birding-aus

Pleasure at the tip

To: Bill Watson <>, birding aus <>
Subject: Pleasure at the tip
From: Alan McBride <>
Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2006 18:00:01 +1100
Just in case no one else is as old as Bill,  :-)

you may be interested in the explanation below:

chain (ch)
a unit of distance formerly used by surveyors. The traditional British surveyor's chain, also called Gunter's chain because it was introduced by the English mathematician Edmund Gunter (1581-1626) in 1620, is 4 rods long: that's equal to exactly 1/80 mile, 1/10 furlong, 22 yards, or 66 feet (20.1168 meters). The traditional length of a cricket pitch is 1 chain. Gunter's chain has the useful property that an acre is exactly 10 square chains. The chain was divided into 100 links. American surveyors sometimes used a longer chain of 100 feet, known as the engineer's chain or Ramsden's chain. (However, Gunter's chain is also used in the U.S.; in fact, it is an important unit in the Public Lands Survey System.) In Texas, the vara chain of 2 varas (55.556 ft) was used in surveying Spanish land grants. In the metric world, surveyors often use a chain of 20 meters (65.617 ft).

For anyone wishing to explore further units of measurement:

http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/

Cheers

Alan

*******************************************
Alan McBride
Birding Guide +
http://web.mac.com/amcbride1

P Please consider the environment before printing my email

Tel:           + 61 2 9973 3141
Mob:       + 61 419 414 860
Fax:         + 61 2 9973 2306

This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this e-mail in error please notify the sender. This e-mail is also subject to copyright. No part of it should be reproduced, adapted or transmitted without the prior written consent of the copyright owner.
********************************************



On 22/03/06 16:21, "WILLIAM WATSON" <> wrote:

A Black Falcon, thrilling in its beauty and menace, was at the Albury "Landfill" area (ie tip) this afternoon. I saw it flying about as I drove up. Having stopped and got out, about a chain from the entry collection point, I thought that I owed the attendant an explanation and a share of the pleasure.

"See that. It's a Black Falcon."   I could tell that he appreciated the information, as he kept grinning. I kept grinning too, as Falco started to swoop on a flock of starlings, sending them, as a unit, straight into one of the few trees in that desolation.

Albury tip is generally a good place for Black Kites. Musing on these two hawks I recall an occasion in Werribee SF with the great Fred Smith, when a Black Falcon seized, and shook, a Black Kite above our heads. Feathers rained down on us.

Bill Watson  


<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU