
And now, in the evening, well, the very late afternoon, of my years, I am once again assailed by Impressive Epithets. I used to look for wheatears, but now I must look for Greenland wheatears. The chiffchaff, a bird hardly big enough to warrant any qualification at all, now comes in Iberian - or is it Siberian? - varieties these days; when I was a sprog it was lucky not to be dismissed as a willowchiff. As for the Herring Gull, it's gone positively polyschizophrenic.
It's all getting too much for me, Doctor. I wonder: do you know of an outdoor hobby without too many adjectives attached?
PS It might have been a White Wagtail I saw this afternoon............
No comments:
Post a Comment