observation des oiseaux (bird watching & Edwyn Collins)
Thursday, July 25, 2024
Although reports of a potent strain of Covid are coming around the corner, I have been living in self-exile in our home, where I watch birds outside my living room window for entertainment or medication. We have magnificent windows, and instead of writing my blog on Substack or working on my book, I waste moments and hours on the outside activity of beasts with feathers. I’m intrigued that smaller birds chase our beloved Red-tailed Hawk, Gustov, around the sky. I’m presuming that he gets too close to their nesting area, so without a sense of danger to themselves, they dive toward Gustav. And they do the same for crows, which seem to be more aggressive. Hawks, on the other hand, do not like to fight other birds. They hunt for food, and it is all business to them. But smaller birds are territorial and very active from dawn to 10 AM. Some of the smaller birds are California thrashers.
We, as humans, discovered the California thrasher in the eighteenth century. French explorer Jean-François de Galaup ‘obtained’ the first specimen in 1786 and named the bird promerops de la Californie septentrionale. I suspect Native American tribes here before the Europeans, such as the Chumash and Tongva, were aware of this bird species, but sadly, their language is not known to me, at least. According to the Audubon Society, this type of species has a population of 240,000.
The relationship between the Hawk and the California Thrasher is very much a co-existence but with some danger. The smaller bird eats insects, bugs, and weeds from the ground. From time to time, the Hawk likes to eat the California Thrasher while they are hunting. So, the hunter hunts the hunter, and all sorts of bugs and insects are victims of both bird species.
One of my favorite music artists, Edwyn Collins, is also one of my favorite visual artists. Besides being a genius musician and lyricist for his old band, Orange Juice, and his ongoing solo career, he is also a fine observer of bird life. I’m unsure if he sees himself as an ornithological illustrator or a fine artist, but I find his drawings moving like his music. Many of his songs are observational in that Cole Porter's manner of writing songs, and I feel there is a connection between his songwriting and bird illustrations. I suspect that he draws not from photographs but from observing birds, which takes patience. Still, one would also have to have observation skills, whether by hand or a mental state of looking at the subject of hand and penetrating that mystery or glory of life as it works its magic. Romance and bird watching are not that far apart.
As I write this essay, I’m in front of my window and see Gustov, the Red-tailed Hawk, glide past me. As he flies over, I often reach the final period at the end of the sentence.
