Fiddler on the Roof

How do I speak of the ache within?
Of the dagger embedded deep within?
The pain – blank, knowing no beginning nor end
Blissfully unaware of what came before or after
Just a dull ache somewhere deep within

The delicate neck bent over a thought
The back of a head
A smile
A twinkle in the eye
A voiced stréss
Fingers flying over keys
A raised brow and a curved lip

And that stab again
Of pain
Dull and deep
Do I pleasure in my pain?

A day of excess and indulgences
A day of unthirsting for my parched spirit
A day of moistening for the parchment me
Like diamond water droplets
On my shrivelled leaf soul

A strain of inner philharmonic
At its orchestral best;
Creative majestic -
Soul soaring aria
At its chorus happy best...

An inner swirling dervish
At its foot flying best;
Swirling swaying -
Joyous gesturing
At its synchronised best...

A happy harmonious me-ness
At my self-indulgent best!
Here at last! Now I've found, myself at my solitary best!
The bliss of just me and my myness with all my excesses alone...
At my best.
Here at last...after a long long time

And then some...

Bird Records Taken from The Bird Almanac
by David M. Bird, PhD

Have started taking an active interest in birds ever since I moved into my recent house in Gurgaon, where you get to see an amazing batch of avian species; crows and house sparrows being least common around here! So these are just a few amazing birds points I wanted to share:

1) heaviest and tallest bird: ostrich at maximum 156 kg (345 lb) and 2.7 m (9 ft)
2) heaviest flying birth: great bustard at maximum 21 kg (46.3 lb)
3) largest extinct bird: Dromornis stirtoni of Australia at 454 kg (1,000 lb) and 3 m (10 ft)
4) tallest extinct bird: giant moa of New Zealand at 3.7 m (12 ft)
5) greatest wingspan: wandering albatross at up to 3.63 m (11 ft 11 in)
6) greatest wingspan of landbirds: Andean condor and marabou stork tied at 3.2 m (10.5 ft)
7) smallest bird: bee hummingbird at 5.7 cm (2.24 in) and 1.6 g (0.056 oz)
8) smallest flightless bird: inaccessible island rail at 12.5 cm (5 in) and 34.7 g (1.2 oz)
9) longest legs: ostrich longest legs relative to body length: black-winged stilt at 23 cm (9 in), or 60% of its height
10) absolute shortest legs: virtually non-existent in swifts (Apodidae)
11) longest toes relative to body length: northern jacana at 10 cm (4 in)
12) longest bill relative to body length: swordtailed hummingbird at 10.5 cm (4.13 in)
13) absolute longest bill: Australian pelican at 47 cm (18.5 in)
14) fastest-moving bird: diving peregrine falcon at 188 km/h (117 mph)
15) fastest flapping flight: white-throated needle-tailed swift at 170 km/h (106 mph)
16) fastest level-flight. red-breasted merganser at 161 km/h (100 mph)
17) absolute shortest bill: glossy swiftlet at just a few mm
18) largest and fleshiest tongue: flamingo
19) longest tongue relative to body size: wryneck at two-thirds of its body length excluding the tail
20) smallest hearts relative to body size: Central and South American tinamous at 1.6-3. 1 % of body weight
21) longest feathers: onagadori, a domestic strain of red jungle fowl, at 10.59 m (34.75 ft)
22) longest tailfeathers: crested argus pheasant at 173 cm (5.7 ft)
23) longest tail coverts: Indian and green peafowl at 160 cm (5.24 ft)
24) widest tail feathers: crested argus pheasant at 13 cm (5.1 in)
25) longest tail feathers relative to body length: fork-tailed flycatcher at 27 cm (10.75 in)
26) longest primary feathers relative to body length: permant-winged nightjar at 60 cm (2 fit)
27) shortest tails: virtually non-existent in kiwis, emus, rheas, cassowaries
28) greatest number of feathers: whistling swan at 25,216
29) lowest number of feathers: ruby-throated hummingbird at 940
30) most secondary flight feathers: wandering and royal albatrosses with 40 secondaries and 11 primaries on each wing
31) largest eyeball: ostrich with a diameter of 5 cm (2 in)
32) fastest-moving racing pigeon: 177 km/h (110 mph)
33) slowest-flying bird: American woodcock at 8 km/h (5 mph)
34) fastest wingbeat: hummingbirds, e.g., amethyst woodstar and horned sungem, at 90/sec
35) slowest wingbeat: vultures at 1/sec
36) longest soaring bird: albatrosses and condors
37) smallest soaring bird: swift
38) highest flying bird: Ruppell's griffon vulture at 11,274 in (7 mi)
39) most aerial bird: sooty terns at 3 to 10 years without landing
40) most aerial landbird: common swift at 3 years without landing
41) longest two-way migration: Arctic tern at 40,200 km (25,000 miles)
42) longest migration (assuming a coastal route): common tern at 26,000 km ( 16,210 miles) in January 1997
43) most aquatic bird: penguins with 75% of their lives spend in the sea
44) keenest sense of smell: kiwis
45) keenest sense of hearing: barn owl
46) keenest eyesight: diurnal raptors with 1 million cones per sq. mm in the retinal fovea
47) best light-gathering capacity at night: owls, e.g., tawny owl
48) greatest G-force (acceleration due to gravity): beak of red-headed woodpecker hitting bark at 20.9 km/h (13 mph)
49) highest daily frequency of pecking: 12,000 times by black woodpecker
50) most intelligent bird: African gray parrot, crows, "bait-fishing" green and striated herons
51) most talkative bird: African gray parrot with a vocabulary of 800 words
52) birds that use echolocation: cave swiftlets and oilbirds
53) largest recorded nesting bird colony: 136 million passenger pigeon nesting in an area in Wisconsin covering 1,942 sq km (750 sq mi)
54) most abundant bird: red-billed quelea at up to 10 billion
55) fastest running bird: ostrich at 97.5 km/h (60 mph)
56) fastest running flying bird: greater roadrunner at 42 km/h (26 mph)
57) fastest underwater swimming bird: gentoo penguin at 36 km/h (22.3 mph)
58) deepest dive for non-flying bird: emperor penguin at 540 m (1,772 ft)
59) deepest dive for a flying bird: thick-billed murre at 2 10 m (689 ft)
60) deepest dive for a flying bird under 210 g: Peruvian diving petrel at 83 m (272 ft)
61) longest submerged: emperor penguin at 18 minutes
62) greatest weight-carrying capacity: bald eagle lifting a 6.8 kg (15 lb) mule deer
63) greatest hibernator: poorwill with body temperature lowered to 18-20 degrees C (64.4-68 degrees F)
64) greatest bird mimic: marsh warbler with up to 84 songs
65) most songs Sung per unit time. 22,197 in 10 hours by a red-eyed vireo
66) coldest temperature regularly endured by a bird: average temperatures of -45.6 degrees C (-50 degrees F) for emperor penguins
67) coldest temperature endured by a bird: -62.5 degrees C (-80.5 degrees F) by snowy owl
68) coldest temperature of land where a bird has been recorded: -89.6 degrees C (-129 degrees F) in Vostok, Russia for south polar skua
69) warmest temperature regularly endured by a bird: larks and wheatears at 44-45 degrees C (111-113 degrees F)
70) lowest altitude for nesting: little green beeeater at 400 m (1,307 ft) below sea-level in the Dead Sea
71) longest fasting period: 134 days for incubating male emperor penguins
72) most northerly nesting bird: ivory gull at edge of pack ice in Arctic Circle
73) largest ground nest: dusky scrubfowl nest at 11 m (36 ft) wide and 4.9 m (16 ft) high with over 2,700 kg (300 tons) of forest floor litter
74) largest tree nest: bald eagle in Florida at 6.1 m (20 ft) deep, 2.9 m (9.5 ft) wide, and weighing 2,722 kg (almost 3 tons)
75) largest social nest: African social weavers with a 100-chamber nest structure 8.2 m (27 ft) in length and 1.8 m (6 ft) high
76) largest roofed nest: hamerkop at 2 m (6.5 ft) wide and 2 m (6.5 ft) deep
77) longest nest burrow: rhinoceros auklet at 8 m (26 ft)
78) highest tree nest: marbled murrelet at 45 m (148 ft)
79) smallest nest: Cuban bee and Vervain hummingbirds at 1.98 cm (0.78 in) in breadth and 1.98 - 3.0 cm (0.78 - 1.2 in) deep
80) foulest smelling nest: Eurasian hoopoe
81) greatest number of sperm storage tubules: turkey at 20,000
82) greatest longevity of sperm inside a female: turkey at 42 days
83) largest egg: ostrich measuring 17.8 by 14 cm (7 by 4.5 in)
84) largest egg laid by a passerine: 5 7 g (2 oz) by Australian lyrebirds
85) largest egg laid relative to body weight: little spotted kiwi at 26%
86) smallest egg laid relative to body weight: ostrich egg at 1.5%
87) smallest egg: West Indian vervain humming bird at 10 mm (0.39 in) in length and 0.375 g (0.0132 oz)
87) largest collection of bird skins: British Museum of Natural History with 1.25 million
88) most valuable bird: 8 billion domestic chickens produce 562 billion eggs annually
89) most valuable nest: gray-rumped swiftlet for bird's nest soup
90) roundest eggs: owls, tinamous
91) longest interval between eggs laid: maleo at 1012 day intervals
92) largest clutch laid by a nidicolous species: 19 eggs laid by a European blue tit
93) largest clutch laid by a nidifugous species: 28 by a bobwhite quail
94) largest average clutch size: 15-19 by a gray partridge
95) smallest clutch size: 1 egg laid every 2 years by albatrosses
96) greatest number of eggs laid consecutively: 146 by a mallard
97) longest uninterrupted incubation period: emperor penguin at 64-67 days
98) longest interrupted incubation period: wandering albatross and brown kiwi at 85 days
99) longest incubation period by a passerine species: 50 days for Australian lyrebird
100) shortest incubation period: 11 days by small passerines
101) longest fledging period of flying birds: wandering albatross at 278 days
102) greatest number of broods raised in one year: 21 by zebra finch
pair
103) fastest to breeding maturity: common quail at 5 weeks
104) slowest to breeding maturity: royal and wandering albatrosses at 6-10 years
105) longest-lived wild bird: royal albatross at over 58 years
106) longest-lived captive bird: sulfur-crested cockatoo at over 80 years
107) largest domesticated bird: ostrich
108) earliest domesticated bird: jungle fowl at 3200 BC
109) heaviest domestic turkey: 37 kg (81 lb)
110) country with the most endangered birds: Indonesia with 126 (Brazil second with 121)
122) country with the highest percentage of its bird species endangered: New Zealand with 30%
123) country with the most introduced species: United States (Hawaii) with 68
124) most recent species of bird to be declared extinct: flightless Atitlan grebe of Guatemala in 1984
125) rarest bird in the world: ivory-billed woodpecker, Jerdon's courser
126) highest price paid for a bird book: $3.96 million (U.S.) for a set of John James Audubon's The Birds of America in 1989
127) highest price paid for a mounted bird: 9,000 British pounds for an extinct great auk by the Natural History Museum of Iceland on 1971
128) highest price paid for a live bird. 41,000 British pounds for a racing pigeon named Peter Pau in 1986
129) highest price paid for a caged bird. 5,000 British pounds for a hyacinth macaw
130) highest price paid for an eggs: 1,000 British pounds for an egg of extinct Aepyornis maximus