A gigantic thank you to Mary MacDonald for her excellent article—”Adventures in Birding”— published in the Sept. 22 issue, and to Pique for publishing it. Mary wrote this while in the throes of her ongoing battle with cancer, motivated by her resolve to share her thoughts, views and ideas with us.
In it, Mary, without urging, leads us blissfully, through the joys of being alive to nature, and harkens us back to when we took time to listen to nature, marvelling at the melodies of the songbirds that lift our spirits and add bounce to our stride. I wonder how many readers were urged by this excellent prose to get out, sans earbuds, and become alive to the nature that surrounds us. We are fortunate to live in this garden of the Earth where if we cock our ears we can hear the sounds of birds, the calls of squirrels, and the sounds of animals both small and large. And, if you really listen intently, the sound of snow falling.
Mary’s article took me back to my boarding school days up in Mount Abu, Rajasthan, where the bird sounds came from bulbuls, a small, brightly coloured bird, golden orioles, budgies, swallows, doves, wood pigeons, peacocks, and a scavenger bird with a call that sounded like ‘Did You Do It’ I can still recall more than 65 years later. In our twice weekly walks through the jungle, we listened and watched—a rustle through the bushes could signal a panther, tiger, bear, deer, wild boar, monkey, wild fowl, dove, wood pigeon or peacock. It could also signal a snake where a bite from a viper, a mere six inches long, naturally camouflaged in a pale green skin with brown dots, in a blueberry bush, could be fatal, to say nothing of cobra venom.
Mary’s article prompts us to heighten our awareness to the ambience, sounds and the bliss that nature offers us here in B.C., and Whistler in particular.
