More Extreme Birding...

Bosnia 1996.

When I am out and about I am always on the lookout for birds (as my men would often joke about) and other wildlife, on one occasion I was fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of a wolverine melting into the woods.

During another trip I was re-supplying a re-broadcast station (see photo), only to find out later that the track was mined.

However there was lots of good birding on route.

What hope for Nature let alone Man

The dirt on the windscreen is actually oil.

Looking directly at the sun 10:00 am Kuwait desert

Gulf War 1991

August Winter

One august many years ago in Germany around the mid eighties if I remember correctly, we woke to a truly amazing sight.

There had been a freeze which took everyone by surprise, trees were covered in at least a half to one inch layer of ice. There were trees which had broken in half because of the weight of the ice and were it had got into the cracks of the wood and force the wood to split.

These photos will give you some idea of what it was like, they were taken by my friend Peter Hoffman at our Nature Reserve in Lipperode.

Lessons From Birds

"God loved the birds and invented trees.
Man loved the birds and invented cages."

Jacques Deval

"No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings."
William Blake

Plant Healing

Many years ago when I started to become aware of spirituality I was given an exercise to do with a plant, I would like to share this with you and if you feel drawn to give it a go yourself then please do, but do let me know how you get on with it.

I had to find a plant or flower that was dead, then I had to place it into a plant pot and without giving it any water or any other kind of food I was to spend at least one hour a day sitting with this plant, in my case I picked a flower from my mum's garden.

All I had to do was cup my hands around the flower and imagine a white light coming down into the top of my head and to feel it passing through my body and along my arms and out from my hands and into the flower. I was also to visualise the light as well.

While was doing this, I experienced a warm feeling, you may have a different experience as it is personal to each of us, you may even see a different light. I did this exercise for about 3-4 days at which point I had to go away.

I left the curtains drawn so the room was in the dark for the time I was away, so no direct sunlight could get in. On my return and on opening my bedroom door I was greeted by this amazing sight (see photos), I felt like I had been plugged into the wall socket.

I was shaking for ages as this was something that took me out of my comfort zone. However, in hind sight it is fair to say that to go and actually try this out, you must believe on some level that it is going to work otherwise what would be the in trying it out.

I have since gone onto experience and to work with plants, trees as well as animals in different and very powerful ways. Some the these experiences I have already shared with you in this blog, for example see Plant Meditation Headings.

So all that's left to say is, way not give it a go yourself, enjoy the experience.

Extreme Birding

Throughout the first Gulf War opportunities for birding presented themselves quite a bit, in particular around our camouflage nets, they just seemed to attract the birds.

I guess because they looked like trees or bushes, but I suspect it was more likely because they offered shade for the other wildlife, certainly the flies were drawn to the nets, this in turn provided the birds with a good supply of easy food. Once on my return to my location I saw a Hoopoe sitting on top of my net and on another day a Hume's Scops Owl landed a short distance from my net. One of my men opened the cab door to his truck and out flew an owl.

On another occasion I hi-jacked a JCB from Phil one of my men and drove off at speed to watch a Red-breasted Flycatcher which I had spotted earlier perched on a pile of ammunition boxes. Phil was not happy with me as in the process of going for the flycatcher I managed to burn a hole in his Bergen (backpack) on the exhaust pipe.

I seem to remember my ears were burning that day and I suspect not from the sun either, sorry Phil.