Noel's Adventure(s): April 4: I Feed the Birds

Class was boring but the day was just beautiful, so I set out for Hyde Park in the afternoon with a breadbag full of crushed up tidbits for the pigeons. I laid down little handfulls of crumbs to all the pigeons I saw in the gardens. They're just such fun to watch. Everyone else seems to hate them but I think they're pretty. Some of them are really amazingly pretty, especially the ones that have iridescent feathers that shine in the sun. After hearing almost constant complaints and threats to the birds from my flatmates, it was really nice to get out and be able to just enjoy feeding the birds without being judged. Anyway, I don't see why everyone gets so worked up about the "flying rats." They are a heck of a lot cleaner than most people I know and probably smarter. Plus, they always manage to poop on the people who hate them most, which just makes me giggle. I like pigeons.

I found a bench tucked away in a nice big yew tree, surrounded by some really pretty wallflowers and a lovely camellia. I started throwing my hand fulls of crumbs and the first bird to show up was one of the big, wild wood pigeons that I love watching. They're very different from the usual rock pigeons, and are much bigger and heftier. They're a lighter gray than most of the common pigeons, with a white crescent around their neck and a rosy-ish breast. They are much, much, much shier than the rock pigeons, and usually I don't see them come in for crumbs until after all people have left so I was pretty excited to have found myself one. I had soon gathered a pretty good sized flock. There were probably around a dozen rock pigeons plus my wood pigeon who showed up for the handout. Most were the dark gray normal color that I love, but a few had some white splashes, and one had clean white freckles all around his neck. The wood pigeon decided he definitely did not like the rock pigeons so to keep the peace I would toss him the big pieces a little ways away so he could eat in peace. As I was watching my flock eat, feeling smug and satisfied in the little nook in the yew surrounded by cooing and pecking, I spotted a little flash in the center of the tree to my right. A little European Robin was hopping around in the darkness at the center of the tree, watching me with interest. I smushed some crumbs really fine and set them on the seat next to me, not expecting anything, but the little bird hopped on over and grabbed the biggest crumb and proceeded to munch it! He stuck around, too, singing and chirping little robin noises in the tree next to me, occasionally stopping by for a quick bite. I was in absolute heaven.

After awhile, I left the pigeons and the robin to their scavengings and took a little walk around the garden area, looking at all the pretty signs of spring. The daffodils and magnolias and camellia's are all almost done blooming, which seems crazy. I can't believe it's so late in the season here! The leaves on the trees are getting bigger and greener every day. I decided to swing by my pigeon-feeding spot on my return walk, and they were still there, pecking away, so I tossed them the last of the crumbs so they could go nuts. Just as I was about to leave, I saw my little robin, who I have named "Kevin," lurking in the yew, so I set some of the little crumblies left in the bag on the top of the bench, and he flew right down and started pigging out, like Maggie does with oreos. After he had filled up, he fluffed his orange feathers and started singing, with the contented pigeons cooing along. What an absolutely perfect afternoon!

Oh, yeah, and the most exciting part of the whole day: I found a blooming lilac!!!!!!!!!!!!!