Outdoorsy Shite - April Top Trumps

[GrimmaTheNome]

Rules as before - nature 'spots' fauna and flora, points for rarity (absolute or relative to where seen), seasonality, eloquence of description. Please declare if you're in forrin parts or a mermaid.

Did I cover everything?

Blimey, Norf, that requires some thinking about. Um....perhaps the fact that the dolphins in the studies are playing up to the mirror, recognising that it is they which is making the shape in the mirror move and making some entertainment out of the fact, which is couple of "steps" more than scent association. I don't know.

That sounds right, Ariel. I think that it isn't vision versus scent that constitutes the relevant difference. It is the animal's recognition of its own agency, and of its "self" in that respect, that is so interesting in the mirror-behaviour of some higher mammals (and the cleverest birds??), and which I don't think happens in the simple discounting of one's own body smells that goes on among dogs etc.

I wish my local sparrows spent more time looking in the mirror and less time guzzling the grass seed I have put down to renew my shabby lawn.

I've heard parrots are extraordinarily intelligent as well, that an African Grey for instance has the cognitive abilities of a three year old child. Though of course it depends on the child :) And the parrot for that matter. Some of the "higher" primates like chimps have this too.

Oh yes, that does make sense, thanks.

Another long train journey today, so hoping for some good window spots.

"they which is" should have been "they who are". I knew it looked awful, but couldn't think how.

Never mind. You're still more advanced than a three year old child or a parrot.

Just.

But AIBU, we don't know that what dogs are doing is simple. We can recognise intelligences which are like our own, but anything else is to a large extent guesswork.

I went to a talk on corvid intelligence recently - in some tests Jays outperformed children up to the age of 8!

Corvids are amazing aren't they? I've mentioned before about how one was filmed following a squirrel round and digging up its acorns it was burying for the winte, and hiding behind the nearest tree when the squirrel looked round. ANd they have an amazing memory for faces - did you see that experiment they did with people wearing masks to try and fool them, because the crows were remembering people's faces from years ago!

I guess that each creature's intelligence is uniquely adapted to its needs and its envorinment.

I'd love to think that some animal species were busy testing us and irking sad conclusions about our intelligence, based on our lack of ability to recognise ourselves in clouds or something.

• irking

+ making

I like irking.

Did you see the tv programme recently about intelligent animals. The chimp that could do number sequences in the blink of an eye, and the corvids that worked out how to get stuff out of jars etc. The birds outperformed children and the chimp outperformed everybody.

So kids are thick then?

Er no. Just took a leap of imagination to drop things into the jar to get the water level to rise enough to retrieve the item. The birds had it off to a fine art, the children despite being given all the correct tools for the job, took much longer.

Food is a great motivator of course

Ooh gosh, I don't think I'd have thought of dropping things in to raise the water level It's obvious now you mention it, of course...

I wish one of these clever corvids would drop in on my stupid cockatiel to tell her that she can in fact stand in her birdbath, that there is a difference between water that is 1 centimetre deep and water that is scary infinity centimetres deep. She is desperate for a paddle but two years haven't been enough to convince her to put her toe in the water.

Are new entries allowed? Even by people who had to have it pointed out to them and don't know if it's rare or common as muck not?

Yellow archangel and bugle in the woods in Stevenage.

How do you know she is desperate for a paddle? Has she got her towel at the ready and her rubber ducks?

Wot's yellow archangel? A plant? Or yet another butterfly I haven't heard of??

My train journey threw up two shabby rabbits nose to nose beneath a tree. They were definitely in love.

Prerry much, Exit. She gets terribly excited and dips her head in the water and flutters her wings about as if she was actually having a bath, and generally bibbles about in an animated manner. But she can't actually pluck up the resolve to dive in. Some days I leave the bath dry and put tasty millet in instead, so the she can see that there is a floor there, not an infinite descent. But that is not evidence enough for her apparently, even though she scoffs all the millet.

Welcome lio. What beautiful plant names.

Sweeeet.

My swallow at the stables now has a mate - hurrah.

What about waiting till she is in there already, pecking at the millet, then gradually pouring some water in from a jug. If the level builds up slowly and her feet stay on the floor, she might accept it.

Seagull!

And a pair or goldcrests in our pine tree.

Anyone seen Pigeongate?