part three of my trip report to London and Gloucestershire. The rest of the story is coming soon. back - next All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2002-2017 by Elaine Radford