A vague ramble from the Finance Manager (when she should be doing the budget)!

I’ve been learning about bird watching. Pottering about various places in the world to see what I can when the opportunity arises. I had a trip to South Africa in September which was just magical. To be able to see some of the park’s species in their natural environment doing what they do best, sitting about, was just brilliant. Vast numbers of vultures soaring in a great cloud and passing beyond sight. I am beginning to glimpse the pleasure that other people get out of spending time in the company of birds.

Storks and Heron.

Ash very kindly lent me his binoculars for the Africa trip and this has convinced me to buy a pair. I’m going to do some hard bargaining with Sonia in the shop. She has started stocking various types of Swarovski bins which I am keen to play with. My next trip is to Australia. Dad has a place in Nambucca which sits between two rivers. He says there are always heaps of birds there so I’m really looking forward to that.

Andy lent me his copy of Simon Barnes’ book ‘How to be a Bad Bird Watcher’. (I begin to see a pattern - is there a campaign afoot?) Barnes talks a lot about LBJs. These are ‘little brown jobbies’. I love it.

Weaver Bird nests

As a dyslexic I have terrible trouble remembering things, especially written words, so attempting to remember all the names of birds which, to a beginner at least, all look remarkably similar, is almost impossible. But that it is ok to see something and just take pleasure in the seeing without needing an ology is great. Our guide for the Africa holiday was South Africa’s top ornithologist, Mark Anderson, (yes, the guy the Trust helps with African Whiteback Vulture ringing). He was really great at pointing out any passing feather, giving it a name and telling me all about its life habits. He can sit in the ute and identify by bird call and then follow the sound to catch sight of what ever it is. That’s a real skill and he clearly gets enormous pleasure from it. I will never be that good. I could never hold that level of information in my sieve like brain apart from anything else.

Brei at sunset

I am very content to just sit, be, breath and wait. I feel privileged every time something allows me to see it even for just a little while. If I get the opportunity to see anything in flight I find it truly awesome, whatever it is; Swan or Falcon, Vulture or Swallow, Kingfisher or LBJ! Have you seen the way a seagull can stretch out its wings, lift an inch or two and drop down again just coz he can. How do they do that?

I get just as soft over the sight of an uncurling fern in spring. This is why I will never be an ologist. There is too much out there to specialise on one thing alone. I’d miss out on all the rest!

Now, what was I doing? Ah yes, the budget!