Pace on Earth

Sunset (Bird of Prey)

Last weekend as I pulled into Hazen White Field in Saint John I spotted a huge bird feasting on a dead something at the edge of the parking lot. As we pulled closer we got a better look at it and it was compeletely foreign to me. It was a big black bird with an ugly, bald red head. When we got close enough the bird took off and showed itself to be one of the biggest fucking birds I have ever seen. It was massive with a wingspan that had to be the taller then me. When we went to the fishing camp I asked the resident ornithologist (Malcolm) and he informed me that the turkey vulture had recently stared summering in the area...not unlike the Quebecois.

Fast forward to last night at rugby practice, the one which I was sitting out due to the abstract painting on my hip, and it seemed as thought the rugby club had become a bird sanctuary. In the course of two hours I counted 4 or 5 osprey, 2 bald eagles, 2 massive raptors that I could not identify, and countless nighthawks, ducks, gulls, etc. I realised that since we started training this year, not a practice has gone by that I haven't noticed a bald eagle. It's awesome how much of a comeback they have made in the past 10 years. When people used to ask me what I would like to come back as if I had to choose and animal and I always said that I would like to come back as an eagle. I still stand by that partially because it would be highly illegal to shoot me. I also think it would be really neat to have a free range eagle for a pet. They would take care of all the annoying dogs in the neighbourhood and I would have the chance to use the line "Hey, you wanna touch my bird?" often.

Incidentally, when looking for a title for this post I thought of Fatboy Slim's song Sunset (Bird of Prey) and I thought it was the one with the video of Christopher Walken dancing. Turns out that one is Weapon of Choice from the same album. Man I love this video:
Pace out.

PS - the picture of the eagle is from Tuesday's Gleaner and is of a local bird. We'll call him Eddie the freak with the busted beak. It's kind of like Gene Gene the dancin' machine.

Labels: Bird of Prey, Gene Gene the dancing machine

posted by Vitamin S @ 4:34 p.m.