Resident Brit Augur in the News

[Ricky Torrey]

Dear All,

Most of you will be interested and pleased to see C-L anchor Ralph Hancock
in the news!

Many readers are familiar with his daily blog covering birds in Kensington
Gardens and Hyde Park, including the owl depicted on Athenian coins.

http://kensingtongardensandhydeparkbirds.blogspot.com/

As of yesterday, Mr. Hancock has been featured by the BBC and the Daily
Mail due to his discovery of and reporting on a Lesser Black-Backed Gull
who has developed an ingenious method for harvesting Feral Pigeons in Hyde
Park.

Some recent coverage of the notorious gull on Mr. Hancock's blog:

http://kensingtongardensandhydeparkbirds.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2014-10-09T18:49:00%2B01:00&max-results=7

Daily Mail coverage can be reached at the following link.

http://goo.gl/3LbI1t

Congratulations are due to Mr. Hancock!

Best regards,
RST

[Diana Wright]

Congratulations, Mr. Hancock!

I am pleased to boast that Ralph is my personal bird consultant, and he
often consoles me for the mortality rate among the crows I tend.

DW

Post by Ricky Torrey
Dear All,
Most of you will be interested and pleased to see C-L anchor Ralph Hancock
in the news!
Many readers are familiar with his daily blog covering birds in Kensington
Gardens and Hyde Park, including the owl depicted on Athenian coins.
http://kensingtongardensandhydeparkbirds.blogspot.com/
As of yesterday, Mr. Hancock has been featured by the BBC and the Daily
Mail due to his discovery of and reporting on a Lesser Black-Backed Gull
who has developed an ingenious method for harvesting Feral Pigeons in Hyde
Park.
http://kensingtongardensandhydeparkbirds.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2014-10-09T18:49:00%2B01:00&max-results=7
Daily Mail coverage can be reached at the following link.
http://goo.gl/3LbI1t
Congratulations are due to Mr. Hancock!
Best regards,
RST

[Ricky Torrey]

If I may add a bit to this story, Ralph kindly sent me a link to his BBC
interview which can be found here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p028r4fx

Ralph's message mentioned that everyone in the media he has spoken to thus
far has asked him what (or whether) the enterprising gull has been named.
He evidently considers naming the bird a "silly idea," but I thought I
might take the liberty of posing the question to this List anyway, knowing
that if anyone can come up with a good name for this notorious gull, it
would probably be someone on this List.

CC: Perhaps someone could also suggest an appropriate name for the family
of tawny owls, as portrayed on Athenian coins.

http://kensingtongardensandhydeparkbirds.blogspot.com/

Best regards,
RST

best

Post by Diana Wright
Congratulations, Mr. Hancock!
I am pleased to boast that Ralph is my personal bird consultant, and he
often consoles me for the mortality rate among the crows I tend.
DW

Post by Ricky Torrey
Dear All,
Most of you will be interested and pleased to see C-L anchor Ralph Hancock
in the news!
Many readers are familiar with his daily blog covering birds in Kensington
Gardens and Hyde Park, including the owl depicted on Athenian coins.
http://kensingtongardensandhydeparkbirds.blogspot.com/
As of yesterday, Mr. Hancock has been featured by the BBC and the Daily
Mail due to his discovery of and reporting on a Lesser Black-Backed Gull
who has developed an ingenious method for harvesting Feral Pigeons in Hyde
Park.
http://kensingtongardensandhydeparkbirds.blogspot.com/search?
updated-max=2014-10-09T18:49:00%2B01:00&max-results=7
Daily Mail coverage can be reached at the following link.
http://goo.gl/3LbI1t
Congratulations are due to Mr. Hancock!
Best regards,
RST

[Ralph Hancock]

Well, now that my guilty secret has been disclosed, I'd better point out
that the link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04kztlt
is to a three-hour 'drive time' talk show and I have just three minutes on
it. IUt ran from 1600 to 1900, and I was on for just three minutes at 1757
before the 1800 news headlines, so it would be slightly less than two
thirds of the way through.

My brief moment of dubious glory, missing the first few seconds through
careless editing, can be heard at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p028r4fx

It's the Little Owl on my blog that is the Athenian owl (_Athene noctua_).
The Tawny Owl (_Strix aluco_) is also found in the park, and often appears
in the blog too. The Little Owl's eyes are not the big round discs shown on
Athenian coins, but rather human in shape, with shaggy white eyebrows.I
think that the saucer eyes on the coins were meant to represent its intense
yellow stare.

RH

[Ricky Torrey]

Mea culpa - thanks, Ralph!

Best regards,
RT

Post by Ralph Hancock
Well, now that my guilty secret has been disclosed, I'd better point out
that the link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04kztlt
is to a three-hour 'drive time' talk show and I have just three minutes on
it. IUt ran from 1600 to 1900, and I was on for just three minutes at 1757
before the 1800 news headlines, so it would be slightly less than two
thirds of the way through.
My brief moment of dubious glory, missing the first few seconds through
careless editing, can be heard at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p028r4fx
It's the Little Owl on my blog that is the Athenian owl (_Athene noctua_).
The Tawny Owl (_Strix aluco_) is also found in the park, and often appears
in the blog too. The Little Owl's eyes are not the big round discs shown on
Athenian coins, but rather human in shape, with shaggy white eyebrows.I
think that the saucer eyes on the coins were meant to represent its intense
yellow stare.
RH