Alas

afternoon light, no bower, 16 July 2017

The sadness of today, the big sense of loss, is that there is no bower any more.

Our last film record is a week old, but in the last several days, rushing to other things, we could hear the bower crowd chortling behind the scrub.

Not now.

There remains a space, there remains a camera... but blue treasures have almost all been stolen away.

It's been three months Perhaps the birds, like some trees, got their season clocks disturbed by the gentle warm days, nights only just turned cold. But I think there's more to it than that. The weight of time allocated to human research and observation is in springtime. We have observed birds away from the hormonal demands of spring and having fun as well as learning their roles.

As a final (for now) movie I have selected a three minute clip which features a next-generation almost-mature bird (or two), shaping their grown up lives, with a cameo appearance by Odimbar at the end. Not good to read too much into it but, having watched Odimbar for a quarter of a year, Odimbar looks a bit down, as indeed his blue treasure collection looks diminished. Did he, like the ill-trained racehorse, make his run too soon, or has he gone to the paddock for a spell?