Tag Archives: Mark Cocker

“Ju-Ju” markets and birds in African magico-medicinal use

December 14, 2008 – 8:04 pm

These market stalls contain “an assembly of skulls and skins arranged in a powerful, if often rather disturbing, display that can include horse and hyena heads, crocodiles, dried snakes and monkey skulls. The presence of so much decomposing flesh, crudely preserved with only ash or salt, makes for a very unhealthy background odour and a super-abundance of flies.

By Bob Gosford | Posted in Birds, Birds and people, Ethnoornithology | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Bird of the Week – the Magpie Lark Grallina cyanoleuca and love for the common birds

November 12, 2008 – 9:14 pm

This is a story about the ordinary and how easily we can slip from appreciating the beauty in those things we see every day or that we are told are pests and how we elevate our regard for the rare over the commonplace.
The Magpie Lark Grallina cyanoleuca is one of our most common birds, found [...]

By Bob Gosford | Posted in Birds, Birds and people, Uncategorized, Yuendumu | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (6)

Birdwatching as a death hazard…

October 10, 2008 – 1:38 pm

The recent news that an (unnamed as yet) birdwatcher had been found dead in the remote Kimberley, a few kilometres from his bogged vehicle and metres away from an empty water-bottle and his make-shift humpy, reminded me of the dangers that can accompany this most, apparently, benign of occupations.
The Brisbane Times reports:
Police are yet to [...]

By Bob Gosford | Posted in Birds, Birds and people | Also tagged , | Comments (2)