Category Archives: Natural History

Natural History

Songs for the End of the Earth, #3 One Man Liked to Eat …

One man liked to eat … meat from soy-fed livestock.
One man and his dog, contributed to global warming.

Two men liked to heat … their homes with old gas boilers.
Two men, one man and his dog, contributed to global warming.

Three men liked to drive, to drive with petrol engines.
Three men, two men, one man and his dog, contributed to global warming.

Four men liked to cool … their houses with air conditioning.
Four men, three men, two men, one man and his dog, contributed to global warming.

Five men liked to fly … to faraway sunny places.
Five men, four men, three men, two men, one man and his dog, contributed to global warming.

Six men liked to sit … at tropical hardwood tables.
Six men, five men, four men, three men, two men, one man and his dog, contributed to global warming.

Seven men liked to build, to build with steel and concrete.
Seven men, six men, five men, four men, three men, two men, one man and his dog, contributed to global warming.

Eight men liked to buy … things all wrapped up in plastic.
Eight men, seven men, six men, five men, four men, three men, two men, one man and his dog, contributed to global warming.

Nine men liked to drink … stuff out of plastic bottles.
Nine men, eight men, seven men, six men, five men, four men, three men, two men, one man and his dog, contributed to global warming.

Ten men liked to have … cheap food from distant countries.
Ten men, nine men, eight men, seven men, six men, five men, four men, three men, two men, one man and his dog, contributed to global warming.

See also: Songs for the End of the Earth #2

Natural History

Songs for the End of the Earth #2: We’ve Got the Whole World in our Hands

We’ve Got the Climate Crisis in our Hands

We’ve Got Global Warming in our Hands

We’ve Got Carbon Dioxide in our Hands

We’ve Got the Coral Reefs in our Hands

We’ve Got the Tropical Rainforests in our Hands

We’ve Got the Bees and Flowers in our Hands

We’ve Got Biodiversity in our Hands

We’ve Got the Human Race in our Hands

We’ve Got our Elected Government in our Hands

We’ve Got the United Nations in our Hands

We’ve Got the Whole World in our Hands.

See also: Songs for the End of the Earth #1: Old MacDonald had a Pesticide Sprayer (E-I-E-I-O) — sounds silly, but the message is that we’re treating nature pretty roughly in many places, including industrial farming…

Natural History

Songs for the End of the Earth #1: Old Macdonald had a Pesticide Sprayer (E-I-E-I-O)

Old Macdonald had a Farm (E-I-E-I-O)!
And on that Farm he had a Pesticide Sprayer (E-I-E-I-O)
With a Pssssssssssssssst Pssssssssssssssst here,
A Pssssssssssssssst Pssssssssssssssst there,
Here a Pssssssssssssssst,
There a Pssssssssssssssst,
Everywhere a Pssssssssssssssst Pssssssssssssssst!
Old Macdonald had a Farm (E-I-E-I-O)!

Old Macdonald had a Farm (E-I-E-I-O)!
And on that Farm he had a Combine Harvester (E-I-E-I-O)
With a Rattle Clank here,
A Rattle Clank there,
Here a Clank,
There a Clank,
Everywhere a Rattle Clank!
Old Macdonald had a Farm (E-I-E-I-O)!

Old Macdonald had a Farm (E-I-E-I-O)!
And on that Farm he had a Rotary Muckspreader (E-I-E-I-O)
With a Phlurrrp Phlurrrp here,
A Phlurrrrp Phlurrrp (Splot!) there,
Here a Phlurrrrp,
There a Phlurrrp,
Everywhere a Phlurrrrp Phlurrrp!
Old Macdonald had a Farm (E-I-E-I-O)!

Old Macdonald had a Farm (E-I-E-I-O)!
And on that Farm he had a Twelve-Row Seed Drill (E-I-E-I-O)
With a Poke Poke here,
A Poke Poke there,
Here a Poke,
There a Poke,
Everywhere a Poke Poke!
Old Macdonald had a Farm (E-I-E-I-O)!

Old Macdonald had a Farm (E-I-E-I-O)!
And on that Farm he had a Center Pivot Irrigator (E-I-E-I-O)
With a Sssssssssssssssssssssss Sssssssssssssssssssssss here,
A Sssssssssssssssssssssss Sssssssssssssssssssssss there,
Here a Sssssssssssssssssssssss,
There a Sssssssssssssssssssssss,
Everywhere a Sssssssssssssssssssssss Sssssssssssssssssssssss!
Old Macdonald had a Farm (E-I-E-I-O)!

Old Macdonald had a Farm (E-I-E-I-O)!
And on that Farm he had a Belt-Driven Chicken Feeder (E-I-E-I-O)
With a Rumble Dumble here,
A Rumble Dumble there,
Here a Rumble,
There a Rumble,
Everywhere a Rumble Dumble !
Old Macdonald had a Farm (E-I-E-I-O)!

Old Macdonald had a Farm (E-I-E-I-O)!
And on that Farm he had a Spring-Tooth Drag Harrow (E-I-E-I-O)
With a Crumble Bash here,
A Crumble Bash there,
Here a Crumble,
There a Crumble,
Everywhere a Crumble Crumble!
Old Macdonald had a Farm (E-I-E-I-O)!

Old Macdonald had a Farm (E-I-E-I-O)!
And on that Farm he had a Manure Management Slurry Tank (E-I-E-I-O)
With a Stinky Poo here,
A Stinky Poo there,
Here a Stink,
There a Stink,
Everywhere a Stink Stink!
Old Macdonald had a Farm (E-I-E-I-O)!

See also: Songs for the End of the Earth #2: We’ve Got the Whole World in our Hands

Natural History

A Magical Woodland Walk in Richmond Park

A Little Owl flew up from the ground to this bare branch of a mighty Oak. A pair of Green Woodpeckers flew up to another tree, calling Piu – Piu – Piu.
A thirsty Red Deer hind drinks from the Lower Pen Pond on a hot day. Nearby, two Meadow Browns and a Gatekeeper butterfly jostled for airspace near a clump of Ragwort, an Azure Damselfly unconcerned by the activity.
A watchful Red Squirrel from a safe perch
Natural History

Churchillian Delights at Chartwell

Chartwell’s glorious walled gardens
Female Emperor Dragonfly ovipositing in Churchill’s Golden Orfe (Goldfish) Pond
Old-fashioned Rhubarb-forcing pots. The roots are grown to be big and strong, then planted out. Early in spring, the roots are covered with the pot, so the leaves etiolate, growing tall leaf-stalks (petioles) very rapidly as the plants search desperately for light. The result: big early rhubarb, without bitterness, greenness, or toughness, ready to poach gently in sugared water and serve.
Chartwell, wonderful on many levels (including the garden’s numerous terraces) – historical, political, landscape, garden design, and sheer colour and space, delightful. The house dates back to Tudor times, c. 1550, though there was some sort of building here centuries before that. In the foreground, the wide meadow contains an area left to grow tall full of Knapweed and other wild flowers and grasses.
Natural History

A Walk in Aston Rowant

Burnet Moth on Scabious
Dark Green Fritillary … in Motion … come on, you take the camera, and see if you can get a better shot of one … they’re very flighty. But you can certainly see the green underwing coloration, with big rounded white spots, in the third photo. The High Brown Fritillary is very similar but vanishingly rare…. mind you, this species could well be called the High Velocity Fritillary, so there.
Rattling a Yellow Rattle – yes, really, play the video and listen! The plant is important in flowery meadows, as it parasitises the tougher and taller grasses, weakening them and letting in the smaller and prettier wild flowers. An old farmers’ name for it is accordingly “Poverty”: guess they preferred money to beauty and diversity in them there days.
A gloriously shiny and iridescent green leaf beetle, Cryptocephalus hypochaeridis, on Hawkweed
Chiltern Gentian, probably
Pyramidal Orchid
Dark Mullein
Natural History

Dazzling Dragonflies of Thursley!

Male Golden-Ringed Dragonfly, on Gorse
Downy Emerald Dragonfly over Moat Pond, Thursley Common
Black-tailed skimmer in a bog pool
Large Red Damselflies in cop over a bog stream, a pleasant corner on a hot day. The female is immature, with brighter colours than older females of this species.
The female Large Red Damselfly has a black line along the top of her abdomen.
Keeled Skimmer – these little guys were whizzing about like crazy!

Also seen: one Emperor over the Moat Pond; Common Darters; Southern Hawker; Common Blue Damselfly.

Four-Spotted Chaser, on a fine lookout

There were few birds about, but they were good: the only pair of Curlews nesting in Hampshire, both seen, and both heard, flying from their nestplace over the bog, calling continuously (and evocatively) and landing separately; Dartford Warbler, a terrific view, the long tail cocked, and hopping about on a tuft of dry grass; Stonechat; Skylark; Buzzard. On the main lake, just Mallard, Coot, Tufted Duck; on the Moat Pond, Moorhen.