Author Archives: admin

Birthday Present

Posted on February 25, 2017 by admin

Perfect (slightly early) birthday present today: first stork of the year! No ring, so it’s not our female; sentimentally, I’m hoping it’s our male (finding distinguishing features on storks is beyond my powers). Whoever he is, he’s tired and filthy, … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature, Slovakia | 1 Comment

Be Aware … Be Very Aware

Posted on January 20, 2017 by admin

The 20th of January is, of course, a very important date across the world. Yes, it’s International Penguin Awareness Day! Here are a few things to be aware of. Penguins can fly: Penguins make pictures perfect: Penguins sing: Penguins dance: … Continue reading →

Posted in Antarctica, Nature | 1 Comment

Reading List 6

Posted on January 1, 2017 by admin

40 books read in the second half of 2016. The emphasis has been on “straight” literature, mainly because I’ve been working through some of the mountain of paper books which I bought in my youth and never got round to … Continue reading →

Posted in Books | 3 Comments

Black and white and full of nuts

Posted on November 27, 2016 by admin

All the best animals, of course, are black and white: Bratislavan winters offer another splendid candidate: the magpie. Apart from the very occasional tit, these are the only birds to have noticed that our windowsill produces peanuts each morning; something … Continue reading →

Posted in Antarctica, Nature, Pets, Slovakia | 1 Comment

Four Non Birds

Posted on November 1, 2016 by admin

Although the birds are the most conspicuous wildlife, I’m just as happy to find members of other classes. Recently I’ve met: a very elegant arachnid, who played dead when I started poking around nearby; a red squirrel looking down on … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature, Slovakia | 1 Comment

Happy Halloween!

Posted on October 31, 2016 by admin
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Fisher Kings

Posted on September 16, 2016 by admin

Learning vocabulary on the riverbank this morning, I was rudely interrupted by: The osprey is Kršiak rybár in Slovak: rybár being a fisher. This one was following the Morava river as part of his journey from some Nordic country down … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature, Slovakia | 1 Comment

Homer, Language, and the Colleen Bawn

Posted on September 13, 2016 by admin

Recently, the third and concluding volume of Gladstone’s Homer and the Homeric Age finally made it to Project Gutenberg. The scanned versions available online all failed to include a map which was inserted at the end of the volume, showing … Continue reading →

Posted in Books | 1 Comment

Beauty and the Beast

Posted on September 2, 2016 by admin

One river, two countries, and some contrasting wildlife this week. In Slovakia, this little fellow lives by the Danube: Upstream, in Austria’s Donau-Auen national park, we met: In Slovak, wild boar is “diviak”, which seems to mean literally “wild thing”. … Continue reading →

Posted in Austria, Nature, Slovakia | 1 Comment

Lovebirds

Posted on August 29, 2016 by admin

After our superstorks finished their breeding so early, we didn’t know whether they’d start their migration early, or hang around to enjoy the Slovak summer a bit more. Fortunately they chose the latter. They’re much harder to find these days, … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature, Slovakia | Comments Off on Lovebirds