WELCOME TO THE CFZ BLOG NETWORK: COME AND JOIN THE FUN

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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Thursday, July 16, 2015

FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES

What has Corinna's column of Fortean bird news got to do with cryptozoology?

Well, everything, actually!

In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that whereas the study of out-of-place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot or lake monsters, it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean zoologist to be interested in.





THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN (SLIGHT RETURN)

The Gonzo Daily - Thursday
There is an interesting and well argued article about the spate of monarch sightings in Sussex. It also has photographs. Check it out: http://tinyurl.com/opdepl7. Neil Hulme concludes: "Confirmation of several different specimens of Monarch over the last week (including two individuals in Pavilion Gardens in the last two days), within a small area of Brighton, now makes this look increasingly like an inappropriate and irresponsible release. Multiple sightings alone do not preclude a natural origin, but unless they are observed along a wider stretch of coastline, the weight of evidence now counts against them. They may make an impressive sight, but this sort of behaviour cannot be condoned."
With the rapid changes in the climate and other factors the zoogeography of Europe is changing far more rapidly than most people believe. There are now at least two species of asceplias commonly on sale in the UK by the cheapo cheapo garden centres attached to supermarkets, and as the monarch is known for aggressively colonising new territories, and - despite its best known attribute - forming non migratory populations, I think that it is almost certain that they will end up as British residents sooner or later. This is fascinating stuff to the Fortean Zoologist who can see beyond bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster etc.
Whilst on the subject of British mystery animals there are some excellent photographs of a pine marten in Shropshire in today's Guardian. http://tinyurl.com/ojfsumn . However the story that goes with it, and the headline "Pine marten spotted in England for the first time in over 100 years" is complete nonsense. The very same paper proclaimed "Pine martens make comeback in UK after leading a secret life for decades" http://tinyurl.com/ohnvp27 , following a high profile report from Natural England,  five years ago. And kudos to yours truly - I predicted all this (the existence of relict populations of pine martens not the lazy journalism of The Guardian) nineteen years ago in my book 'The Smaller Mystery Carnivores of the Westcountry', so there.
And as I am scattering Tiny URLs around with gay abandon today, you can buy the book here: http://preview.tinyurl.com/p9xzgq3
The Gonzo Weekly #138
www.gonzoweekly.com
Galahad, Genesis, Paradise 9, Grateful Dead, Glasto, Lotus Eaters, Roy Weard, Dogwatch, That Legendary Wooden Lion, Hawkwind, Jon Anderson, and Yes fans had better look out!
The latest issue of Gonzo Weekly (#138) is available to read at www.gonzoweekly.com, and to download at http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/. It has Galahad on the front cover together with an interview with Stu Nicholson inside. Doug looks at the new Genesis iPad app, John B-G watches the final Grateful Dead show, while John H watches Glasto. There is an interview with Gregg from Paradise 9 and Jon examines a book about Anonymous. Xtul are very near to a climax. Thom waxes all poetical like, whilst the legendary Roy Weard continues his regular column. And there is a radio show from M Destiny at Friday Night Progressive, and one from those jolly nice chaps at Strange Fruit. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and spotted quolls with nothing to lose (OK, nothing to do with small marsupials in a devil may care mood, but I got carried away with things that rhymed with OOOOS) than you can shake a stick at. And the best part is IT's ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!
This issue features:

Sir Paul McCartney, Brian May, Keith Richards, Madonna, Richard Hawley, Rolling Stones, Barbara Dickson, Val Doonican, The Beatles, Galahad, Mirror System, Steve Hillage, Strange Fruit, Friday Night Progressive, Omar Sharif, Michael Masser, Camille Bob, Third Ear Band, Arthur Brown, Inner City Unit, Hugh Hopper, Pete Sears, Captain Beefheart, Brand X, Genesis, Armando Gallo, Paradise 9, Lee Walker, The Lotus Eaters, John Brodie-Good, The Grateful Dead, John Haylock, Glastonbury Festival 2015, Roy Weard, Hawkwind, Yes, Rick Wakeman, Trevor Rabin, Elton John, Chris Squire, Anonymous, Xtul, Elvis Presley, Corey Taylor, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Elton John, Alice Cooper, Neil Nixon, Awesome Colour, TrollfesT

Read the previous few issues of Gonzo Weekly:

Issue 137 (Chris Squire cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo135.html
Issue 136 (Neil Nixon cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo135.html
Issue 135 (FNP cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo135.html
Issue 134 (John Shuttleworth cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo134.html
Issue 133 (Liz Lenten cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo133.html
Issue 132 (Daevid in Brazil cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo132.html
Issue 131 (Boomtown Rats cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo131.html
Issue 130 (David Peel cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo130.html
Issue 129 (Clepsydra cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo129.html
Issue 128 (Louie Louie cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo128.html
Issue 127 (Roy Weard cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo127.html
Issue 126 (Atkins-May Project cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo126.html
Issue 125 (Mick Abrahams cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo125.html
Issue 124 (Karnataka cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo124.html
Issue 123 (Cream cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo123.html
Issue 122 (Anthony Phillips cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo122.html
Issue 121 (Annie Haslam cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo121.html
Issue 120 (Frank Zappa cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo120.html
Issue 119 (Eliza Carthy cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo119.html
Issue 118 (Dave Brock cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo118.html
Issue 117 (Daevid Allen cover)
http://www.flipsnack.com/9FE5CEE9E8C/gonzo117.html
All issues from #70 can be downloaded at www.gonzoweekly.com if you prefer. If you have problems downloading, just email me and I will add you to the Gonzo Weekly dropbox. The first 69 issues are archived there as well. Information is power chaps, we have to share it!
You can download the magazine in pdf form HERE:
http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/
* The Gonzo Daily is a two way process. If you have any news or want to write for us, please contact me at jon@eclipse.co.uk. If you are an artist and want to showcase your work, or even just say hello please write to me at gonzo@cfz.org.uk. Please copy, paste and spread the word about this magazine as widely as possible. We need people to read us in order to grow, and as soon as it is viable we shall be invading more traditional magaziney areas. Join in the fun, spread the word, and maybe if we all chant loud enough we CAN stop it raining. See you tomorrow...
* The Gonzo Daily is - as the name implies - a daily online magazine (mostly) about artists connected to the Gonzo Multimedia group of companies. But it also has other stuff as and when the editor feels like it. The same team also do a weekly newsletter called - imaginatively - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link: www.gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/…/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit
* We should probably mention here, that some of our posts are links to things we have found on the internet that we think are of interest. We are not responsible for spelling or factual errors in other people's websites. Honest guv!
* Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures (and several others) is an old hippy of 55 who - together with an infantile orange cat named after a song by Frank Zappa, and a small kitten totally coincidentally named after one of the Manson Family, purely because she squeaks, puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish, and sometimes a small Indian frog. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the infantile orange cat, and the adventurous kitten?

NESSIENEWS (Caveat Lector)



The Australian (blog)

Mr Cameron said that he was an “absolute” believer in the Loch Ness monster and knew “too many genuine people — a solicitor, a local farmer, ...

NEWS FROM NOWHERE - Thursday

ON THIS DAY IN 1829 - The "Siamese twins," Chang and Eng Bunker, arrived in Boston, MA. They had come to the Western world to be exhibited. They were 18 years old and joined at the waist. 
And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk

  • Beachgoers help rescue stranded great white shark
  • Mysterious black leopards finally reveal their spo...
  • Iguana captive breeding program in Fiji posts firs...
  • EU bans import of elephant tusks as hunting trophi...

  • Bees infected with common gut parasite work less a...

  • AND TO WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK... (Music that may have some relevance to items also on this page, or may just reflect my mood on the day)