Birds of a Feather

Whoosh! Busy morning! And afternoon!

Took a mini 5-day vacation --- now I don’t know about you, but whenever I take an impromptu time off, I find that when I come back I have lots of bits and pieces to get done. That’s what this morning was about, errands.

The actual number of errands was not all that many; it’s just that the distances between them took up the morning and a good part of the afternoon. I am not complaining though. I take the opportunity whilst driving to listen to good music, tune in to a radio talk show, or … just think. Driving affords me uninterrupted personal enjoyment in my own private theatre: the car.

In no particular order, today so far:

The Miracle on the Hudson: Birds seemed to have factored prominently today. First on the news, a US Airlines flight that had an ummm… midair collision with a flock of birds on take off. The birds got sucked up by the engines – this happens with annoying regularity – and this disabled both of the engines rendering the aircraft engineless. The pilot did an admirable job of guiding the aircraft over the Hudson River and safely landing it, with all 155 passengers and crew reported safe.

Ordinarily a lone small bird causes little to no trouble, but this was a whole flock of them and they were no ordinary birds either, oh noooooooo … they were Canada Geese, arguably one of the largest of flight birds we know. Now its time these birds got some smarts. They would be better off if they stopped hanging around airports, and what are they doing in New York in the cold of winter anyway? By now they should have all migrated to warmer climates, well at least to Florida where they could be enjoying the life of riley on the golf courses … oh, they’re not welcome there either?

Swan Lake: Also today, one hundred and fourteen years ago, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake premiered in St. Petersburg. Let’s see, that would have made it January 15, 1894! I heard this on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation FM Radio – CBC, and got to hear a portion of that composition. Alas, the ballet had to be imagined. But I love Swan Lake. I was introduced to this ballet whilst still a young girl living in Japan. One of my dad’s business associates who lived in the country loved ballet so much that every time there was a performance by an acclaimed troupe, he would take the full day train ride from Bessho Onsen to Yokohama so that he could attend. He always stayed with us. I always got to attend the ballets. The iconic Swan Lake was my introduction this beautiful form of dance.

Eagles: Much of the area that I live in is surrounded by farmland; it is also on the migratory path for many birds. Yes, we have lots of Canada Geese here, but to be honest they have become a permanent fixture because of the mild (usually)winter climate, they do rather well hanging out on farmland, the many parks that we have, and the odd bird sanctuary . They have no shame and will accost you if they think there might be some grain in the palm of your hand or in your coat pocket. Truly, they are shameless, like a band of bandits.

But today I saw eagles. Bald Headed eagles. Lots of them.

Once again it is not unusual to see eagles here, but today the sightings were so many that I began to count them. They were mostly perched on leafless trees alongside the bi-ways on which I drove today. They were easy to spot. Sometimes two or three to a tree, at other times a single bird watched the passing parade of cars beneath. I don’t know what it is about eagles. They are so regal and I get an inexplicable sort of feeling whenever I see one. The feeling is a mixture of wonderment, humbleness and promise. Can’t explain it --- its just a feeling that comes over me. The First Nations believe that an eagle sighting is a good omen. Today, I got good omens in spades!

Yup! It’s going to be a good year!

Quicklinks:
Miracle on the Hudson<
Reifel Bird Sanctuary
Swan Lake - Kirov Ballet 12 minutes
Swan Lake - Bolshoi Ballet 2 minutes.
Bald Eagles