Pekapeka-tou-roa

This fella (using that in a non gender specific manner, as in 'guy') recently won Bird of the Year in New Zealand.

Pekapeka-tou-roa is a long-tailed bat, about the size of a human thumb.

Yes a BAT! Not a bird. And that has predictably caused outrage. Amongst genuine bird lovers. Alleging the vote was rigged.

Why would a country have a Bird of the Year vote? And do the New Zealanders vote for a Lizard of the Year, a Donkey of the Year? Is it a species of bird that is voted for or a particular animal, such as Billy The Brightest Budgie?

You'd imagine the Kiwi would be a popular choice but that hasn't been the winner since 2009 (Kiwi lovers need to mobilise). Last year's winner was the kākāpō, the only bird so far to have won the prestigious award twice. It came second this year to the  munch-maligned bat.

The competition is organised by the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand aka Forest & Bird. It is not known whether there is a Forest of the Year poll (it's quite possible that if there is, it will have been won by a river). The Bird of the Year vote is not limited to members, so is very popular with the public. Well, some of the public: the population of New Zealand, as of today - courtesy of worldometers.info - is 4,822,233; 7,031 of the populace voted in the competition, with Pekapoo winning with 12% of the vote. It's forbidden to speculate whether a Proportional Representation voting system is in place.

From humble beginnings in 2006, when just 458 voters elected the New Zealand fantail the winner,

voting reached a peak in 2019 when 12,022 elected the Hoiho, or Yellow-Eyed penguin, winner with nearly a third of the votes - the most popular fella yet.

New Zealand's Department Of Conservation researchers have been collecting information about long-tailed bats in the Hanging Rock area of South Canterbury. The population is small and vulnerable, numbering only about 100 bats and still declining. So maybe we should be supportive of efforts to bring attention to their plight. Unless, of course, they were the source of SARS-CoV-2, in which case we might think again.

No Donald,

I'm just joking. Don't quote me! Now I'll get all those batophiles on my case. Oops.

A dog called 'arry

Sitting in the pub garden. A bottle of Heineken Zero. People watching. As you do. There's a large man nearby, in cargo shorts, with a dog. A small, white perky dog with a short, erect tail. The dog is clambering all over another dog (I believe there's a technical term for that but this is a family-friendly blog). "Stop it, 'arry!" says the man. Which makes me wonder after whom is the dog named. And on what kind of whims do people name their pets?

I think I've mentioned before (Pets and Kids) that I 'ad a budgerigar which I named Little Jim, after a character in The Goon Show, which was a wireless (that's what we used to call the radio in those days) show at the time. The 50s. Here are the actors: Peter Sellers (the smooth one with wicked mimicry skills), 'arry Secombe (the Wynne Evans [see the GoCompare ads] of his day) and Spike Milligan (the completely bonkers one):

I asked my friend Tony one day why 'is pug was named Lily. "She 'ad that name when I got 'er as a rescue dog and I thought she might suffer a self-esteem crisis if I changed it" 'e replied. I may 'ave slightly embroidered that but that's the gist of it. So no 'elp in answering my question.

My first instinct with pub dog was 'arry Kane, about whom I 'ave blogged recently (As a Spurs fan...). Or Prince 'arry, about whom I 'ave never blogged. But it's just as likely that 'arry's owner was called 'arry, although that could be confusing for all concerned. Maybe a 'arry Potter fan? Large man was too young to 'ave any empathy for 'arry Truman; on a football theme, it could 'ave been 'arry Redknapp (a true 'arry if ever I saw one) or Cliff Richard.

Wait! Cliff Richard, Nigel - where does 'e fit into the 'arry pantheon? 'cos 'is real name is 'arry Rodger Webb, silly; everyone knows that.

I was mulling this over, making notes ready for the blog. "Why don't I just ask 'im?" I thought ('im being the owner not the dog). I looked up and ... they 'ad gone. Bummer, I'll never know.

Low boredom threshold and previous transitory enthusiasms

I told you recently about my brief reunion with the pleasure of bird watching. That set me thinking about what my bookshelves remind me of previous short-term enthusiasms.

As I sit here writing this, I can see a large , picturesque book "The Tropical Marine Aquarium". I had one once but the guppies, angelfish, mollies and the like didn't live very long, and some fish enjoyed (too much, in my opinion) eating the others. BTW (for those, like me, over 70, that means By The Way) whilst researching this post (yes I do research for these meaningless ramblings) I discovered guppyexpert.com, which has a page "20 Best Guppy Fish Tank Mates". Wow, the things people know!

If you are thinking of having an aquarium, you should know that they require a lot of effort - cleaning, checking temperature and oxygenation, etc. - and all the fish do is swim about aimlessly and ungratefully. Occasionally a mummy fish (temporary, as female guppies can apparently change sex - very woke) will have babies, which the other fish in the tank immediately treat as a new source of food. Ugh.

Next to that book is "50 walks to country pubs". Well thumbed but no use at the moment, obviously. If there was a book "50 aimless walks within 100 metres of your house", that might be relevant.

Then there's a whole shelf of cookery books. What are they for? Did some previous owner of this house leave them? I shouldn't mock, as I think one or other of my sons (maybe both) gave me some when I moved to Cornwall, in the forlorn expectation that I would be spending my retirement in my kitchen. Thanks, guys.

"Supper won't take long" is one book, by Lindsey Bareham. Too true, I gobble my food like a Trojan (i.e. inside a horse). An obviously second hand "Pakistan Cookery Book" is next to it. Opening it for the first time ever, I discover 185 recipes for such treats as Dahi Baras, Suji Cake and Kachories. Mm, delicious. And a print of an internet page "How to Cook Beetroot". Wait, you COOK beetroot? You mean it doesn't come out of a jar?

A book on Mentoring sits alongside Samuel Beckett's "Krapp's Last Tape". Diversity.

Then there is a huge "Chronicle of the 20th Century". A relic of my early Cornwall days when  I used to go to auctions. And brought home piles of tat and ancient books, to adorn my house. Ugh again.

And get this - this jigsaw...

...has been on that table for three years! You can see the picture has lots of (similar) blues and prolonged exposure to the sun, by a south facing window, has faded many of the pieces so the whole thing is a puzzle - er, yes Nigel, a puzzle duh!

Will I ever finish it? I'm probably not THAT bored.

I'm a dabbler - I try something, get tired of it, move on to something else. Like yoga. And croquet. Spotify. Netflix. Probably - at some time in the distant future - blogging.

Not to worry, there's a new computer game coming out tomorrow which I have pre-ordered. That should keep me going for a .... month?