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| Ms. Bird, sight unseen for weeks now. |
Yesterday Bonnie posted this notice on the community list serve:
"Ever since she showed up on our block in the summer of 2008, we've loved having the white peahen in the neighborhood. But where has she gone? She has always moved around the neighborhood, but this is the longest time period where I have not seen her. We last saw her on the SOUTH side of 18th Street not far from Federal Highway, and we were alarmed at that location, which is so close to traffic. Has anyone seen her lately?"
There was one report of a sighting, far from here, from someone unfamiliar with Ms. Bird. That seemed unlikely. Other responses agreed with Bonnie that Ms. Bird has gone unseen around here lately.
We're beginning to think that Ms. Bird has moved on.
Her visits to our back yard on Northeast 21st Street had become more fleeting and less frequent in recent months. Occasionally we'd spot her father than usual from her normal beat. Still, she seemed to return pretty reliably to roost at night in the big tree on Victoria Park Road. Sometimes we'd be up and on our morning walk early enough to spot her still in the branches.
When she stopped coming by we theorized that she might be sitting on eggs. But when she does that she will break away for a half hour a day to seek food and to do a big production of honking and flapping far from the nest, to mislead potential predators, we think. We've heard none of that.
Wherever she is we hope she's safe and happy.
