While learning a new JJ Cale song to play on my guitar I came across 'Whippporwill' I'd never heard of such a thing so I looked it up and lo and behold, I found this amzing little creature referenced too in no less than Forty Five different songs. On delving deeper I found that it lives in Central America all the way up to Southeastern Canada, likely why we don't sing about them down here. Though I am not a great believer of superstition, its call is said to be a harbinger of death much like the Local Ruru or Morepork, they even look and sound similar, not surprising as they are from the same class.

Magnolia by JJ Cale

Whippoorwill’s singing
Soft summer breeze
Makes me think of my baby
I left down in new orleans

We have them all over around here, in the country. They are not city birds. And I hear them regularly, but live to tell you so... ;0)

We also have moreporks here (at least on the mainland, not sure about Tassie. They are also called mopokes. Both names are onomatopoeic of their mournful call.

And I assumed Pratchett made it up!

Some of them are non-rhotic and some aren't.

Actually I heard an American today on the radio pronounce 'environmental' non-rhotically. Even an Aussie wouldn't do that. It was weird. What kind of US accent would that be? The pronunciation was something like 'envionmental' or even 'eviomennal.'

Before I had looked at the link I thought about how overhere owls are said to be the harbingers of death. When I looked at the bird it seemed like a very small owl to me and checked it.
(cute birdie)
Owl
They are almost identical, though one bigger that the other.(down from infraclass they differ)

Might be from the South or the Northeast (link).

You mean 'Whippoorwill' and 'morepork' are onomatopoeic?
I'm not sure if 'Mopoke' is, unless its got an Ozzie accent


hehehe


I can picture Gallant Ted saying 'Envieamint' He'da spelt it better fer sure.

Salute to Gallant Ted. May he fly like a mopoke and dance like a bear.

we've had a big Barred Owl hanging around for the last few days. cool.

Is this the new bird thread? Yay! I love owls, but rarely get a chance to see them. There is a bird rescue organization in the park by my house (Wild Wings), and it's open every day 10-2. They have a barred owl who is adorable! Here are the residents, including a bobcat: Residents. For a smile, check out Barf, the turkey vulture!

Double yay! This has nothing to do with owls, but here's one of a Pacific Gull I took last weekend:

Very cool pic!
As long as we're showing off, I actually have some "bird in the hand" pics, taken at that same park, hubby is the hand:












I love this one because it's a two-fer!















This one is just too cool! :0)

These are Black-capped Chickadees, named for their most common call, as the Whippoorwill from the other thread. They are adorable, feisty, opportunistic, and smart! :0)

>These are Black-capped Chickadees, named for their most common call..

huh. here I thought they were named for their distinctive black cap.

Somehow they remind me of W.C.Fields...

What an impressive, fascinating bird. But I love all the new pictures here. That's a generous big gull Pook!

here's our guy:

and

Now that's a word that I have never heard before, i.e., rhotic, which may be surprising since I had seven years of formal studies in Koine'. Furthermore, it is not in my *Webster's New World Dictionary of American English* (1988 edition). The nearest to it was rhotacism. But, I Googled it and that took me to a new website on using English that appears to be a resource for future reference.

However, now that I know what rhotic and non-rhotic mean, an observation or two on your American radio speaker. There are several sections of the USA where rhotacism and related manifestations of mispronuciations are common. The most common section so charged is the Deep South (Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia in particular). The particular flaw that you described might have come from some one raised in particular sections of New York City or north New Jersey. I have frequently heard some one from the latter speak of his State as New Joisey.

While there are quite a number of examples that might be drawn from the South, one that I like to use as an illustration is "like." If a Southerner ever asks you "What do you 'like'?", it is more than likely that he is asking you what is that you need, i.e., "What do you 'lack'?"

I am with you: I love birds too, hope lots of pictures appear here, thanks for those who
have posted them so far.

Haven't learned how to post pictures here yet; but don't think I have any of birds anyway.

I live in Charlotte, NC, a city proud of its churches and trees. At one time, Charlotte had the largest per capita number of churches in the USA and -- I think it still does.

But (a conjunction again), it is also a city that delights in its trees. The neighborhood in which we live is frequented by birds of many types including many raptors. We have a very large oak tree in out back yard. I've seen owls, hawks and eagles sit in it.

The Carolina Raptor Center is located in north Mecklenburg County just a few miles north of Charlotte. [Yes, Charlotte is named for that German Queen of England, Queen Charlotte, who came from Mecklenburg.] The Center is open to the public and has a very large collection of birds. It is, of course, a rescue and rehabilitation center as well.

I have visited it only one time and did not think to take a camera with me. The next time I go, I will make a point of carrying a camera and plenty of film.

BTW, I do have a couple of pix of some birds. Anyone for some ducks and geese?

Great shots of that owl in the snowy misty weather Faldage! Love it.

It didn't sound like a southern accent, so I suspect he must have been from the Northeast - NY or Boston or somewhere like that.

There is a whole thread somewhere we we discussed the ins and outs of transatlantic and transpacfic rhoticism. In it we discussed such delicious topics as Rudyard Kiplings non-rhotic spelling of Indian words that have come into the English language and which causes North Americans to mispronounce them by adding a voiced 'r' where the one in the word is unvoiced. Same is true of the Korean name Park, which is pronounced "Pahk".

OH! Eta, what a breathtaking picture. Absolutly super.

Anyone who presumes that Anu has nothing to do with this forum does not read the Weekend Compendium.

From: LukeJavan8 (via Wordsmith Talk bulletin board)Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--ex libris
Def: 1. From the library of. 2. A bookplate.
In a Benedictine Monastery school where I attended high school, the monks, who take vows of poverty, could not own the books they used. Inside their books were the words "ad usum" (for the use of...).

ahem!

All us swans look alike.

PS

I agree with The Pook's assessment of the photo if not his attribution. All the bird pics posted here are fantastic.

It's just Anu's doing. Wish I had an owl in on of our trees.
So nice to look at. It's low tide for birds in town.

Yeh! got the solution. Saved and printed misty owl on good paper. Gorgeous, like an aquatint etching.

I just put up a bunch more owl pics on my flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/etaoing/

oops sorry eta, yeah all you Yanks look alike to us Antipodeans...

Was this near your house? Do you live in the Big Woods? It's so hard to take photos when it's snowing! You did a marvelous job. It looks just like Bran's, too. I'll have to dig out the one I took of a Pileated Woodpecker in our backyard when I get home. A truly stunning bird. :0)

yup, right out my front window!

These are not very good photos, but if anyone else has one s/he has taken personally, I'd love to see it! These guys are tough to find, and I was trying not to scare it off...



They are good sized, about as large as a crow. I don't see even one a year, so they are fairly rare. I was happy to get these shots, poor as they are! :0)

nice! I've seen those a few times, but you're right, they like to stay out of sight.

BEAUTIFUL: what are they? A form of woodpecker??

Pileated Woodpecker

BEEAUTTIIIIFUUULL! Thanks a bunch.

Twosleepy sees with four eyes. It took me a while to see the two are one and the same. Last year I had this one mistaking my wall for a tree. Never made it in time to my camera.
Nice pix! Hey, strange , it only prints the left one.

>Hey, strange , it only prints the left one

not if you treat the 'right' one as a separate image; i.e., right click on it and select "view image", then you can treat of that one. (browser differences may apply)

Of course, thanks,(dumb) that would have taken me a week too to find out.

I may be able to make it easier for you, although the print quality won't be very good in any case:

pileated 1
pileated 2

Hoy twosweety, I'm not that dumb.
(print was pretty nice)

trying for a picture to post on these threads: a bird might
appear.http://www.flickr.com/photos/33242986@N08/


Nope, just my reference on flickr. How do I get it to appear
here?? Any one??

Is this the one?:

when you use the Reply button (not the Quick Reply box), you are given a bunch of buttons (Smilies, Create a Link to a webpage, Create a Link to an email, and "Enter and Image" (and several more). that's the one you want. it will ask for the url of the image, put that in, and presto! an image will appear when you Submit your post.

the other way to do it, it to just enter the image tags yourself:
[ img ]url[ /img ] without the spaces inside the brackets.

twosleepy stole your show , but you've given us free acces to your photo page.
Working with that script prompt window takes some practising. Use the little bleu dot one for http.links.
That's: 1. Click that bleu balloon , delete the http:// you see in there and paste your picture (or any) http:// in. 2. Click OK. - window becomes blank ; then write title or just 'link' in it and click OK again.Done.

If you use the IMG - tag use the fourth from the left. Here all you have to do is paste the IMG tag into that window and click OK. If you use the "previeuw post" function you can just practice till you got it right.

I had a peek at your photo page. Beautiful butterflies and those birds are very elegant and beautiful. Well taken.

You have no idea how frustrating this is.
I am glad you took a peek at my pictures. And I love that you
can do so. What frustrates me is that I cannot get them onto
a thread.
I really appreciate what you wrote, but I did not understand
a word of. I don't understand computerese. I wish I could
make head or tails out of what you or two sleepy or etaoin
wrote, but it is a clear as Greek. I'm sorry I just don't
get it.
At any rate, that is the bird picture I was going to send
weeks back. The cranes that stop in Nebraska like sand
passing thru an hourglass.

Even without a picture you have managed to post a lovely image. thank you

Actually Zed,
the picture is up in posting 182,800 about four above this
posting. Thanks for the compliment. Twosleepy posted the
picture. I've asked for help, but am too lame to understand
what others are telling me to do. These cranes are all over
Canada, and come thru to the Platte River for a stop over
and then head south spreading out all over. It is a
"phenomenal' site to see them. They are very tall, over
waist high. Very ungainly. Not too pretty except for the red
spot. On the ground they are a joke to watch, but in the
air: wow, you can not imagine. Thanks again.

How are the cranes, JavanLuke8?

Luke, dear, Zed was complimenting you on your literary image ("like sand passing thru an hourglass"), not on the photo. And well-deserved, too. Very evocative. :0)

Hoo all,


This is the best thread that I've seen here in long time.

Happy Spring

Your great picture reminds me of an image from Beatrix Potter's most impertinent Squirrel Nutkin