They might not see it this way in Essex, but the Australianism ‘coupla’ means ‘about two, give or take one or more’
From: Martin Butterfield [
Sent: Saturday, 21 March 2015 12:47 PM
To: COG List
Subject: [canberrabirds] In Bungendore today
I was visiting the refurbished Bungendore Cultural Centre (BCC) today so checked out the usual damp bits.
I have been questioned about the reference to "a couple" of Plumed Whistling Ducks in a recent post. From my own view "a couple' implies a possibility of "about 2" as well as 2 itself. However in previous correspondence people have pointed out that in fact "a couple" refers to the practise of coupling hounds in pairs and thus means precisely two. Delving further back into my memory of newspaper reports of foxhound meets in rustic Essex the number of slavering beasts present was always given as 'n' couples and if an odd number were in use on a day that became "n and a half couples".
With some difficulty I resist the idea of using 'couple' (or dozen) as my counting unit in what follows.
- At Bungendore Meadow Dam there were at least 143 (ie 1 fewer than a gross) Australian Shelduck; 123 Little Ravens; about 150 Common Starlings; and (boo, hiss) 20 Common Mynas perched on the powerlines.
- Trucking Yard Lane 2 more Shelduck and 61 Plumed Whistling Duck (PWD). Going to the BCC they were quite spread out along the waterline; coming back they had all gathered together into a rather tight group - which initially made me wonder if the numbers had reduced. I am intrigued that they seem to take no heed of the quite noisy activity on the building site across the road.
- The sewage works was quite light on for ducks by the standards of that site. The highlights were 12 Australasian Shovelers and a single Pink-eared Duck.
I did a lap of the Plain on the way home and could not spot any PWD on any of the dams visible from the road.
