Tuesday, April 09, 2024

How seagulls changed the world

Looking back over old posts makes me think I was funnier in the past. Actually it was Harvey/George who was funnier. It's a bit much when your dog is more amusing than you are.

A bright though breezy day so we took Toby for a walk in Clyne Gardens.

Can you tell Husband has a treat in his hand?

Here we have a bare Derwen Twrci or two. Not from Turkey but from southern Europe, it's the fastest-growing oak in the UK, amd, according to the sign, Central Park in NYC has a famous avenue of Turkey oaks.

We live in an area of Swansea called Derwen Fawr meaning Great Oak, although we're not sure where THE great oak was. There was an old oak tree in the corner of the Bible College grounds just opposite us but that was chopped or fell down a long time ago, and I can't find any mention of a particular tree in any articles about the area.

Bluebells, the ones native to this country, are just beginning to bloom. En masse they are fabulous and have a colour unlike any other. Sadly I can't smell them any longer but believe me when I say they smell delightful too.
Wild garlic is also in flower though I believe if you wish to make garlic pesto you should collect the leaves before the flowers start. But I could be wrong.

Right, off to make cawl (lamb stew with root veg and leeks) for dinner and to listen to the radio while doing so. As the schedule for Radio 4 Extra has changed recently I looked it up yesterday to see what I would be listening to while making cake. It said RadioLab with something about seagulls. Fair enough I thought; we have plenty of seagulls around here: it would be good to learn more about them.

I did learn something about seagulls but it wasn't necessarily what I was expecting. The programme considered the history of homosexuality in America. Not its history: the politics around it. Back in the 1970s one of the main arguments against it was that it went against nature. It was unnatural. 

Then scientists discovered lesbian seagulls. And the rest, as they say, is history. So there you are. Fascinating. I wonder what gems I'll discover today.

Oh, and the cake I made yesterday was for a birthday in Zac's tonight. At least my icing writing's getting neater I think.






6 comments:

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Yes, your icing writing is very nice and neat! If there's cake left over, I hope you'll give it to the local lesbian seagulls.

jabblog said...

Lucky Craig!
Homosexuality is not uncommon in the animal world. Some fish change sex, too, so there's nothing new under the sun - or sea.

Boud said...

There was a zoologist Karl name escapes me, who did great studies on the greylag goose, many of whom are same sex oriented. It was hard to get his studies published! Shock! Horror! Gay geese!

I met a few gay animals in my pet care business, obvious same sex orientation.

Boud said...

Konrad Lorenz, clearly both names escaped me.

Kathy G said...

I am used to listening to BBC radio overnight on my local NPR station, but I had no idea that shows from the States migrated over to your side of the ocean.

Anvilcloud said...

I have seen photos of masses of bluebells, and I love them.