Dear You,
when I looked out of my window this morning I saw that the farmers were very busy - and one of them is a landscape-artist.
The view is changing rapidly: it seems to be yesterday that we saw lovely yellow fields of rape (many fields - rape-oil is in demand now because of the sunflower-oil-shortage).
In my direct neighbourhood I spotted a nightingale - I am so thrilled, never heard one before.
When I met the woman in whose garden&wood the nightingale lives, she looked slightly unnerved. "I would like to rehouse her", she said. "That bird is nestling directly under my bedroom and sings very, very long. And loud!"
"And beautiful", I added, but she hastily changed the topic...
Moral: "Was dem einen sin Uhl is dem andern sin Nachtigall" we say in Northern Germany - roughly translated: "What is an owl to one person is a nightingale to another."
(You might say: "One man's meat is another man's poison")
Yours Truly
When you mentioned "rehousing" the nightingale, I didn't realise they had regular homes in the same way that dogs and cats do. The only birds I see regularly are magpies and seagulls, looking for the bread I leave outside.
ReplyDeleteDear Helen, in Germany it is not allowed to "rehouse" a bird's nest without a special permission. The reason is that some birds will not be able to find the new place of the nest.
DeleteHere there are quite a lot of birds (though I fear that the enormous amount of free running cats (in spring time that isn't allowed either - but the owners don't care) reduces the population a bit.
Magpies - I know the haven't the best reputation - are beautiful, I see them here too. We have starlings, sparrows, tits, blackbirds, jays, wrens, robins, redstarts, swallows and house martins, thrush, some crows, two buzzards, many storks and that nightingale - and cuckoos. And those I do not know or see :-) No seagulls however.
Chaffins and once a beautiful goldfinch, too.
DeleteMy mother-in-law had a cardinal couple who returned to nest every year. Her invalid son spent many hours watching the activity outside his window. The last time I saw either of the birds it was snowy white with age but still returned to its home tree.
ReplyDeleteDear Emma , wow - I googled it: such a beautiful bird! Such a spectacle! I did not know that birds' feather-colours changes with age too - interesting!
DeleteAnd quite many birds return each year to their home nest - the huge storks here are very home-loving.
Amazing that someone would be annoyed by a nightingale! She could sing along!
ReplyDeleteDear Boud, the nightingale's song is really beautiful, and I do understand why so many poets sung about it, and Oscar Wilde wrote that fairy tale.
DeleteTo be fair: the songs are loud and very long, and maybe she is a keen-eared sleeper and thus cannot ignore the sound just in front of her bedroom. But she has a whole house for herself: why doesn't she "rehouse" her bedroom? I did that here in my little Bavarian flat, though not because of the nightingale - and it helps a lot.
The song of the nightingale is an alluring fable in my world, too, Britta. It would be nice to hear one in the flesh before I pop my clogs, which will mean a trip to the European countryside on such a mission. Where, by the by, I shouldn't mind to also hear the haunting owl and then decide for myself which would be my "meat" :) I hope you get to hear her often while she is in residence nearby, and any "rehousing" is delicately handled.
ReplyDeleteYour farmer neighbour is better than the telly! So much to watch!
Dear Pip, isn't that a wonderful reason to visit Europe? I see the title of your tale: "In Search of the Nightingale. The Quest of an Australian Woman In Europe". Following the tradition of courageous female explorers (in bygone centuries often hiding in men's dresses)
DeleteI never heard a nightingale before - and wasn't sure whether I could trust my ears - thus: the Internet sometimes is a treasure.
"Pop my clogs" is instantly added to my vocabulary. The Flying Dutchman uses the very old German word "himmeln" for the same occasion - the dictionary fanciless translate this as "to go to heaven" - yes, that is the meaning but not the wording.
Don't you have owls in Australia? They would be the perfect antidote to rabbits, I think - yesterday in a learned quiz show we heard that in your country only wizards are allowed to buy one. Professional clothing, in a way :-)
The neighbour is not allowed to rehouse the nightingale - and as life is often funny: ironically she works in a department of administration which has to protect nature!
Thank you that you like the photo - I was quick in taking it, because most often the next day the busy farmers gather the hay - bland field again.
I would love to go to sleep with the song of a nightingale. We have blackbirds which sing in the night, twice a year. I love it.
ReplyDeleteThe blackbirds here sing in the morning and evening, and I absolutely love them. The nightingale I can hear from my balcony, not in my bedroom. It is lovely, to sit outside and listen.
DeleteHow extradordinary - most people would be over the moon to be the chosen nesting spot for a Nightingale.
ReplyDeleteWe once had a spotted Flycatcher build it's nest beneath our bedroom window in a wall climbing virgina creeper - it was a daily joy and treat to be able to watch the building, the egg laying, the hatching, and even see the hatchlings take their first flights. Our sons were young, and it is something that we all still remember.
Dear Rosemary, I thought that too, that it is a gift to be chosen
Delete.
Flycatcher I looked up and am not sure whether I ever saw one - but to be able to watch a bird build its nest is absolute joy. We once had a blackbird doing that behind the balustrade of the conservatory, protected by vine leaves - and from inside you could see the little eggs.
I believe you that your sons never forgot that extraordinary experience.
I remember as a child my mother getting us all out of bed to go and listen to the nightingale which was singing at the top of the garden in some trees one late summer evening. I wll never forget it.
ReplyDeleteDear Rachel, I would do the same - it is a rare moment, and wonderful of her to share it.
DeleteI would love a visiting nightingale outside my window - but did just have a Northern mockingbird and actually wrote about it in my post a few days back. It sings so many different songs and usually is the male who only sings at night. Our garden birds are so many - I feel blessed but have to admit I spend a lot of money on birdseed for several feeders to entice them, haha!
ReplyDelete