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Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified cryptozoology in his book On the Track of Unknown Animals.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are still on the track, and have been since 1992. But as if chasing unknown animals wasn't enough, we are involved in education, conservation, and good old-fashioned natural history! We already have three journals, the largest cryptozoological publishing house in the world, CFZtv, and the largest cryptozoological conference in the English-speaking world, but in January 2009 someone suggested that we started a daily online magazine! The CFZ bloggo is a collaborative effort by a coalition of members, friends, and supporters of the CFZ, and covers all the subjects with which we deal, with a smattering of music, high strangeness and surreal humour to make up the mix.

It is edited by CFZ Director Jon Downes, and subbed by the lovely Lizzy Bitakara'mire (formerly Clancy), scourge of improper syntax. The daily newsblog is edited by Corinna Downes, head administratrix of the CFZ, and the indexing is done by Lee Canty and Kathy Imbriani. There is regular news from the CFZ Mystery Cat study group, and regular fortean bird news from 'The Watcher of the Skies'. Regular bloggers include Dr Karl Shuker, Dale Drinnon, Richard Muirhead and Richard Freeman.The CFZ bloggo is updated daily, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Come and join us...

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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

INDEXING: May 2009

http://cryptozoology-bloggodex.blogspot.com/2011/12/2009-general-cryptozoology.html

The indexes for May 2009 are now online. Many thanks to Lee Canty for all of his hard work. If there is anyone who wants to help with this immensely important project please drop me an email..

MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: HILL OF THE PIXIES PART TWO

Continuing from my previous blog on the Hill of The Pixies in Macclesfield from Doug Pickford`s book:

“ ..I have referred in previous books to other beliefs in fairies that abounded around Macclesfield, and reported on the sighting of one such creature early in the 20th century at Wincle, but since then I have come across another sighting of those small people who once occupied the area around Pex Hill, although this time it was at Hurdsfield. The story goes like this. At one time the Britannia Inn at Hurdsfield was a private school for girls and, according to the Macclesfield Courier of 1816, it was also the sight where three girls( it is not clear whether they were pupils of the school or not) witnessed a strange event that was reported to the local constabulary.

The girls were Mary Cope, Mary Hulley and Rosalinda Gordon, who, it was related, were walking towards Rainow at about 6pm on a Thursday evening in May. For some reason they sat on the wall of a garden opposite the school and one, Mary Cope, shouted for others to look at `that strange rabbit in among the seedlings`. They did so and were amazed at what they saw: a group of small people, no larger than rabbits.` There were 13 of these small people, and they were holding hands while dancing in a circle. The girls watched in amazement until the other Mary shouted something which startled them and they all scampered away. The trio ran away and came across the local sergeant and related their sighting to him. What action he took is not reported".
(1)

1. D. Pickford Macclesfield Mysterious and Macabre p. 185.


HOAGY CARMICHAEL/GEORGE HARRISON


HONG KONG BLUES

Its the story of a very unfortunate coloured man
Who got arrested down in old hong kong
He got twenty years privilege taken away from him
When he kicked old buddhas gong

And now hes poppin the piano just to raise the
Price
Of a ticket to the land of the free
Well, he says his homes in frisco where they
Send the rice
But its really in tennessee

Thats why he says
I need someone to love me
Need somebody to carry me home to san
Francisco
And bury my body there
I need someone to lend me a fifty-dollar bill
And then
Ill leave hong kong far behind me
For happiness once again

Wont somebody believe
Ive a yen to see that bay again
Everytime I try to leave
Sweet opium wont let me fly away
I need someone to love me
Need somebody to carry me home to san
Francisco
And bury my body there

Thats the story of a very unfortunate coloured man
Who got arrested down in old hong

kong
He got twenty years privilege taken away from him
When he kicked old buddhas gong

Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/g/george_harrison

CORINNA POINTED THIS ONE OUT





DIVERSIONARY FEEDING

I am always interested to read about new and alternative conservation strategies. This is one I had never heard of before, but with a little imagination, one can imagine a whole plethora of alternative uses...

Diversionary feeding means providing alternative food, such as carrion, to hen harriers during the two to three months when they are breeding so that they kill fewer red grouse chicks. A short video showing diversionary feeding can be seen here (with thanks to Making the Most of Moorlands).

Preliminary trials carried out at Langholm during 1998 and 1999 showed that the number of grouse chicks taken back to harrier nests could be reduced by up to 86%.However, there was no measurable increase in grouse stock during these years.

Read on...

BURGUNDY - GLASS HALF FULL? OR HALF EMPTY?

A very interesting and thought-provoking article on the decline of one of Britain's rarest butterflies - The Duke of Burgundy...

http://markavery.info/2011/12/12/burgundy-glass-empty/

The Duke of Burgundy is a fussy species – but we shouldn’t blame it for that – requiring, as it does, that its grassland habitat is not too shaded and not too heavily grazed either. But it isn’t fussy about its food plants; primroses and cowslips are perfectly acceptable and there are plenty of both around still. But you can see that it needs someone looking out for it on the sites that it still inhabits to make sure that grazing levels are maintained in the region that it requires. This is the type of species that won’t be conserved by broad-brush approaches – it needs someone who understands its needs advising on its remaining sites so that the right conditions are provided for it. A decade ago this species lived on 108 sites but now it is down to 76.

Read on...

Picture Source=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hamearis_lucina_CH_1.jpg

HAUNTED SKIES: Times (The) 25.11.53


OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1937 the World’s first feature length animated film, Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs, premiered.

And now the news:

After Century's Absence, Seabirds' Return Surprise...
Pygmy hippo caught on camera in Liberia
Nitrogen from Humans Pollutes Remote Lakes for Mor...
Russia bans imports of Canadian seal products
Dingo baby case that divided a nation could be clo...
Titanosaur bone found in Antarctica

Ok, time to sing along! (oh lighten, up it’s nearly Christmas it won’t kill you to have some fun):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaO_klSGuqY

DALE DRINNON: Update on 'Frontiers of Anthropology'


One of the important older postings on this blog has now been reformatted and resubmitted. It is very much more legible this way that it is now.

http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2011/04/origins-and-diffusion-of-patrism-in.html

BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION: Butterflies Bamboozled by 2011’s Weird Weather

The record-breaking weather of 2011 bamboozled our butterflies and moths with many species appearing much earlier and later than in a typical year. The hot, dry spring combined with the second warmest autumn on record saw butterflies on the wing from early March to mid-December.

Threatened species such as the Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Grizzled Skipper benefitted from extended flight periods by emerging weeks ahead of their normal dates as spring temperatures soared. The endangered Black Hairstreak typically emerges in June but was seen in May - the earliest emergence on record, and the Lulworth Skipper, which is restricted to southern Dorset, was also on the wing seven weeks earlier than normal.

Read on...