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Today, I thought I would talk a little about the common British blackbird. It is one of the birds Dad has had in his garden for as long as I have lived here - aka 1966-1988 and 2009-present.
Most days, I will spot at least one blackbird in the yard. Yesterday, a female blackbird was spotted 'walking on water' on Dad's pond. She was standing on what must have been a chunk of ice under the water and pecking at bugs in the semi-frozen algae. Later on, I spotted her collecting nesting material, and later still, I spotted her grab a chunk of something from the feeding table and munch it on the ground. The resident male, was seen during the day taking a drink from the bird bath, pecking crumbs under the bird table, and chattering from the tree.
The male is indeed black, however the female - and also juveniles - are more of a dark brown color. It is not unusual for some blackbirds to have white patches, which are known as 'leucism'. Some may even be full albino. These birds are approximately 10 inches - 25cm - in length.
Laying circa 5 eggs at a time, the nests are made from such material as grass, mud, roots, etc - and then lined with fine grasses. They nest in trees or bushes - and we have a potential nest going on in Dad's Laurel tree right now!
The diet of the British blackbird consists mainly of snails, worms, other grubs and bugs, some berries, and in garden areas they seem to be quite fond of a piece of bread or cheese. The blackbird's song is fresh, songful and whistley. They will sit in a tree and warn others of potential danger with a sharp 'eek eek' that can become persistant.
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Matt Dorrien, The Yellow Dress, Fox & Woman and The Whatsitwhoos provide live music in an 8pm show for $8 at 924 Gilman Street. Casey And Brian, G. Green, Eyes Lips Eyes, Dark Beach and DJ Mike Melero play Mission Creek Benefit in Oakland's Uptown for 21 peeps with $5. The Saint James Society release a CD tonight, along with music from High Horse, Orchid and Castle at BOTH in a $12 show starting 9, with doors at 8-30. Jeffrey Paradise & Ava Berlin present Classixx, Goldroom & Bixel Boys -at BLOW UP. Details at Really Long Link
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Go Going Gone Girls, Sassy!!! and Whoosie What's It's play a 10pm show at The El Rio for 21 peeps with $7. Vitus - 201 Broadway, Oakland - is where you can catch a $5 show at 9 from Chuck Dukowski Sextet, Electric Chair Repair Co. and Echolocation. Thee Parkside has a pair of show for you today - a free show at 3 - doors at 2 - from The Lincolns and Psychology Of Genocide which is listed as all age - and later on, you can catch The Grannies, Bottom and Cormorant. BOTH gives you Loquat, Doe Eye and Lia Rose at 10 tonight, if you are 21 .
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Oceanography and The Black Marshmallows play The Make-Out Room at 7-30 tonight. Anthony Green, The Dear Hunter and Kay Kay & His Weathered Underground play Slim's tonight at 8 for $16. At 7, you might want to catch Idaho Joe, Jungle-Jim, Skoame, Waxy Tombs and Luis Murillo 'izo' playing Adobe Books - 3166 16th Street. Thee Parkside offers you Gayle Lynn And The Hired Hands and Laura Allen And The Shooflies for free whatever your age at 4 today - doors at 2. The Hot Spot gives you Outdoorsmen, Bad Coyotes, Unko Atama and Let It Bleed if you are 21 at 7. (It's located at 1414 Market). The Hemlock offers you Indian Jewelry and Jealousy for $9 at 10pm.
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Matthew Good and Emily Greene play a 21 show for $20 at CDN from 8pm. BOTH offers you a free show from Junkdrawer at 8-30.
FEB 24
EVENT: A Journey Within at Wortley, Sheffield S35 7DB
QUOTE: Residential Retreat, beautiful venue and fantastic vegetarian food.
INFO/CONTACT: 0114 233 8340
FEB 24-26
EVENT: Temple of Sound Weekend with Bhagavan Das and Gurudev at Salt Springs, FL
QUOTE: Join Gurudev Yogi Amrit Desai and the Amrit Yoga Institute for three days of Kirtan and Nada Yoga -The Temple of Sound workshop with the world-renowned Bhagavan Das.
INFO/CONTACT: info@amrityoga.org
FEB 25
EVENT: The Wisdom of Spaciousness - A practical exploration of our assumed sense of solidity - at GUILDFORD, GU5 0AX
QUOTE: The focus of the day will be on practice and personal experience rather than on theory. There will however be time for discussion and for questions and answers.
INFO/CONTACT: Really Long Link
MAR 1-11
EVENT:Yoga & Luxury in Bali
QUOTE: Break Away in Bali with NYC yoga instructor Liza Laird.
INFO/CONTACT: 16463890208
MAR 1-4
EVENT: Ashtanga Confluence at San Diego, California
QUOTE: Teachers: David Swenson, Nancy Gilgoff, Richard Freeman, Tim Miller and Eddie Stern 'have unique perspectives of Ashtanga Yoga based upon our individual relationship to the practice and to our teacher, K. Pattabhi Jois, Guruji. During these 4 days we will explore the many facets of this mystical practice of Ashtanga and pay tribute to our common teacher.'
INFO/CONTACT: info@ashtanga.net
FEB 12
EVENT: Yoga & Mind Power at Norwood SA 5067
QUOTE: This one day workshop is designed to overcome stress in your life along with tools to understanding the body and mind. It is also the prelude to a full weekend retreat
[ Click here to read more ]
What an interesting week it has been bird-wise. The late winter cold weather spell has brought out the birds from hiding. Whilst cooking lunch the past couple of days, I have been lucky enough to catch sight of our usual mob along with a redwing, 2 thrushes, and 3 long-tailed-tits. I have not always had my camera on hand though.
What I do have to share with you today are a shot of sparrows on the stone bird bath - and, yes - another shot of a wood pigeon! If my next batch of pictures come out well, I should soon have some dove, blackbird and starling shots to share
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Letters, Poppet, Popdrone and Shannon Harney play The Hemlock in a 21 show for $6 at 9pm. For a free show, try Ben Kweller at Amoeba Records - playing at 6pm. The Stork Club gives you an 8pm show from Deep Cover, Nephilimm, Planetoid, Ani Difranco's Dick and Problem with Dragons.
[ Click here to read more ]
FEB 6-MAR 16
EVENT: 40 Day Journey at Redfern NSW 2031
QUOTE: At House of Yoga we truly believe that the only way to make progress in yoga is to commit to a regular practice. The 40-Day Journey is a process that allows you to live the life you really want one that gives you a spring in your step and has you loving every moment of your day even the challenging ones
[ Click here to read more ]
Once again - and of no suprise to regular readers - I have some pigeon pictures to share. I caught some fairly lousy shots of a pair of wood pigeons feeding on Dad's bird table earlier this month. Whilst the photos are not of high quality, they are of pigeons - and I have recently been missing my show-pigeon flock from when I lived in Australia. The local birds are simply not as friendly - they do not wander into the house, hang out on my windowsill, or allow me to hand-feed them. Once, I had friends - now, I just observe distant strangers...
Last night, I dreamed of pigeons - I dreamt that 2 flew in through my bedroom window, one at a time, and stayed in my room for a while before flying downstairs... maybe I should join a pigeon lovers club!
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Antioquia, Mana Maddy, Andrea Prichett and Phoenix play a Benefit for People's Park at Berkeley's Art House Gallery for all ages that have $10 at 7 - doors at 6. BOTH gives you Super Adventure Club, I Can Dress Myself and 8th Grader for $10 if you are 21 . The El Rio hosts Disastroid's record release tonight, with more music coming from Pins Of ligth and War Child. The show starts at 9 and costs $7. At 7-30, you could catch Dying Live, Head/Head, Alienslang, Primitive Feast, Headboggle and Vibrating Garbage @at a show at Heco's.
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I simply cannot fit a decent length Yoga session in at any point of the day other than within 2 hours of eating a huge meal. My solution, until such time as I can reorganize my life, is to break it into two and a bit parts.
First thing in the morning, I will do Savasana, leg raises, forward bend, rag doll and neck rolls - along with my Buddhist prayers. During the next chunk of the day, I do various standing poses whilst my father has his wash and shave. I have to be in the room with him, and at certain points hand things to him or remove them, so I take the opportunity to practice standing Yoga poses while standing behind him. Later on, I have time to fit in various other asanas - depending upon how my day has gone. This is when I try a new pose or practice old favorites - such as shoulderstand
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