Monday, February 15, 2021

Bird's-Eye View

Essays of Helen Macdonald, an award-winning naturalist, are exemplary pieces of heart-tugging writing about hawfinches, cuckoos, orioles, magpies, swifts, barn owls and many wildlife.

My recent reading of her Vesper Flights had prepared me to immerse myself in the thrilling details of spotting birds. An inchoate attempt with instant gratification. The happiness and the spectacle I've discovered with my camera has held me spellbound.

I watched in awe today afternoon in Tai Po Kau Nature Reserve, populated by songbirds. And so I listened agog when their aerial appearance swelled my heart out of all proportion to the size of my viewfinder. It was thrilling. If there is a better way to conclude a birdwatching walk than seeing a bright grass-green leafbird with a plumage tinge of cobalt-blue, then I don't know it.

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