December 16 2001

Do you ever wonder where all the birds go at night when all is quiet or even not so quiet, depending on where you live. Where we live is nestled in a corner bounded on the one hand by the Naas dual carriageway and on the other by the N50. It is a noisy spot at times. Well I have made a discovery. Outside our front door is a berberi bush, about 7 feet tall. During the day it accommodates sparrows pretty well all day. They come and go and are not roused to flight when I pass by them to enter my 87 D chariot in which to do battle on the highways. In fact they totally ignore me as do so many others. But as night falls they leave the bush and go elsewhere for warmth and peace during the dark hours. I suspect that their hiding place is within the eaves of the house as I have seen them come and go there even during the day. There are very few leaves on the berberi now and as I return from my night wanderings I can see clearly that one of the blackbirds has taken to sleeping in the same place in the bush every night. While passing by the bush he is no further than about one foot from my head. His feathers are well puffed up to keep him warm so he looks a little bigger than usual. He must feel quite secure there in his thorny cage for he shows no sign of waryness or fear at having a passer-by so close. It's a peaceful serene thing.