birds – SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR)

UK: “Bewick’s British Birds” – a Classic Masterpiece! (26.5.2026)

25/05/2026 Adrian (釋大道)

Bewick was the son of a farmer from Tyneside (New Castle-Upon-Tyne) yet he became one of Britain’s greatest and most popular engravers of his time – a true master. His farming parents were wealthy enough to have their son educated (instead of working from an early age) so he was fully literate. As he was not properly middle-class (perhaps a well-off peasant-farmer) he did not attend University, but instead became and Engraving Apprentice at Ralph Beilby’s engraving business at aged 14. This apprenticeship lasted seven-years – permitting him to master every aspect of this trade. Indeed, he became an expert in “woodcut printing” which can be dated back to the 1440 printing-press of Johannes Gutenberg. His masterpiece featured here was first published on October 14th, 1797 – although I think later editions were enlarged and improved. We were lucky in that the cover price is £12.99 – but this copy was on sale for just £4.99!

Hampshire East: Visiting the Wonderful Bird World! (24.5.2026)

24/05/2026 Adrian (釋大道)

Yes – we drove from Tilford in deepest darkest Surrey – and entered an entirely different area of England. We passed white-clad cricketers playing on the village green (I love cricket – as my fther taught me the rules when young) – meandered down leafy country-lanes and emerged in Hampshire. These areas are very affluent and the Local Council charge high taxes and spend the money to keep tourism to a trickle and ensure a high standard of living for their citizens. Although London is nearby – these “Home Counties” protect their conservative culture and actively work against mass immigration and multiculturalism. Obviously, this type of social engineering does not extend to birds – which tend to have no respect for conservative political views. Birds evolved from Dinosaurs and can fly anywhere and everywhere.

The Emus Launched a Highly Disciplined Attack1

1932: The Great Emu War – Australia’s Islandlwana? (31.3.2026)

31/03/2026 Adrian (釋大道)

On November 2nd 1932, Major GPW Meredith of the Royal Australian Artillery, together with two soldiers (in a truck), was dispatched with two (Lewis) machine guns and 10,000 rounds of ammunition to address the Emu problem (the battle would last until December 10th 1932). The Emu Army suffered around 986 killed in action – (with numbers of wounded unknown) over a time-period of one month, one week, and one day. Considering the Emus were unarmed and lacked the intellectual ability to foresee their impending doom – these losses are considered “minimal” and something of a strageic defeat for the Australian Army. Yes – the Emu Army, by employing only the advantageous bestowed upon them by evolution through natural selection – it is often believed that the Emu Army inflicted a strategic defeat on the Australians! As the bullets came pouring-in – the massed Emus “scattered” in all directions and ran into the outback where their human pursuers could not venture.

Illustration showing Archaeopteryx in life, including its tertial feathers that would have helped it fly. Credit: Michael Rothman. Click image to enlarge.

US: Ongoing Analysis of – Archaeopteryx Fossil – Continues to Proves Darwin Right! (21.3.2026)

21/03/2026 Adrian (釋大道)

Differences in modern birds

Modern birds evolved shorter upper arm bones and specialized tertial feathers to close this gap.

Remarkably, the Chicago specimen of Archaeopteryx shows it had long tertial feathers too – something unseen in its flightless dinosaur relatives.

“Our specimen is the first Archaeopteryx that was preserved and prepared in such a way that we can see its long tertial feathers,” she noted.

These feathers, absent in closely related non-avian dinosaurs, suggest those creatures couldn’t fly.

“That tells us… Archaeopteryx could,” O’Connor added. “This also adds to evidence that suggests dinosaurs evolved flight more than once – which I think is super exciting.”

State of the Art Sun-Dial - Down House - Kent

Down House: Donning a Bowler Hat & Beard – Charles Darwin Lives! (7.3.2026)

07/03/2026 Adrian (釋大道)

It is a beautiful manor house situated in Kent – with a large garden full of all the natural experiments Darwin developed over many decades – as he slowly but surely correlated the information he had gathered in his youth aboard the HMS Beagle. He further developed all this by closely observing how nature functioned and unfolded in his native England – realising that environmental conditions (natural selection) creates changes in living organisms so a to better enhance the chances of a) survival, and b) reproduction. Whether occurring in South America, the Pacific, or the UK, the evolutionary forces acted in exactly the same way. Of course, what is near at hand to each of us becomes the “familiar” – and what is far away becomes the “unfamiliar”. However, this is just a matter of sensory “immediacy” – the point that Darwin made is that there is a greater principle underlying it all that we, as individuals, must strive to appreciate and understand. As part of this process, myself, Ge, Mei-An, and Kai-Lin all donned bowler hats and fake beards – so that we could – even if only for a moment – become Vharles Darwin!

Honeywood Museum: Charshalton Ponds & Billiard Room! (21.2.2026)

22/02/2026 Adrian (釋大道)

We visited the Honeywood Museum in nearby Carshalton Ponds – as the Staff and Management added a Chinese New Year display to the usual mixture of local history artefacts. We have visited in the past – but I do not recall the impressively “large” Billiard Room which seems to have been converted to a “Snooker Room”. Me and Gee sat and drank a cup of coffee outside the Honeywood Museum – watching the numerous types of birds traverse the surface of the water. I think we entered the Museum probably in the wrong direction – and immediately emerged in the Billiard Room – which seemed to corelate seamlessly with Pond itself. During Victorian times, the well to do, those who owned local business and large country-homes – often could often afford all the lateest scientific devices. The air around the Ponds was fresh and yet mild – a thoroughly invigorating experience!

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