Microcosmic

  There are a lot of really excellent bird photos on the internet. I've got to say though - it's been done to death. People are getting bored with them now and are clamouring for photos of where birds WERE, not where they ARE. So here's a photograph of where a Yellowhammer (Emberiza non-citrinella) was before it flew off. I'm rather proud of the total lack of bird, no feathers whatsoever in detail - glorious or otherwise. I feel I've captured the very essence of its absence. Its 'gone-ness' if you like. A lack is so profound it seems to infuse everything around it with total not-thereness. (if you're unable to make out where it isn't - it's not on the post in the middle) Bird photographers ask yourselves, do you really want to be part of the problem - or are you going to be part of the solution? #wherebirdswere

The world, the universe, is full to the brim with wonders. The most amazing of all, to my mind, is one that everyone has access to every morning as soon as they wake up - consciousness. It's a puzzle that continues to baffle science. How does matter come together in such a way that suddenly the 'lights are on'. How does the collection of atoms in our brains become aware - so that it's 'like something' to be us. And just what *is* a sensation? Take the sensations of hearing a bird singing. The physics and biology of the process are well known. The bird uses energy - originally from the sun - to move the muscles in its vocal organ - this in turn moves air molecules. Some of these enter our ear, vibrating the eardrum and causing nerve impulses to be sent to the brain where they are interpreted - sensed as bird song *Sensed as bird song* - this final part is where the "miracle" happens. Just what is the birdsongness of bird song, the gree