Country diary: the thrush casts its promise of magic into the day

Wenlock Edge, Shropshire: The bird ’s song is sharp and yellow as celandines, soft and blue as violets“The sun never sets on the empire of the dandelion,” saidAlfred Crosby, the historian of science and technology, talking about the biological expansion of Europe and the “portmanteau” of plants and animals carried by colonists to establish in new worlds.The vibrant solar voice of the dandelion speaks for the global flow of species but some remain particular and personal. There is a voice inside my head and it ’s not mine. The voice belongs to a song thrush. He began singing at the waxing moon, a couple of days before it was full, and sang until it began to wane. He would start at dawn from the topmost branch of one tree, then move to the topmost branch of another in the afternoon until the moon rose. E ach day he did the same and his song followed the same patterns but never exactly: each phrase repeated three or four times, some sharp and yellow as celandines, some soft and blue as violets.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Birds Animal behaviour Animals Wildlife Environment Biology Science Source Type: news