'While shepherds watched their flocks by night ...', as correctly identified by carollers Kevin W and Steve R. And the bird? This was nailed by Philip, who worked out New Guinea Harpy Eagle
Harpyopsis novaeguineae. The story in brief –
Welcome to the Papua New Guinea highlands where, in view of the number of mission stations, I expect the hills to be alive with Christmas songs. The postage stamp was issued in 1952 and, at the time, was understaffed with shepherds,
showing only one. The official description was ‘Native Shepherd with Flock’. It drew attention to the Edward Hallstrom sheep venture at Nondugl in the Wahgi Valley. This failed in the 1950s and included a live bird of paradise collection that was relocated
to Baiyer River. Harpyopsis is a large forest eagle with strongly barred underparts. The attached Gould lithograph fails to show these. I have found a detail in a published photo taken in 1952 that, I believe, shows Harpyopsis feathers used in traditional
Wahgi Valley headwear. There has been a strong association of eagles with the administrative centre of Mount Hagen, 60km from Nondugl. In the 1960s a street corner (only a few muddy streets then) displayed a bronze eagle taken from the grave site in Madang
District of Kurt von Hagen, an official of the German New Guinea administration. Moreover, a small aviary in the District Commissioner’s garden housed 3-4 sad-looking specimens of Harpyopsis. Today, ‘Hagen Eagles’ is the name of the regional rugby league
team.
-----Original Message-----
From: Canberrabirds <> On Behalf Of Geoffrey Dabb via Canberrabirds
Sent: Friday, 13 December 2024 1:25 PM
To: 'Canberrabirds' <>
Subject: FW: Slightly encrypted Christmas carol
'The First Noel' and 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'. Just one more. Here an additional challenge is to ID the bird. Carols aside, there is quite a background to this particular composition.
-----Original Message-----
From: Canberrabirds <m("lists.canberrabirds.org.au","canberrabirds-bounces");">> On Behalf Of Geoffrey Dabb via Canberrabirds
Sent: Monday, 9 December 2024 8:56 AM
To: Canberrabirds <m("lists.canberrabirds.org.au","canberrabirds");">>
Subject: [Canberrabirds] FW: Slightly encrypted Christmas carol
Well, experts on carols as well as birds. Five correct responses. Isobel C took 20 seconds. 'A weigh (Away) in a manger' To use a seasonal metaphor, I expect my other offerings will also be swatted casually over the square-leg
boundary. Consider these two while I work on something a little more challenging.
-----Original Message-----
From: John Brannan <m("icloud.com","jbbrannan");">>
Sent: Sunday, 8 December 2024 1:30 PM
To: Geoffrey Dabb <m("iinet.net.au","gdabb");">>
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] Slightly encrypted Christmas carol
Away in a manger.
Reminds me of that old question about what you do when you get over the rainbow. Weigh a pie, of course.
Cheers,
John
> On 7 Dec 2024, at 11:53 am, Geoffrey Dabb via Canberrabirds <m("lists.canberrabirds.org.au","canberrabirds");">> wrote:
>
> As a festive season project, as an alternative to hanging up
> decorations, I have compiled a series of illustrations representing, in a slightly encrypted fashion, a dozen or so Christmas carols. A couple of these are bird related so eligible for inflicting on this long-suffering audience.
Try this one. Degree of difficulty – medium.<one.jpg>-- This is the email announcement and discussion list of the Canberra Ornithologists Group.
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