Ordinary Life and Rare Birds
Excellent thoughts from the Blog of Baphomet.
I’m on a train, and out of the window I see a red kite, Milvus milvus, circling high above. I notice it, with pleasure, but without any thrill as it is such a normal sight. I settle back in my seat. Then I remember, the first time I saw red kites; a pair, circling together, from a cliff path in Cornwall 26 years ago. I was 21, and walking some of the South West Coast Path, and I had never seen this bird species before. I stood still, and felt the sense of a special moment, recording that scene in my mind’s eye in case it never appeared again.
Contrasting these two sightings, I wondered; which was better? And I decided, after some thought, that the second one was far far nicer.
Rara avis in terris nigroque simillima cycno.
Because, the thrill of the rare is all very…
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