On Sunday night Mike's wife Jill dropped me off at the top of our street. And as I walked home down the left-hand path (American: sidewalk), I saw an animal hurrying up towards me. What could it be? At first I thought it might be a domestic cat but very soon I realised it was a badger.
Knowing they have poor eyesight, I quietly stepped into the road and watched as the creature motored past unaware of my nearby presence. What a privilege! Badgers have lived on the island of Britain for half a million years. Traces of them have even appeared in ancient fossils.
For some reason, these wonderful creatures have often been persecuted. There have even been government-led culling operations. The anti-badger lobby have worked tirelessly to promote the myth that badgers have caused widespread TB in cattle but I am a badgerman through and through and I cherish the fact that they still live amongst us - often occupying setts that are two or three hundred years old. God Save The Badger!
On Tuesday afternoon, I went to see Richard Hines once again. As a boy he trained a kestrel and his brother Barry Hines created an iconic novel inspired by his brother's hobby. That novel was "Kes".
Once again Richard referred to a book that had stirred his love of birds of prey. I have not read it myself but I hope to acquire a copy before this year is out. It's "The Goshawk" by Terence Henbury White - about the writer's obsessive attempt to train a wild, fierce northern goshawk named "Gos" in the mid-1930s using archaic, centuries-old falconry methods. The book was published in 1951 and it meant the world to Richard Hines. Without "Gos" there would probably have been no "Kes".
I promised that I would send Richard some images of goshawks I spotted on my favourite photo-mapping website - "Geograph". Such noble birds and of all British hawks the goshawk is the biggest. What gifts evolution has given us! Here's just one of the pictures I sent him.
© David Dixon 2019
Afterwards, I filled the holes with a mixture of soil and compost before brushing it over and stomping on the area. Fingers crossed we should see some flowering native bluebells late next April. I hope so because we both love that special spring flower.
In other nature news, we believe that a fox has chewed the tennis ball off our new swingball stand. Our neighbour Tony found it in their garden. Now I have a replacement problem. Phoebe is not happy. Thank you so much Foxy Loxy!
I saw a bit of the recent film "H is for Hawk" when I wandered into a multiplex cinema with an open door after seeing a film which I had actually paid for. I didn't stay for all of it.
ReplyDeleteI checked and the book "H is for Hawk" (which refers to T H White's) is available at Sheffield library. It seems the White book is not so I cannot say (as I otherwise would have) "Borrow it from the library."
Sadly, you seem to have missed the film by now at Sheffield. Maybe you will have a chance if it returns. The Lighthouse Cinema offers dementia-friendly screenings.
I watched that film when it first came out. See this blogpost:- https://beefgravy.blogspot.com/2026/02/film.html
DeleteI also read the book in 2023. Richard has met Helen McDonald a few times.
There were too many posh people in it for my liking. And when a film is made things tend to get posher. A bit like how in the film of "Another Country" (probably set in a fictional equivalent of Stowe school) the school chapel looked suspiciously like Durham Cathedral but in any event way too grand (Could have been some other more convenient Romanesque/Norman building like St Bartholemew the Great.) or whenever there is a show within the film or fancy dress event the standard is improbably high.
DeleteH For Hawk is by Helen Macdonald.
DeleteThe Goshawk (1951) is by TH White.
The Peregrine (1967) by JA Baker you'll enjoy too, Marcellous.
Baker tracked falcons over the wintry landscape of the Essex coast.
My House of Sky : The Life of JA Baker (2017) by Hetty Saunders
tells the story of the reclusive Baker who never gave an interview.
My House of Sky is published by Little Toller books in West Dorset.
Their books cover English wildlife & countryside, beautifully designed.
Correction, not the Lighthouse but "The Light."
ReplyDeleteTick. I always prefer "The Showroom".
DeleteBluebells get planted five inches deep?? Inches? are you sure they didn't mean centimetres? I am sure they will grow anyway and be beautiful for years to come as they multiply. I have a small patch in my garden that pops up every year, they used to get trampled by people taking shortcuts, or maybe it was animals, so I dug them up, but must have missed some because there they are! And multiplying too.
ReplyDeleteYou had me scared for a moment there... but it is true... mature bluebell bulbs should be planted five to six inches deep in the soil.
DeleteThelma with her ginnel and you with your dibber...when will it all end.
ReplyDeleteHaven't you got a dibber Andrew?
DeleteEnglish bluebells are a beautiful sight and well worth waiting for.
ReplyDeleteBadgers are a favourite of mine. We tried to protect them years ago from the badger baiters that came to Bath from Bristol and legislation was then written to protect them. All to no avail of course as the culling has taken place over TB and no one seems to know who gives who the disease.
ReplyDeleteThe badger and the fox have a lot in common.
ReplyDeleteI hope your bluebells bring you years of pleasure.
ReplyDeleteWe have Virginia Bluebells here and I always look forward to them each Spring. Good luck with you Bluebells!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever seen a goshawk, or maybe never heard the name. It's a regal bird!
ReplyDeleteYou are very fortunate to be walking down the road with a badger. I don't think I ever saw one when I was growing up in N Devon. I didn't think we have badgers here in Ontario, but I found this when I inquired via Google: Ontario is home to fewer than 200 American Badgers, a nocturnal and endangered species facing significant threats from habitat loss and human activity. They are short, sturdy members of the weasel family, with coarse gray fur, black-and-white facial markings, and strong, sharp claws adapted for digging. BTW My son's dog is named Badger.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I've ever seen a badger live. I recall once in my youth (50+ years ago) being in a car with friends, and the driver hit a badger by the side of a road in the dark. I can't really recall the details now but one is obliged to report such accidents, and as this was long before mobile phones, we must have had to mark the place, then drive to find a phone booth, and then turn back to await the police. I can't even recall now if the badger died or managed to escape into the woods...
ReplyDeleteWe have badgers ere but during my life I've only seen one.
ReplyDeleteI love badgers. I've never seen one alive in the wild. Plenty of foxes, deer, red kites, but no badger.
ReplyDelete