What's outside

Not in Wales, sadly. Northeast US.

Hope it’s not too tough/deep/dangerous - keep safe out there…

Diolch! I am safely tucked inside with my cup of tea . Grateful I don’t have to go anywhere today.

(Glad to hear that you and Catrin are feeling mostly better. I remember that horrible feeling of weakness after a bad bout of flu…it takes a while to get back to normal.)

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Spotted, inside yr Atom in Carmarthen, Heledd who runs the shop and centre in Tresaith. Very well known to all Bootcampers!

In her arms is Meredydd, born last September.

Heledd says she’ll be back at work after Easter, so I expect the April Bootcampers will see her around the place.

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Ji-binc - Chaffinch.

Ji-binc.
Aderyn cyffredin a cyfarwydd trwy Brydain sy’n hoff o amrywiaeth o gynefinoedd yn cynnwys gerddi, coedwigoedd a pherthi.
Mae’r ceiliog yn aderyn lliwgar ag wyneb a bol orenbinc, corun llwydlas a chefn coch-frown.
Mae corff yr iâr yn fwy brown ond, fel y ceiliog, mae ganddi wyn amlwg ar ei hysgwydd a llinell wen yn yr adain.
Pryfed yw ei brif fwyd yn y gwanwyn a hadau yn y gaeaf pan fydd yn ffurfio heidiau mawr.
Dros y gaeaf, daw nifer fawr o adar o ogledd Ewrop i ymuno â’r adar sydd ym mhrydain.

Chaffinch.
Bird common and fimiliar throughout Britain who love a variety of habitats including gardens, forests and bushes.
The male is a colorful bird with a gray face and belly orangePink, crown and back reddish-brown.
The body of the female is more brown but, like the cock, she has white on her shoulder and a prominent white line in the wing.
Insects are its main food in the spring and seeds in winter when it forms large flocks.
Over the winter large numbers of birds from northern Europe join with the birds in Britain.

Cheers J.P.

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Oh, this bird is adorable:) Is it really common? Can you see it often?

S’mae John,

Came across an interesting word recently and wondered if you knew it:. (You probably do)

Sgwarnog plural sgwarnogod

It’s not the usual dictionary word.

I found the meaning via google.

More info later.

Yes, and it will get more colourful in the spring (i will try to get a better photo).

Ah, @mikeellwood you are filling us with intrigue now .

Cheers J.P.

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If Mikeellwood will forgive me, another clue- The ‘full’ name originally and rather aptly meant the “eared” one, but it’s an old enough name that the word for “ear” is no longer the one used in Welsh (though I believe it is in Breton…)

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Mae’n ddrwg geni i. If I was good with my camera, as well as photographing flying moch, I would have made everyone bored with the sight of chaffinches at all times of year, as they flock to our feeders and under the feeders. We feed seed all year and meal worms at ‘chick feeding’ time!! We also have flocks of great tits and coal tits, sometimes long tailed tits and blue tits, but I’ve never seen a crested tit!! I tend to look for birds we rarely see to photograph, hence sparrowhawk, goldfinch, bullfinch, great spotted woodpecker…!!! Oh, and heron up the back in yr ardd wyllt!
To be fair to myself, it is hard to focus on one bird in flock that’s actually individuals jockeying for position!!

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Oh, that’s so wonderful! Here, in the city, we only see sparrows, tits and blackbirds!

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I haven’t seen a sparrow for a long time. I think they are getting rarer. To @ramblingjohn, is a dunnock a sort of sparrow? We get those sometimes, I think.

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Llwyd y gwrych - Dunnock.
Was the hedge sparrow when i was young but now seems to be placed nearer the wren and not a sparrow.

Mwsogl pen seren - polytrichum commune (photographed today, i think the name is correct but take my identification with caution, needs closer inspection to be sure!).

Cheers J.P.

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Are you saying there’s another meaning of ‘sgwarnog’ as well as ‘hare’? I’m not sure if I understand what you’ve written there.

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I assume that’s where he is going Dee, and i may have come across the answer, but i don’t want to spoil his ‘tease’, and of course i may be wrong. so we wait on “tender hooks” (a phrase with a curious origins).

Cheers J.P.

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Ah John, you were too busy looking at nature to photograph when we visited the Amgueddfa Wlân I see :wink:
They explained that the word is “tenterhooks” and they were the hooks that the wet blankets were stretched out on to dry.

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Ah Dee, i was listening and “tender hooks” crossed my mind when tenter hooks were explained.
(as an aside, i was also very disappointed with my photo’s of the bond skater there, as by not thinking the light was in the wrong direction so the images were over exposed).

Where i grew up, keeping someone on tender hooks was keeping them waiting a long time for an answer.
Literally referring to “tender hooks”, the hooks that sides of beef where hung on for a least a month while the muscle structure relaxed within them, so the meat was more tender, easier to chew and digest.

Cheers J.P.

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That’s interesting - we used the same meaning, but it was “tenterhooks” that we were on. I’m not sure if I want to be a wet blanket, but it’s probably preferable to a piece of beef :smile:

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Yes indeed, and i wonder if this is just one instance where English has mutated or is/was pronounced differently in different areas (hence language develops).
While learning Welsh i am also noticing instances of this in English and wonder if it was common in the past.

Cheers J.P.

ur hen gartref. located near Margret Well (Mererid Ffynnon) near the Oodanatta Track.

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