A little bit of magic

Those of you who read my earlier post about Jonny the pigeon will be familiar with his story, which continues here. As Spring sprung...as it does, every year, the young man's fancy turned to love, and Jonny became more and more affectionate towards me, landing on my head, pecking my hand, constantly seeking attention. Gradually it dawned on me that in the absence of a female pigeon, he had decided that I would have to do...possibly not an idea that was ever really going to be successful, at least not for what Jonny had in mind. He began to fly wider and wider circles around the house and garden, eventually also taking in the surrounding hills as part of his exercise programme.

One day, inevitably, Jonny did not return. I was worried that he might have met with a nasty end, possibly one of the massive birds of prey that are such a common sight here, and I missed his company as he used to follow me as I did all my outdoor tasks, seeing to the horses, watering the garden and playing with the dogs. However, pigeons are wild birds, and will do what they must do, and I had to simply hope for the best while fearing the worst.

The other day, though, a little bit of magic happened. It was a glorious, hot, sunny evening, and I was sitting in the garden with the obligatory glass of chilled wine, when I heard the very distinctive sound of a pigeon. There have never been pigeons around our house before Jonny, so of course my attention was immediately grabbed by the sound. Sure enough, there he was, sitting, as had been his habit, in the fig tree by the pool. The best, though, was yet to come. No sooner than I had seen Jonny, a smaller bird arrived to join him. Jonny had not only come back to tell me he was OK, he had brought his mate to show off! They sat there for an hour, canoodling contentedly, then flew off together into the hills.

I haven't seen him since, I imagine he is now perhaps busy raising his family...but it was a little moment of magic.