• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Minor Strangeness (IHTM)

Talking in the same breath as cubs/scouts and psychic reminds of a strange thing that happened to my oldest son when he was, briefly, in the scouts. They'd all gone on a trip 'across the sea to Ireland' and while in Wexford they were going to join a march through town and were waiting for the town band to pass before falling in behind. As the drummer at the head boom boomed by my son turned to his troup and said 'what if he had a heart attack and dropped dead just as he turned that corner'.


And he did! :(
 
A couple of days ago I saw a flock of bright green birds (which I assume were parakeets) fly over here.
AFAIK there aren't any parakeets around here. I know there are quite a few in Borehamwood which IIRC were the result of escapees from the filming of Indiana Jones at Elstree studios.
 
I don't think anyone knows where they came from, although there are many apocryphal stories around. They've certainly been in Britain since the late 19th century in small numbers.
Here's a grey one that came to my feeder when I lived in Chislehurst, on the SE edge of London.. It was probably an escapee.

grey parakeet.jpg
 
A couple of days ago I saw a flock of bright green birds (which I assume were parakeets) fly over here.
AFAIK there aren't any parakeets around here. I know there are quite a few in Borehamwood which IIRC were the result of escapees from the filming of Indiana Jones at Elstree studios.
The green ones are all over the place in Kingston-on-Thames, used to see them on the way into the uni after breakfast.
 
A couple of days ago I saw a flock of bright green birds (which I assume were parakeets) fly over here.
AFAIK there aren't any parakeets around here. I know there are quite a few in Borehamwood which IIRC were the result of escapees from the filming of Indiana Jones at Elstree studios.

“Despite the number of theories associated with film studios and musicians, most ornithologists believe that the original birds likely escaped from aviaries before 1971.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_parakeets_in_Great_Britain

There are now so many in the UK that they have been declared a pest species, and can be shot under the terms of the general licence (GL 42):

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...ecies-of-wild-birds-to-prevent-serious-damage

maximus otter
 
“Despite the number of theories associated with film studios and musicians, most ornithologists believe that the original birds likely escaped from aviaries before 1971.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_parakeets_in_Great_Britain

There are now so many in the UK that they have been declared a pest species, and can be shot under the terms of the general licence (GL 42):

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...ecies-of-wild-birds-to-prevent-serious-damage

maximus otter
Haha.....in any thread in which a reference to any animals occurs I have now started thinking "I wonder how long it will be until Max tells us whether or not he can shoot it?"

I'm not sure it would be worth wasting any ammo on parakeets would it? One wouldn't give you much of a meal, and I imagine they would be mostly bone.
 
Haha.....in any thread in which a reference to any animals occurs I have now started thinking "I wonder how long it will be until Max tells us whether or not he can shoot it?"

I'm not sure it would be worth wasting any ammo on parakeets would it? One wouldn't give you much of a meal, and I imagine they would be mostly bone.
You can sell the feathers.
 
Haha.....in any thread in which a reference to any animals occurs I have now started thinking "I wonder how long it will be until Max tells us whether or not he can shoot it?"

I'm not sure it would be worth wasting any ammo on parakeets would it? One wouldn't give you much of a meal, and I imagine they would be mostly bone.
Well there can't be much meat on an ortolan, either, but it doesn't stop some people....
 

Attachments

  • ortolan.jpg
    ortolan.jpg
    11 KB · Views: 25
Yeah but the French will eat anything, especially if you tell them they shouldn't eat it.
How do you think 'fois gras' came about?
I'm paraphrasing here but who was that comedian who said something like " ... and on the 5th day, God made all the little creatures that crawl on the Earth. And on the 6th day, the French made them into soup."
 
You've got my curiosity aroused now. Is there some cultural tradition that you should cover your head with a napkin when eating ortolans?

Eating ortolan bunting is technically illegal ...
Why This Famous French Dish Is Eaten With A Towel Over Your Head

You might recall a scene from the HBO Series, Billions, in which Bobby Axelrod, and his COO Wags, dine on what might appear to be deep-fried whole rubber ducky, but not before making certain their eyes are covered by a white dinner napkin? What the men were eating beneath their napkins was a rare, French delicacy known as "ortolan bunting." An ortolan bunting, or just "ortolan" for short, is a tiny songbird (tiny like a rubber ducky) native to Europe, according to Smithsonian Magazine. The dish, which the publication explains, involves a whole-Armagnac-preserved ortolan, roasted to golden-skinned perfection, is a rare French delicacy that has been illegal in the EU since 1979 because the ortolan bird itself is nearing extinction. ...
FULL STORY: https://www.mashed.com/335397/why-this-famous-french-dish-is-eaten-with-a-towel-over-your-head/
 
?!? How do these little birds taste differently than sparrows? Since the birds are plucked before serving, any small bird would do. Also, are the birds, er, gutted and cleaned before pickling in the brandy? Or are they served "prestuffed?"

hhhmmmm. Lots of little birds in my backyard. Why armagnac? Would beer be OK?
 
?!? How do these little birds taste differently than sparrows? Since the birds are plucked before serving, any small bird would do. Also, are the birds, er, gutted and cleaned before pickling in the brandy? Or are they served "prestuffed?"

hhhmmmm. Lots of little birds in my backyard. Why armagnac? Would beer be OK?
Jars of pickled sparrows were a common sight on bar-tops in Cyprus in the early 1970's.
 
I'm paraphrasing here but who was that comedian who said something like " ... and on the 5th day, God made all the little creatures that crawl on the Earth. And on the 6th day, the French made them into soup."

Not sure but it sounds like the sort of thing Al Murray (Pub Landlord) would say.

Is there some cultural tradition that you should cover your head with a napkin when eating ortolans?

AFAIK it's so that 'God' wouldn't be able to see you eating it, or some such nonsense.
IIRC 'God' is all-knowing and all-seeing, like some kind of holy 'Argus Panoptes', so it might be difficult hiding stuff from Him, even with a carefully positioned white cloth.
 
Not sure but it sounds like the sort of thing Al Murray (Pub Landlord) would say.
I've just remembered, it was in the Spitting Image book (80's one) so probably Harry Enfield instead. It does sound like an Al Murray one though.
 
Didn't Jeremy Clarkson tuck into it on top gear wile the other two
sat and cringed?
 
I saw a lot of ring-necked parakeets where I used to live and took this picture from my window in 2009. They don't seem to have reached Hythe yet.

View attachment 59499
As long as we never get wild cockatoos. They make a RACKET. The morning chorus at 4am in summer is bad enough without those buggers shrieking their way through it.
 
Back
Top