Paul Bourdin

Spent a couple of days at Stelvio pass near the Italy/Switzerland border. A large group of very confiding Rock Ptarmigan was the highlight. Lots of Alpine Marmot on the slopes leading up to the pass.

Castiglione South African Cemetery. Just outside Bologna. An absolutely gorgeous setting, one of the nicest in Italy. Lots of casualties from the tail end of the war, with many graves from late April 1945.

Argenta Gap Cemetery. 2 VC’s here, and the first George Cross I’ve ever seen in a war cemetery. One of the VC’s is Anders Lassen, the legendary Danish SAS officer.

Faenze Cemetery.

Coriano Ridge Cemetery. Soldiers from all over here, including uncle Jack, my grandfather’s brother

Soldiers from many Gurkha regiments here. The only GWGC cemetery I’ve see without the big cross and sword, presumably for religious reasons

Rimini Ghurka Cemetery. 2 VC’s here…

As I’m sure you know, many of the most egregious crimes were considered lawful at the time (Apartheid, Holocaust, Slavery), sometimes resistance really *is* the moral path

They were in mine too.

OMG! That was the best pint (2L) I’ve ever had! Truly spectacular…

They look too dark for Common, so I’m saying Black Noddy.

Juvenile Sooty Tern are superficially similar, but they don’t have the lovely pale cap.

Lovely birds, but those are Noddys, probably Black Noddy, though Common Noddy also occurs off NE Australia.

Same in Italian, culbianco!

This is pretty on the mark, not sure what is bothering you about it?

I think you posted the wrong picture. That’s a fantastic picture of a Checker-throated Yellownape.

The last ringing day at Soglitelle of the summer. Quite hot, but still nice birding. Catch of the day was a Green Whip Snake, followed by a Greenfinch in the nets. On the reserve were 40+ Med Gulls, mostly imm. birds over-summering. 3 juv. Little Gull doing the same thing. #birds #birdingitaly

I think that’s Alexandrine Parakeet, the red shoulders are the main difference.

Possibly via Italian where ‘noioso’ means boring.

I’m not sure median = hyper intelligent makes a lot of sense as median is a measure of central tendency, and ‘hyper’ indicates an extreme, but that is a very nit-picky point. You’re right of course that it doesn’t mean much on its own.

*Exactly* 50% are below the median. That’s what median means.

That would be a straight red in rugby let alone football!

I always think that the bricklayers who actually make these things should get some credit. It’s all very well for an architect to have a fancy idea, but some bricklayer has to turn that idea into reality.

Sobbing like a baby…

Birding at Soglitelle was slow but steady today, with decent birds all morning. Best in the nets was a senator Woodchat Shrike, also Quail and Sand Martin. Caspian, Gull-billed and Black Terns on the marsh. Migrants included Bar-tailed Godwit and Eastern Red-footed Falcon. #birds #birdingitaly

4292 Yelkouan Shearwater counted in one hour off Torre Flavia this morning flying south. The main breeding area in mainland Italy is on the islands off Tuscany. Total Italian breeding population is 13-20,000. I’ve seen this phenomenon here several times, always in spring. #birds #birdingitaly

The most depressing thing about this whole era is how eager people are to sign up for the US equivalents of the SS/ Stasi/ Gestapo. Latent fascism is much more prevalent than I had ever dreamed…

And Paths of Glory

Conspiracy
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