Before I got sick, I did not realise we had birds in our garden.
I did not know that the myna has a hilarious bob in his song.
That my ‘happy place’ bird from my childhood is a barbary dove and likes to ‘hang out’ on the power lines and gutter opposite our house in Thames.
That the seagulls at Taiaroa Head are more endangered than the albatross.
I did not know that there are hedge sparrows that live in hedges, and house sparrows that live in Bin Inn and Pak n Save.
That the wax-eyes/tauhou feed in packs.
And my blackbird appears to have two wives. From dawn to dusk, he and his harem keep me company through my bedroom and lounge windows.
I knew that the kingfisher sat on the power line outside my lounge, but I did not realise that he liked to visit our plum tree.
And perhaps my favourite new bird awareness and new found evening joy, is the white faced heron calling, as they slowly flap their way home to nest in the trees at St George’s.
Before I got sick I felt at home in Thames, and now I envy the white faced heron, because I have lost the place that used to be my home, where I could run wherever I wanted.
But the treasure in the darkness is that, I now realise that we have birds in our garden.