For the last three days we have been visited by a black shouldered kite.
http://www.ozanimals.com/Bird/Black-shouldered-Kite/Elanus/axillaris.html
He or she sits in the gum tree behind the gazebo. It sits with its back to us, looking down with an exorcist swivel of the neck...We watch it with the binoculars, mesmerized by it's beauty. It has no partner which is probably not a good sign. David and I stand at the fence for ages admiring it and congratulating each other for having so many trees filled with so many birds in a neighbourhood where trees are considered the enemy. I hope our black shouldered kite visits us for a long while.
Perhaps if we had chickens we might not feel so welcoming. We had two ducks for about ten years and each year a crow would pick off a few of their ducklings. It was a bit traumatic but not as traumatic as when a fox took our ten year old ducks one freezing August night. It was so cold I had brought the dog inside to be warm leaving our ducks unprotected. They say that when a fox dies and their family goes away or dies too, another takes over the territory and a yard that may have been passed over for years and years suddenly becomes a hunting ground. It was horrible.
At the top of our street there is a view of sandstone cliffs and rolling white waves. I always drive slowly to admire the view but today we were treated by the sight of hundreds of Welcome Swallows swarming to feed on insects.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_Swallow
They were swooping low across the grasses, climbing and diving. The air was thick with them so I pulled over and stood amongst them. It reminded me of when we brought our adopted baby son home from Korea and as we stepped along the path to the back door the swallows flew all around us so closely I could feel the draft from their wings. It felt like they were welcoming my beautiful boy. They are Welcome Swallows.
Welcome Kite, Welcome Swallows.
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