The Birds of Kent

The 12-12-12 certainly will be memorable as being one of the hardest frosts I can remember, but that said what a beautiful white blanket nature chose to cover her domain with, yes, nature can be cruel but, she can also be an outstanding artist as we witnessed yesterday, I was hoping that today would bring about an action replay but alas not.

Christmas is nearly upon us and not too far off a new year, but before that occurs we have to get over the Christmas two days of mayhem and over indulgence, which brings me round nicely to Christmas dinner, and the unfortunate bird we choose, in Dickens time it would have been a Goose but these modern times Turkey seems to be the preferred choice.

Turkeys are somewhat amusing birds, and as baby Jesus was arriving in the stable some 2000 years ago, the wild turkeys of South America (one of only two species in the world) were being domesticated by the Aztecs Mayans and other tribes of Indians. The Spanish introduced the domestic turkey to Europe in the 16^th Century, we then took the turkey back across the Atlantic to North America at a time of the Irish and Scottish land clearances who, among others migrated to the New World taking livestock goods and chattels, to where the second turkey species is domiciled, there domestic potential not being realised.

Up until the 19^th century and prior to intensive battery farming of turkey’s  the delicacy on our dinner tables, would have been the bird of that time, the Goose.