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Chicky preparing for flight in backyard. |
The Berlin Wall having been taken down
because Chicky , the cute Bush
Stone Curlew , had been seen hopping over it , following its errant parents , it was only a matter of time before she decided
to spread her wings and take to the air . Soon
after, Chicky, too big to be threatened
by the murderous
Barking Owl , which killed
seven chicks alone in a
small area, was seen flapping
about the
confines of the backyard
as if about to take off.
At times she was
actually airborne, but not much above
the
ground and landed awkwardly on her long, fashion model legs . Then she ran down
the side of
the
house
to the driveway , shook her tail feathers , fluffed up and
seemed about to launch herself into space. Instead, she stood for
ages, eventually slowly made her way
to the gutter
; one of her parents emerged from an overgrown vacant allotment , a popular Curlew gathering spot , and approached , eventually stopping in the centre of the roadway.
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Pixie Photo of Chicky- now a flighty teenager .
|
Both stood like statues
. Just looking at each
other . The other
Curlew parent came into view
on the far side of the road . Was this the moment of lift
off? . Armed with a camera, I
watched and watched
, but
there was no maiden
flight. Chicky decided, instead, to go for a gallop
along th e road .The strain of
watching and waiting , smacking a
mossie or two , was
hard to bear, the sun setting, so went
inside. Several times, while watching TV, I got up,
put the backyard
light on to see if the Curlews
had returned. No. The entire family could
be on a
joyflight . They had
not shown up in the
backyard by bedtime, raising some concern .
Waking shortly before 2am
and hearing
that South Africa was being plucked by the high
flying Australian cricket side ,
a familiar sound came from
the verandah outside my bedroom –Chicky , the soon to
be frequent flyer . Had she
been looping- the -
loop all night , in the process casting of
the fear of flying
and , it being a bright
night , deciding to join the
Chinese Jade Rabbit on the
Moon
some time soon ?
