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Tongue may be in cheek, but it's all true!

What time of year was it, Anya? Not the mating season, obviously, because they are black-headed then!

I do think it strange when dog owners are picking up dog poo next to piles of horse manure on the Valley railway.
I remember in York they tried horse nappies for the horses pulling the carriages. I do not think it lasted long.
Horse owners take their horses back to the stables and spend hours cleaning them down, but are never prepared to go out and clear up after their horses. Why not? Should they be made to?

No, they never have black heads Jen they gave very dark brown heads in the mating season and a very dark brown spot on the side of the head at other times.

Of course horse owners shouldn't be required to pick up horse droppings.

It's just chewed up grasses.

Messy chewed up grass when it rains, though. At least it's big enough to avoid on the Valley railway.

The gulls that flew past me today certainly looked like they had black heads. Must be the mating season. Couldn't get close enough to see if it was very dark brown or black.

Horse manure is vegetarian manure, it doesn't smell as bad as carnivore manure.

You have to sneak up on them jen

Have to do a bit more exercise and get faster and more cunning, Anya.
Not got long, though, because they'll lose their black heads.

My manure is vegetarian, Elegran, but I haven't got a sense of smell, so I do not know if it smells less than a carnivores. Actually, not many carnivores use my toilet, either.

Their brown heads Jen

Did you lose your sense of smell or have you never had one? I can imagine that lack would be useful in some occupations.

Never had one as far as I know, Anya. It has been suggested that when I had an arrow in my eye which damaged the optic nerve, the olfactory nerve was damaged too. Apparently they are quite close. That was on my fifth birthday. I can taste food okay, but not smell it, which was fortunate when I had a vegetarian cafe.

A couple of weeks ago, I took a photo of what I thought was a black- headed gull flying over the sheep in the field at the back of my house. Imagine my surprise when I enlarged it and discovered it was a heron flying away from me, not the black-headed gull.

My Cairn is getting very upset by this discussion. His toilet arrangements are really something he would rather not discuss.

In the days when butchers and bakers delivered by horse drawn cart, my Dad used to rush out with a shovel and collect the manure for the garden.

Tell him to stop reading, whitewave.

Have you asked him what he thinks about stepping in horse manure when you take him out for a walk?

It's easy to mistake a heron for the erroneously named black- headed gull Jen especially if you are colour blind

Whitewave is that the famous tortoise crunching Cairn?

Not colour blind, just blind in one eye, although my husband and I used to argue about blues and greens occasionally. Never about black and brown.

Now if I'd had my binoculars, I would have been able to tell at the time, but I only had a camera.

Do you really need binoculars then Jen ?

I have a friend who is blind in one eye. She has a monocular instead of binolculars- says it takes up less space in her handbag and cost less.

I do have a monocular as well, but it's not as powerful as the binoculars. When I am out with the family it means they can use the binoculars.
Unfortunately I was on my own when I saw the heron. Otherwise my son would have been able to tell me it was not a black headed gull.

Or not'as the case may be!

My monocular is not as easily adjustable, and sometimes gives coloured halos round objects, so that would make it even more difficult to tell the black headed gull from the heron when it's flying away from me.

Sounds as though it's easier to take photos, and surprise yourself when you enlarge them!