BrandNewGuy

DJKillaQueen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > We have absolutely no way of restricting EU > migration. It's a problem and a problem that we as > a wealthier EU contry are not alone in facing. Although to be fair there are more than a million Brits living and working in the EU without restriction.

Medley Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Update from my parents on the woodcock: > > "Watched Autumnwatch last night and they reported > that strong winds from the NE have blown in many > woodcock from Norway." > > So that would seem to explain it - as a kindly > forumer PM'd me; you were right. Nice one - I'll keep my eyes peeled. Here's what to look out for: http://orientalbirdimages.org/images/data/eurasian_woodcock_4834b_kk.jpg Wintering woodcock are like waxwings - some years we get huge numbers and some we get almost none. In fact I've already seen a few waxwings this year, so it must be grim up North ;-) For those who haven't seen a waxwing, it's a very striking-looking bird that you might see in berry trees in winter: http://www.birdfoto2.fsnet.co.uk/birds2003/waxwings/waxwing226.jpg

Abu Ghraib and Blue?

Last Year In Marienbad WTF?

Medley Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi all, > > > Never been on this thread before - very > interesting it is too. > > Was walking home last night and spotted what to me > can only be a woodcock browsing around in a front > garden on Upland Road. I had a great view of it - > no more than 10 yards and I watched it for about 5 > minutes. > > But can it really have been a woodcock? Has anyone > seen one around ED? Definitely too big for a > snipe. Very long beak, correct markings for a > woodcock (and I have seen them in the > countryside). > > Any thoughts? Wow! It's very unlikely to be a resident bird, but could be one of the winter-visiting woodcock from Russia/the Arctic - they're more likely to be 'confused' about habitat :-) Having said that, I wonder if there are any resident woodcock in Dulwich/Sydenham Woods. I've never seen one there, or indeed in or near London. Good spot - next time, please get a photo ;-)

Love Never Dies - Paint Never Dries (not mine, but I couldn't resist...)

BrandNewGuy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Not sure the reason for this infernal yapping - > probably the modern-day overabundance of > cocaine... ;-) What did I tell you... Cocaine use higher in England and Wales than Europe In my day, it was the preserve of rock stars and senior ad executives...

Well at least they don't go to gigs in order to gab and chatter like many audiences these days. I'm not one for silence (especially at a 'rock' gig), but I've lost count of the number of times in recent years I've politely asked people to shut up. Sometimes I just show them this picture from the Luminaire, which I have on my phone... Not sure the reason for this infernal yapping - probably the modern-day overabundance of cocaine... ;-)

lenga01 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > :)) Was it this exciting? > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6DyLTEbOAw Almost - a young East Dulwicher's reaction to it (from next to the garden centre on Grove Vale). :-)))

@DJKQ You're right about Brixton Academy, but it's successful because of its size - 4,500 capacity - so lots of north Londoners are 'forced' to come south of the river. The only other 'big' venues in London are either quite a bit smaller (Shepherds Bush Empire 2,000, The Forum 2,400) or much larger (Wembley Arena 12,500 and the O2 several million...), so it fits a niche. That said, I'm beginning to dislike large venues and I'm seriously thinking of only going to small venues, pubs and clubs as I feel that's where the heart of the music lies. Unless it's Neil Young playing, in which case I'll go anywhere to see him :-)

We're maybe a bit harsh on the people of South London. My better half was involved with The Grand back in the day and it was nigh on impossible to drag enough people south of the river. The North Londoners just won't do it in sufficient numbers. It's no good pointing out that, for example, The Coronet is more central than Kentish Town - they're prejudiced against anything south of the river. Whereas we're resigned to schlepping north... I go to more than 100 gigs a year and it's a sad fact that nearly every commercial venue is north of the river - the last ten gigs I've been to have been at Shepherds Bush Empire, Kings Place, The Luminaire, Cadogan Hall, KOKO, Cecil Sharp House (x3), The Slaughtered Lamb and the Academy Islington. I'm resigned to having a well-used Oyster card :-) PS There were some great gigs at The Grand - John Martyn, American Music Club, Kirsty MacColl, Throwing Muses, Gil Scott-Heron... PPS Sue and Nyge do a brilliant job with The Goose Is Out :-)

Looks like the government's serious about cracking down on the 'town hall Pravdas'... "Under the new rules, it is understood councils will only be allowed to publish free titles four times a year. They will also have to remove any content which appears to praise the council or endorse the quality of its local services, including quotes from local residents."

caro ed Wrote: > Fair comment about there being lots of regional > variation within the cuisine of a continent - > which I completely agree with, but my point was > that having been to most of the curry houses on > the Lane I can't really tell a huge difference > between them. So either my taste buds are pants or > they are all from the same sort of area.. As I > said, I'd be happy to see the SMBS guys open > theirs as I suspect it will be something a bit > different... Just don't see why (as has often been > noted on the forum) we need quite so many very > similar curry restaurants all on one road. Agreed, they are all pretty samey, which is why we need a different Indian restaurant - when was the last time you had a bhel poori, dahi vada, kachori or masala dhosa on Lordship Lane? Mmmmmmm... [drools like Homer Simpson]

caro ed Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Much as I love SMBS and the guys in there... > ANOTHER curry house on Lordship Lane??? Exactly > how many do we need?!! Can't we have > Vietnamese/Japanese/Spanish (tapas) instead? If it's to be a South Indian vegetarian place, as has been sugegsted before on the forum, then it wouldn't be just 'another curry house', which is mildly insulting to a vast nation whose cuisine is as varied as that of the whole of Europe. Most 'Indian' restaurants in Britain are Pakistani or Bangladeshi, but there's a whole lot of great stuff as well in between. Imagine if, in Delhi, a Spanish restaurant opened next to a Russian one. Would it be fair of the locals to cry, "Not another bloody European restaurant!"? :-)

Siduhe Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Isn't the reason the garden waste collections > (brown bin) are moving to weekly, because the food > waste is going to be stored in the brown bins as > well? So there is a planned weekly collection of > biodegradable food/kitchen/garden waste and > recyclables, and all remaining waste is collected > fortnightly. I can see that, but calling it 'food waste' is going to lead to all sorts of problems. We put our compostable kitchen waste (potato peelings, carrot tops etc) into the brown bin already, which the Council says not to, almost certainly because some people will lob all their kitchen waste into it - chicken carcasses and all. Maybe they're not planning on composting the brown waste in future, which would be a shame... When I nosey-parker down our road, I see bins full to overflowing every week, many in households of just two or three poeple. I can only assume that either people can't be a*sed to recycle all their stuff (which isn't exactly difficult) or they buy too much crap in the first place ;-)

At the risk of sounding like a smug green, I can't understand how many people fill their wheelie bins every week. We're a family of four, with one 'homeworker', and only fill our bin at Christmas time (too much unrecyclable packaging and unwanted crap). Once we've done our paper/card, glass, metal and plastic recycling, there's hardly enough rubbish in an average week to fill half the wheelie bin. Occasionally we'll call the council to deal with a big item or two, but in terms of regular waste, I don't know what people are throwing away. Can it *all* be nappy sacks? ;-) Agreed about the brown bin - absolutely no need for a weekly pick-up.

Saw an adult male kestrel flying over Green Dale yesterday at about 6pm - East Dulwich Grove end. Probably making the most of the summer rodent population. Also noticed that yesterday was Flying Ant Day, one of those miracles of nature when a large local population seems to act in a co-ordinated way.

'Trousered' - as in "For doing that, he trousered twenty quid". Actually, 'pocketed' has likewise disappeared - "Not a bad deal - I pocketed a few bob..." God I feel old...

As I've mentioned on a different thread, there's scant evidence of parakeets 'bullying' other birds or winning out in food competition with indigenous species. The London Wildlife Trust opposes any 'cull', by saying that the parakeets are as 'British as curry' :-) Open season on parakeets There is evidence that they can cause damage to orchards and vineyards (as do a number of indigenous species), but existing arrangements for farmers and landowners can allow them to take action already. Unfortunately, people often jump to conclusions about 'invader' species which aren't borne out by the evidence. Similarly, the British Trust for Ornithology has found no evidence that increased numbers of predator species (including corvids) are a cause of significant falls in prey species numbers - loss of habitat and other adverse environmental changes are nearly always to blame.

One crafty fox has started stashing chicken bones etc in a builders' skip on our road. S/he has a quick glance around, then jumps into the skip, unearths some grub and jumps out with a bite to eat. Very resourceful :-)

TillieTrotter Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Listen, I'm not Bill Odie (sp), I saw a pair in my > garden a few years back looked it up in my Bird > Encylopedia and they turned out to be Eurasian > Jays:-$ As I said, that's just the posh ornithological name for a regular old jay. And the potential confusion is why most ornithologists only use the Latin names, which in the case of the (Eurasian) Jay is Garrulus glandarius, which sounds very painful...

red devil Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > TT describes a Jay, just wondering what the > difference is between a Eurasian and British > Jay... There isn't one :-) There's now an internationally agreed standardisation of English-language names for birds. There are other jay species around the world, so ours is the Eurasian one. Some of these international names are quite different from our ordinary ones: Pied Avocet, Northern Lapwing, Mew Gull (Common Gull), Common Murre (Guillemot) etc, but I just stick with our good old vernacular names. If you want to be really old English, you can call a Wheatear a 'White-arse', which is what it was called before the prudish Victorians cleaned it up :-)

Only me! Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > We have a Wren flitting about & darting in & out > of some shrubs. > So tiny ... no bigger than a ?2.00 coin. With a > beautiful song, out of all proportion to their > size. > > Hope their nest can avoid the attention of the > Magpies! Wrens usually make quite a few nests - in fact, it's usually just the male who makes several nests in an attempt to impress the local females... which is why he often ends up with more than one family. The nests are usually really well hidden and very enticing - round and fluffy :-)

I think the tweeters are sparrows - there are so few around any more, but there's a family of them near the corner of Trossachs Road and Glengarry Road. And yes, they tweet, tweet, tweet incessantly. Or it could be a great tit - they're very loud and do that 'pitchoo, pitchoo' call all day long. I love spring birdsong and will be heading up to Dulwich Woods for the dawn chorus walk on Friday 30th.

SteveT Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ceribee wrote:- > Where have all the green parrots gone though? I > have hardly seen any this yr? My friend emailed > from India to say he'd heard there was a council > initiate to kill..cough..I mean 'cull' them. Is > this true? > > > I heard it on radio4 so it must be true. They are > considered to be a pest and a danger to the local > bird population as the parrakeets attack them. > I saw three swoop low over the neighbours roof > which had a dozen pigeons roosting but the pigeons > all rose in the air when the parakeets passed > overhead. Well, the poor parakeets have been blamed for 'bullying' our native species and much more besides. There is some evidence that they can cause damage to orchards and vineyards, but I'm with the London Wildlife Trust and other birdie experts who declared the cull 'racist' and said that the parakeets are "as British as curry" :-)