Things I have learned in 2022 IV

You might have thought I would have figured this out in 2021, but then I'd just managed to concede that crows are brilliant.

And they truly are. Here, the Divines... Just two of the little 'uns on this occasion.

Since I returned from Qatar, I have been overwhelmed by the birdsong in the garden. Much is thanks to the starlings, waiting impatiently, but there are tits, robins, blackbirds, wrens, dunnocks and pigeons also contributing. Sometimes the magpies and jays and the crows from the rec.

I love their alertness and athleticism. I love learning that, say, a swift may fly 3 million miles in her lifetime and hit speeds well in excess of 100 mph.

I love it that owls have asymmetrical ears to pinpoint the location of prey in the dark.

I love the sheer excess of the coloured feathers of some glorious species.

I love the variation of wing and bill and body and legs and tail for specific reasons.

I love the songs and the warnings and the conversation.

I love the body language.

I love it that I see starlings again.

I love the large size of the kites and the tininess of the goldcrests.

I love the tipping somersaults of tits and the bobbing of robins.

I love the male blackbird's oh-so-yellow bill.

Basically, they are all brilliant.