Dear Steve, Gilbert devotes the entirety of his Letter XXV to birds and reptiles, especially smelly snakes (snakes that generate a smell to defend themselves). The weather at the moment really prevents me from going anywhere unless I absolutely have to. I can’t match that. It’s been too hot for me to have been veryContinue reading “2080 Letter to Steve 2080”
Tag Archives: gilbert-white
2079 – Blog activity
Looking back, I’ve realised that it is not far short of a month and a half since I last posted a photo that deliberately includes the Spinnaker. In the past, I could take, even if I don’t post, several pictures at a time. I want to talk just briefly about a series of posts thatContinue reading “2079 – Blog activity”
2073 – Letter to Steve XXIV
I spent a bit of time about a week ago, dissecting a passion fruit seed pod. Gilbert dissects a bird and finds eggs forming and food in its crop. I don’t think I could dissect a bird. I can remember one Rural Studies lesson at school where the teacher was going to dissect a rabbit.Continue reading “2073 – Letter to Steve XXIV”
2070 Messing around
Those passion fruits look almost good enough to eat, don’t they? I won’t of course, but I am keeping an eye on them, and if they start to swell or drop, I’ll have another one to disect. Next year, I want to watch the whole process from budding – I missed that bit this year.Continue reading “2070 Messing around”
2066 – Letter to Steve XXIII – Butterflies & Passion Fruit
Dear Steve Gilbert mentions Guernsey lizards being introduced at Oxford but not breeding. Is that the case? If so, are we lucky that we weren’t overrun? For how much damage do we blame people from the 1600’s onwards for the introduction of species from overseas that were incompatible with the UK? Witnessing the migration ofContinue reading “2066 – Letter to Steve XXIII – Butterflies & Passion Fruit”
2046 – About The Letters to Steve
This is the story of how I discovered Gilbert White. Because of my work, we moved from Cambridgeshire to Gosport. Elayne’s family live in South London. The easiest route to visit them is to travel north on the A3. Just to the north of Petersfield is the only roundabout on the A3 outside the M25.Continue reading “2046 – About The Letters to Steve”
2038 – Letter to Steve XIX – More on birds
Dear Steve, It is strange how things work out, isn’t it? Having been late publishing XVIII, I was momentarily relieved that letter XIX was only a short one. The relief vanished when I read the letter, which had a focus on dead birds in the kitchen and birdsong. I had only recently covered things likeContinue reading “2038 – Letter to Steve XIX – More on birds”
2010 – Letter to Steve XV – From Ants to Stars
Dear Steve, I found it very difficult to respond directly to Gilbert’s Letter XV. His world was very different to ours. If I see something like an unusual bird, I’d want to photograph it, and then use the internet to learn about the bird, in the meantime is hopefully working on its nest. Gilbert’s response,Continue reading “2010 – Letter to Steve XV – From Ants to Stars”
1983 – Letter to Steve XI
Dear Steve, I read through Letter XI, and I confess, I was more than a bit surprised by the first paragraph. Gilbert had acquired a dead falcon. Taking it into his home, he took measurements of it, and looked at its characteristics. That kind of floored me a bit. What could I do that wasContinue reading “1983 – Letter to Steve XI”
1976 – Letter to Steve X
Gilbert starts his letter X by expressing his frustration that he has no local like-minded people with whom he can share his interests. Writing his letters to his two friends is as close as he gets to conversing with anybody who shares his interests. I found myself asking how long a normal exchange of lettersContinue reading “1976 – Letter to Steve X”
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