Duck-a-duck

Three years ago today

 

Why mermaids need combs

2016 revisited

Another of Custard's baby photos below, and above: when she was a young adult

The first time I saw Custard

3 Years Ago

Three years ago, I was photographing the village duck-pond.

A leucistic female mallard had hatched out in April 2016, looking very cute and yellow. The village called her "Custard" and I took a lot of photos of her, the best of which I shall dig out and process and post here later (at the time I was sharing them on google+).

By January 2017, I would have been at a loose end had it not been for this unusual arrival: a male pintail. He was able to fly, but he stayed for a few weeks. Villagers feeding the adorable Custard would feed him, and it was Winter, so why not?

Carl Bovis Nature Photography

These two photos are from Carl's top 100 photos of 2019

Haikoo

 A moo oozes out
of a cow's mouth, in a fog
            that is not too odd.

Merry Christmas

Should Brexit get done?

Was Boris's "Get Brexit Done" position endorsed by the British people in this election?

Well, it was a Brexit-dominated election, and 52% of the votes were for pro-Remain parties and 48% for pro-Leave parties (according to John Curtice), the reverse of the result of the original referendum, regarding which:

Cameron promised to be bound by the original referendum result, but he immediately resigned upon hearing what it was. And that referendum was, in many ways, flawed, even as a measure of the will of the British people which is all that it was in itself. The winning margin was small and the winning side was found to have cheated a little. Furthermore, many of the votes for Brexit were votes by racists, for what they took to be a racist policy.

Should cheating, and the wishes of racists, have been allowed to determine our country's future after the person who promised to be bound by the result had resigned? Well, it was his decision, and then it was the will of parliament, via their decision about who would replace him.

Interestingly, Jeremy and Jo are now resigning, having lost the election, but their parties got 32.2% and 11.6% of the votes, which add up to 43.8%, which is slightly more than Boris's party's 43.6%.

Another interesting statistic (via The Outside) is: 2005 — Labour party vote share in England, 35%
               Labour seats in England, 286
2019 — Labour party vote share in England, 34%
               Labour seats in England, 180

Why Mermaids Have Combs

Photo of a sunlit willow reflecting off a shadow on the village duck-pond three years ago.

The Village Duck-Pond

One of the mallards on the village duck-pond in December 2016

A Swan Reflecting a Teapot

Photographed on the river Hiz in Hitchin, Hertfordshire UK

Five years ago today

this hoopoe was in a local field:

Catching a fly

 

Ducklings in October :

Cuddly ducks

On the Pond

A duckling on the village duck-pond today:

Failing the Turing Test

If a computer develops self-awareness, could it be distinguished from an actual human?

Yes: if you ask it about itself, then it will know about itself (that is what "self-awareness" means), but if you ask a human about herself or himself (or themselves or itself), then she or he (or they or it) will not really have much of a clue (not really).

The Village Duck-Pond

Underneath one of the willow trees, one Winter...