'Shoogling' swallows.

A gulp of swallows land in the mud by the stream. They settle down, 'shoogle' their backsides in the mud,  then take off again. They repeat this behaviour over and over. It must be a way of cleaning their wings or their belly feathers. I've seen  swallows  swoop low and drink from our swimming pool in Italy and watched them play with young PONs in the rose garden in Scotland but I've never seen them take a mud bath before. Sadly, the i-Phone camera can't do justice to their pirouetting.

An expensive TORO irrigation system is being installed on the grass in front of the Royal and Ancient Clubhouse. Further down the road a small tractor towing a water tank is helping the gardeners douse the chapels flower troughs. Until recently the idea of irrigation systems or water tanks would have been considered ludicrous in these rain acquainted latitudes. Climate change seems to be something that everyone wants to forget but the signs are there.

As if to disprove my worries about climate change it's raining by the time we make it back home. The poppies on the farm track looking rather battered after the brief but hearty downpour.

A writer in the LRB has suggested that dogs align themselves with magnetic fields before they poo. A reader ( clearly a  sensible dog owner ) sends in a letter which points out that this claim is abject nonsense.

'The Font' has started to read this book about the source of language and how one small, insignificant language had its ' Big bang' moment and went global.

Monday morning ramblings :

Vitamin D for ageing bones :https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/student-contributors-health-and-nutrition/hard-facts-what-you-didnt-know-about-bone-health-should

A partial remedy for climate change :https://theconversation.com/how-seaweed-is-a-powerful-yet-surprising-climate-solution-251195

The other hand :https://www.insidehook.com/wellness/cognitive-benefits-using-non-dominant-hand

What a small world. The Swiss owners of a fish restaurant in Ballater in the Highlands have new outposts in Washington :https://fishshopdc.com/ and in NY :https://manuela-nyc.com/journal/about-us/