A Springtime Exaltation of Nouns of the Venery
[Submitted by Ellen Vahan, posted by Chuck Almdale]
The 12 Days of Spring
We missed the annual recitation of the 12 Days of Christmas and the costs thereof, thanks to Covid-19; we could not have Lords a Leaping or Pipers Piping or any get together. We have made a wish list of what we would like to celebrate Spring and the hopes of the end of the pandemic. Our source — A Compendium of Collective Nouns by Mark Faulkner, et al.
On the first day a Charm of Goldfinches,
On the second day a Wake of Bustards,
On the third day an Opera of Canaries,
On the fourth day a fourth a Clattering of Choughs,
On the fifth, a Ballet of Swans;
On the sixth a Prettying of Doves,
on the seventh a Jubilee of Eagles.
On the eighth a Flamboyance of Flamingos,
on the ninth a Bazaar of Guillemots,
On the tenth a Hover of Kestrels,
On the eleventh a bellowing of Bullfinches,
And on the twelfth day of Spring, a Mutation of Thrushes.
Oh, and please drop by some birdseed.
The Mutation of Thrushes is from The Book of Saint Albans:
It is a recognized fact amongst naturalists that Thrushes acquire new legs, and cast the old ones when about ten years old.
This common fact remains news to many in the scientific community.
Happy Spring and new beginnings!
Photo Credits
- Lawrence’s Goldfinch — Doug Waterman; California; 11 June 2017
- Kori Bustard — Winfried Bruenken; Etosha, Namabia; 20 Sep 2004; Wikipedia
- Atlantic Canary — Juan Emilio; Parque Rural del Nublo, Gran Canaria, Spain; male; 2 Feb 2012; Wikipedia
- Red-billed Chough — Dibyendu Ash; Sikkim, India; 13 May 2014
- Tundra Swan — Mike at RoadsEndNaturalist.com
- Blue-headed Quail-Dove — Arturo Kirkconnell; Cuba
- Golden Eagle grabbing a drone — Mont-de-Marsan French Air Force base, Southwestern France.
- Greater Flamingo — Sorin Furcoi,Al Jazeera; Qatar
- Pigeon Guillemot — Grace Murayama; 14 June 2016
- American Kestrel — Ted Schroeder, LeGrande, OR, March 2013
- Eurasian Bullfinch — Francis Franklin; Lancashire, UK; Male; 4 Jan 2015; Wikipedia
- Hermit Thrush — Randy Ehler; California; 25 Oct 2015
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SANTA MONICA BAY AUDUBON SOCIETY BLOG 
The ones I like best are the Flamboyance of Flamingos and a Bellowing of Bullfinches because of the alliteration. And a Chattering of Choughs would be better than Clattering!
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How about a loquacity of linguists?
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Thank you ,Ellen!
c.prismon-reed 松林 songlin/ 송림 songlim
__ * 詩人 小蘭 * “a poet is a small orchid”
On Thu, Apr 1, 2021, 16:23 SANTA MONICA BAY AUDUBON SOCIETY BLOG wrote:
> Chukar posted: ” [Submitted by Ellen Vahan, posted by Chuck Almdale] The > 12 Days of Spring We missed the annual recitation of the 12 Days of > Christmas and the costs thereof, thanks to Covid-19; we could not have > Lords a Leaping or Pipers Piping or any get together” >
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