kingfisher 3 November 2010
Well now, the kingfisher bird is making a return because waterways are cleaner and they breed very quickly. Delighted to hear it as they are just gorgeous – such beautiful and colourful plumage and features. AND to tie in with my new of red lippy yesterday, did you know that the female has a bright lower bill called a ‘lipstick’ – oh yes, random scientific and biological knowledge will be dispensed through this site from time to time.
The first time my mother brought me to London we visited the Natural History Museum and I wasn’t aware, or even struck by, how vast it was at the time. When we were leaving I told her I’d love to see a hummingbird and though she really didn’t think I’d succeed, what with the number of birds on show in that particular section, she let me off on my quest (tagging along too to keep tabs on me) but some ‘homing’ instinct took over and my eye was attuned to spotting the tiny creature and I did. It was everything I hoped – tiny and wonderful – obviously the trouble with the one in the museum was that it was dead (!).
I think it would be a lovely thing to see either a live kingfisher or hummingbird in their habitat and perhaps some day I will. I hope I’ll live in a time when we won’t lose too many species because of man’s selfish expansion and neglect of the planet.
The Irish Natural History Museum is known locally as The Dead Zoo, by the way.
